1. If Matt Kenseth Repeats at Kansas, will he win the championship?
If one thing has been certain this year, it has been Matt Kenseth running up front and winning. This was the case earlier this year when Kenseth took the checkered flag at Kansas over Kasey Kahne. If Kenseth is able to take the victory today, he will win the championship. This may be a huge jump for me after I have been saying we won't know until the final lap at Homestead who will be the champion, but I do have a few reasons behind this. For one, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch have been struggling this weekend at Kansas. Johnson went around early in practice on Friday and Busch will go to a back up car after slamming the wall in practice on Saturday. With Kenseth looking really good at the mile and a half tracks, it looks like he will be in prime position to gain some points with Johnson and Busch seeming to struggle. Another reason is just this track. Kenseth has won the last two races at Kansas since the repave in early 2012. That is a very compelling statistic for Kenseth. It would be almost unlikely to think that he would lose momentum with three wins in the Chase if he wins at Kansas. A final reason is Kenseth's consistency this year. Even when Kenseth was struggling at points this year, he was still running up front before the problem would happen. An example would be when he was leading at Daytona in February when he blew a motor and fell out of the race. Even though he walked away with a bad finish, he proved he could race up front. These three reasons compel me to believe that a win today for Kenseth would ultimately lead to a title.
2. Brad Keselowski and Miller Lite Sign an Extension With Penske Racing Until 2017
After a tumultuous year of missing the Chase and not having a win yet, Brad Keselowski has some light at the end of the tunnel. Keselowski and sponsor, Miller Lite, signed an extension to stay with Penske Racing until 2017. This is a good thing for Keselowski to get out of the way so he can focus on winning a race before the season ends. But it does ring some questions for the sport. Miller Lite decided to downgrade to only 24 races instead of the usual 36 races. This has raised some questions from the higher powers of NASCAR and from some of the journalists around the sport. Are sponsors becoming harder and harder to find and is it getting to cost too much money for them? One of these things is true. It is not getting harder to find sponsors, but it is getting harder to get them to pay. One reason you can tell sponsors are not getting hard to find is the amount of sponsors on cars. Kasey Kahne, for example, has Pepsi Max, Great Clips, Hendrickcars.com, Farmers Insurance, Quaker State, and Time Warner Cable on the car for this season. That is a lot of sponsors when you think about it. This means that there is no shortage of sponsorship, but there is some shortage of money. With sponsors like Miller Lite, NAPA Auto Parts, and the Army downgrading in the past few years, we are seeing signs that money has become an issue. I am glad Miller Lite and Brad Keselowski are returning to Penske Racing for at least four more years, but I think the questions raised from the downgrading of Miller Lite are more prominent in the years coming.
3. Nelson Piquet Jr. Fined For Using a Homophobic Slur on Parker Kligerman's Instagram Account
A terrible mistake came from Nelson Piquet Jr. over the week. He called Parker Kligerman a 'fag' on his Instagram account. Yes, I put the word in question in my story, but I mean no harm to any people who happen to read this. The result of Piquet's mistake was ten thousand dollars and probation until the end of the season. I don't want to talk about what led to this outburst by Piquet, but I want to talk about NASCAR's handling of this situation. This penalty needed to happen. If somebody was getting hurt by this, NASCAR needed to put their foot down and give him a fine. If they didn't, could you imagine how many homosexuals and people who supported them would be knocking NASCAR's doors down? That would cause a lot of fans to leave the sport. Now, I'm not saying that homosexuals are terrible people. I go to school with them and none of them have ever said anything bad to me. But where does NASCAR draw the line? If you remember earlier this year, Jeremy Clements was suspended indefinitely for using the N-word in front of a reporter. But Piquet was only given a ten thousand dollar fine for uttering a word offensive to a homosexual? That, to me, doesn't make sense. I applaud NASCAR for handling this situation with Kligerman and Piquet, but it raises questions about the importance of each group in the sport and what the correct penalty should be.
4. Kyle Larson to Make His Cup Debut at Charlotte with Phoenix Racing
Kyle Larson is about to get some practice before his first full time season in Cup next year. He was given a ride for a couple of races to end the season with Phoenix Racing. Larson has been racing in the Nationwide Series this year with the new owner of Phoenix Racing, Harry Scott. This is a good idea to end the season for Larson. For one, he gets some experience in a generation six car for next season. The one thing Larson will have to get used to is definitely the ride in a Cup car. The car has more horsepower, typically has more grip, and is just all together difficult to get accustomed to. Second, Larson needs some practice dealing with the Cup drivers in the top series of NASCAR. Larson was pretty fair in terms of competing with the drivers in the Nationwide Series, but he has no experience dealing with guys that could be even better than him or even be in better equipment. Finally, Larson needs some advice from Cup guys. With this experience in a Cup car over the last few weeks of the season, Larson could get information from guys like Jamie McMurray, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, and even guys like Mark Martin. This experience could go a long way in setting up his career for the near future. I am interested to see how he handles the pressure of a Cup car and what kind of advice he can get.
5. My Pick to Win
Last week, Jimmie Johnson took his unprecedented eighth victory at the “Monster Mile” in Dover. The last two times out at Kansas, Matt Kenseth has walked away with victories with the most recent victory coming over Kasey Kahne in April. Kenseth has been the dominating figure thus far in the Chase and I feel like this will continue in today's race. Some good picks for today's race are Matt Kenseth, Kasey Kahne, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Brad Keselowski, and Jimmie Johnson. This race could be very interesting with a few Chase drivers having trouble in practice. Plus, Brad Keselowski isn't too happy with Kyle Busch after a wreck in the Nationwide Series yesterday, I thank you guys once again for reading my thoughts. If you guys aren't satisfied with my opinions, then let me know what you think in the comments below. I plan on writing for the race today and most of the races to conclude the season. I hope you guys enjoy and until we meet again.
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