Sprint Cup Series Half-Way to the Chase

            We are halfway to the beginning of the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship and I think it’s safe to say there are no favorites. Even though Roush Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Bifle are 1-2 in the standings, they have only combined to win two races. Denny Hamlin sits in fourth place and has won twice but he has been so inconsistent the entire season that it’s hard to imagine him putting together 10 great races in the Chase. Hendrick Motorsports drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie take the third and fifth place spots. Those are two drivers that I would be worried about if I was a Roush driver. The other two at Hendrick, Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, are also two that can get into the Chase. Both got off to rough starts but Kahne won the Coke 600 a couple of weeks ago and Gordon has been so close to winning but something out of his control always ruins it.

Points standings after Dover:

1) Greg Bifle

2) Matt Kenseth

3) Dale Earnhardt Jr.*

4) Denny Hamlin

5) Jimmie Johnson*

6) Martin Truex Jr.

7) Kevin Harvick*

8) Tony Stewart*

9) Kyle Busch

10) Clint Bowyer

11) Brad Keselowski*

12) Carl Edwards*

13) Ryan Newman

14) Kasey Kahne*

15) Paul Menard

16) Joey Logano

17) Aric Almirola

18) Jeff Burton

19) Marcos Ambrose*

20) Juan Pablo Montoya

21) Jeff Gordon

22) Jamie McMurray

23) AJ Allmendinger*

24) Mark Martin

25) Regan Smith*

*-Drivers I picked before the season as “Drivers to Watch”

           

Next 6 races:

6/10- Pocono

6/17- Michigan

6/24- Sonoma

6/30- Kentucky

7/7- Daytona

7/15- Loudon

            
          The first segment of the summer season for NASCAR is probably one of the more boring stretches in the season. This year could be completely different though. Pocono and Michigan have both been resurfaced since last year’s races. Testing done earlier in the season at the two tracks saw much higher speeds than ever before. Plus, the Pocono race has been shortened by 40 laps. Kentucky’s inaugural race was a snoozer and the biggest story that came from that weekend was the parking debacle that led to thousands of fans being stranded miles from the track. Hopefully teams learned enough from last year’s race that they’ll be able to set their cars up to make it easier to pass. Sonoma, Daytona, and Loudon are always exciting.

            With just 13 races left before the Chase, the time has come for drivers from about 15^th on back to start going for wins instead of just racing for points. Remember, after the last race before the Chase, drivers from 1^st-10^th are in the Chase. The final two spots are given to the drivers in 11^th-20^th that have the most wins. If the Chase started right now, those two would be Brad K. and Ryan Newman. Brad has two victories and Newman has one. Kahne also has won win but he is behind Newman in the points standings.

            Nobody else from 10^th back has any wins. If anybody is going to change that and make a charge to get into the Chase, it’s going to be Jeff Gordon. The four-time champ has been so close to winning several times this season, only to have something out of his control end up ruining his race. Gordon had a big lead late in the race at Martinsville, but a caution came out and led to a green-white-checkered finish. On that restart, Clint Bowyer dove underneath Gordon and slammed him into the wall. At Dover, Gordon had one of the strongest cars and was leading when one of his tires became loose because his tire changer didn’t’ get all the lug nuts tightened. Gordon is just about the only driver in the garage that has the talent and experience to overcome these misfortunes and still make the Chase.

            I would also keep an eye on Marcos Ambrose. The Australian made a living in his native country dominating on road courses and won at Watkins Glen in 2011. He could easily win both road course races before the Chase and clinch a spot for the postseason. I’m also anxious to see if my driver, AJ Allmendinger, can string together great finishes like his teammate Brad Keselowski did last summer. At the same time last year, Brad was in 21^st and just won a fuel-mileage race at Kansas. He then went on to win twice more and finished 5^th in the final points standings. The Dinger has the talent to do it, but does he have the crew chief? That’s what concerns me. Finally, Carl Edwards tied for the Sprint Cup Championship last year but has not even come close to even winning a race this year. He has the talent and the team, much like Jeff Gordon, to rally and win some races.

Pacers and Racers

I took this while at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway a couple weeks ago. Pacers flag and a green flag at the greatest race course in the world. Awesome.

            
          There was an incredible moment a few weeks ago when all was perfect in central Indiana. The Indianapolis 500 activities were under way and the Indiana Pacers were battling the Miami Heat in the second round of the NBA Playoffs. I was at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for most of that time but I can’t believe all the Pacers gear I saw people wearing. Never had I seen the amount of pride on display at IMS than I had for that one week.

As a native Hoosier, let me tell you that nothing means more to us than basketball and racing. As small of a state we are, we have a heck of a lot of history that is important to both sports. Our racing heritage goes all the way back to 1911 when the first Indianapolis 500 was run. Ever since that day, millions have come to Indianapolis to celebrate the greatest race in the world. In basketball, there may be varying opinions of when our mark was made in basketball. In 1932, Indiana-born John Wooden led the Purdue Boilermakers to the 1932 NCAA Championship. That would be the first collegiate championship for Purdue, but not the last as Indiana University would go on to win five more throughout the years. In 1954, a small high school from Milan, Indiana won the state high school championship. Their story is portrayed in a movie you may have heard of, called “Hoosiers”.

            It’s been a rocky few years for the Indy 500 and condition of basketball in Indiana, but now it seems like both are on the rise. The sanctioning body of the “500”, IndyCar, has struggled to gain popularity and fan support ever since the late 90’s. Just a couple of years ago, many thought the death of open-wheel in America was nearing. Although the league is nowhere near the same level of popularity as NASCAR, it is improving and could very well become the more popular series in the coming years. As for basketball, it all starts and ends with the Indiana Pacers. The Pacers have struggled to win games and fan support ever since the retirement of Reggie Miller in 2005.

           

IndyCar is on the rise, not just in Indiana, but across America. TV ratings increased in 2011 from 2010, and they are even higher this year.  Although the number of people tuning into races is measly compared to the NFL or even NASCAR, at least the numbers are going up and not down. There was a lot of momentum built after last year’s thrilling Indianapolis 500 but much of it was lost after the death of Dan Wheldon. This year’s “500” was even better. It was just what IndyCar needed, especially after the dominance of Chevrolet and Penske. What IndyCar really needs is Dario Franchitti to win a couple of more races and set up a Chevrolet/Honda and Penske/Ganassi showdown.

The Pacers have finally removed themselves from the “bunch of thugs” label that they were given after the Brawl in Detroit. They made it to the playoffs last year and this year they finished with the third-best record in the Eastern Conference. In the 2012 playoffs they made it to the second round but were defeated by the Miami Heat (who have two of the Top 10 players in the world on their roster). The Pacers may not win a championship in the next three to four years, but they will be one of the best teams in the NBA. They have a young team and a young coach that are hungry and determined to prove that you don’t need superstars to be successful.

            There’s also another basketball team in Indiana that’s pretty popular, the Indiana University Hoosiers. You may have seen a short clip of what happened during the Indiana Hoosier’s season last year. After beating the #1 Kentucky Wildcats on a last-second shot, hundreds of fans and students rushed the court and celebrated. After that victory, the rally cry of “we’re back!” could be heard and seen everywhere. The Hoosiers made it to the third round of the NCAA Tournament where they again would face the Wildcats. Although the Wildcats soundly defeated the Hoosiers, there is no doubt that the Hoosiers will be even stronger in 2012. Cody Zeller, one of the best freshmen in the country last year, will be back for his sophomore season. Coach Tom Crean was also able to bring in one of the best recruiting classes in the nation to help cement success in the future.