Rating the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season: 2 Stars **

The 2012 Sprint Cup Series struggled to keep the momentum created by the closest championship battle in series history in 2011 when Tony Stewart beat Carl Edwards by a tiebreaker. The 2012 version was defined by lots of green-flag racing, which isn’t a bad thing, but the excitement level was noticeably down this year. The 2012 season gets a 2 Star Rating.

Brad Keselowski helped add some spark (and suds) to the finish of the season as he beat five-time champion Jimmie Johnson to win the title. However, the number of memorable races can probably be counted on one hand.

Here’s the breakdown of this year’s ratings, which includes the Budweiser Shootout and Sprint All-Star Race. It does not include the annual “You Rate the Race” event, which this season was at Kentucky Speedway.

5 Stars: 5 races

4 Stars: 10 races

3 Stars: 8 races

2 Stars: 10 races

1 Star: 4 races

This year had the most 1 Star races in the history of Monday Morning Crew Chief, and the number of 5 Star races dropped from eight to five.

Let’s revisit some of the most memorable races of the season. Click on the links to see the rating for each race mentioned.

We’ll start with Daytona Speedweeks, which included a very exciting Budweiser Shootout and bizarre Daytona 500. Kyle Busch drove through turns 3 and 4 sideways early in the shootout, sending sparks flying from his car. The damage wasn’t enough to slow him down, though, and he came back to win the race by a few feet ahead of Tony Stewart at the finish line in a race that started the season with a 5 Star Rating.

The Daytona 500 was definitely the strangest of the season, and perhaps one of the strangest in the history of the sport. Rain postponed the race until not only Monday, but Monday night in primetime. Busch sent sparks flying in the shootout, but Juan Pablo Montoya did him one better by crashing into a jet dryer under caution. The impact created an explosion and fire in Turn 3 that put the race under a red flag. Matt Kenseth ended up winning the race that got a 3 Star Rating because of the day-and-a-half rain delay.

Once the series left Daytona, the long green-flag runs set in. The racing was remarkably clean, which is good, but the drivers stayed spread out enough on tracks such as Phoenix, Fontana, Texas and even Richmond that any excitement from Speedweeks or the previous season had disappeared. Just six races following Speedweeks received a rating higher than 3 Stars until the series went back to Daytona in July for a 5 Star race.

The second half of the season started to gain momentum as drivers such as Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon battled back from early season troubles to make the race. Kahne grabbed a wild-card spot, and Gordon snuck by Busch by one point to claim the 10^th and final Chase spot based on points. That final regular-season race at Richmond received a 4 Star Rating, and Clint Bowyer took home the trophy.

Johnson won another Brickyard 400 this year, his fourth, but the race was less than thrilling in part because of his dominance. It received a 2 Star Rating.

However, things got interesting two weeks later at Watkins Glen as Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose slide through oil as Busch wrecked on the final lap. Keselowski and Ambrose had the best final-lap battle of the season, and Ambrose came out on top to win for the second year in a row on the road course. That final lap bumped the race to a 4 Star Rating.

The late-season fireworks first showed up at the, once again, newly reconfigured Bristol Motor Speedway during the August night race. The shaved top groove brought back the old-style beating and banging, although this time at the top of the racetrack. Stewart and Kenseth crashed while battling for the lead, and Stewart threw his helmet at Kenseth’s car, bouncing it off the hood of Kenseth’s #17. Danica Patrick also wrecked and angrily shook her finger at Regan Smith. Denny Hamlin ended up winning the 5 Star Race. He won again the next week at Atlanta and a month later at New Hampshire, but too many mechanical problems ended his championship run.

Once the Chase began, Keselowski took charge by winning at Chicago and Dover, neither of which were particularly action-packed races. They both got 2 Star Ratings.

The action-packed Chase race this season was at Phoenix. Kevin Harvick rose from the desert dust to win his first race of the season, but he was a mere footnote to the craziness of that 5 Star afternoon. Gordon and Clint Bowyer battled late in the race, and Gordon cut a tire from the battle and crashed. He then waited for Bowyer to come back around the track and intentionally wrecked him. Bowyer’s pit crew was waiting for Gordon when he drove back to the garage, and they immediately jumped him, inciting one of the largest brawls the sport had seen in years. Patrick also played a hand in this crazy race. She wrecked as the field came to the white flag, put down oil in Turn 4 coming to the finish line, and a half-dozen cars piled up as they crossed the line.

That all set the stage for the championship race at Homestead. Keselowski came into the race with a 20-point lead of Johnson and qualified third to Johnson’s 10^th. Johnson made a run to the front that night and might have won the title until a loose lug nut penalty cost him time on the track and a problem in the drivetrain sent him to the garage early, effectively handing Keselowski the championship.

This year marked the end of the Car of Tomorrow body style NASCAR introduced in 2007. A new model will be used next year. As is the case with every new model, NASCAR officials say it will race better than the previous version. That wasn’t the case the last time around, but at least the new cars look better.

Next year will also have its fair share of new drivers with new teams. Most notably, Kenseth will move to the #20 car, while Joey Logano takes over the #22 ride. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. will fill the #17 car, and Kurt Busch will continue to try and revive his career in the #78 car, formerly driven by Smith.

The 2012 season had its exciting and interesting moments. Let’s just hope there are more in 2013.

Rating the Ford EcoBoost 400: 3 Stars ***

For the first time in eight years, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has a first-time champion. Brad Keselowski won the championship, and Jeff Gordon won a race that had a lot of storylines, although few that made for a really exciting race. The final race of the 2012 season gets a 3 Star Rating.

Gordon won the race after Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. had to pit for fuel late in the race, and he beat his nemesis from Phoenix, Clint Bowyer. My how a week changes things. Last week those two were involved in garage fights and had torn up race cars; this week they had the two top finishes.

The best racing of the day came from Busch and Truex Jr. As he did in both the truck and Nationwide races this weekend, Busch led nearly all of the first 100 laps, but then a debris caution came out and bunched up the field.

At that point, Truex Jr. challenged for the lead and the two drivers ran next to each other the remainder of the race. They traded the lead a few times, and Truex Jr. hounded Busch’s bumper for much of the night.

It’s too bad the race couldn’t have come down to a battle between those two drivers. The finish likely wouldn’t have ended as close as Friday’s truck race between Busch and Cale Gale, but it would’ve been better than Gordon beating Bowyer by more than one second.

But the championship was the focus of the day anyway. Johnson put up a good fight throughout much of the race and had a shot to win the championship after pit strategies worked in his favor with a little more than 50 laps remaining.

Then his night quickly took a turn for the worse. His pit crew missed a lugnut on the left-rear tire on lap 213 and by lap 227 he was in the pits with a blown drivetrain that would end his night and hopes of a championship.

