"When the Iron's Hot, Strike!"

Danica Patrick, meeting most of the NASCAR beat reporters after the final ARCA practice was washed out at Daytona International Speedway, who kept asking her the same questions shw was asked yesterday--and weeks before, about her motivation to try racing full fendered stock cars.

We called her the "Fame Monster"--and I submit that the attention she'll receive from this race, the Super Bowl commercials, the CSI episode (where she plays a race driver, go figure!), and her long awaited Nationwide debut (whether that's next week here, but definitely at Auto Club Speedway at Fontana on February 20) qualifies her.

With the birth announcements for Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Elliott Sadler and the Kyle Busch engagement--the old-school NASCAR scribes are eagerly awaiting some racing action to talk about, instead of the minutia that masquerades for news in the off season. So too, are we.

"Birthday Boy Sweeps Action Track"

The rains stayed away and the fans who made it to Richmond saw a rootin' tootin' short track special that saw Kyle Busch reverse an early season victory slide with his third win of 2009. It came on his 24th birthday. Busch joins Cale Yarborough as the only two NASCAR drivers to win in the top division on their birthday.

Multiple stories this evening: Jeff Burton looked early like a pinball getting knocked around. He finished 3rd, behind Tony Stewart and Busch. Ryan Newman took a strong 4th, which pleased Stewart--his boss and teammate. Jeff Gordon also showed strength, leading laps and notching an 8th place finish, which put him back into the Sprint Cup point lead over Kurt Busch who dropped to second--10 behind Gordon. Stewart-Haas Racing has been a pleasant surprise with their steady progress toward the top ranks of Sprint Cup teams--pundits predicted the progress but not as quickly.

Denny Hamlin led the most laps, and was on pace for a hometown win. The rule change with lug nuts for this night anyway, flummoxed Hamlin's crew. Hamlin ended the race 14th.

The snapshot with crew chief Steve Addington, Busch and Coach Joe Gibbs came during their post race news conference.

We'll do this again next Saturday night at Darlington Raceway--the "track too tough to tame"--for the Southern 500.

"Matt Kenseth the Man at Auto Club Speedway"

The crowd who did attend the Auto Club 500 saw 50 late race laps of slice and dice hammer and tong racing between 4 time series champion Jeff Gordon, who came up 1.4 seconds short behind the 2003 series champion and Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth. Kenseth, along with crew chief Drew Blickensderfer, is now 2 for 2009. That battle again denied Kyle Busch his chance to sweep all three of NASCAR's National Touring Series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck) in a single weekend. The younger brother of 2004 champion Kurt Busch (finished 5th) had to settle for a distant third.

The race had four rain cautions, and some uncharacteristic engine woes for the Hendrick crew of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin. Kevin Harvick of Richard Childress racing, was NOT "happy" after smacking the turn one wall; he was credited with 38th place.

Points going into Las Vegas:

Matt Kenseth/385

Jeff Gordon/304

Kurt Busch/294

Tony Stewart/294

Greg Biffle/268

Clint Bowyer/266

Michael Waltrip/264

David Ragan/262

Carl Edwards/260

Juan Pablo Montoya/256

Elliott Sadler/248

David Reutimann/248

We'll catch up with you in Las Vegas. In the meantime, you can catch our weekly "Race-Talk" via podcast, and you will not need an iPod to do it. Just enter this in your browser:

http://msrpk.com/podcast/racetalk.rss

"The Show & Breakfast"

Kyle Busch has many nicknames (some of which we won't print). Some commentators hung "The Show" upon young Mr. Busch, who whupped the field in both the Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series races at Auto Club Speedway. The sparse few who made the trek to the Speedway saw part of history being made. Busch the younger is attempting to become the first driver to score victories in each of NASCAR's major divisions in a racing weekend. He has to beat Jimmie Johnson who will be starting out front, the beneficiary of polesitter Brian Vickers' team opting to change out the engine--and thus, starting from the rear of the field when the green flag falls. Johnson, if you remember, is the three time and defending Sprint Cup champion, and qualified 2nd.

