1. Should Carl Edwards Have Been Penalized For Jumping the Final Restart at Richmond?
Amidst all the Chase controversy to end the race at Richmond, there was one race related piece of controversy. On the final restart, Carl Edwards, who was restarting second, beat the leader, Paul Menard, to the line. This is a significant penalty in NASCAR from this year because of the incident with Jimmie Johnson at Dover and a few other places. To me, it wasn't a big deal considering what was going on at the time with the Chase controversy, but NASCAR's explanation to why Edwards did not receive a penalty was kind of puzzling. NASCAR said they did not have “a good vantage point to see the restart”. Wait, what? If you can't see the race track from the race control tower, what is the point of having it? I mean, it didn't impede NASCAR in 2012 when they were giving Edwards a penalty for jumping the restart at the same exact track. Edwards would go on to win the race while Kurt Busch would have won the race if Edwards would have received a penalty and all this Chase controversy might not have happened if Ryan Newman had been given second place. Since NASCAR did not penalize Edwards, they ended up in a deeper hole that could still have ramifications for weeks, maybe even months. Now, they even made a rule saying that second place can beat the leader to the line as long as the leader starts the restart in the restart box. Just saying NASCAR, come up with a better excuse next time and don't change the rules every week.
2. Ryan Newman Replacing Jeff Burton at RCR in 2014
After being added to the Chase field on Monday, Ryan Newman received some good news heading into next year. It was announced that Newman would replace Jeff Burton at Richard Childress Racing in 2014. Newman has had a pretty rough roller coaster ride the past month or two. First, it was announced he would not return to Stewart-Haas Racing before the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Later that same week, Newman would win the race and advance his Chase hopes. Later, Kurt Busch would be offered a ride at SHR after Tony Stewart, the team owner, had told Newman he couldn't bring him back because the team could not run four cars. Last week, Newman went into Richmond with a good chance to make the Chase, but he would miss it. On Monday, he would be added to the Chase due to controversy with MWR at Richmond. Now, he is going to be driving for RCR next season. This is also a great move for RCR. Newman will be able to help Austin Dillon, who is moving up to Cup next year for his first full season, along with Paul Menard. Dillon could be in good hands with Newman, who has won a good many races and poles in the Cup Series. All in all, this was the best move for the team and one that could help a lot.
3. Justin Allgaier Making His Sprint Cup Debut at Chicagoland
Justin Allgaier, a Nationwide Series standout and winner in the sport, will make his Sprint Cup Series debut at Chicagoland. In case you are unfamiliar with Allgaier, I will give you a little biography. Justin Allgaier was the 2008 ARCA Racing Series Champion and was given his start in the Nationwide Series with Roger Penske that next year.. Allgaier took his first win in the series in 2010 at Bristol. In 2011, he moved to the Turner Motorsports team where has a win in 2011 and 2012. Allgaier sits sixth in points this year for Turner-Scott Motorsports. Allgaier does not have a win this year, but he has four top 5s and thirteen top 10s. During the season, Harry Scott, part team owner of Justin Allgaier and the rest of the TSM drivers, decided to buy Phoenix Racing from James Finch. When he did, he did not have to go far to pick Allgaier to drive the car with BRANDT backing the two as a sponsor. In my opinion, this is a move that should have happened a long time ago. Allgaier has proven that he can win in a series that is mostly dominated by Sprint Cup regulars lately. Plus, Allgaier has shown that he can consistently finish up front and run for a championship year after year in the right equipment. The only thing I see wrong is that Allgaier does not have a Cup teammate. While rookies like Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson will have teammates next year, Allgaier will be left to run by himself. To me, this one negative thing could outweigh all the potential things he has going for his career.
4. When Will We Know Who Is Going to Be Battling For the Championship and Who Will They Be?
The questions going into the Chase are always when will we know the major contenders for the championship and which drivers will that be. First, I am going to answer when we will know the major contenders for the championship. The Chase is a tough stretch of races composed of 1.5 mile race tracks, the Superspeedway at Talladega, and the two short tracks at New Hampshire and Martinsville. I think we will know the major contenders for the championship after the Talladega and Martinsville races. These two are in the middle of the Chase and back to back and are probably the two toughest races to finish good and even win. I think you have to have a good finish at both to be talked about winning the championship. The drivers I think will be contending for the title when we head into the final stretch of the Chase will be Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson, and Matt Kenseth. These drivers are in no particular order and I think they will all be tough and rugged contenders for the championship. Each one of these drivers have good mile and a half finishes this year and most have good finishes on the superspeedways and short tracks. It should be a good 10 week battle and one that will be filled with surprises and amazing races.
5. My Pick to Win
Last week, Carl Edwards walked away with the win after a controversial finish, but he had a win nonetheless. I picked Clint Bowyer last week and we all know how his race turned out. But this week is different and starts the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Last year, Brad Keselowski took the win on his way to his first championship. I am going to pick.. no one today. Wait, what? Nobody has a good chance to win? There are plenty of drivers like Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, and Kevin Harvick who are good picks, but I am not going to pick an outright favorite throughout the Chase. If you guys decide I should, then I will, but for right now I will stick to just saying a few drivers who have a good chance. Thank you guys once again for sitting through my thoughts. If you think my thoughts are stupid, let me know what you have to say in the comments below. As always, I will continue to write for you guys and until we meet again.
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