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I love Martinsville. Or maybe it’s just a short track hang-over from the ARCA Championship weekend at the equally short, and fun as hell, Toledo Speedway. At least it was fun for Steve and me. Don’t know about Scott Speed and Ricky Stenhouse Jr or any of the others who got their rides short-tracked to greater and lesser extents. I can tell you it was a blast to watch.

Congrats to Justin Allgaier for keeping his head on and winning the race and the ARCA RE/MAX Series championship.  It’s on to the Nationwide Series in Penske Racing’s no. 12 and by the looks of Allgaier’s Friday showing at Lowes, he’ll do just fine.

Scott Speed had major short-track issues and may find a distinct lack of allies as he tries to make his Sprint Cup debut at Martinsville this weekend. Speed might want to tackles these four, tricky Fast Lap questions to work out some of his frustration, hmm?

1:  NASCAR threw up a trial balloon at Lowes this week seeking reaction to shrinking the field size at all three series races, How will that help NASCAR?

2:  While everyone else has moved up and down in the Chase standings, Johnson has held firm at the top. Can Burton or Biffle knock him out of the lead?

3:  If one of the NASCAR axioms is that crew chiefs and drivers must have “chemistry”, what are teams hoping for with their “driver de jour” programs?

4:  How might a GM-Chrysler merger affect NASCAR?

Go ahead. Show Speed how it’s done. Be assertive, but know your limits - 100 words or less - and don’t take any schtuff from your fellow Fast Lappers. We’re looking for the best for the new Fast Lap Show, coming to a blog near you.

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

That three car battle for the Chase to the Cup that many - including me - were predicting seems to be shaping up.  Jimmy Johnson got his first 2008 Chase win.  Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle each grabbed another top three finish.  Throw a blanket on those three with the pack over ninety points back already.  

And the pack doesn’t include any Toyotas at all.  The Joe Gibbs Racing gang is falling farther behind with each poor showing.  Wait until next year coach. Oh, and Kyle, the pressure’s off now. Go ahead and win some races.

Kansas was a pretty predictably dull race other that Carl Edwards’ banzai pass attempt at the end and Juan Pablo Montoya’s cheating penalty in qualifying.  My guess is, that Talladega will be a different story.

Want to spice up the race interest at the office?  Start a big-one pool and try to pick what lap the semi-annual wreck will occur.  I say 155.  But there will be plenty of Fast Laps before that.  Try the next four, restrictor-plated, four-wide, warm-ups for the weekend.

1: Was the penalty to Juan Pablo Montoya for over-filled shocks during qualifying appropriate?

2: Should Kansas get a second Cup date, in part because a casino is being built next to the track?

3: Can Joe Gibbs Racing return to respectability during the Chase?

4: Paul Newman?

That’s it.  That’s the Talladega 2 edition of ON PIT ROW’s Fast Lap.  Steve and I will kick these things around on Tuesday’s show.  Listen live right here and call us between 5 and 7 PM EDT at 877-502-8255 and give us your take on any or all of the above.  And, of course, leave your thoughts here in the comment section.  Just be nice to your friends.

Photo credit: con Sports Media, Inc.

I think I may be convinced.  In 2007 Clint Bowyer parlayed a win in the first race of the Chase to the Sprint Cup playoffs -his first ever win as a matter of fact - into contention with Jeff Gordon and eventual champ, Jimmy Johnson.  Clint hung in without another win.

Greg Biffle has two.  In a row.  And he’s going back to Kansas, where he is the most recent winner as well.  And the once - and probably future - favorite driver to sweep the Cup up - Kyle Busch is limping with an average finish of a tic worse than 38th place in the first to Chase races.  Yikes!  Looks like Biffle may be for real and Rowdy is outta here.

And where did Matt Kenseth come from?  I mean lately you expect the Biff and Carl Edwards to be tough, but that no. 17 team has been as resilient as the Detroit Lions.  Good to see though.

Take a look at our little mid-week distraction we call the Fast Lap and tell us, in your own concise way,  what you think of the four topics that Steve-O has tossed up today. 

1: NASCAR’s new drug policy adds random testing, but why isn’t there a banned substance list?

2: This weeks Robby Gordon rumor has he and DEI joining forces. Will Robby ever get it right?

3: How can the new car provide such great racing on a one miler and not even come close when you add another half mile?

4: Is The Chase down to a three car battle?

This is a debate so bring your arguing shoes.  We’ll use the best, or maybe the worst, comments on a future episode of ON PIT ROW. 

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Greg Biffle finally got the win that I and plenty of others had called for at various venues this year.  With what he called a “text-book pass” the Biff relegated Jimmy Johnson to runner-up status at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.  