Breakfast on race mornings does not have to mean a hockey puck sausage from a drive through window. We found a place where value and good food in large portions mean a waiting line--The Tole House Cafe, 8733 Etiwanda, Rancho Cucamonga, CA...right down the road from Auto Club Speedway. Their menu is on line here. If you go away from breakfast at the Tole House hungry, it is your fault.

We'll certainly post up a winner's snapshot once the festivities end. Like last week, we'll keep one eye on track, and one on the weather radar (Weather Underground or Weather Channel). Of course, we'll chime in with developments if warranted.

"Happy Harvick--Bud Shootout Winner"

The 2007 Daytona 500 winner, Kevin Harvick, ended up in victory lane tonight, ending a dearth on on-track activity for the Sprint Cup cars since Homestead last November. Harvick took the lead from then leader Jamie McMurray on the last lap of a green-white-checker restart, which added three laps to the posted 75. McMurray finished second...and Tony Stewart was third. The race was punctuated by 8 caution periods, including a last lap accident which Harvick, McMurray and Stewart avoided. The race saw a record 23 lead changes among 14 drivers. The win was Harvick's first win in five tries. A. J. Allmendinger finished 5th in an RPM Dodge...and the best Toyota (as it was for most of 2008) belonged to Joe Gibbs Racing and Kyle Busch (10th). The much ballyhooed debut of Gibbs teammate Joey Logano didn't live up to the hype this evening--the rookie was involved in an early (lap 4) crash with David Ragan, Robby Gordon, and fellow rookie Scott Speed. Logano survived the ARCA event a few minutes prior...which was drawn out by some spectacular crashing...which sent drivers to Halifax Medical Center down the road from the track. Logano finished second to eventual ARCA winner James Buescher.

Tomorrow is Pole Day for the 500...when the 51 cars will take timed laps...that will take some time because cars with restrictor plates don't get up to speed as quickly. The two fastest drivers will lock in a guaranteed 1 & 2 front row. The rest is decided by a mix of results from the Gatorade Duels, qualifying results, past champion provisionals and top 35 points from 2008--that will make your brain hurt at a late hour. So, we'll get some rest, and explain it to you tomorrow morning.

You DID See A Picture Like This in Late July

Jimmie Johnson dominated the Pepsi 500 at Auto Club Speedway, and with served notice that he and Chad Knaus (crew chief) do indeed have something for the Chase. Domination=leading228 of 250 laps. That puts him in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

Top Finishers:

Johnson--Top Chevy

Greg Biffle, 2nd--Top Ford

Denny Hamlin, 3rd--Top Toyota

Kasey Kahne, 8th--Top Dodge

Other Notables:

Point Leader Kyle Busch--7th

Carl Edwards--6th

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.--11th (clinches a spot in the Chase)

Jeff Burton (500th career start)--17th and joins Busch, Edwards, Johnson and Earnhardt, Jr in the Championship Chase, which begins on September 14, at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

See you later in the week at the Action Track.

"JJ on Pole; AJ 2nd"

Front row at Auto Club Speedway consists of first time Cali pole sitter Jimmie Johnson--with his 4th pole of 2008...under slick conditions the two time and defending Sprint Cup champion put down a lap of 180.397 miles an hour. AJ Allmendinger put his Red Bull car on the front row...he of the go-or-go home ranks. AJ's lap was clocked at 179.659. Johnson car-owner and Hendrick Racing teammate Jeff Gordon was 3rd--179.565. The Dodge Boys have positions 4-6 (Kasey Kahne, Patrick Carpentier and Elliott Sadler). The best Ford belonged to Jamie McMurray, who'll start 13th--178.006.

The Kyle Busch/Carl Edwards incident still on the minds of the beat media...the super secret NASCAR double probation on their minds as they seemed contrite when asked about the Bristol cool-down.

We have some business to transact Saturday. We'll rejoin you on Sunday (race-day).