Johnson did make the title fight dramatic for a bit, though. After Keselowski chose to stay on track under caution after Ricky Stenhouse Jr. wrecked on lap 154, Johnson took the opportunity to get tires and set up his fuel strategy for the rest of the race.

Had Johnson been able to avoid his late-race problems, he just might have squeaked out his sixth championship.

It wasn’t meant to be, however, and Keselowski is the Sprint Cup Series champion in just his third full season in the series. And what a ride he has had to the top.

Keselowski won his first race at Talladega Superspeedway in April 2009 in the famous finish that sent Carl Edwards flying into the fence. That race he drove the James Finch-owned #09 car to its first victory.

Since then he’s won eight more races, made the Chase in two of his three years with Penske Racing and now has the championship. Oh yeah, he also won the Nationwide Series championship for owner Roger Penske in 2010. Both of his championships are Penske’s first championships in each series.

That is a remarkable run of success, and he has earned it. It has been fun to watch Keselowski enter the sport and go from a part-timer looking for a full ride to a brash kid who upset veteran drivers to a champion.

Whether or not he wins more championships in the future, Keselowski's career will be a success. Congratulations to him and the entire #2 team on winning the 2012 Sprint Cup Series championship.

Unfortunately, the end of the championship race also means the end of the season and no more Sunday afternoons filled by a NASCAR race. That is always a sad time and takes somewhat of an adjustment for many fans after they’ve had the same routine for eight months.

But as always, Daytona Speedweeks will open a new season in mid-February and NASCAR life will begin anew. Hopefully the days between now and then are filled with happiness and holiday celebrations with friends and family.

Thank you for following the Monday Morning Crew Chief ratings again this season. It’s been a fun year and expect more in 2013. Also, look for the rating of the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season, which will be posted following the champion’s celebration Nov. 30 in Las Vegas.

Have a great offseason, everybody.

If NASCAR doesn’t suspend Jeff Gordon, it should have only one explanation

NASCAR officials had a difficult decision on their hands as they went to bed Sunday night following a wild race at Phoenix International Raceway.

Jeff Gordon incited a massive brawl that involved him, his #24 team and several members of Clint Bowyer’s #15 team Sunday after he intentionally turned Bowyer into the wall Sunday as the field came to the white flag.

While the fight was the most eye-catching part of the incident, the part of the situation that will likely receive the most scrutiny is Gordon’s punting of Bowyer into the wall on purpose, even though Bowyer still had a mathematical chance to win the Sprint Cup Series championship.

Bowyer had gotten underneath Gordon and made contact a few laps before the wreck that started the fight. The fender rub caused Gordon’s tire to blow and he crashed in Turn 4. The part of the wreck that should be the focus of NASCAR’s decision is what happened next.

Gordon waited for Bowyer to come back around the track and then turned him straight into the wall while also wrecking Joey Logano and Aric Almirola. He also nearly ruined another championship contender’s day because Brad Keselowski was right behind Logano when the wreck happened.

Anyway, Gordon’s actions looked a lot like what Kyle Busch did to Ron Hornaday Jr. last year at Texas Motor Speedway in a Camping World Truck Series race.

Hornaday Jr. was in championship contention heading into the race, but he and Busch traded paint early in the event. The caution came out shortly thereafter, and Busch drove Hornaday Jr. up into the Turn 2 wall, effectively ending Hornaday Jr.’s shot at winning the title.

The only difference between Busch’s actions and Gordon’s actions was the presence of the yellow flag. Busch wrecked Hornaday Jr. under caution while Gordon wrecked Bowyer under green-flag conditions.

That should also be the only reason NASCAR doesn’t suspend Gordon for next week’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Everything else about the wrecks is essentially the same.

If NASCAR doesn’t suspend Gordon and says they made the decision based on something other than whether the wreck happened under caution, the sport will be thrown into a mess that would once again tarnish the integrity of the sport.

NASCAR dropped a major punishment on Busch last year by parking him for both the Nationwide and Cup races at Texas following his intentional wreck. Sure, Busch is considered a brash, pain-in-the-butt by many in the sport and Gordon has the reputation of a four-time champion that time has helped mold. But none of that should factor into whether NASCAR allows Gordon to race next Sunday.

Some people might say a punishment by NASCAR would prevent rough racing in the future and continue to make a sport that has dwindling excitement even more mellow. I doubt it. NASCAR has delivered punishments for all kinds of actions on the track and in the garage area through the years, and we still end up with arguments and even fights from time to time.

It would be better for the integrity of the sport to suspend Gordon, if for nothing else than to establish a little bit of consistency in the sport’s rulings.

Others might say the Busch incident was different because he wasn't a full-time competitor in the truck series, but that shouldn't make a difference. He was on the track that night trying to win the race just as much as the other 35 drivers in that truck race, just as Gordon did Sunday against a full Cup series field.

Whether Gordon’s actions Sunday deserve a suspension will be debated for a long time, but NASCAR set a precedent last year by suspending Busch for his wreck at Texas.

That is, unless officials say they won’t suspend Gordon because he intentionally wrecked a championship contender under green-flag conditions.

Anything else would further diminish the integrity of a sport that already has enough of those problems.

Rating the AAA Texas 500: 3 Stars ***

Sprint Cup Series championship contenders Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski spiced up the end of an otherwise stale race Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. Thankfully, the championship was in play or Sunday’s race might have received worse than its 3 Star Rating.

Johnson and the #48 team trotted out their dominating ways quickly last weekend. Johnson smoked the field in qualifying, beating second-place Greg Biffle by more than 0.10 of a second. That doesn’t sound like much, but it was the largest difference between any two top-40 qualifiers.

Johnson then went on to lead the first 100 laps, and he did so with more than a four-second advantage over second place. Then NASCAR had to throw a debris caution to give the field a chance to keep Johnson from stinking up the entire show.

Overall, Johnson got the necessary results by leading 168 laps and winning the race. But his challenger, Keselowski, put up another strong fight at a track he previously hadn’t finished higher than 14^th.

Keselowski finished second Sunday and nearly stole the win. He took two tires twice while the rest of the field took four tires, and he even roughed up the #48 car a little by bumping him on the frontstretch to take the lead on the penultimate restart.

That last section of the race is what saved the AAA Texas 500 from a lower rating. The first 275 or so laps were very boring. For whatever reason, the intensity level jumped dramatically after the final debris caution of the day on lap 275 and continued to the checkered flag.

Alas, Johnson still ended up in Victory Lane and extended his lead in the championship standings to seven points. The lead would’ve been just two points if Keselowski had won and Johnson finished second.

That means Johnson will head to Phoenix, the second-to-last race of the season with a lead that is longer than an eyelash. If Johnson beats Keselowski again next week, the #48 team will strut into the final race at Homestead with another sizeable lead that would require Johnson to finish well outside the top 10 to even have a chance to lose the championship.

