NASCAR: Penalties

Okay so if you've been keeping up with the Nationwide Series as of late you would already be aware NASCAR penalized Kyle Busch for "improperly attached weight" following the end of the race at Texas. 25 driver and owner points. Hmmm I bet Kyle is really scared now that his point lead is down to 247! Look out Kyle! This weekend at Phoenix if he has a good enough run he can clinch the Nationwide Series title. Now here's my problem... NASCAR why in high heavens would you penalize a driver 25 measly points if it's not going to even matter...? I understand a rule is a rule, but unless your going to significantly penalize a driver so that it will actually MATTER don't make it news... leave it alone. Your little 25 point slap on the butt isn't going to make Kyle have to fight any harder... my solution, start racking up the consequences for rule infractions. Instead of 25 points, make it 100. Just sayin'....

The Chase: 2009 Edition

Yes... I'm aware I haven't been writing for the past few weeks. Forgive me. Even I get so busy I just forget or never have the time to get around to it... with that said, let's get started!

So a lot of fans aren't really in favor of the "Chase" format and some are. I'm on the fence about it myself. It seems as if we have more consistent champions instead of a variety. That's what us fans like, variety. I'm pretty sure I'm NOT the only guy around who's tired of the Jimmie Johnson Show. No I'm not complaining. It's just true. I won't disagree the man has an AMAZING amount of talent, but at the same time... I don't think any of us care anymore at this point. Sunday when Johnson crashed on Lap 3 of the Dickies 500 the fans went wild. It was the best moment of 2009. It takes the fun and excitement out of NASCAR knowing who the Champion will be. Most NASCAR fans want it to be a nail-biter to the very last lap. Heck even the last second. I'm one of those people. Before Texas Jimmie had this thing in the bag, and even WITH the decreased points lead I still kind of think Jimmie can pull it off. I really can't think of a way to fix this problem either... maybe changing the points system back to the old way would help... some have even said adopt the F1 points system. But NASCAR has to do something because ratings and viewers are dropping like acorns in the fall (lame... I know).

Okay, now to the point of this blog... KASEY KAHNE!

Kahne made the Chase. Great. I'm one of his biggest fans I couldn't be happier... but dang it what good is it if the engines and other parts are going to fail? May as well not be in the Chase at all. I'm very happy he's making the move to Ford next year. More horsepower and more reliability. Two things you DON'T have with a Dodge. I have never and don't plan to get behind the wheel of a Dodge. They are the worst car on the road. I've had Fords all my life and it shall remain that way. Despite the issues with the engines Kasey has done darn well to recover and still remain in the Top 10 to hopefully make it to the NASCAR Awards Ceremony in Las Vegas. After New Hampshire I knew his Chase hopes were only a dream... but I just wanted him to make it to the Banquet in the first place. I knew a Championship would be a hard match because he'd be fighting the all-mighty Hendrick stable. When somebody can beat Rick Hendrick's equipment, call me.

NASCAR Hall of Fame

Normally I only write about Kasey Kahne, but today History was made so it deserves a blog of it's own. After all these years with all other sports having a Hall of Fame NASCAR finally stepped up and created one of their own.

As part of the inclusive voting process, more than 670,000 NASCAR fans submitted votes online at NASCAR.COM as part of the fan voting process.


The first class inductee's are: Bill France Sr, Bill France Jr, Junior Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, and Richard Petty. All very deserving. The only thing I wish could have been different is have David Pearson take Bill France Jr's place. A lot of people felt the same way. But maybe for next year's ballot David will have another chance.

Every year the ballots will reset and the nominating committee will start with a clean sheet of paper. So some of the guys that was on this years list may not even make it onto next years. A lot of names were left off this years list and I hope next year's has a couple of them. Not only should drivers and owners be inducted, but crew chiefs as well. Without a owner, a driver, or a crew chief none of the amazing accomplishments would be possible. It takes a team effort.

I also must say while I'm not an Earnhardt fan I was very pleased to see him make it in the first go around. The guy was on a record setting pace before he was taken from us and I have a feeling he wasn't done setting records just yet. It was also nice to see Teresa Earnhardt in attendance. She's kept a low profile ever since her husbands death.

The Class of 2010 will be officially inducted in a ceremony on May 23, 2010 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.

Lowes Motor Speedway Preview

Kasey Kahne At Lowes Motor Speedway
Starts	Poles	Wins	Top 5	Top 10	Led	AVG ST	AVG FN	DNF
11	0	3	4	6	616	10.45	12.36	1
Stats By Racing News Digest

After taking yet another blow to the gut after Sundays race at Auto Club Speedway, which normally suits Kahne fairly well, he couldn't be happier to see the next stop will be Lowes Motor Speedway. Look at the stats above and you will see why. Lowes has been one if not THE best track for Kasey. He basically knows the place like the back of his hand. While winning the Sprint Cup may not be likely it couldn't hurt to try and score some more wins to finish off the season.

Some interesting facts...

1) In 11 starts at LMS, Kahne has an average start of 10th and an average finish of 12th

2) In 2008, Kahne led 66 laps en route to his third career NSCS victory at LMS.

3) Kahne will be running double duty at LMS this weekend. In addition to running the NASCAR Cup Series event on Saturday, Kahne will be competing in the NASCAR Nationwide Series race on Friday night driving the No. 43 Dodge.

