February 27, 2007 - What do you do for an encore performance after winning the Busch race the day before? Why, win the NASCAR Cup race on Sunday, of course.

That’s exactly what Roush-Fenway driver Matt Kenseth did, despite a hard charging Kevin Harvick moving in during the closing laps.

Had Harvick not suffered a late race flat left front tire, he may have knocked down back-to-back wins, instead of winding up 17^th.

Kenseth had been very strong all day, but in the closing stages, it could have been Harvick or Jeff Gordon at the top of the leader board.

Gordon did manage a runner-up finish in front of teammate Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton and Mark Martin.

For Kenseth, it was a welcome win, especially without his ‘bud’ and crew chief Robbie Reiser, the result of penalties from Daytona.

Most of this race was a snoozer, something not likely to occur in the next event at Atlanta.

Notables for this race included blown engines for DEI drivers, Dale Jr and Martin Truex Jr along with Kasey Kahne, Ken Schrader and Dave Blaney, perhaps the result of the first race using unleaded fuels.

Dale Jr now sits in 41^st spot in points, 225 points out of 1^st place. Can you say early uphill battle? You bet.

Jamie McMurray was once again in the wrong place at the wrong time, his day ending in a wreck none of his doing.

On the other end of the spectrum, kudos to Brian Vickers for not only making his first race of the year in his Toyota, but for running to a 10^th place finish, the company’s first.

Also a ‘atta boy’ to rookie David Ragan for knocking down a fifth last week and 16^th this week, good enough to keep the young driver 5^th in the standings. I believe we will be hearing more good things from this new Roush-Fenway driver.

And finally...how ‘bout that Mark Martin? A close second last week and Sunday, took a fifth, putting him on top of the standings. And this guy will step aside in a few weeks? Strange stuff.

The weekend’s Western tour started with the Craftsman truck on Friday night where once again, Mark Martin was out front and got hosed by NASCAR once again after they were blind-sided by Ron Hornaday’s stunt of punting the leader out of the way on a late race restart.

Martin has surely been the ‘hapless Harry’ of the sport with two races taken away in as many weeks.

Mike Skinner wound up with the truck win after it was handed over on a silver platter by Hornaday. Hornaday said he couldn’t go that slow as Mark was bringing them down for the start, and that he might get run over. What a bunch of junk....he simply dumped Martin and went on to take second in front of Jack Sprague, Carl Edwards and Ted Musgrave. Had this occurred in several other series, officials would have put the leader back out front, and the ‘dumper’ sent to the rear. Not NASCAR.

The trucks take the next several weeks off before getting back to action in Atlanta, mid-March.

Saturday night, the Busch series took to the 2-mile track with Dave Blaney’s Toyota on the pole, the first for the Japanese brand.

But, at the checkers, it was Matt Kenseth over a closing Casey Mears, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle.

NASCAR Now - A few weeks ago, I told you about a new racing show on ESPN, NASCAR Now...mentioned we’d compare notes a little later. Well, after watching the show most of the time, here’s my review. Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z...WAIT....I’m AWAKE.

This over-the-top daily show has missed the mark. First off, I hate the shirts and ties. This is auto racing, so a golf shirt, or shirt and jacket is just fine. The ties have to go.

The host and several guest hosts are broadcast professionals, BUT not in the field of auto racing. Somehow, basketball star Brad Dougherty predicting who will win, or strategy move ideas are just ridiculous.

The graphics are over the top, they review wayyyy too much, and quite frankly, after a half hour, I come away with learning absolutely nothing. It’s supposed to be racing news, but there is little.

I predict they’ll be some restructuring in personnel and format before all is said and done.

From Rumorville - How will Michael Waltrip’s not qualifying for the second race of the year affect the team? Well, pretty big, actually. The owner/driver of the flagship Toyota team now sits 46^th in points, some 362 back of the leader...that’s two races’ worth of points. Can they get into the top 35? My crystal ball says....fat chance.