Still, Keselowski has put up an admirable fight throughout the Chase, and the entire season for that matter. Whether or not Keselowski wins the championship, this season could be a sign of things to come in the future for him and the # 2 team, provided their switch to Ford next year goes smoothly.

In any case, the series will head to Phoenix next week for what could easily be another Johnson-Keselowski show. There might be a non-Chaser jump in the top five or pull off Kasey Kahne’s feat from last year when he won a race that was dominated by the 2011 championship contenders, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards.

Kyle Busch could pull that off this year. Remember last year at this time he didn’t even have a ride after NASCAR suspended him following a truck series wreck with Ron Hornaday Jr. at Texas.

Busch finished third at Texas this year and could pull off an upset win next week, but otherwise the championship race will likely be the sole focus of the weekend.

Have a great week, everybody.

Rating the AAA 400: 2 Stars **

Brad Keselowski and the #2 team outsmarted the Sprint Cup Series field again Sunday at Dover International Speedway to win their second Chase race of the season, with seven more to go. Late strategy drama saved what was left of an otherwise boring race that deserves a 2 Star Rating.

Keselowski now leads the points standings and stands five points in front of second-place Jimmie Johnson. This has all the makings of a three-man championship battle among Keselowski, Johnson and Denny Hamlin, who sits 16 points behind in third, and Keselowski is leading the charge.

Those who thought Keselowski would be a factor once the Chase started might have thought he would play the role of Clint Bowyer in past years. Bowyer often had a great start to the Chase and would hang around through most of October before falling behind the real championship contenders.

Keselowski is better than that. He and crew chief Paul Wolfe can pull out top-five finishes on days they have a mediocre car that qualified in the mid-20s because they play the strategy game better than anyone in the sport.

That team looks at every part of the race as an opportunity to gain an advantage while most people focus on the final two runs. Keselowski is on top of the sport because he and his team have made calls early in races while other teams follow the leader and make the same call as everyone else. Granted, they have to have good cars to be able to pull off those moves, but good cars and good strategy are key ingredients in a championship run.

On the other side of the battle, Joe Gibbs Racing drivers Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin walked out of the Monster Mile disappointed even though they had top-10 runs. Busch dominated Sunday the way Hamlin had the week prior at New Hampshire, but fuel strategy got in the way and both drivers had to pit late in the race.

The loss means nothing but frustration for Busch because he isn’t in the Chase this year, but Hamlin gave up six points that could prove extremely costly late in the season. Johnson also had to back down on the final run to make sure he had enough gas to the finish.

While other drivers are leaking points, Keselowski is capitalizing. The rest of the Chase field better take the #2 team seriously or they will be saluting the team with a championship toast at the end of the year.

Overall, there wasn’t much on-track action. J.J. Yeley blew a tire during green-flag pit stops on lap 69 that knocked all but six drivers off the lead lap, but the race wouldn’t have been any more exciting if everyone was on the lead lap.

At this point in the season, the good cars are head and shoulders above the rest of the field so a race among the top six at tracks such as New Hampshire and Dover is about as exciting as it would be if 30 cars were on the lead lap.

That will all change next week, though, as the series heads to Talladega Superspeedway for the final restrictor-plate race of the season.

Those races are nearly impossible to predict, which is part of their intrigue. However, if Keselowski, Johnson and Hamlin finish in the top 10, the window of opportunity for the rest of the Chase drivers will virtually shut.

But for one week at least, the Chase will take a back seat to 500 miles of intense 200 mph drama at the biggest track of them all.

Have a great week, everybody.

Rating the Federated Auto Parts 400: 4 Stars ****

The Sprint Cup Series regular season came to a close in dramatic fashion Saturday night and early Sunday morning at Richmond International Raceway. Jeff Gordon snuck through the raindrops to grab the final spot in the Chase in a race that constantly changed complexion. Overall, this race gets a 4 Star Rating.

To accentuate the changing nature of the race, Clint Bowyer won his second race of the season even though he spun down the frontstretch in the second half of the event. He and Juan Pablo Montoya made contact on lap 235. That cut down Bowyer’s left-rear tire and caused his spin.

But that turned out to be a big-time blessing in disguise. The resulting pit stop strategies put Bowyer back near the front of the field for the final 117 laps and he passed Ryan Newman for the lead with 88 laps to go. He didn’t look back, although he did have to manage his fuel mileage to reach the finish line.

While Bowyer led the final run, Gordon made a comeback that deserved to be rewarded with a Chase spot. Gordon’s #24 car was junk in the first half of the race even though he started in second. By the time the red flag came out for rain on lap 152, Gordon was a lap down to then-leader Denny Hamlin and looked to be out of contention for anything. It turns out he was in contention for both a Chase spot and the race win.

Gordon charged through the field in the second half of the race and reached second when the checkered flag flew. Kyle Busch faded to 16^th, which meant Gordon had snagged the second wild-card spot by a mere three points.

No matter what type of points system NASCAR uses, the fall race at Richmond almost always produces a wild night of racing both on the track and in the points standings. Those type of races don’t come around very often, but they are sure fun when they do.

Also, pretty much any important race in the last year has had to deal with rain delays. Both Homestead last year and this season’s Daytona 500 were affected by rain, but the racing was great when the weather let them get out on the track. Hopefully that’s just a coincidence and this year’s Homestead race will be fun but without rain.

But before the series gets to Homestead, the 12 Chase drivers will start their battle next week at Chicagoland Speedway. Expectations for a fun and exciting Chase are always extremely high the week leading up to the first race, but this year there are a myriad of contenders.

All of the top drivers have won multiple races. Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart are going to be primed for a good next 10 races. Even drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. and Kevin Harvick, who are winless this season, are running well right now and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them bust through with victories in the Chase.

In any case, this should be the best part of what has been a mediocre season in terms of action. There won’t be time for Chase drivers to ride around because they could quickly lose touch with the leaders in the points standings. Hopefully, this is the beginning of the memorable part of the 2012 season.

Have a great week, everybody.

Rating the Finger Lakes 355: 4 Stars ****

It took a race track covered in motor oil to produce an exciting finish, but the Sprint Cup Series drivers sure went nuts as they slid through the final two laps Sunday at Watkins Glen. The first 88 laps weren’t much different than the rest of the relatively boring season, but the wild and crazy finish gives this race a 4 Star Rating.

Kyle Busch had the race won until he ran up on oil laid down by Bobby Labonte’s #47 car and had to slow his pace to stay on the race track. Brad Keselowski caught him in Turn 1 on the final lap and promptly spun him out. Then the battle was on between Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose.

The remainder of the final lap looked like the track’s surface was dirt rather than asphalt. Keselowski and Ambrose swapped the lead several times as they both tried thrashed to get to the finish line first. Ambrose eventually won the battle and took the checkered flag for his second consecutive win at Watkins Glen.

