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I don’t know about you, but I’m crossing my fingers that the motors and the tires hold up for the whole 500 miles of the Kobalt Tools 500 this weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It’s about time to see a full compliment of NASCAR’s best go at it on a really fast track. Lets find out where we are with this new car on the kind of track where most of the races are run.

Three of this weeks Fast Lap questions touch directly or indirectly on engine effected results from the last couple races. I think it’s time for some cheating. Maybe a nice, convoluted conspiracy theory. But that’s just me. 

Just don’t bring up Digger. Please.

The Fast Lap Blog is going to go through some changes here shortly. We’ll still pose the four questions. And we, for sure, are hoping for spirited debate. But we’re going to put a couple more  conditions on the answers you post. Stay tuned.

1: Could you see Kyle Busch moving to the US formula 1 team in 2010?

2: Would anyone other than Jimmie Johnson be allowed to return to the track with his rear bumper support dragging the asphalt?

3: Is NASCAR’s no testing policy starting to rear its ugly head with all the engine problems?

4: Will Mark Martin lose interest in the season if his season doesn’t improve in one helluva hurry?

There you have them. Four fast, southern flavored, high banked testers for ya. Leave your answers - 100 words or less (for now) - in the comment section. Then come back and defend yourself. You never know who might take umbrage to your opinions. We do like a good argument around here.

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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!

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Wake up!  It isn’t Auto Club Speedway’s fault that Jimmy Johnson had everybody covered for the last Labor Day race at Fontana.  It was Johnson’s turn to be the Superman of the super speedways as he totally dominated the 500 mile  in the fruitlands.

Carl Edwards had nothing for J J.  Neither did Busch the Younger.  And Kyle and Carl kept their tempers this time, perhaps waiting for a track with more of a door banging nature to wreak more havoc upon each other.  Maybe they’re hoping for plausible deniability.  Or perhaps the vaunted vengence that  everyone expects was really squelched by NASCAR’s probation.  I doubt it though.

Richmond is next.  And Richmond is the last chance for a select few drivers to lock in their opportunity to win the 2008 Sprint Cup.  This weeks Fast Lap questions have a Chase flavor of their own.  Can you qualify?

1:  Is Dodge in trouble if Kasey Kahne fails to make the Chase, which would mean no Dodges qualify for NASCAR’s playoff’s?

2:  Will next years Chase be better for the replacement on the schedule of Atlanta Motor Speedway with Auto Club Speedway at Fontana?

3:  Is Felix Sabates right?  Have we seen the best of Reed Sorenson?

4:  Who’s in and who’s out?  Give me your twelve qualifiers for the Chase?

Remember, your Fast Lap answers are limited to 100 words or less.  But come on back and bang fenders with your fellow Fast Lappers.  Throw some debris on the track.  Bench Race a bit.  We want to have a reason to put someone on probation too dammit! 

Bristol was interesting wasn’t it?  Nothing like a little short track carnage and door banging to spice up the final two weeks of NASCAR’s Race to the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.

There is still a race for the last few spots in the Chase top twelve.  Clint Bowyer, in 12th is only 12 points up on steady David Ragan.  Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin are in right now and Kasey Kahne is not.  The two race showdown is all that is left.

First up is the two miler at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.  The track is a near twin to Michigan and two weeks ago, MIS hosted the Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards show.  Of course, last weekend’s Bristol night race was a Carl and Kyle show - with a side of short track fireworks.

These two really only have the twenty remaining bonus points - that are up for grabs to the winners of Fontana and Richmond - to race for.   Carl grabbed the ten extra points for  Bristol with his bump-to-pass move.  Can’t wait to see what happens next.

Until then, we have four fast variably banked and slickly paved Fast Lap questions for your debating pleasure.

1: Given his history with Hendrick and Ganassi; can Casey Mears’ move to the #07 car be successful?

2: Is the racing better to watch at the new Bristol?