JJ "Has Somethin' For 'em at the Tricky Trioval"

This result happened last weekend at Indianapolis...so for the second time in a week...Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin will start first and second for this weekend's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway--a/k/a the "Tricky Trioval". Maybe the race at Chicagoland Speedway (where Johnson was beaten by point leader Kyle Busch) served as a defining moment--where crewchief Chad Knaus and JJ said "enough". The Knaus crew had to replace some balky shifter mechanisms before Johnson went to qualify...Mark Martin was fast at 167.560 miles an hour. Johnson put his Lowe's Chevy Impala SS on the pole with a lap of 168.215 miles an hour. Johnson's key to this race is tire management--during qualifying, drivers want to beat the snot out of the tires, because this 2 1/2 mile trioval is very abrasive. During the race, drivers want to conserve tires, because the track is so abrasive. Kasey Kahne will start the race 7th in his Budmobile (Dodge Charger). The point leader, Kyle Busch, struggled in practice, and didn't find a lot more speed in qualifying, so he'll start 27th out of 43 cars.

ARCA Note: Scott Speed is making the transition to full fendered cars with style...he's on the pole for Saturday's ARCA race. I wonder what might have happened had he been allowed to get a couple of years testing for the main Red Bull team in F1--and then try his hand. Dieter Mateschitz is a good judge of talent, IMO.

200th Post--Tire Debacle at Indianapolis

From left to right: Chad Knaus, Jimmie Johnson and Rick Hendrick, flanked by the winner's trophies after a controversial Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. Controversial, because there was either a competition caution called by NASCAR...or a standard yellow flag...every 14 1/2 laps. Reason: The right side tires were wearing down to the cords too quickly. Goodyear did test here...but the rubber from all those days of practice and qualifying didn't stick...and the diamond ground track was blamed for that wear. Goodyear and NASCAR did what was necessary to insure safety when the situation evolved. The fans didn't like all the cautions...and there were parallels drawn to the 2005 US Grand Prix debacle...when Michelin wasn't allowed to substitute a tire...and withdrew its fleet of cars...leaving six to contend for the win.

Goodyear makes a very stout passenger tire--I'll attest to that. But here, they need to step up the program so something like this does not happen again. A "W" is a "W" and Jimmie Johnson will be happy with it once this settles down.

Top 5

Jimmie Johnson/48 (best Chevy)

"The Carl" Carl Edwards/99

Denny Hamlin/11 (best Toyota)

Elliott Sadler/19 (best Dodge)

Jeff Gordon/24--4 time winner

Other notables:

Earnhardt Jr--12

Tony Stewart--23rd

Jamie McMurray--6th (best Ford)

Kyle Busch--15th

Points going into Pocono:

1. Kyle Busch/3004-100 bonus points
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr./2751-85 bonus points
3. Jeff Burton/2733-40 bonus points
4. Jimmie Johnson/2689/85 bonus points
5. Carl Edwards/2684/65 bonus points

Monday Afternoon Update:

There is more than enough blame to go around. NASCAR does not get off scot free--Indianapolis is their biggest race as far as attendance goes. You might think that a full blown test in July could have been added (as the May 2008 test at Lowe's was) so all of the chassis problems and tire problems could have been revealed and resolved. It's not the ideal situation to be finding out about problems in front of 200,000 plus fans (more paid attendance in the seats than at any other NASCAR venue). That dog failed to hunt. And the new car still needs work.

Goodyear has a rich racing heritage with enough NASCAR, CART, NHRA and Formula One wins to fill a large trophy room. Heritage is the operative word here. Ever since Sir James Goldsmith tried a hostile takeover of Goodyear, the company has been treading on eggshells as far as their auto racing program vision. A racing program is not a short term payoff item (which is attractive to bean counters and traders in Goodyear stock). It has a longer term payoff which is not easily measured--but the payoff exists. The blame at Goodyear does not fall at the feet of racing boss Stu Grant, Racing Tire Marketing Manager Greg Stucker or NASCAR Tire Engineer Rick Campbell. It is properly directed at the top management. If the Goodyear CEO would have the same zeal for racing as, for example, an Edsel Ford, I could assure you that the Akron Tech Center could produce the kind of tires that could win in every form of auto racing--as they did when Leo Mehl ran that program. Take the handcuffs off the racing division--and you will see results. Want proof that this approach works? A lot of Michelins are sold from their sports car involvement--any racing car that can complete a road race on one or two sets of tires has a good tire. The 2005 situation with Michelin at Indianapolis occurred when the FIA, Bernie Ecclestone, and the teams wouldn't work together. The fans then, like yesterday, didn't get what they paid for.