Now, many folks will say an exciting final few laps does not make a good race. There is certainly truth in that statement, but it’s also true that races aren’t designed to be exciting the entire time. Some of the greatest finishes in NASCAR history have come at the end of an otherwise forgettable race. This week’s race gets 4 stars because it had the best finish of the season. Period.

The first 95 percent of the race was about as typical of a Watkins Glen race as possible. Several drivers fell out of the race early because of mechanical problems and teams made varying strategy calls throughout the race. Otherwise, not much happened.

Busch, Keselowski and Ambrose had the three best cars all day, so it was fitting they were the three to battle for the win. And boy, they battled.

Busch should’ve won the race. He beat Keselowski and Ambrose on the final restart and would not have been caught if the track had been dry. His spin on the final lap relegated him to seventh on the scoreboard and moved him to 14^th in the points standings, six points away from the second wild-card spot, which is currently held by Ryan Newman.

Maybe the biggest lesson from Sunday’s race is how the slick conditions made for such exciting racing, and how much the drivers enjoyed the battle.

Certainly Busch and Jeff Gordon, who also spun out on the final lap, would disagree, but Keselowski and Ambrose had a ton of fun sliding around for the win.

That type of racing has disappeared in NASCAR in the last five years or so. In the greatest finish of all time, Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch slid around Darlington Raceway in 2003 for the final 15 laps banging into each other and having a great time. Craven won the race by .002 seconds.

Unfortunately, that type of racing isn’t possible any more, even at tracks such as Darlington. Nearly every track on the NASCAR schedule has been repaved since Craven’s win in 2003. Atlanta Motor Speedway is just about the only track left that hasn’t been recently repaved and has an abrasive surface that is difficult to drive.

The fresh asphalt gives cars better grip and allows the cars to go faster, but it doesn’t make for better racing. Hopefully, the track surfaces start to give up grip in the near future and become more difficult to drive. That will make for better racing.

Next week the Sprint Cup Series heads to one of the tracks with the newest pavement: Michigan International Speedway. Speeds surpassed 200 mph in June, but that likely won’t happen this weekend with hotter temperatures.

Maybe Dale Earnhardt Jr. will win again. We’ll likely hear plenty about his win in June next week. Regardless, expect the big teams to dominate the front of the field. The quality of the car matters a lot at Michigan.

Have a great week, everybody

Rating the Pennsylvania 400: 1 Stars *

A Sunday afternoon destined to be cut short by rain ended in tragedy with a big thunderstorm at Pocono Raceway. Jeff Gordon happened to sit in first place as the rains came, but the final race of the year at Pocono gets a 1 Star Rating.

The race really doesn’t matter following the death of a fan and injuries to nine others who were struck by lightning at the racetrack after officials ended the race on lap 98, and there is no way it could get a higher rating amid such a devastating event.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at what happened before the storm Sunday at Pocono.

After a season filled with about every different type of disappointment imaginable, Gordon made a withdrawal from the luck bank when Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and the rest of the frontrunners tried to make it through Turn 1 sideways on the final restart.

Sure, Gordon and his team worked hard to get him in position to sneak through for a win, but he still caught one heck of a lucky break.

The same thing happened for Ryan Newman at Martinsville when Clint Bowyer took out Johnson and Gordon in Turn 1 on the final restart. Now Newman and Gordon are tied for the final wild-card spot, with Gordon winning the tiebreaker because he has more top-five finishes.

Maybe the final wild-card spot should be renamed the lucky card if one of those two drivers makes the Chase based on their lone win.

Sunday’s race actually had a fair amount of action for a rain-shortened event at Pocono. Yes, Johnson jumped out and paced the field by four seconds or so for a while, but the leaders stayed close during several runs, especially compared to most races at Pocono or most of the races this season.

Perhaps it’s fitting a Hendrick Motorsports car won the race because that organization again dominated the day. Dale Earnhardt Jr. charged to the front early in the race and would’ve been in strong contention for the win if his transmission hadn’t broke. Kasey Kahne had the second-best car at the start of the race and then Johnson made his usual run to the front.

Hendrick Motorsports could have placed four cars in the top five if not for bad Johnson and Earnhardt Jr.’s problems.

With all of the crazy issues throughout the day, Kyle Busch came out as the biggest loser. A problem with the back of his car sent him into the Turn 1 wall on lap 19 and he finished 33^rd. More importantly, he scored just 11 points and now sits 15^th in the points standings with one win. He came into the race 11^th in the points and in position for the second wild card. He is now 12 points behind Gordan and Newman for that spot.

Either way, a big-name driver is going to miss the Chase this year.

Next up for the Sprint Cup Series is the road course of Watkins Glen. Marcos Ambrose and Juan Pablo Montoya will likely receive all sorts of attention and people will say they have a chance to make the Chase if they can win that race.

Well, technically they would have a chance, but neither car is running well enough these days to pose a real threat to the drivers currently in the wild-card positions. It would be great for Ambrose or Montoya to get a win, but let’s not push the issue too far.

Kahne, Gordon, Newman or Busch will be the wild-card drivers this year. Even Carl Edwards would have to mount a charge in an incredibly short amount of time to make the Chase.

He likely won’t win next week at Watkins Glen, so that means he has just Bristol, Atlanta and Richmond to make the Chase. He could catch fire and win two of those three races, but there is little reason to think that will happen based on his performance so far this season.

Anyway, have a great week and pray for those who were affected by the lightning strike at Pocono.

Kurt Busch has been the most interesting driver of 2012, but for all the wrong reasons

Although Jimmie Johnson has won three of the last four weekends and Mark Martin leads the Sprint Cup Series with three poles at 54 years of age, Kurt Busch has drawn the most attention this season.

Unfortunately, he has drawn exclusively negative attention of late, and that will continue for at least another week.

NASCAR suspended Busch until June 13 for remarks he made to a media member following the Nationwide race Saturday at Dover International Speedway.

Busch was already on probation from an incident on pit road with Ryan Newman’s #39 team after the Southern 500 a few weeks ago at Darlington so his antics last weekend sent him to the bench for this week’s race at Pocono Raceway.

Obviously, this isn’t anything new for Busch. Well, the suspension is something new, but he has filled his career with regrettable moments that keep him from being lauded for his driving ability as a NASCAR champion.

He lost his first Cup ride a year after his 2004 championship run in the #97 car for Jack Roush after he was cited for reckless driving.

Busch quickly found a ride with Penske Racing and had several incidents that eventually led up to a profanity-laced rant at ESPN reporter Dr. Jerry Punch during the final race of the season at Homestead.

That rant cost him his seat in the #22 car, so this year he had to make do with the mostly unsponsored #51 car furnished by the singe-car operation of Phoenix Racing.

Busch could have used the setback to collect himself and make a second career out of returning to the top of the sport, but this suspension likely rules out the possibility of that happening any time soon.

