Rating the Kobalt Tools 500: 3 Stars ***

Kasey Kahne jumped in and stole the end of the duel in the desert Sunday at Phoenix International Raceway. The race gets a 3 Star Rating overall, but my gosh Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart are putting on a show for the championship.

Edwards and Stewart were certainly the highlight of a race where only four or five guys had a legitimate chance to win, and Kahne was the last one to the party.

Kahne didn’t show up at the front until the second half of the race, but he found himself in front of Edwards by a wide margin after his final pit stop.

Any win is a big win, but Kahne had just two races left to get a win for his Red Bull Racing team, which will fold at the end of the season along with his teammate Brian Vickers’ #83 team.

Kahne said it was fun to win on a new track, as well as break his 81-race losing streak.

“We’ve been right there every weekend, so it feels really good to finally knock one off,” he said. “I’m really excited; it’s been a while. It feels like my first win again it’s been so long.”

Edwards said Kahne’s aggressive driving-style and relationship with crew chief Kenny Francis has helped him succeed in the variety of situations he has dealt with as far as which team he is running for and questions about their stability.

“Those guys are going to be tough for a long time if they can find a groove and if they can stick with one team and have people rally around them,” Edwards said.

Phoenix was the drought-busting track this year. Jeff Gordon also ended a 76-race streak with his win in February.



Besides Edwards and Stewart, A.J. Allmendinger and Matt Kenseth contended early in the race but both fought adversity. Allmendinger had bad pit stops throughout the day and was able to recover to sixth, but Brian Vickers made sure Kenseth’s day ended early when he ran Kenseth straight up into the Turn 3 wall.

That incident will surely bring about comparisons to the Kyle Busch – Ron Hornaday incident a week earlier at Texas, but that is a topic for another day.

The race played out generally as expected despite all of the concerns about the quality of the racing leading up to this weekend. A Bodine brother and Robby Gordon are still wrecking, and it is still incredibly difficult to pass the leader.

Kenseth led the first 36 laps until Stewart made an incredibly gutsy move on the outside to take the lead as he and Kenseth split Geoff Bodine on the frontstretch.

Stewart then put a hurting on the field for the majority of the race. Both Edwards and Kenseth could get close to taking the lead, but neither could get ultimately get around Stewart.

Edwards and Stewart also had a great battle about two-thirds of the way through the race, but Edwards could not get around the #14 car until a late pit stop relegated Stewart to fourth.

The one concern about the quality of racing leading up to the race that came true was the inability to make a pass for the lead. That might be more of a problem with the cars than the track, however. Even though it usually took several laps for a driver to complete a pass farther back in the pack, it was possible.

Overall, the racing groove was plenty wide for hard racing, especially in the first race on a new surface. Stewart actually took the lead after starting in the high lane on several restarts.

As for the larger picture, Edwards and Stewart both had good runs and are still locked in a fantastic championship battle heading into the final race at Homestead. Edwards still leads Stewart by three points. Basically, the driver who finishes better in next week’s race will be the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion.

This is going to be a fun one.



For more photos from the weekend, check out the Monday Morning Crew Chief Facebook page.

NASCAR finishes the Kyle Busch situation

Believe it or not, life could be worse for Kyle Busch.

Sure, NASCAR smacked him with a $50,000 fine and put him on serious probation for the rest of the year, but Busch will race this weekend at Phoenix International Raceway.

For that, he should be plenty thankful. Plenty of people would have him banned from all racing facilities for the final two weeks of the season.

The NASCAR leaders were obviously very upset with Busch’s actions Friday night in the truck race at Texas when he intentionally wrecked championship contender Ron Hornaday.

In the “Boys, have at it” era, it takes a lot to get NASCAR angry, but Busch certainly provoked the big dog enough so that it came and took a big bite out of him.

NASCAR has lots of different penalties in its toolbox, and it is pretty judicious in choosing the right penalty for the job, but Busch got the sledgehammer Saturday morning when NASCAR President Mike Helton announced Busch would be forced to stay out of his cars for the rest of the weekend.

But, the NASCAR brass kept the door open that additional penalties might be on the way for Busch.

All things considered, Busch made out about as well as possible with a fine and probation.