Johnson was good again.  Tony Stewart was good for a change.  Dale Earnhardt Jr was tough early, and petulant late.  None of them won.  Kyle Busch sucked (maybe because of his crew).  Earnhardt bitched (at his crew).  Stewart apologized (to his crew).  Johnson probably shrugged and told his crew, “we’ll see how good they are at Dover”.

Chase week one is done and gone.  Chase race number two is on deck.  Biffle was probably a long shot to be a factor for the championship before Sunday night.  If he can win at The Monster Mile in Dover - and he’s been among the best there for better than three years - he will stamp himself as the “real deal” in the early playoffs.

This is the Fast Lap blog and it is a comment blog.  We want to read what YOUR opinions are to the four Fast Lap topics which follow.  And then we plan to assault your opinions and cause huge, vociferous debate.  Take a shot.

1: Should NASCAR be more flexible with qualifying and not so quick to cancel-but move it?

2: The much anticipated debut of Joey Logano was not too impressive; was it driver or equipment?

3: Can Kyle Busch’s championship hopes be realized now?

4: Last week it was Stewart/Zippadelli-this week its Earnhardt/Eury. Are these spats showing cracks in their relationships or just idle chatter?

Got any opinions on those babies?  Are you ready to defend your position.  Better yet, are you prepared to have your thoughts thrown out to the ON PIT ROW studio audience?  It could happen.  We want it to happen, in fact.  Come on, I want to argue with you!

Photo credit: Icon Sports Media, Inc.

Well Darlington didn’t disappoint did it? Between the edge-of-your-seat suspense of waiting for the next car to hit the Lady in Black’s turn four exit wall and the plain gorgeousness of the spectacle of Darlington at night - if Saturday didn’t have it all, it sure had most of it.

The popular favorite to win - Greg Biffle - made an early exit. Biffle edged out Elliott Sadler for pickle-boat status. Not at all what Greg’s fans pictured when he was topping 200 mph at the Darlington Speedway tire tests back in March.

The front of the race belonged to Kyle - boo me, throw beer at me, because I don’t care what you think - Busch. Again. NASCAR is better with someone successful to hate, don’t you think?

We’ll find out what you think. This is the Fast Lap after-all and that’s what the Fast Lap is all about. What do you think of the following four fast, made for the internet questions about what’s hot on the Cup Racing scene?

1. Should the Darlington race stay on Mothers Day weekend or move back to Labor Day?

2. Should NASCAR be concerned with Jeff Gordon’s complaint about Carl Edward’s car looking as if it is going down the track sideways?

3. Is Greg Biffle’s frustration with getting 2nd rate equipment a reason for not signing a contract extension yet?

4. Which retro paint scheme looked best at Darlington; Junior’s, Elliott’s or Kvapil’s?

Tell us what you think. Limit each answer to 100 words or less. Then come back often to defend your positions from the slings and arrows of your fellow Fast Lapper’s. This is the Fast Lap ON PIT ROW. We have plans for the best - and silliest - of the comments we get here. You might just get an invitation to defend yourself on the radio - live.

Well, that sure was fun. Didn’t NASCAR dump Rockingham because of the bad February weather? Once the track at the Auto Club 500 got sufficiently wrung out the racing was decent and Jack Roush’s charges showed that 2007 is in the rear view mirror. The Fords will be there to challenge for the Chase and the Sprint Cup.

Matt Kenseth finished a solid 4th, Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray hung around up front for most of the race. Even Travis Kvapil showed some strength before falling to mechanical problems in the Yates Racing #28.

But the Fusion that relentlessly ran down the front running Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon was the #99 of Carl Edwards. According to Mr. Excitement, Jimmy Spencer ON PIT ROW tonight, Carl had been the favorite of nearly everyone in the garages all weekend.

The NASCAR caravan is headed to the mile and a half Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the first race for the new car on one of NASCAR’s best tracks. While you wait for a hopefully on-time start to Sunday’s big race, give these four variably banked Fast Lap questions your best shot.

1. In the interest of safety, should NASCAR stop drivers from climbing fences and doing back flips off of cars?

2. Would you have picked Kyle Busch to be leading the points after two races?

3. Did NASCAR handle the rain delays at California properly?

4. Will/should Bobby Labonte move to Richard Childress Racing in 2009?

Go high or go low, but remember to limit your answers to 100 words. This is The Fast Lap and we have big plans for some of the best comments here. Stop back often during the week to defend your position and trade some paint with commenters who don’t necessarily agree with your line through turn two.

Photo credit: Jeff Gross - Getty Images

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On Pit Row is glad to be a part of such a great NASCAR fantasy racing game like Champs, Chumps & Sleepers. Grand prize is a Dale Jarrett Racing Adventure. How cool is that?

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