3: Will “Magnetgate” change the way you view Joe Gibbs, JD Gibbs and/or Joe Gibbs Racing?

4: Will having the Labor Day weekend race move to Atlanta at night be enough to stop the nostalgia mongers from calling for a return to Darlington?

You can bang doors, bump pass, even wreck your competitors in this race.  The Fast Lap doesn’t cater to whiners.  Kyle.

Check out this Bench Racing post for a shot at a free Kevin Harvick bobblehead, courtesy of Shell Gasonlines.

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Maybe the only question left for Kyle Busch to answer is whether he and crew chief Steve Addington can win a fuel economy race.  They will likely get a chance this week in the hilly cottage country of Southeast Michigan. 

Dale Earnhardt Jr won the June race at MIS with what seemed at the time, the ultimate gas gamble.  It worked and Junior broke a long winless streak in the Sprint Cup Series.  But the win had a “great taste - less filling” feel for many of his fans.

Much as we hope for victories by the bravest and the fastest every week, races at the Michigan track are often decided by the educated guesses of the guys up on the box.  Just such a decision by Tony Eury Jr may have cost Earnhardt a win last weekend at Watkins Glen.  That decision is actually Steve’s Buzz on Pit Row topic this week.  We’ll be kicking that to death ON PIT ROW along with these Fast Lap questions too.

1:  Being the first ever to win three road course races in one Cup season, is Kyle Busch the best Nascar road racer ever?

2:  Can the Wood Brothers parlay their third place finish at The Glen into a company turn-around?

3:  Should the “The Chase” be a microcosm of the season-with all track types present in the final ten races?

4:  Why don’t “The Ringers” do better at the road courses, that they supposedly excel at?

Take your best shot at all four of those fast left handers as you prepare your pit stategy for Sunday’s race.  Remember, 100 words or less for the answers but unlimited ability to defend your answers and attack your fellow Fast Lappers.  Just be nice, or we’ll have to call you to the trailer.  Again.

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I know that in the land of NASCAR , praying for rain on a race weekend is blasphemous. Condemn me all you want. I loved that race in the wet stuff up at Montreal on Saturday.

I’ve been waiting ever since NASCAR announced, years ago its intention to rain race in the Nationwide Series, for the clouds to open. They did in Canada. The results were a blast to watch. It sound like it was fun to drive in too. I hope NASCAR takes what they learned about wiperss and, maybe tail lights, and lets the guys try again someday.

Carl Edwards is on the march in the Sprint Cup Series. Kyle Busch and Team Gibbs are showing that they may be human afterall. And the Race to the Chase is heating up, bigtime.

The Fast Lap will be right in the middle of that heat too. Take a shot at turning left and right this week.

1: Which of The Chase Bubble Boys; Harvick, Kenseth, Bowyer or Ragan, will make the playoffs?

2: Even though it didn’t work out for them, was the no-pit strategy of the #9, before the rain the right call?

3: Carl Edwards’ post race interview included wondering if the car would pass post race inspection. What motivation could he have had for that statement?

4: Of all the road course ringers available for Watkins Glen, why is Kyle Petty back in the #45 car for this one race?

We have big plans to take this Fast Lap discussion to another level. Now that the site has been upgraded, we are getting close to producing our first ever Fast Lap Show, featuring your comments and opinions on selected weekly Fast Lap questions. So sharpen up your arguments and tear your fellow Fast Lappers new ones. It’s all part of the deal here at OnPitRow.com.

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Can anyone stop Kyle Busch from running away with the 2008 Sprint Cup Series championship? That’s the question I read and heard most during the, so-called, week off just passed.

It’s the same question that was on most lips this time last year as the Cupsters cruised into Indy. The difference is that in 2007, the can’t miss winner was - Jeff Gordon. How’d that work out?

The guy who won the ‘07 Cup was the same one who kissed the Bricks at Indianapolis - Jimmy Johnson. In fact, taking the checkered flag at the Brickyard has been a good predicter of that year’s champ. Six of the winners in the fourteen year history of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard have gone on to win the series the same year.