Many people thought NASCAR might park Busch for the final two races of the season. While parking a driver for the remainder of a race weekend after an incident in an earlier race isn’t unprecedented, a full-blown suspension for multiple races because of aggressive driving is, and NASCAR certainly already made its point.

Yes, what Busch did Friday night was obviously wrong, but the core emotions behind his actions were no different than what many drivers have felt throughout NASCAR history. Unfortunately for Busch, he made a really stupid decision at a very bad time.

Now, this doesn’t mean Busch is in the clear. His primary sponsor, M&M’s/Mars was upset with the situation, and has expressed those concerns to Joe Gibbs Racing. Why does that matter? Sponsors have the money, and therefore have power.

If M&M’s believe Busch has gone too far and no longer represents its brand in a positive manner, Joe Gibbs Racing might be faced with an extremely difficult decision. Keep Busch or keep the sponsor?

Also, don’t forget about the probation side to this penalty. Probation is often overlooked as just words that have little meaning behind them, but not this time. NASCAR made sure everyone understood that it means business with this one.

“If, during the remaining NASCAR events in 2011 there is another action by the competitor that is deemed by NASCAR officials as detrimental to stock car racing or to NASCAR, or is disruptive to the orderly conduct of an event, the competitor will be suspended indefinitely from NASCAR,” according to the statement accompaning the penalty.

Make no mistake, that competitor is Kyle Busch.

NASCAR doesn’t usually add a clarification to its probation penalty, but this time we all know what Busch won’t be doing if he is involved in another ruckus. He certainly won’t be racing.

Hopefully the situation is over with this ruling. Busch likely will be very careful in the next two weeks to mind his manners and try to win back some much-needed respect in the garage area. That might be his biggest penalty.

Rating the Kobalt Tools 500: 4 Stars ****

Just when it looked like we might have a good idea of who would bring home the 2010 Sprint Cup Series title, Denny Hamlin pitted from his second-place position while Jimmie Johnson held on to finish fifth. Now, the champoinship battle is tighter than ever. The second-to-last race of the year gets a 4 Star Rating.

Overall, much of the race was pretty typical Phoenix-style racing. Similar to New Hampshire, it is really hard to pass, and therefore the leader can stay out front forever. However, and I think the spoiler has helped this issue in the majority of races this season, the leader never immediately jumped out to a two-second lead. The car in second was able to hang with the leader for long stretches throughout the race. Mark that down as a change that worked.

As the race headed into its final 100 laps, it looked like Hamlin would finish off a dominating performance and take a Johnson-type lead with him into Homestead next week.. Instead, the caution with 79 laps to go set the stage for what turned into a stomach-churning, drama-filled finish. This had to be one of the “game seven” moments NASCAR had asked for when it debated changing the Chase format. Harvick’s missing lugnut could have ended his chances, Johnson could have run out of fuel and Hamlin likely would have run out of fuel if he hadn’t pitted. Not only was the race on the line that last run, but the season was on the line.

Fuel-mileage races always bring with them an added amount of drama, but the addition of a championship battle made it all the more tense. This race actually had the feel of what most of the fall Richmond races are like, ironically, except for this season. I said at the end of the regular season I would take a good championship battle instead of a close battle for 12th at Richmond, and that is what we have.

People have talked a lot about possible changes to the Chase, and many ideas centered around an elimination-style format. But, that type of format would have actually taken some of the drama out of the finish to this season. Right now Hamlin and Johnson will go toe-to-toe next week and whoever finishes higher will likely win the title, but the fact that Harvick is still well within striking distance brings in an added element of excitement. If Hamlin and Johnson both falter, the #29 car will do burnouts after the race.

So, now that we have the closest championship battle in the Chase’s short history, let’s dream a little bit. Johnson is only 15 points behind Hamlin. Now, depending on who has what as far as bonus points are concerned, 15 points could be the difference between first and second. Carl Edwards got 20 more points than second-place finisher Ryan Newman, who didn’t lead a lap. Think about this, Hamlin and Johnson drive their way to the front throughout the race and end up first and second on the final run. They then give it everything they have and end up in a battle simlar to the one Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven had at Darlington in 2003, and the race comes down to a photo finish for the race and the championship. That would be thrilling.

Before we move on, congratulations to Edwards and the #99 team. It’s been a long time coming, but the Ford camp has picked up its game during the second half of this season and might well have somebody in the championship hunt at this point next season.

