Bump-Drafts.com

(A Special Weekly Edition of bump-drafts prepared for NASCAR_Nation)

Up Next: The Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The green flag will drop at 2:25 p.m. Eastern, 11:25 a.m. for those of you in Rio Linda and points elsewhere in the Pacific time zone. Broadcast on FOX.

Track Trivia Atltanta Motor Speedway is 1.5 mile oval track with 24-degree banking in the turns. Geoff Bodine owns the fastest all-time qualifying speed on the “Peach Tree State” track at 197.478 m.p.h. back in 1997. Ryan Newman and Buddy Baker have the most
poles with 7 each. Greg Biffle was the last pole sitter here in October, 2007. Geoff Bodine ran the fastest qualifying time of 197.478 m.p.h. in 1997.

In 1997, Bobby Labonte set the race pace with an average speed of 159.904 m.p.h. in a Joe Gibbs Pontiac (the #18).

Labonte’s 6 AMS victories ar most among active drivers. Dale Earnhardt Sr. has the most victories overall at Atlanta with 9.

NASCAR racing began here in 1960, with Glenn “Fireball” Roberts clocking in the first victory.

Other Atlanta Trivia. One of the most famous races at A.M.S. occurred on March 11, 2001, when rookie Kevin Harvick went to Victory Lane, taking over the Mr. Goodwrench ride from Dale Earnhardt, who died on the final lap at Daytona just weeks earlier. It was an emotional win for mourners in Earnhardt Nation. Fittingly enough, Harvick just edged out Earnhardt’s last arch-rival, Jeff Gordon. The margin of victory? A mere .006 seconds.

“The Silver Fox”, David Pearson, famous for going easy on his car through much of the race so he could pounce at the end, won in Atlanta on September 17, 1961, having only led one lap! Once again, we’re reminded that the only lap where it really matters you lead is the final one. The November 7, 1982 event saw 45 lead changes- Bobby Allison took the checkered flag that day.

You won’t see this with the “new” car…..just 10 cars finished the first race in Atlanta in 1964. 41 finished the second race here in 2005.

Hopefully, we can expect fewer cautions this week…The track record for Atlanta in terms of cautions is 14 at the Fall, 2007 race. Twice Atlanta has had a race with just one caution flag- most recently in 1970.

The Craftsman Truck Series will run here Friday night, the Nationwide Series on Saturday afternoon.

What’s Up: The question right now is whether or not Carl Edwards can keep up his winning ways. During his great 2005 season, Cousin Carl swept the events here, just as Jimmie Johnson did last year.

You can be sure Johnson will look to rebound from his disappointing performance at Las Vegas last week. Johnson’s 14th place standing on the points chart is not a place he’s accustomed to being. We’ll also be looking for Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman to keep up their solid running, and I’m sure Tony Stewart will look to shake off the nasty crashes of last Sunday.

Atlanta is a fat track with the possibility of three lines to run. It will be pedal to the metal here with cars attempting to run wide open all day long.

NASCAR Speak Your chance to impress the uninitiated by dropping these terms.

“Main Switch Panel”- You ever wonder what that group of toggle switches were for to the left of the steering wheel? Those contain the switches for the starter, ignition, and cooling fans.

“Engine Guage Cluster”- While cluster may be a description of what happened in California, what we’re really talking about here is a group of gauges engine oil pressure, water temperature, oil temperature, voltage and fuel pressure.

“Master Switch”- This shuts down the electrical system in an emergency situation.

Special Thanks: There’s a lot that goes into making this little report happen. I want to thank Linda at NASCAR_Nation for providing the platform to share this post. It plays a big part in getting the word out. Thanks also to Kyle at FanZone for his role in making me a member of NASCAR media, opening up a world of up-to-date information for this and my radio gig. Thanks to people such as Linda, Kyle, Bob, and RevJim for the links, plus anybody else I don’t know about. Thanks to my friends at letsgoracingfans.com and NASCAR_Nation- two message boards I HIGHLY recommend for congregating with fellow NASCAR nuts.