People will long debate whether Busch’s penalty was too harsh or too lenient. Either way, Busch’s previous incidents clearly factored into the severity of his penalty, the same way they did when his younger brother, Kyle Busch, was parked for the Texas Nationwide and Cup races after he drove Ron Hornaday Jr. into the wall during the truck race.

In this sport, drivers can act foolishly and get away with it to a certain extent. Carl Edwards intentionally wrecked Brad Keselowski twice in 2010, but NASCAR placed Edwards on probation only after the second wreck.

Fans might also remember that he faked throwing a punch at teammate Matt Kenseth following the fall 2007 race at Martinsville.

Since those incidents, Edwards has not had any problems and nearly won the 2011 Sprint Cup Series championship. He is also one of the most outgoing and polite drivers in the sport.

Perhaps Edwards learned his lessons and matured beyond the extracurricular games that tend to crop up during a long season.

That’s part of what makes Busch’s most recent actions even more surprising than the fact that NASCAR suspended him.

Busch is a Sprint Cup Series champion. That type of success carries a lot of weight in NASCAR. Champions rise above other drivers in the sport both on a competitive level and a respect level. Busch’s repeated mishaps simply aren’t fitting of a champion in this, or any, sport. had absolutely nothing to gain by arguing with reporters after the Nationwide race and a heck of a lot to lose.

What makes difficult to understand are instances such as the Nationwide race three weeks ago at Iowa Speedway. He acted like a gentleman after the race even after he was punted on the final lap while running third. He ended up finishing fifth and had to make a remarkable save to do so.

So one week Busch is polite and the next he is threatening to beat up reporters.

Even Busch haters might be a little confused at this point. Sure, it’s fun to root against drivers you don’t like and in some ways it is rewarding to see them struggle, but this has gotten out of hand.

At some point people will dismiss Busch as a lunatic and stop rooting for or against him. They will simply stop caring.

He will miss this week’s race at Pocono, but he could also be on the verge of irrelevance to the point that people will only tune in to see what he does off the track rather than on it.  

That could eventually take away his spotlight, which might be the worst consequence of all.

Rating the Aaron's 499: 4 Stars ****

After weeks of so much green-flag racing that people got nervous when they saw water bottles on the track, the Sprint Cup Series stormed through Talladega Superspeedway and came out with just 24 cars running at the end. Although it was a good race, there have been better races at Talladega. Sunday’s race gets a 4 Star Rating.

Brad Keselowski showed once again that he is perhaps the young NASCAR driver with the most potential to be a Cup champion. The guy is a master at saving fuel, he doesn’t back down when the race is on the line and he simply outfoxed Kyle Busch to win Sunday’s race.

Ever since Keselowski sent Carl Edwards flying into the fence to end the 2009 spring race at Talladega, the finishes at that track have had a predictable, albeit very exciting, ending. Two cars break away from the pack, the lead driver then tries to block but the second-place driver makes a move and passes the leader for the win.

All of the ingredients were in place for a similar finish Sunday. Keselowski and Busch burst from the pack on the final green-white-checkered restart and they were the only two with a realistic chance of winning.

However, once they got to Turn 3 on the final lap Keselowski pre-empted Busch’s move by moving to the bottom lane and breaking their two-car push. Busch then didn’t have a partner to help him make a move, and Keselowski cruised to the win.

Keselowski now has two wins on the season and sits 12^th in the points. His two wins nearly guarantee he will make the Chase for the second year in a row, but his ability to run well on several different types of tracks – he also won at Bristol in March – makes him a likely candidate to be in the top 10 in points by the time the Chase starts.

Plus, he runs well enough at the current Chase tracks to legitimately contend for the title.

The rest of the race was rather clean for a Talladega event, especially compared to the mayhem of the ARCA and Nationwide races earlier in the weekend.

Many of the drivers grew frustrated about having to monitor their water temperatures throughout the race, but NASCAR jumped in with both feet when it made changes to break up the two-car drafts. It won’t back down from that very easily, but officials might have to consider opening the cooling system restrictions for the July race at Daytona when it will likely be hotter than Sunday.

People will forever debate the merits of restrictor-plate racing, whether it is proper racing or what style of racing they prefer. But, Sunday’s race had a more similar feel to restrictor-plate races during the Dale Earnhardt era. He didn’t have to contend with the cooling system restrictions, but the ability to pass in the pack Sunday was better than the old pack style of racing.

Remember, back in the day fans and drivers alike complained after every race about some aspect of the racing. Sometimes it was too hard to pass, other times it was that the rules allowed teams with junk cars to race along with the traditional front-runners.

Whatever the case, that is just part of restrictor-plate racing and it will likely forever be that way. Like it or not, that’s part of its charm. People talk about restrictor-plate races for weeks after they are over. That doesn’t happen for races at places such as Fontana or Kansas. Overall, restrictor-plate races are some of the most exciting on the schedule. Period.

With all of that said, the next race track is pretty darn good. A 500-mile race at Darlington Raceway is one of the ever more precious major tests for drivers. The Lady in Black will beat the tar out of a driver who isn’t up to the challenge.

With Darlington and Charlotte on the schedule for the rest of the month, May should have some of the best racing of the season to date.

Have a great week, everybody.

NASCAR adds fuel to fire of debris caution debate

After a month of less-than-thrilling races that ended with a questionable call to throw a caution for debris Saturday at Richmond International Raceway, NASCAR’s Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton made matters worse when he antagonized fans who wanted proof that there was debris on the track.

"Sometimes, some people are a little more needy than others and they want to see that for whatever reason," Pemberton said Tuesday. "And whatever their thought process and beliefs with the governing body (are), they think they need proof.”

You’re darn right they need proof, and Tony Stewart would probably like some as well. He was cruising to victory Saturday at Richmond but NASCAR threw a debris caution with 12 laps remaining. Kyle Busch beat Stewart out of the pits and went on to get the win.

The debris, however, was never shown on television and even people at the track that night debated what caused the caution. Some said it was a water bottle in Turn 2, some said it was a beer can and still others said it was a piece of metal lying in the groove on the backstretch.

In any case, NASCAR once again had to deal with the inevitable integrity questions that follow a questionable debris caution that decides a race. Unfortunately, Pemberton came off as a high-brow official of a corporation that could care less what people think.

Yet, NASCAR always touts how it is such an open sport and provides incredible access to fans at the races.

Lately, NASCAR has not been the hospitable host. It has instead looked like a rich jerk that can and will do whatever it wants.

Although those who love the sport try to avoid these uncomfortable topics, NASCAR is permeated with that type of thinking even by those not directly employed by NASCAR.

The TV coverage runs commercials through so much of the race that sometimes it is difficult for fans to maintain interest when the action is interrupted so often. And when they aren’t running commercials, the TV crews run promotional segments or other commentary that totally overrides the action on the track.

Another example is when Bruton Smith, although not employed by NASCAR, chose to change the turns at Bristol Motor Speedway based on a vocal 40 percent who voted in his survey to change the track.

