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Many of the issues currently facing NASCAR revolve around change. There’s been a lot of change going on this decade from the Chase to the ”Car of Tomorrow”. Issues like this and controversies over the “Lucky Dog” and invasion of open wheel drivers to stock car racing’s top level have pitted long time fans versus NASCAR leadership and a newer wave of fans who may be fewer in number.

It is a popular notion among NASCAR traditionalists that the sport is pure American with a particular emphasis on the southern U.S. When you consider that NASCAR was Florida born and its top legends from places like North Carolina, Alabama and the Sunshine State- you’d tend to agree. These same traditionalists have tended to cringe at the building of new tracks throughout the North and West, and they, as a general rule, are not fans of West Coasters such as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Adding to the angst is the presence of a foreign manufacturer (Toyota), and a flood of drivers from foreign lands with names like Franchitti and Carpentier who used to drive funny looking race cars.

Many traditionalists will argue such events are ruining NASCAR, taking it away from its roots. Some will tell you that your dad’s NASCAR was just fine without all of this, and they point to falling TV ratings and ticket sales as evidence to their point. You can imagine the delight of some when owner Bill Davis replaced former open wheeler Jacques Villenueve with Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner on an indefinite basis after the Canadian failed to qualify for the Daytona 500. Then, just this week, former open wheeler A.J. Allmendiger’s NASCAR Cup career was put on hold by Team Red Bull.

Such prejudice is short-sighted at best, and downright prejudicial at worst.

First of all, this is not the first time open wheelers have been present in NASCAR. Do names like Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt and Johnny Rutherford ring a bell? They all ran part time NASCAR racing schedules back in the 60s and 70s. In fact, Foyt earned 7 NASCAR victories and even once won the Daytona 500. What about Tony Stewart? He came over from Indy Car racing. J.J. Yeley and A.J. Allmendinger are also just a couple of NASCAR’s drivers of today who have made the switch- so this is nothing new.

Some argue that these drivers, by jumping from IRL and Formula One without rising through the ranks, are depriving up and coming drivers from sitting in a Sprint Cup ride. Oh really! So if the likes of Scott Wimmer or Jason Leffler were truly ready for the big time, wouldn’t they be given full time Cup rides? Well, considering the expense of competing and the need to be as successful as possible, I think it’s safe to say NASCAR car owners will put the most successful fannies in the seats of their cars, even if it’s a 74 year old from Botswana. What’s more- these are not unproven neophytes, but accomplished drivers. There’s a learning curve, but the open wheelers are just as qualified, if not more to master the learning curve. I submit Sam Hornish’s solid run Sunday as evidence of a guy who’s "getting it" quite quickly.

Besides, if our home grown guys are so great, let them prove it on the track against the likes of Juan Pablo Montoya and Sam Hornish (an American born Indy champ). Given the pressure and need to make money in this expensive business, the open wheelers will be gone quicker than you can say Patrick Carpentier if they can’t perform.

I know many fans think the sport was just fine the way it is. In this ever change day and age, NASCAR would have stagnated without the growth brought about by the infusion of new blood behind the wheel. No major sport can sustain itself on purely regional support. Just ask the National Hockey League.

NASCAR fans hate it when I compare it to other sports, but what if baseball kept out the Latinos? There’d be no Juan Marichal or Big Papi Ortiz. What if the NBA shut out Europeans? Say good-bye to Tony Parker and Dirk Nowitski. Without the presence of foreign born players, the NFL would be deprived of Christian Okoye and Usi Omenyura. So why should NASCAR be any different?

I, a proud American of conservative political leanings, want to go on record as being supportive of the presence of the open wheel drivers. It’s a great topic for debate and its good for growing the fan base of the support. Think about it. Your favorite driver is someone you relate personally….more than anything else.

Welcome to NASCAR open wheelers…..let’s see what you’ve got.

(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.

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.