I'm wondering how many people saw the performance at Indianapolis, and decided not to put Goodyears on their vehicles. That would be a shame--because the company, as I said before, makes a very stout street tire (Eagle RS-As are on most police cars--and you know what they go through).

I'll leave you with a two part question: Who do you blame the most for Sunday's Brickyard fiasco? And why?

We'll rejoin you from Pocono.

Luck=Preparation meets Opportunity

From left to right: crewchief Gil Martin, owner Richard Childress and winner of the Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400, Clint Bowyer, who snuck past leaders Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kyle Busch. Busch tapped Earnhardt Jr, spinning him out of the lead. Bowyer was running 3rd at the time....and took advantage of the dustup to take the lead...and hold off Busch on the final restart for career win number 2. Busch took the Sprint Cup lead by 18 over Jeff Burton as the series goes to Darlington next weekend. The crowd did not like what happened to Junior and some denizens of the Junior Nation threw trash on the Richmond oval...that kept the yellow out...and set up the green-white-checker restart...since the dustup came within 5 laps to go...that meant some overtime.

We'll get to Darlington next weekend to see the cars turn 200 miles an hour on the 1.3 mile egg shaped oval, which ought to be interesting.

Just Like Lazarus.....

We are back live blogging at Pocono Raceway, where the talk centers on hi-jinks between Robby Gordon and Marcos Ambrose at Montreal in the Busch Series debut, where it seems the only thing that wasn't hit was the 649 (Loto-Quebec). Gordon, according to reports, did not acquit himself well in the late stages of the race, spinning out Mr. Ambrose to take what he perceived to be the lead in the race. Happy Harvick (Kevin, Daytona 500 winner), took the win, followed by hometown guy Patrick Carpentier. Garage area wags suspect that Robby Gordon will taste multiple lashes of NASCAR justice, perhaps a sanction or two concerning the Nextel Cup effort.

Here at the spinach patch...we await the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts on pole...his post qualifying chat was most entertaining...covering everything from fans who might need a change of anti-perspirant...calling crew chief Tony Eury, Jr. at 2am to ask whether the car was going to be fast...motivating that team when things go wrong...and saying that much of Junior nation is realizing that the move to Hendrick will indeed take place. Kurt Busch starts second...brother Kyle third.

We'll snapshot the winner...and sniff around the pits and garages...see you later on.

Update at 9:55 am local

Robby Gordon was parked for this race...because of what happened in Montreal. P. J. Jones will start the car from the tail of the field. There will be other penalties, which are usually announced early next week. NASCAR officials describe Robby Gordon's actions as over the top. This is but the first of many lashes.

Update at 3:15 pm

Robby Gordon is still on the property...according to NASCAR, he was parked as a driver, but was allowed to participate as the car owner (which explains the appearance on ESPN's pre-game coverage). The 2-12 duo of Penske drivers Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman have dominated most of the first quarter of the race...polesitter Dale Earnhardt runs 5th.

"The Rich Get Richer"

Dale Earnhardt, Jr is now ready to make a pile of cash for himself at Hendrick Motorsports. In case you missed it, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are solidly in the NASCAR Top 12...with Gordon piling up points so he could be with his wife when she gives birth any day now...and still not lose the point lead. Johnson, as you will recall is the defending NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion. (Enough for my MOTO tendency--MOTO=Master Of The Obvious).

Earnhardt Jr needs to bring Anheuser-Busch a championship. He has a personal services contract with the company. The #8 sponsorship is still with Frau Earnhardt at DEI. For how long, we don't know. If A-B jumps the sponsorship to Hendrick (where it used to be with Ken Schrader on the #25), they can leverage that into a big blitz.

Junior needs to win a couple times this year, preferably in the next few races, and get back into the top 12. That will bring momentum to the new Hendrick team, and enhance his reputation as a racer's racer.

This still has more implications...Kyle Busch is looking for a new 2008 team...he'll have no trouble finding it...and it may (as suggested by my advertisers and other commenters) end up being a swap, with Busch going to DEI. You can bet that spite would fuel that effort (it is a powerful emotion, if harnessed properly), if it should come about. Though our laptop woes preclude us from live blogging at the US Grand Prix...we'll still comment on what is happening there.