I understand that money is king and the sport has to do whatever it can to stay financially sound, but it is doing it at the expense of its fans. In fact, it has been doing so for years.

The Chase, the demise of traditional race dates at Southeastern tracks to capture larger markets and the seemingly perennial changes to the points system has driven many fans away from the sport, whether NASCAR acknowledges it or not.

If this is how NASCAR officials want to run the sport, fine. It’s their show, and they can do as they see fit. But please don’t pretend like every decision is made to benefit the fans.

In reality, many decisions are made in spite of the fans, and Pemberton may have inadvertently exposed that truth by calling those same fans “needy” because they want to watch legitimate competition.

Rating the Capital City 400: 2 Stars **

After several races full of long green-flag runs and few caution flags, people thought that all might change as the Sprint Cup Series visited Richmond International Raceway. Unfortunately, Saturday night’s race combined all that has been bad about the 2012 season and gets a 2 Star Rating.

Even though it’s a short track, Richmond produced similar racing as most of the other tracks outside Daytona this year. There were only five cautions throughout the race, and that’s including the bogus debris caution NASCAR threw with 12 laps remaining to spice up the finish.

None of those cautions were for a wreck besides Kurt Busch’s spin on lap 118, and he didn’t sustain any damage.

The complaints about no wrecks started to get louder and louder as each week passed, so NASCAR decided to throw the caution in hopes of an old-time throwdown.

Well, the only possible throwdowns at the end of the race would’ve been between drivers and NASCAR officials instead of drivers angry at each other.

Kyle Busch won the race, but Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart should have been the two drivers to battle for the win. Instead, NASCAR penalized Edwards for jumping the restart on lap 318 and the debris caution at the end killed Stewart’s chances when he came in to pit and Busch beat him out of the pits.

The rest of the race wasn’t terribly exciting, but other than the screaming people who lust for wrecks each week, this would’ve been a fairly typical race. Edwards likely would’ve driven off from the field and cruised to victory.

Edwards sure could have used the win, too. He remains ninth in the points standings after finishing 10^th at Richmond. Still, his run Saturday night should build some confidence for the #99 team. They usually aren’t that great at short tracks, and his teammates have run extremely well on the intermediate tracks this year.

Talladega is always a crap shoot, but Edwards ran well at Darlington last year and will surely get a win or two at some point during the summer. Stewart and Edwards ran most of Saturday night’s race as if it was last year’s season finale at Homestead. Regardless of how they’ve run so far this season, both the #14 team and the #99 team are still two of the very best in the sport.

After all of the problems, perceived or real, with the racing during the past month or so, all of that will be forgotten as the series heads to one of the greatest racetracks in the world, Talladega Superspeedway.

Talladega race weekend is one of those on the schedule where it doesn’t matter how the racing has been or how your favorite driver has run so far this year. Everybody has a chance to do well at Talladega, and it is usually some of the most exciting racing of the season.

The only silver lining to the problems at Richmond is that it generated debates that will have people talking throughout the week. That will only continue after next week because there is always something that gets people fired up after a Talladega race.

Enjoy next weekend, folks, it is one of the special stops during the season.

Richmond race perfect for those who like entertainment more than racing

Kyle Busch crossed the line first Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, and although he had a fast car, he had no business in Victory Lane.

Before we really get started though, let me throw out the disclaimer to address all of those who will try to accuse this post of being upset because the #18 car won. This story has much less to do with Busch and more to do with how terribly NASCAR handled Saturday night’s race.

First, NASCAR single-handedly took Carl Edwards out of contention for the victory when officials penalized him for jumping a restart with 82 laps to go.

Again, this isn’t about Edwards, but how NASCAR handled the situation. Apparently officials told Edwards’ spotter the #99 car was the leader ahead of Tony Stewart.

Granted, Edwards took off before the restart line, but he was close. It’s fine to say that should be an objective call, but then Matt Kenseth should’ve been penalized twice at Bristol for beating the leader back to the line on a restart.

If NASCAR thought Kenseth was close enough to get a gimme on the restarts, Edwards was certainly close enough to get a gimme at Richmond.

In that case, the only other problem would’ve been if Edwards was supposed to restart in second place. He obviously thought he was supposed to restart second because he was in the outside lane, but the he was told he was the leader. Therefore, there shouldn’t have been a problem.

That wasn’t the only problem with how NASCAR handled the end of the race, though.

Stewart caught a break when Edwards was black-flagged, but he also had the race taken away from him with just 14 laps to go when NASCAR found an excuse to throw a debris caution.

Supposedly there was a water bottle or beer can in Turn 2. We’ll never know because the TV cameras couldn’t find it, but Busch won the following restart and won the race.

Stewart would’ve won the race easily had the race stayed green, but that would have been the third race in a row that didn’t have a close finish. Heaven forbid that happen, people might say the race was boring again.

NASCAR couldn’t allow a competition to play out naturally. It had to throw the caution to keep things interesting. Well, the end of the race wasn’t much more exciting than it would’ve been if Stewart had cruised on to the win. Dale Earnhardt Jr. never got close enough to Busch to make the end interesting.

Unfortunately, all of these issues hurt the integrity of the racing.

NASCAR is already a sport that fights perceptions from non-fans who say it isn’t a real sport and the drivers aren’t truly athletes. Most of the time those comments come from ignorant people who have never watched an entire race in their life, but Satruday night was pretty much a staged finish.

I’m sorry recent races haven’t been packed with action, but this is supposed to be a sport. If NASCAR wants to make this reality television, then jump in with both feet and have producers control how the race plays out, who races who and who gets upset at each other.

People lose their minds when they think a referee or umpire in another sport affected the outcome of a game, but coming into this race people were actually debating whether NASCAR officials should intentionally affect the end of the race.

NASCAR officials will forever deny it, but that water bottle would not have affected how Saturday night’s race finished. The debris caution sure did, though.

It might be unfair to say Busch was given this win because he still drove hard throughout the night, but he sure got a ton of help from the NASCAR officials in the control tower who took the win away from Edwards and Stewart.

The only lasting impression from Saturday night’s race may have been the substantial questions of NASCAR’s integrity.

Rating the Auto Club 400: 1 Star *

The first Sprint Cup Series race in California this year was less than thrilling, as a drive down the interstate would’ve been more exciting than Sunday’s race at Auto Club Speedway. It took just five races for Monday Morning Crew Chief to dish out the first 1 Star Rating of the season.

Congratulations to Tony Stewart, at least he had one of the best cars in the field Sunday. The green-flag racing also wasn’t a problem. NASCAR maintains integrity when it doesn’t throw debris cautions to bunch up the field, and letting a race go green decreases the chance of a fluke winner because of a restart.

Still, this race was two-and-a-half hours that most NASCAR fans will quickly forget. Nothing memorable happened, and then the race was shortened by rain with 71 laps remaining.