That's it for this week. Next week's RWR will review the Busch series competing in Mexico, preview the upcoming race in the newly re-designed Las Vegas Motor Speedway and more racing news from around the globe. The local notes are about to increase.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

February 20, 2007 - After a long four-hour day, Kevin Harvick pulled his Chevy into victory lane in alot better condition than many of his fellow racers. Not even Harvick thought he would be in victory lane as he was about sixth within sight of the checkers. Matt Kenseth was able to push him to the outside, gaining enough momentum to barely edge Martin at the stripe.

While the leaders were crossing the line, Kyle Busch among others were smacking each other and the wall ending this year's race with the proverbial 'big wreck'.

It wasn't the first wreck of the day by far, as Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch led the majority of the first 150 laps, but got into each other and out of the show for the day.

Several others wrecks dotted the race, but the one between Stewart and Busch certainly changed the complexion.

Overall, the first two-thirds of the 500 was a snoozer...then it woke up. Martin took over late in the 'go' and appeared poised to finally take his first 500 win after 23 years of trying. Losing by a fender in the final few feet had to hurt.

For Harvick, his first Daytona win came from the deepest (34th) in the pack of any previous winner. It was also his personal best finish, up from a previous fourth.

Rounding out the top ten in the messy ending included Jeff Burton, amazing finish for Mike Wallace, impressive run for rookie David Regan, Elliott Sadler, Kasey Kahne, polesitter David Gilliland, Joe Nemechek and David Stremme.

Several top runners such as Stewart, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle among others left the racetrack with bent race cars.

Note: Eighteen cars went home early from Daytona after not making the big race. Among them, half (four) of the Toyota contingent. I feel this is a sign of things to come for the upcoming season. There are going to be some long roads to hoe for several teams this year, and good teams at that. There were cars that went home that were faster than some of those that made it in, but that's a whole other topic. I still think it should be the fastest 42 and one champion's provisional. No other sport makes all these provisional plans. What do you think? Drop me a line.

--- The first big racing weekend of the year started with one of the closest finishes in Craftsman truck history with Jack Sprague's Toyota edging Johnny Benson and long-time leader Travis Kvapil.

During the closing laps, Kvapil was a sitting duck to the two scheming Toyotas very large in his mirror. Off the final turn, Benson gave Sprague just the kind of boost he needed to zoom by Kvapil on the high side of the track as Benson went to the low side to claim second, only inches ahead of the Ford.

Mike Skinner and reigning truck champ Todd Bodine made up the rest of the top five finishers.

Once again, the tailgaters provided some of the best side-by-side racing and closest finishes among any form of racing.

--- On Saturday afternoon, it was the same ole, same ole story in the Busch ranks with Harvick running away with yet another checkers, although his first at Daytona. Dave Blaney took second with Carl Edwards, Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin rounding out the top five.

The only good news for the rest of the Busch ranks is Harvick will not be campaigning a full season. Did I mention all of the top 12 were full-time Cuppers? That whole deal is just wrong and I know, I'm back on my soapbox as far as the topic of Buschwackers taking most of the glory and money from aspiring Busch regulars.

From Rumorville - By now, unless you've been hiding in a cave for a week, you've heard about the big Toyota scandal involving Michael Waltrip Racing being caught cheating with something added to the fuel system of the No. 55 Napa Camry. Big fines and big points were deducted with the ramifications to be felt for many months, if not years.

'Goober' did manage to moonwalk his way into the race with a 15th place start, but not before taking out his 'bud' Dale Jr in the Duels on Thursday.

He'll start the season with a 100 point deficit in both driver and owner categories.

Sometime this week, we'll know exactly what was used in the fuel, but many feel it was sterno. Whatever it was, NASCAR came down with authority with record fines and penalties. Toyota is so embarrassed about the situation, they announced last week that the next factory team to be caught cheating will lose their Toyota backing! Can you say ouch to an eight figure loss?

More details are going to be forthcoming, and many feel Michael was aware of what was being tried, despite his best act in front of the press.

