By KEVIN HARRIS
Kevin.Harris@newsandtribune.com
June 13, 2009 11:01 pm
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I hope you realize that this is not your father’s NASCAR anymore.
Heck, it isn’t even your older brother’s NASCAR with all the changes to the sport this decade.
The alterations include the Chase, the Car of Tomorrow, the Lucky Dog and now double-file restarts, which in my opinion should have occurred several years ago.
So what other changes could be in store for NASCAR fans in the future?
Let me look into my crystal ball and see what I envision:
• CUP RACE AT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY — FINALLY: Well, I don’t think it will happen next season because of the long and frustrating lawsuit the track’s ex-owners have against NASCAR.
But the sooner this lawsuit gets dropped, the better.
When that happens, the current track owner, Bruton Smith of Speedway Motorsports, Inc., will work his magic, which means he will get rid of one of the races at his current arsenal of tracks, and get a Cup race at Kentucky.
My educated guess when this will happen? About 2012.
• A NEW CAR MANUFACTURER: With Chrysler already cutting back funds for its Dodge teams and General Motors announcing this past week it will slice its funding to teams in the three major NASCAR series, it opens the door for possibly another manufacturer to come into the sport.
There has been strong speculation as of late that Saturn could enter NASCAR after car owner Roger Penske recently bought the company from GM.
But I have a hunch another Japanese car maker will join the NASCAR ranks since Toyota is in the sport.
That manufacturer is Toyota’s chief rival — Honda.
Honda has been involved in motorsports for years and has had some success. Plus it would love nothing more than to have the opportunity to kick Toyota’s butt.
• MORE POINTS FOR WINS: There are several proposals that have been discussed within the media on how to give more points to race winners.
Here is my proposal.
When the 26-race regular season ends, 10 bonus points are given for each win to the drivers who made the Chase. I think that amount should be increased to 25.
Plus 25 more bonus points should be given to Chase drivers for winning a race during the playoffs.
If NASCAR head Brian France wants to put more emphasis on winning, then this proposal would do it.
• DANICA MANIA COMING TO NASCAR: In my mind, Danica Patrick competing in the Cup series one day is inevitable.
Despite posting just one win in her IndyCar Series career and flat out not being ready for stock-car racing, Patrick would be the boost to the sport that NASCAR is always looking for. If Patrick came to NASCAR, the sponsorship dollars that would enter the sport would be unreal.
There is one hurdle standing in her way — finding the championship-caliber ride in Cup that she has pretty much demanded. Therefore, she would have to get a ride at either Hendrick, Roush or Gibbs, and that might be tough to do with each organization’s driver lineup being secure at the moment.
But if a driver like Roush’s David Ragan continues to struggle, do you think his sponsor UPS would be tempted to court Patrick?
I imagine UPS is already thinking Patrick would look good in brown.
TODAY’S LIFELOCK 400
at Michigan International Speedway
TOP FIVE CONTENDERS
1. CARL EDWARDS: Edwards is a great start to the Roush Fenway Racing theme I’m trying to set in the contenders. Edwards has an average career finish of 6.6 at MIS, with two wins and five top-fives. Plus he is driving for an organization that takes a lot of pride in running well at Jack Roush’s home track.
2. MATT KENSETH: Edwards’ teammate also has a pair of wins in the Irish Hills and an average career finish of 9.1 at Michigan. And he is driving the car he won in February at Auto Club Speedway in California, which is a carbon copy of Michigan.
3. GREG BIFFLE: Biffle’s stats at Michigan are similar to his teammates — two wins, five top-fives and an average finish of 13.2. Can you say 1-2-3 finish for Roush today?
4. MARK MARTIN: He might not drive for Roush anymore, but he still knows how to get around the 2-mile oval. Martin was the fastest in Saturday’s Happy Hour practice and finished sixth at MIS in last year’s August race. Oh by the way when he was at Roush, Martin won four times at Michigan.
5. KYLE BUSCH: If Busch wins today, his post-race celebration should go this way — he and his No. 18 crew will split a case of Budweiser and then crush each of the 24 empty cans on the head of the most obnoxious Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan at Michigan, who will have an old No. 8 tattoo graced across his pot belly.
That would definitely top last Saturday’s celebration after he won a Nationwide Series race at Nashville Superspeedway.
In case you didn’t see it — and I don’t know how you could because it was shown 50 million times on ESPN last week — here is what happened.
In victory lane, Busch took the championship trophy, which was an attractive Gibson guitar, and smashed it on the ground.
When Pete Townsend saw that, I’m sure he smashed his own guitar and gave Busch the appropriate Busch-hater gesture.
TODAY’S DARK HORSE
• BRIAN VICKERS: Today’s pole sitter has been extremely fast at Michigan ever since he started competing for Red Bull Racing. He finished fourth and seventh at MIS last year and has looked good in practice all weekend. If his pit crew makes no mistakes, I think Vickers has an excellent shot at collecting his second career Cup victory.
WHO MIGHT STRUGGLE?
• ELLIOTT SADLER: The veteran driver has been running at Michigan this weekend like he has all season — bad. Sadler, who is currently 27th in the point standings with only one top-five finish, qualified 25th for today’s race and was only 30th fastest in Saturday’s final practice. He is having a pretty sorry season after nearly losing his ride prior to the start of the year. Keep up the good work, Elliott.
Contact Kevin Harris at kevin.harris@newsandtribune.com.
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