Most of all, I want to thank my family- Lynnae, Hannah and Jonathan for their love and patience.

Thanks to God for all of this.

Enjoy the race.

(A Weekly Special Edition of Bump-Drafts prepared for letsgoracingfans.com)

You could see the race was effectively over on the last two re-starts. Each time, Carl Edwards-in his #99 Dish Network Ford- took off like a scalded jack rabbit to win the UW-Dodge 400. This makes 6 wins for Team Roush at Las Vegas, to go with a pair of victories each by Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth, as well as Mark Martin, who took the #6 to Victory Lane back in 1998.

Roush Racing did themselves proud. Not only was Edwards strong, Kenseth looked good up until the Gordon incident at the end, Greg Biffle finished 3rd, and even David Ragan got in on the fun by edging Kasey Kahne out for 6th. Jack Roush must have some magic in his hat that he uses for Vegas, because his teams are good to the point of making you think that somebody at the “Diamond In The Desert” must owe him a favor or two.

I was just sure this was Kyle Busch’s race to lose, in spite of the fact that no one has ever won from the pole at Sin City. The younger Busch made me look like a prophet for a bit until the handling on his car went south on him late in the race. Edwards ran with the #18 M&M’s Toyota all day, first overtaking Shrub on lap 21. By lap 117, Busch surrendered the lead, and although Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon had good runs- today seemed destined to be a Roush day.

It didn’t look that way at first. Roush driver Jamie Mc Murray almost took flight in the infield after a spin-out and Edwards darn near got penalized for a pit road incident involving a stray tire. Fortunately, crew chief Bob Osborne kept a cool head, stayed on top of officials, and they ultimately ruled in favor of Edwards, blaming a TV camera man for being in the way (Dang media types anyway).

There were a record number of cautions as it seems that NASCAR teams are still figuring out how to work the “new” car at Las Vegas. Accidents cut short the days of Tony Stewart (who bit the wall hard on lap 109) and Robby Gordon (victimized by a lfat tire on lap 144), Patrick Carpentier, DaleJarrett, Kurt Busch, and Scott Riggs.

Speaking of Riggs……it was nice to see some less familiar names up front. I thought the Haas-CNC cars of Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield looked great in stretches, and it was good to see another solid performance by Elliott “Rabbit Release” Sadler. It was also weird seeing Ken Schrader up front, though he gave way later in the race.

It wasn’t a good day for Open Wheelers. Sam Hornish, Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti all saw their best laid plans go up in smoke.

I’m glad Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon weren’t hurt too seriously.Gordon had two words for track owner Bruton Smith concerning the inner wall “Safer Barriers.”

Though it was a bummer to see wrecks mess up otherwise good days, there’s no doubt this race belonged to Edwards. The Columbia, Missouri native was just too much. He and his Roush teammates (Kenseth and Biffle) were easily the most consistent cars out there, with apologies to RCR teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, and the HMS combo of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It just hit me- another random thought- no Jimmie Johnson today. Apparently, Johnson was a victim of Murphy’s Law. Everything that could go wrong apparently did to the #48.

This may not have been the best race I’d ever seen, but it was a good one. Today’s outcome springs forth yet more new story lines in a 2008 season that bears no resemblence to 2007.

Will Carl Edwards make it three in a row, to turn At-lanta into Hot-lanta? I wouldn’t bet against it.

The big day Toyota is waiting for is about to arrive. They’ve come close in the first two races of the season to picking up their first Sprint Cup victory, and after being a bridesmaid for two weeks, they’ll finally be a bride, thanks to the driving of one of their new additions, courtesy of Joe Gibbs Racing.

Shrub has two factors working for him. First of all, he’s racing harder than anyone I’ve ever seen. Have you noticed how sideways he gets in the turns? He looks like he’s doing a power slide on a dirt track! It’s very early in the year, but the younger Busch getting a handle on how to be aggressive without hitting people. No less than Mark Martin has said that Kyle Busch is in a zone, something Martin says he recognizes because HE’s been there.