That's it for this week. Next week's RWR will review a more calm racing situation in California and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net

February 13, 2007 - While the Fords of David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd will start on the front row for next week's Daytona 500, it was a Chevy driven by Tony Stewart taking the checkers in the mega-buck Budweiser Shootout.

Kevin Harvick's Chevy took the first 20-lap segment of Saturday night's race and Kyle Busch led most of the second.

But, with a nudge and a bump, Stewart moved the young Hendrick driver aside late in the go and went on to claim his third Bud title.

The crowd and this reporter were surprised to see young Gilliland finish second with Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Harvick rounding out the top five.

The overall race was far from the most exciting...the most action coming from a last lap bump from Dale Earnhardt Jr upon Elliott Sadler setting off a four-car mess. Jr quickly apologized, claiming an error in judgement when trying to bump draft within sight of the final flag.

So, Stewart walked away with his third victory of the year, the others coming from indoor Midget features. Did I mention the nearly $250,000 for the non-points event win? Not bad for 70 laps, eh?

Now, let's talk about the Fox sports network and their coverage of the first race. Horrible...just horrible. I turned on the race at 8 p.m. and saw 35 minutes of pre-race junk, including a live band who's name escapes me. Then, there was the endless stream of commercials. Seven laps into the first 20...commercial. They come back and five laps later...commercial. All told, during the 88 minute broadcast, there was 32 minutes of sponsor paying spots, which meant we saw alot more ads than laps on the track. I hope this is not a sign of things to come with Fox as we approach the next season of TV viewing.

I understand the need revenue to air these things, but this amount of ads infuriates me and many others.

What's the fix? Charge more and show less would be one way. In this particular case, they knew there was a 10-minute break coming up and still broke away twice during the first segment.

Daytona 500 Qualifying - Sunday's 61-car qualifying session was somewhat predicable with the two Yates Fords showing fast times in final practice. Gilliland continues to impress with his second pole of his short career and first at the big track, first laid eyes on by the young driver less than a week ago.

His teammate and tutor Rudd wound up a tick slower in second.

Then, the surprises started with David Stremme and Juan Pablo Montoya clicking off the third and fourth fastest times. Next on the list was Roush rookie David Regan and roadrace ace Boris Said in sixth.

The rest of the way-too-complicated qualifying finishes on Thursday with the Twin 150's...excuse me, now called 'The Duels'.

Then, the field will be set for the biggest race of the year, the long awaited Daytona 500. Make no mistake, this is the grand daddy of stock car races with the Brickyard 400 a close second.

The day is big, the race is bigger and the purse is, well...huge!

The winner of the great American Classic on Sunday afternoon will walk away with nearly $1.5 million. If that's not big enough, the runner-up will receive more than million and even last place will receive a check for about a quarter of a million dollars. The race is on Sunday afternoon...tune in and we'll compare notes next week.

My picks for this year include Jimmie Johnson to repeat or Ricky Rudd as the sentimental favorite.

From Rumorville - Well, it's official. As told to you right here a few weeks ago, Kyle Petty will start to give his ole helmet a rest starting in June. The eight-time Cup winner has signed a contract with TNT to give color commentary for five consecutive weeks starting in June. When this does occur, it will be a historical event as there will not be a Petty in a Cup starting lineup. Who will fill the seat of the No. 45 Dodge has not been announced as yet. How about Bobby Labonte's brother Terry?

--- Words from the NASCAR pits has Dale Earnhardt Jr expressing feelings towards owning a majority ownership of DEI...or else. What's the or else? Leaving the team is what one would presume.

My thoughts? Yes, the heir apparent is worth part of the DEI operation. He is the most marketable driver on the circuit. Hand him over the majority of the multi-million dollar operation? No.

I would see him becoming a major share holder, say 51%, but not for nothing. Put a figure on the whole operation, give him say, 25%, then invest his own money for the rest. All of these decisions should be decided soon, so they can concentrate on a mission to a first Cup title.

What's your feelings on this situation? Drop me a line.

That's it for this week. Next week's RWR will review the Daytona 500, preview the upcoming action in California and more racing news from around the globe.

Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net