4) Kahne will be available for interviews with the motorsports media on Thursday at approximately 5 p.m. ET in the infield media center


Kasey Kahne commenting on the Chase and racing at Lowes Motor Speedway: “Unless other people (have problems), these guys run so good…there’s a reason that they’re in the top 12 in points. Every week, the top 10 is eight or nine guys that are in the Chase. If that’s the case and nobody else has problems, then you’re not going to get back in it. You can’t. You lose so many points by running 40th when you have an issue, and we’ve had two DNFs. I think that we need other guys to break, other guys to have a problem. It will kind of put us back in the playing field. If not, top 10s, bonus points, leading laps, winning races…if you can win races, you can gain a good bit of points. You can gain some of that back. And we can get back in the top five I think, but you’re not going to beat Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin if you have a blown engine and they don’t. If they finish every race in the top 10, you’re not going to beat them.”

Kahne on what it takes to run well at Lowes: One of the biggest things for me (at Lowe’s) is that you have to be able to run anywhere on the race track. Your car has to turn really good at certain areas on the track and the front-end has to be in the track. Last year in the October race, the back-end of my car was so far out of the track that the front was still really positive in those areas that I wanted it to be and that really benefited us. We ran second and were pretty darn close to Jeff Burton (race winner). I would say the biggest things is having your front-end really positive at certain load spots on the race track.”
Does your success at LMS give you a little more confidence going into this weekend? “When you’ve been successful at a track like we have here at Lowe’s, you gain a sense of confidence because you understand where to be successful on the racetrack. You still need a good car, but confidence does give you a sense of comfort inside of the racecar.”

Kahne calls out NASCAR for fake "derbis" caution

The e-mails I'm getting over this is just amazing, so it's worth writing about.

Kasey called out NASCAR Sunday for what he said was a "fake" debris caution.
Now I will agree that there WAS some debris (a water bottle), but it was on the apron on the backstretch! It wasn't in harms way at all. NASCAR could have left everything alone and Kasey would have scored yet another Top 10.

Kahne was visually upset about being caught in 2 seperate wrecks within' 20 laps of each other that occurred thanks to a late caution. Kasey said NASCAR was trying to make up for a boring race by creating some drama with a yellow flag. I'll be honest here. I think they were. They didn't want it to be the "Jimmie Johnson Show" and him win by 12 seconds, so they threw a fake caution to make it interesting. Thanks NASCAR. Your stupid move cost Kahne a Top 10. Proud yet? You wonder why people aren't watching anymore. I can think of plenty of good reasons.

I'm not a Jimmie Johnson or Hendrick fan for that matter, but if a driver is that good that they have a big lead then fine. More power to em'. But don't use a fake caution to get the field back together. Johnson was going to win regardless had they thrown 5 or 6 cautions. But thanks to NASCAR they ruined a lot of people's day. Kahnes included. Not to mention ALL 4 RPM cars alone with some other guys.

Auto-Club Race Review

Wow... where to start on this one...

It's been a tough week if your a Kasey Kahne fan. Kasey was the very first car to go out for qualifying and ended up mid-pack. Sunday was no better... in fact it was a lot worse.

If Kasey had any hopes of regaining his points from New Hampshire they are surely gone now. Kahne was involved in 2 separate incidents within 20 laps of the checkered flag.
The first one was with 15 laps to go, Kasey was running 7th, Kurt Busch got loose and bounced off the wall and eventually off Kahne sending him spinning into the grass with some damage. After going to pit road to try and repair what damage they could Kasey went out in 23rd position. With 10 laps to go poor Kasey was involved in yet another accident but this time, ending his day. Kasey was visibly upset blaming NASCAR for their "derbis" cautions. "NASCAR threw a debris caution for no debris," Kahne said. "We had a bad race to get a caution to put on a show for the fans."

Entering in 11th place in points 190 points out prior to the incidents, Kahne went home in 11th spot 306 points back. It's safe to say his Championship hopes are over. The best he can do now is make it back inside the Top 10 to go to the Las Vegas Banquet. Non of the bad finishes he's has is his own fault either. Just sorry luck and your gonna have that sometimes. Just part of the game. But regardless myself and all Kahne fans alike should be VERY proud of what he's accomplished this season. There were a lot of people doubting him. Kasey made sure he proved them wrong.

Kasey desperately fighting to get back on track

Richard Petty Motorsports driver Kasey Kahne is still looking to climb out of the hole from a blown engine in the first race in the Chase For The Sprint Cup, and this weekend’s Pepsi 500 could be a good place to do it. Why you ask? Just look at his record there.

1 Victory.
3 Top 5's
7 Top 10's

While rallying back to win the Championship is basically long gone just due to the fact he's so behind and really can't challenge the Hendrick stable to much leaves Kahne fighting for a Top 5 finish in points before the season is over. Kasey is only 99 points behind fifth-place Kurt Busch.

“Fontana is a good place for us,” Kahne said of the 2-mile track. “The track has always treated us really well with results. We seem to have a pretty good package there every time we go with Kenny Francis and the things that he does there."

After California, the Chase moves to Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where Kahne has a pretty good record, too

“I think we run pretty well in these upcoming Chase races,” Kahne said. “We have as good a shot as anybody at these tracks because they’re tracks I enjoy and we’ve always raced pretty well at. If you have an issue, you lose points. If I didn’t have an issue in New Hampshire, I think that I would have run in the top 10, and these upcoming races we can do the same thing.

“We have a great package for most of these tracks. I think we'll do it; we just need to keep pulling it together and get these points back. I think we have a shot at getting a lot of them back.”