Secondly, Toyota is primed for a win. Love Toyota or hate Toyota, you would have to agree that the manufacturer has a very stout engine this year (about the only thing that really seperates the makes with the “new” car). If Busch doesn’t get Toyota a win this week- Smoke, Hamlin or even David Reutimann will get them one soon. It’s just a matter of time. Heck, even Mike Skinner put up a good qualifying time.

Many of the usual suspects will be primed to make a run at Busch and are also likely candidates to win at Sin City. I look for good races from Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, the resurging Kasey Kahne, or outside pole Carl Edwards.

The weather forecast looks good. I’m just hoping for a better event than last weekend.

From personal experience, I know that sports fans love lists. I got my first taste when SPORT magazine did a list of the top 10 quarterbacks in the NFL about the time I was 13 (back in 1977). I recall a scoring formula being drawn up, and my favorite quarterback of the day, Roger Staubach, being on that list. I also remembered having argument with who and wasn’t on the list.

My point being, I also know that sports fans also love to take issue with lists. I will endeavor to come with a thorough analysis of NASCAR’s best to attempt to put sound reasoning behind my analysis.

How did I arrive at this list? First, I identified roughly 20 of the Sprint Cup’s best drivers. There’s really no need to bog myself down with the likes of journeymen drivers such as Kenny Wallace and Dave Blaney- though they obviously possess talent. They’ve never won, so it makes no sense to compare them side-by-side with the likes of Jimmie Johnson or Tony Stewart. I also threw some of the newer drivers out such as David Ragan and Paul Menard, who again, have not yet attained measurable Cup success, though may very well at the end of their careers end up with all the same gaudy statistics of drivers like Jeff Gordon.

From there, I selected six criteria important in driving success: racing skills, strategy, “closing” ability (that ability to charge hard when the driver sniffs a potential win), passion, consistency and equipment. Now I realize strategy and equipment involve other members of the drivers team, but even in those areas- a driver can play a part, and it’s not the only criteria. All six are needed on some level. to be great, and point values are assigned to each driver for each category on a scale of 1-10- with 10 being the highest. Once all those points are added up, then I add up the grand totals for a driver rating.

So without further ado, here goes (in ascending order):

9- (tie)- Kevin Harvick- The man who took over the late Dale Earnhardt’s ride as a rookie in 2001 for Richard Childress in many ways mirrors some of “The Intimidator”’s qualities. As you will see in the scoring breakdown, Harvick received 9s for racing skills and passion. “Happy” is pretty solid across the board, making one wonder why he was not been a bigger winner, though it should be mentioned he is the #2 winner all-time in what is now the Nationwide series. The double duty may be one of the problems. In recent times, equipment issues have definitely hurt Harvick’s stock.

Scoring: Race Skill- 9, Strategy- 8, Closing ability- 8, Passion- 9, Consistency- 6, Equipment- 7 TOTAL SCORE- 49

9- (tie)- Ryan Newman- If qualifying were winning, “Flyin’ Ryan” would be as familiar as Jeff Gordon or Junior with over 40 poles to his credit. Until Newman won at Daytona, he had not been to victory lane since late 2005. Newman picked up 9s for skills and passion, plus 8s for equipment and closing ability. Consistency and strategy (with a dash of bad luck thrown in) keeps Newman from the top, but this is a pretty good ranking for a guy with a baker’s dozen wins.

Scoring: Race Skill- 9, Strategy- 7, Closing ability- 8, Passion- 9, Consistency- 7, Equipment- 8 TOTAL SCORE- 49

6- (tie)- Clint Bowyer- The Emporia, Kansas native is the car guy’s racer with an impressive collection of classic cars and a dirt track behind his home. The fact that a driver this inexperienced is on the list tells you what I think of his potential. Bowyer is very strong across the board, and needs only to learn to relax to become a mroe frequent victor. Oddly enough, though RCR teammates Harvick and Jeff Burton have had some real equipment issues recently, Bowyer has managed to dodge debilitating car-related problems- perhaps another testament to his skill.