So here it is, the race we’ve all been waiting for. This year’s Chase will go down as one of the greatest ever, and the stage is set for the race at Homestead to be one that NASCAR fans for years to come will look back on and say, “Wow. What can we do to make the racing more like it was in 2010?”

Rating the Kobalt Tools 500: 3 Stars ***

The Sprint Cup Series returned to the Southeast Sunday for what was set up to be a great weekend of racing, and for the most part, it was pretty good. However, things could have turned out better than they did. The Atlanta spring race gets a 3 Star Rating.

Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch, the past two winners at Atlanta coming into Sunday’s race, once again had the best two cars throughout the day. But, the #2 machine was better on short runs and was able to hold off a late scare from Juan Pablo Montoya. This race proved the #2 team is once again going to be a championship contender. Overall, all three of the Penske cars had very strong runs Sunday. Unfortunately, only one came home with a good finish.

That leads us into the overriding topic of the day: Carl Edwards’ payback to Brad Keselowski with two laps to go. Early in the race Edwards moved low in Turn 1 but Keselowski was there and tapped Edwards, sending him up the track and into Joey Logano. Edwards’ car was severely damaged and had to go to the garage for extensive repairs. Once he did come back out, he was focused solely on the red #12 car of Keselowski. While the television cameras showed two attempts at a wipeout, Keselowski said there were three. Anyway, Edwards ran up under Keselowski and sent him flying into the wall. Had this been five years ago, the last time Edwards had that paint scheme on his car, Keselowski would have been killed. It is unbelievable he came out of that crash unhurt. Thankfully, the new car has a larger cockpit and the roof and window area didn’t crush him.

Also, if there was any doubt whether or not the wing should come off the car, Sunday’s wreck answered those questions. In every other bad wreck with the COT, there has been some other factor that could take the blame. Not this time. First, this was not a restrictor plate race, so the cars were not running too close together in large packs. Second, the roof flaps deployed perfectly, yet the car took off. With the old car, the flaps would have kept the car on the ground, and a spoiler would deflect air down instead of having a space for it to get under the wing and lift the back of the car off the ground.

Now NASCAR has the biggest decision of the season in its hands. Suspend Edwards? Let’s look back at a similar situation. In 2008 at Richmond, Casey Mears ran Michael Waltrip into the wall in Turn 4. Waltrip then slammed into the back of Mears and pushed him all the way down the front stretch into the Turn 1 wall. In that situation NASCAR parked Waltrip for the rest of the race and that was the extent of the penalty. Also, that night Waltrip was several laps down to the leaders. If NASCAR does suspend Edwards, of the severity of the crash should not be a factor. His intent, while out of line, was to spin Keselowski out, not send him flying upside down into the wall.

This was a flagrant foul by Edwards and he was kicked out of the race. If NASCAR does decide to suspend him, will this curb the “Have at it boys” racing that NASCAR has been banking on to breathe life back into the sport? This is certainly not what NASCAR had in mind and Edwards did not do this because the rules were relaxed, but the fear of suspension could make someone think twice when deciding whether or not to bump a car out of the way. Also, if NASCAR does suspend Edwards, it will ruin his season and he can kiss his Chase hopes goodbye. In other sports a suspension does not ruin a player’s season, it is just a bump in the road.

At this point Edwards understands the severity of his actions, as that was likely not a pleasant meeting he had with the NASCAR officials inside the big yellow truck. The picture in my mind is Edwards walking into a room with one dim light hanging behind Mike Helton, Robin Pemberton and John Darby as they sat in three chairs glaring at Edwards as he walked in. Edwards looked like a kid who had just punched his brother right in front of his parents and knew a big punishment was coming and had no valid excuse.

While all of the crash aftermath will be interesting to follow over the next two weeks, it did ruin what was possibly going to be another fantastic Atlanta finish. Montoya was gaining on Busch and I believe he would have at least caught him before the checkered. Montoya may not have made the pass, but it would have been exciting.

Anyway, after a week off the series heads to Bristol of all places. There is no reason not to be excited about that race. There hasn’t been this much bad blood flowing through the sport in years, especially heading to a short track. Enjoy the week off everybody and get ready for three weeks of side-by-side beating and banging.