Those are the ingredients for a pretty boring race.

I actually had hopes for an exciting Sprint Cup Series race this weekend after watching the Nationwide Series race. Saturday’s race had the top five drivers all within a few car lengths of each other and the lead changed several times before Joey Logano crossed the finish line first.

That, however, certainly did not transfer over to Sunday’s race. Kyle Busch took the early lead, eventually Stewart ran him down to take over the top spot and then it rained. That was it.

Shoot, some fans might not have digested their Sunday fried chicken before the race was over.

The other issue that plagues races at Fontana is the fact that only drivers on big teams do well at the track. There are no surprises in the running order. The final results might as well have a dollar amount for how many resources the team can put toward a car’s performance.

I’m not saying NASCAR shouldn’t have tracks such as Fontana on the schedule. This track is a good test of a car’s performance. However, the teams that have the best handling cars are the teams with the most money and therefore run up front at large tracks where handling and aerodynamics matter a great deal. Thankfully, Martinsville is next week, and handling and aerodynamics hardly matter at all there.

The one lesson to take away from Fontana is that Stewart might have the best overall team right now. He has won seven of the last 15 races, including last year at several different types of tracks.

But, his two wins this year have been at Las Vegas and Fontana, the two intermediate tracks where the series has run so far. That could make for some Stewart domination this season because most of the schedule is made up of tracks similar to where he has already won.

In any case, feel free to quickly dispose of Sunday’s race and move on to next week at Martinsville. The paperclip racetrack has been the site of some of the best racing in the last few years and the sport sure could use a little bit of a pick-me-up as momentum has slowed since a wild Speedweeks in February.

It’s time to get folks excited again, and Martinsville might be just the place to get things fired up.

Rating the Subway Fresh Fit 500: 2 Stars **

After the craziness of a wild Speedweeks that saw nearly everything imaginable, the Sprint Cup Series brought a toned down version of NASCAR racing this week in the desert. The second race of the season gets a 2 Star Rating.

This race had moments of tight racing, especially after restarts, but for the most part the field quickly got strung out and nobody could make up much ground.

We saw similar racing in the November race at Phoenix International Raceway, but that also included a great championship battle between Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards, who both finished in the top three in that race.

This time around Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick took turns dominating the race. Harvick raced hard to take away the lead from Busch midway through the race, but otherwise the driver out front couldn’t be touched.

The new surface and configuration at Phoenix make for some interesting moves down the backstretch, but there is also room for improvement in the quality of the racing. The groove is still too narrow early in the race, but hopefully that improves as the track ages.

Drivers were able to make moves on the high side late in the race. Johnson and Brad Keselowski had a great battle for the fourth position during the final run. Plus, Harvick had something for Hamlin coming to the white flag, but he ran out of gas before he could try to make a move for the win.

As for Hamlin, this win solidifies a great start to the season with new crew chief Darian Grubb. Hamlin didn’t have the best car throughout the weekend or early in the race, but the team adjusted on the car throughout the race and gave Hamlin the car he needed to run for the win at the end of the race.

This could be the start of something pretty great for the #11 team. This is a team that just 15 months ago led Johnson heading into the final race of 2010 at Homestead. Hamlin had issues early that race and never could find his stride in 2011 with Mike Ford on top of the pit box.

Ford was a good crew chief, but Hamlin needed a change and Grubb might be the perfect fit for Hamlin and the #11 team.

With an early win, Hamlin should regain some confidence that he will have a quality ride most every week and can go back to challenging for the championship rather than just a spot in the Chase. Hamlin likely won’t need a wild card to get in the 2012 Chase.

Now the series heads to the always important first mile-and-a-half racetrack of the season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Daytona and Phoenix are both tracks where the quality of the car is not nearly as important as it is at a track such as Las Vegas.

Las Vegas is where we’ll start to find out which teams have the best equipment. Also, teams that do well at Las Vegas often do well for the majority of the season. Although Carl Edwards didn’t win another race after he visited Victory Lane at Las Vegas, he did make quite a run at the championship.

So, welcome to the real beginning of the season. All of the excitement and extra festivities from Daytona and the celebrations for Daytona 500 champion Matt Kenseth are over. Now it’s time to dig in and build a solid foundation for the rest of the season.

MMCC Weekly Picks: Phoenix

Amid several changes here at Monday Morning Crew Chief, we have decided to add a weekly pick'em column where Jacob, Terrence and Monday Morning Driver writer Patricia will pick who we think will win the race each week.

The format will be easy to follow. Each of us will pick a winner and write a few paragraphs as to why we think they will win. Below the picks will be a weekly standings column where the lowest score leads. We will get one point for a first-place finish and 43 for a third-place finish. If our driver happens to win the pole, we will subtract one point from the final score.
And yeah, we missed Daytona but since it wasn't run on Sunday it doesn't count. Haha. Picks below the break.

NASCAR need not change current restrictor-plate rules package

Once Talladega Superspeedway received new asphalt in 2006 and Daytona International Speedway got a fresh surface for 2011, the style of racing at the two tracks changed dramatically, and not necissarily for the better.

Gone were the 30-car packs that had drivers lined up three-wide six or more rows deep. Instead, drivers learned they could push the car in front of them and gain as much as 10 mph.

That lesson quickly did away with the packs and created restrictor-plate races that were at times downright tame until the end of the race. Nearly every two-car draft race ended in a photo finish, but that was about the only thrilling part of the race.

NASCAR fans quickly expressed their displeasure with the new style of restrictor-plate racing, and NASCAR officials went to work to phase out the two-car draft and bring back the large packs.

Well, they certainly accomplished that.

Through a myriad of changes to the cars, NASCAR teams came to Daytona for Speedweeks this year with a rules package that nearly eliminated the two-car draft. The large pack was back on display Saturday night, and my of my it was intense.

The only potential problem with the current restrictor-plate racing package is the vulnerability to large wrecks. The Budweiser Shootout had three crashes that involved six or more cars, two cars caught fire and Jeff Gordon flipped up onto his roof.

Those incidents started grumblings throughout the sport that maybe the new pack style of racing is no good either. Those grumblings, however, should be discarded.

I understand the safety issues. NASCAR doesn’t want to have huge wrecks that could potentially hurt drivers. Any reasonable fan should feel the same way. However, the Budweiser Shootout won by Kyle Busch on Saturday night was the most exciting restrictor-plate race start-to-finish since the 2007 Daytona 500 when Kevin Harvick edged out Mark Martin for the win.

There is simply nothing as intense as a three-wide pack of racecars filling up the track at speeds near or above 200 mph.

Nearly every wreck in the shootout was caused by a driver pushing another car on the left side of the bumper. That caused the front car to spin out.

We don’t need rule changes to fix that. The drivers simply don’t need to push the car in front of them.