Scoring: Racing skill- 8, Strategy- 8, Closing ability- 8, Passion- 8, Consistency- 8, Equipment- 7 TOTAL SCORE- 49

6- (tie)- Kyle Busch- Some people may disagree with me, but I believe “Rowdy” most resembles Earnhardt than any other driver on today’s NASCAR circuit. The 22 year old is extremely aggressive on the track and will not hesitate to try to thread the needle on a pass. With that, I give Busch a 10 for skill and he also gets a 10 in equipment as a member of the Joe Gibbs stable. Working against him are issues of questionable strategy (maturity?), closing ability (he’s been on the wrong end of way too many photo finishes) and Kyle has a low mark for consistency- again brought about by aggressive driving that has led to early exits. Still- on the whole- you can see how good the Las Vegas born Busch can be.

Racing skill- 10, Strategy- 7, Closing ability- 7, Passion- 9, Consistency- 6, Equipment- 10 TOTAL SCORE- 49

6- (tie)- Dale Earnhardt Jr.- NASCAR’s favorite son one of three drivers on the list who gets a 10 for skill. A listen in on the radio tells you Junior is very conscious of everything going on out on the track. Lil’ E is also one of four drivers who gets a 10 for passion, something evident in his speed week performance and many interviews. Until his move to HMS, Earnhardt had bad equipment, but gets a 10 here by virtue of being with Hendrick. Consistency and some very questionable strategy have no doubt played some part in Junior not being a more frequent presence in victory lane.

Racing skill- 10, Strategy- 6, Closing ability- 7, Passion- 10, Consistency- 6, Equipment- 10 TOTAL SCORE- 49

5-Matt Kenseth- While not necessarily the best at anything, Kenseth has virtually no downgrades in any other category other than equipment, somewhat the failure of his team and manufacturer (Ford) in their progress on the “new” car. Nonetheless, the 35 year old has a well-rounded approach and takes very good care of what he has. The 2003 Cup champion has a storied track record for consistency and closing ability. I submit he’d have an even better track record with a team like Hendrick or Gibbs. I’m not suggesting Jack Roush is a slacker, but I would say that his team is behind the curve and Ford’s engines are ponderously weak compared to Chevy and Toyota.

Racing Skill- 9, Strategy- 9, Closing ability- 9, Passion- 8, Consistency- 8, Equipment- 7 TOTAL SCORE- 50

4- Kurt Busch- The only thing that will hamper Busch the elder’s legacy is his propensity to get into trouble. His run-ins with the equally mercurial Tony Stewart and Johnny Benson aside, Busch is another very well-rounded driver. Evidence of the 2004 Cup champion’s skill is his 2nd place finish as Sunday’s Daytona 500 in spite of starting at the very back- 43rd! Kurt is also very aware on the track and rarely makes a bad decision (except when he’s mad). The deal with this guy is he just isn’t weak any ANY category.

Racing Skill- 9, Strategy- 9, Closing ability- 9, Passion- 8, Consistency- 8, Equipment- 8 TOTAL SCORE- 51

3- Tony Stewart- With over 30 victories, “Smoke” is one of NASCAR’s most prolific drivers. A testimony to his abilities are his 2002 & 2005 titles. For his skill and equipment, Stewart gets 10s. In fact, his lowest score comes in the strategy department- a respectable 8. Truth be told, on any given day, this guy is the best- conjuring up in my mind comparisons to Cale Yarborough.

Racing Skill- 10, Strategy- 8, Closing ability- 9, Passion- 9, Consistency- 9, Equipment- 10 TOTAL SCORE- 55

2- Jeff Gordon-Love him or hate him, you can’t deny greatness of a driver with 81 career wins and 4 Cup titles (1995, 1997, 1998, & 2001). The 36 year old from Vallejo, California also just missed titles in 1996 (to Terry Labonte), 2004 (to Kurt Busch) and 2007 (to teammate and employee Jimmie Johnson). Gordon gets 10s for skill, consistency, and equipment. Gordon also gets very high marks for strategy and passion (though that may begin to wane).

