With much to cover in NASCAR in wake of a ba-na-nas Talladega race weekend and with a packed weekend at Richmond on the horizon, let’s take a look at a two burning items on the stock car stove.

Second is the first loser in two-car draft: There are varying opinions of two-car, “Noah’s Ark” drafting that is now the norm at the restrictor plate races at Daytona and Talladega. While the racing and strategy are exciting, the complications of deciding who, when, where, and how to pair off arguably diminish a driver’s ability to control their own destiny. Most drivers tackle Talladega, by deciding to find a good partner and then disappear into obscurity until the last fifth or tenth of the 500-mile race. The problem, of course, lies in that someone has to run up front. Up until last season, drivers would stay in a pack but, even at the front, could dial their aggression down and hold their spots. Cars would even stay single-file for some periods and break away from the more dicey pack behind them. But now, there is no backing off. Even those that lag in the back are shoving and pushing hard so they remain in shouting distance of those up front. The chances of “The Big One” pack crashes have diminished (except on restarts), but the margin for error with one car slam drafting another with little view of anything in front of them is slim-to-none. Ask Kurt Busch, who caused several drivers to spin during last Sunday’s Aarons 499. He may have trouble finding dance partners at the next restrictor plate prom at Daytona in July.

So, Busch might want to make sure that his No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge is…slow at Daytona? Yes. Sure, restrictor plate racecars all generate relatively the same amount of horsepower, but some machines at both Daytona and Talladega had a decided advantage at both tracks. At Daytona, Trevor Bayne’s No. 21 Motorcraft Ford was so fast, that he was the hottest girl at the dance. Jeff Gordon and he partnered-up, which put the youngster on the radar with every other driver and when Gordon got eliminated from the Daytona 500 early in a crash, Bayne was left to have the partner of his choosing. But his car was so fast, that he really could not lead the tandem draft, except when he had to breathe some air into his hot engine. Had David Ragan not switched lanes on that late restart, Bayne would have been content to push the No. 6 Ford to victory and collect an incredible runner-up finish for just his 2^nd-ever Cup start. Instead, a short run to the checkers and a penalty put Bayne in position to win. When Bayne returns to Daytona, he likely will be a good pusher again, but does he want to come close to the checkers mired in 2^nd place. Did you see Talladega?

Dale Earnhardt Jr. spent most of the Talladega race running mid-pack, as he and drafting partner Jimmie Johnson chose to wait out the storm and then push toward the front toward the end. But the speed in Junior’s No. 88 left him forced to push Johnson. The past couple of years, drivers could lay back and then time a two-car run that would lead them past the pack and into the lead right at the checkers (i.e. Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards at Talladega in April 2009). Earnhardt Jr. and Johnson had this plan, but three other tandems (Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards , Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer) executed a similar blue print and all four ended the race four-wide and eight deep. The problem: the pushing drivers (Biffle, Martin, Harvick, and Earnhardt Jr.), who each willingly accepted their pushing positions, left themselves with zero chance of crossing the finish line first, because there was no real estate to pass at the start-finish line. Junior told reporters that he had to push, because he could not stay backed up to Johnson’s front bumper when he ran in front of him at even quarter-throttle. He pushed Johnson to victory and finished 3^rd.

The 500-mile Talladega showdown we saw one week ago boiled down to a dash for the checkered flag that did not involve a sling shot pass for the lead or an incredible navigation through a 20-car pack in three laps (i.e. Dale Earnhardt at Talladega in 2000). It had much more to do with who did not win the race, which just did not seem right. And while this drafting is intriguing now, rest assured that this will not sit well with most fans for very long – you know how people view The Chase.  

The Cup Series was off, Cup drivers were not: With the Sprint Cup Series taking Easter weekend off, this past weekend’s Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series races at Nashville Superspeedway were the great chances for some drivers unique to those series could flex their muscles and get in the spotlight. Instead, both races ended as affairs long-dominated by Sprint Cup Series drivers. 

In the Truck Series’ Bully Hill Vineyards 200 Friday night, Kyle Busch led 140 of 150 laps splitting time out front with only three other drivers: Ron Hornaday (six laps), Justin Johnson (two laps), and Todd Bodine (two laps). The only other Cup regular in the race was Travis Kvapil, but he is slated to run every Truck race and he chooses to gain points in only the Truck races. Cup driver participation in Truck races is not a major epidemic overall, but Busch has won two of the four races he entered, with the three other wins this season going to Michael Waltrip (semi-retired Cup driver), Kasey Kahne (full-time Cup driver, drove Kyle Busch’s truck to Darlington win), and Johnny Sauter (full-time Truck Series driver). Truck Series-only drivers may encounter Busch in more than half of this season’s races, but they still have prime opportunities to lead laps and score good finishes.

Saturday’s Nationwide Series 300-miler was nothing but a parade of Cup drivers taking turns at the point, with Carl Edwards leading 148 out of 225 laps and taking the win. Pole-sitter Joey Logano led several times, as did Brad Keselowski, and Kyle Busch. Only three drivers who run for Nationwide points led laps: Trevor Bayne, Aric Almirola, and Josh Wise – and all three gained the lead by virtue of pit sequences and not overcoming the Cup guys. About getting camera time for some lesser-known drivers...it did not really happen.

In 13 combined races between the Truck and Nationwide Series, only one has been won by a driver running for points in that Series (Sauter in Trucks). And do not expect this trend to change anytime soon, as these Cup drivers like to run these races and, even more importantly so, their teams claim they need them to attract the sponsorship needed to run their teams full-time. This vicious economic cycle siphons money (and prestige) to the top teams with Cup affiliations and leaves smaller teams reeling to be competitive or even show-up at all. In the NNS race, eight drivers started-and-parked and only 43 came to the track. Cup driver involvement in the smaller series has both good and bad elements, but headstones keep popping-up in the graveyard of teams and the survival of those teams and drivers should be a priority in today’s NASCAR.

 Be sure and listen to Captain Herb Emory, Jason Durden, and me on the Allan Vigil Ford Lincoln Speedshop on Saturdays from 12-1 p.m.,  on AM-750 and NOW 95.5 FM News/Talk WSB. Feel free to comment on what you see and hear anytime on this blog.
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