People screamed for years and years before NASCAR used the Car of Tomorrow at Daytona in 2008 that drivers shouldn’t bump draft because it could spin out the car in front. The bumpers on the cars didn’t line up on the old car models, and drivers used the bump draft sparingly. Now they just need to go back to that approach.

If they want to push, great, they just have to be very careful with it and choose their opportunities wisely.

NASCAR did a great job with the current rules package for Speedweeks. This is as close to the old style of restrictor-plate racing the sport has seen in years, and the racing in the shootout was even more exciting than the old days.

In the days of the old pack racing, the front 10 to 15 drivers would eventually get lined up on the bottom and run single-file for a portion of the race. A pass for the lead was an incredibly difficult proposition.

Nobody got lined up single-file for more than two or three consecutive laps in the shootout and drivers were able to make passes all around the racetrack.

Although this might be heresy to some people, the current restrictor-plate rules package might produce the most exciting plate racing ever.

NASCAR officials worked hard to create the perfect mix of rules to create exciting racing. Here’s hoping they don’t succumb to pressure to try and fix a problem that no longer exists.

Kyle Busch’s shootout win may have been greatest restrictor-plate race performance ever

Forty-eight laps through Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway, Kyle Busch sat in Turn 2 facing the infield grass.

For most drivers, that view means they have wrecked, or are well on their way to wrecking. At a restrictor-plate track such as Daytona that usually means their race is over and they will get a free trip to the infield care center.

But Kyle Busch isn’t like most drivers.

While sparks flew from the back of his #18 car as if he had dropped a full bag of M&M’s, Busch manhandled his car through the turn, back up onto the track and back in contention.

Then he did it again in Turn 4 on lap 74, although all of the other nearby drivers wrecked to bring out a caution.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series didn’t even have a full race in the books, and Busch already locked up the title for the two best saves of the 2012 season.

However, Busch didn’t stop there.

Despite damage on the front of the car as a result of the wrecks, Busch hooked up with Tony Stewart on the final lap to push to the front. He then pulled out to the high side coming out of Turn 4 and passed Stewart to win the race by the closest margin in Budweiser Shootout history.

NASCAR has raced with restrictor plates for nearly 25 years, and we have seen other incredible performances from legends in the sport. But, Busch’s effort at Daytona on Saturday night might have been the greatest ever.

Sure, drivers such as David Pearson, Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt and even Tony Stewart have won their fair share of incredible races at Daytona and Talladega.

Pearson won the 1976 Daytona 500 by crossing the finish line with a torn up car after he and Richard Petty crashed coming out of Turn 4 on the final lap of the race.

Elliott came back from two laps down to win the 1985 spring race at Talladega Superspeedway without the aid of a caution flag.

However, both of those were before NASCAR began using restrictor plates in 1888.

Earnhardt’s finest come-from-behind moment happened at Talladega in the fall of 2000 when he came from 18th place in the final four laps to win his final race.

Stewart drove through the grass through Turn 1, jumped back up on the track and went on to win the 2005 Nationwide race at Daytona. But, he only had one wild ride that day. Busch had two Saturday night.

There have surely been other great performances at restrictor-plate throughout the years. But none of them had to overcome as many setbacks, and none of them won by such a close margin.

Busch should have wrecked twice, but he held onto the car both times, had damage to the front of his car because of his two incredible saves and then won the race by the closest of margins.

Even Busch’s competitors recognized the talent he displayed in the shootout.

“There's a lot of guys that wouldn't have caught that,” second-place finisher Tony Stewart said. “I'm sitting there and the green is still out. I'm going, 'Man, that's the coolest save I've seen in a long time.'"

"That was awesome!" Jimmie Johnson said over the radio after Busch's first save.

Many people love to hate Busch for one reason or another. Some of that hatred is justified by his actions such as the incident at Texas Motor Speedway in November when Busch intentionally wrecked Ron Hornaday Jr., who was in contention for the truck series championship.

Even with all of that baggage, Busch’s performance Saturday night has to stand out as one of the greatest performances the sport has seen.

Granted, it was an exhibition race, but Busch went through more in the 75 laps that make up the shootout than most drivers endure in a full 500-mile race.

Rather Busch’s win goes down as the most impressive restrictor-plate victory or not, the 2012 Budweiser Shootout should be remembered as one of Busch’s best performances ever.

Rating the Budweiser Shootout: 5 Stars *****

The 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season opened in grand fashion with a 200 mph high-flying act that included bumps, flips and a photo finish. The 2012 Budweiser Shootout gets a no-brainer of a 5 Star Rating.

What a race, folks. NASCAR officials, drivers and fans have been wringing their hands all offseason about what type of racing would be on display once Speedweeks began at Daytona International Speedway.

Well, I think all of that worry can now be channeled into great excitement and anticipation of what lies ahead for the rest of the week.

This race had just about everything that makes race fans sit on the edge of their seat for an entire race. It even had a pretty exciting photo finish to cap off the night.

Race fans wanted the large restrictor-plate racing packs to return to Daytona and Talladega superspeedway racing. The Bud Shootout sure provided that. Nobody could hook up in a two-car draft and pull away from the crowd. The three-wide swarm of cars that is one of the most adrenaline-spiking sights in all of sports was back.

When drivers put on a show like they did Saturday night, the number of laps remaining hardly seems to matter. There’s almost no time to look to the top of the television screen to see how much of the race is left because the action is so intense on the track.

For those who like big wrecks, those are back too. Some people will say all wrecks are a bad thing. That’s fair. No reasonable person wants to see even their most hated driver get hurt. But, those wrecks make highlight shows for a reason, and boy did we have some big ones Saturday night.

Jeff Gordon had the most spectacular crash of the evening as his car slid out of Turn 4 on on the driver’s side window and then flipped three times before settling completely upside down.

Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip also had scary adventures when their cars caught on fire during one of the big wrecks. Thankfully, everybody came out of the race unhurt.

Even with all that went on in those wild 82 laps, Kyle Busch stole the show.

Busch’s #18 car was completely sideways on two separate occasions and yet he never spun out. Both times he made ridiculous saves to keep from crashing. Sparks showered the track and the front of the car crinkled, but Busch miraculously held on to the car to stay in contention.

Not only did he stay in contention, but he went on to win the race.

Not only did he win the race, but he did so in spectacular fashion by inching out Tony Stewart at the finish line by .013 seconds, the closest finish in Budweiser Shootout history.

A photo finish is like a walk-off homerun in baseball. It is simply the most exciting thing that can happen at the end of an event.

The best part of all of this is that the shootout is only the first Cup race of Speedweeks. There are still three other Cup races, a Nationwide race and a truck race that could very well be just as exciting.

Oh boy, strap in for one heck of a week. The Budweiser Shootout was great, and if NASCAR doesn’t change any rules the rest of Speedweeks is shaping up to be just as good.