Racing Skill- 10, Strategy- 9, Closing ability- 8, Passion- 9, Consistency- 10, Equipment- 10, TOTAL SCORE- 56

And the winner is………1- Jimmie Johnson- You can’t be REAL surprised can you? At this point in his career, the only category where the two time Cup champ and owner of some 37 wins has ANY weakness is in consistency- and even then, Johnson scores an 8. He races hard, he races smart, knows how to save himself for the end of the race, and his victory total tells you that in spite of his laid back California image, Johnson has a fire in his belly.

Racing skill- 10, Strategy- 10, Closing ability- 10, Passion- 10, Consistency- 8, Equipment- 10 TOTAL SCORE- 58

On the cusp: Carl Edwards, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton

Back in the day they’d make the list: Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte

Making the list soon: Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Brian Vickers

Has potential, but it’s late: David Reutimann, Greg Biffle

There you have it. To me it is kind of funny how this pretty closely resembles last year’s Chase. Perhaps What I’m really doing is offering up my ingredient list of how they got there.

I’ll be curious to hear arguments against my list. After all, that debate is what making a “best of….” sports list is all about.

Anybody looking for good story lines in NASCAR need look no further than Joe Gibbs Racing. There’s more potential here for high drama than National Treasure with a combustible mix of personalities, a switch in manufacturers and a heightened presence of the team owner, who just gave up his day job as coach of the Washington Redskins. There’s more question marks here than there are for the presidential primaries for one of the sport’s most successful, yet colorful teams.

Tony Stewart is without a doubt the most recognized figure on the team. As one writer has put it, the driver known as “Smoke” (for his ability to smoke the competition) has 12 personalities, nine of whom are likable and funny and three that would like to punch you in the month. A solid late season run, including one in his home state of Indiana, helped temper an otherwise frustrating season that included more run-ins with the press and teammate Denny Hamlin- plus a tactical mistake at Kansas that cost a shot at a third Cup title.

All eyes are on Stewart as his current contract will be up faster than you can say Dale Earnhardt. Some have intrepreted his “wait and see” stance on negotiations as a sign of unrest or perhaps unhappiness with JGR’s switch to Toyota- a rumor chiefly perpetuated by fans who can’t fathom the Rushville Rocket in anything but a Chevy.

Me? I’m predicting a third Cup title for Stewart in 2008. Because of those looming contract talks, I think he wants to pull down maximum money, and nothing would solidify his high profile stock more than a third Cup trophy, and a first for JGR’s new manufacturer.

Where things will really get interesting is what happens with the younger drivers in the Gibbs’ garage. Denny Hamlin was firmly cemented in the role as the up and coming golden boy until the arrival of Kyle Busch. Hamlin had his ups and downs of late. Hamlin picked up a win and rced well enough to make the Chase. On the other hand, Hamlin faded down the stretch and the driver of the #11 FedEx Chevrolet got into with Tony Stewart at Daytona, and also mixed it up with the otherwise calm and collected Kyle Petty in a late season skirmish. No doubt Hamlin would like a strong start to demonstrate that HE is the most promising young driver at Gibbs, not the driver known as “Rowdy”, or “Shrub” by his detractors.

Kyle Busch could certainly make things interesting in either good or bad ways at Joe Gibbs. Many NASCAR insiders, including the aforementioned Petty, think that Busch the younger is the most promising driver of the younger set. No doubt the guy who’ll be driving the #18 M&Ms Camry in 2008 had his moments of brilliance in 2007. By the same token, Busch is given to moments of immaturity- leaving the track early after a wreck at Texas (ironically, the already knocked out Dale Jr. finished the race in Busch’s car), and negative comments about his team after a narrow loss in the Pepsi 400 did nothing to enhance his image in a positive way. Still, Busch put on a good face down the stretch (for the most part), and finished with solid performances.

This little battle could play out a number of ways. The question is- will the two youngsters fight like Cain and Abel? or will this be a friendly team rivalry like that of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson that brings out the best in each other? Inquiring minds want to know.

If the truth is known, it could go either way. With Busch and Hamlin, you want to believe that they get it, but there’s as good a chance that they don’t.

This team has a lot riding on it. Joe Gibbs couldn’t have timed his return to his racing team any better. If he can’t hold this bunch together, no one can. Personally, I wouldn’t bet against the team that has helped put Stewart on the champion’s podium twice and made a 2000 Cup champion out of Bobby Labonte. For all the drama and hijinx, these guys know a thing or two about winning.

A Special Post-Race report prepared for letsgoracingfans.com.

It’s getting kind of like that scene from the movie Forrest Gump, where an honor is getting mundane. "So I became a hero…AGAIN, and I got invited to the White House…AGAIN." Jimmie Johnson wins a race….AGAIN, capturing his 9th win of the season and his 3rd visit to Victory Lane in a row by taking the checkered flag at Texas Motor Speedway in the Dickie’s 500. Johnson can now add a gun and a cowboy hat to his burgeoning trophy case.

A couple of promising young drivers who looked great in qualifying, Martin Truex and A.J. Allmendinger, quickly fell back after the flag went green. Allmendinger kissed the wall early in the race, and Truex promptly fell off the lead earned by his first 2007 pole. While Truex ran a pretty good race, was no real threat for the win.

Kyle Busch seized early control and led much of the race. As usual, Busch the Younger was lightening fast, and as usual, there were some problems with one of his later pit stops.  Busch’s car, for the most part, cooperated with him, but he complained of "turnability" problems in one of his mid-race pit stops. Juan Pablo Montoya looked good early, taking a few turns in the clean air.

Not to be outdone, Kyle’s older brother Kurt also looked strong in the daylight, and fell back as day turned to night. Kurt ran into some real problems near the middle of the race with tires and some front end damage, but in many ways Kurt did well to hang around until the end.

Speaking of racers with troubles, Jeff Gordon looked all out of sorts as the race got underway. He gave up track position early, and Gordon teamed with Crew Chief Steve Letarte for some interesting pit strategy. Their pit stops were way out sync early on, but at times it looked like it would work. Gordon conceded that the car that ran 31st in Happy Hour just wasn’t good enough to threaten his HMS teammate.

There were a number of cautions early in the race, but things generally smoothed out as the race went on. A couple of old school drivers tangled fenders when Kyle Petty and Bill Elliott got together, and the fates played havoc with the efforts of Reed Sorenson, David Stremme, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and David Gilliland. Mechanical problems befell Carl Edwards and David Reutimann.

Once again, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had several good moments, but faded late. Chasers Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, and Kevin Harvick saw plenty of time in the top 10, but couldn’t close the deal. Mathematically-  Burton, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Martin Truex have been eliminated from title contention. It’s a real bummer for Kenseth, because he ran one heck of a race.

Kenseth was on his game today. He took a late lead and ran in typical Kensethian fashion, laying in the weeds and coming on strong at the end. He led many of the last 20 laps, before succumbing to Johnson. Any lesser man may resorted to dirty tactics to take Jimmie out, but everybody knows that’s not the Wisconsin native’s style. Ultimately, Chad Knaus’ decision to change 4 tires at the end trumped the decision of Kenseth and Crew Chief Robbie Reiser to go with 2, and the #48 Kobalt Chevy would not be denied.

Sure enough, the race result was a bit too familiar. Johnson wins, and Junior and Ryan Newman run solid races but can’t end their winless streaks.  One refreshing difference was that this race did not end with a green/ white/ checkered finish- and for that, I am grateful.

It’s true that Jimmie Johnson is vanilla in a world of rocky road. It’s also true that watching one guy dominate can be a little anti-climatic. But you have to say this, that with Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and crew, and the Hendrick Motor Sports organization, you have an unbeatable combination.

That kind of trifecta is NOT something you see every year. If I dare say so, that kind of run is almost historic- though Jimmie Johnson would still have to win another 7 to match the insane streak Richard Petty racked up in the "Summer of Love"- when he reeled off 10 wins in a row, and 27 for the year in 1967.

Now that’s domination!