Now six out of fourteen isn’t all of them. But if Kyle Busch wins this week at Indy, my money goes on him in the Chase for sure.

Chase these four, sharp, flat lefties as you wait for the the Greatest Spectacle in…. oh…sorry….The Brickyard 4…..what, it’s not that either? Here is your weekly Fast Lap assignment.

1: Jeremy Mayfield’s PR guy has been working overtime this week trying to get his boy on owner’s lips for some of the openings for 2009. As a car owner would his good outweigh his bad?

2: Matt Kenseth won the race at his hometown track-Slinger Speedway in Wisconsin on the off weekend. Other drivers spread themselves around the country doing the same thing to relax. As a car owner wouldn’t you be a bit worried?

3: Is this year’s rookie pool disappointing and who is your Rookie of the Year candidate now?

4: Does NASCAR belong at Indy?

Remember, no more than 100 words per answer. We will be using the best stuff ON PIT ROW and in a new, regular video segment on Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie.

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Two weeks off until the Cupsters resume at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

That was a hell of an end to the Lifelock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.  Kyle Busch once again won the last lap dash to the checkered flag.  This time he bested his old teammate, Jimmy Johnson.  It was impressive.

But I get the feeling that Johnson is taking the measure of the Shrub.  Dialing in, along with the best crew chief in the business, Chad Knaus, the #48 Lowes Chevrolet for when it really counts.  The last ten races. The Chase to the Sprint Cup.  Just like 2007.  Can’t hardly wait, myself.

Until then, we’ll have to cope.  Cope with unrelenting silly season stuff.  Wade through a hip-deep slop of rumors about who will drive for whom.  And in what car, painted in whose colors.

Enough for now.  Watch the Craftsman Trucks and the ARCA RE/MAX cars at Bruton’s new baby, Kentucky Speedway, this weekend.  And maybe sip on a Bourbon while thinking about these four, fast left handers .

1: Is Kyle Busch’s seventh win good for racing like Tiger Woods winning every week is  good for golf?

2: How did the TNT coverage stack up to the Fox coverage

3: Should Kyle Petty take a full time broadcast gig in 2009, if offered?

4: Over or under-Michael Waltrip Racing will field two and a half cars in 2009.

It’s the Fast Lap and these questions will be a big part of this week’s ON PIT ROW.  The best answers and comments will be considered for a brand new video segment OnPitRow.com.  So don’t hold back.  Kyle Busch doesn’t.

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For a long time I thought the trips to Chicagoland for NASCAR races felt odd. You just don’t think of NASCAR when you think the Windy City. But I’ve changed my mind.  Stay with me now.

Chicago of the 1920’s was the home of one of the most notorious gangster-bootleggers of all time - Al Capone. I don’t know if any of Scarface’s drivers ever aspired to take their Duesenburgs and Packards to the race track or not. But not much more than a generation later, bootleggers of a different sort took to the tracks of the south just fine, thank you.  And Bill France built an empire from that.

I doubt that Capone’s guys could put the muscle on the Sprint Cup Series any stronger than Kyle Busch has so far in 2008. The season is officially half over, and the Race to the Chase is two races deep. Six wins in eighteen races is more than a trend. The Shrub is putting his stamp on this thing. Of course, Jeff Gordon did the same in 2007.  And Jimmy Johnson got hot in the Chase and took the Cup.  As Big Al may have said - it ain’t over ’til the shootin’ stops.

Here are this week’s Fast Lap questions, brought to you by the fine folks at ON PIT ROW and the all new BenchRacers home for wayward racing lovers. We hope you will check them both out, repeatedly.

1. Could NASCAR continue, as is, without involvement from the big three?

2. Was TNT’s “Wide Open Coverage” of the Coke Zero 400 distracting or a model for others to emulate?

3. What purpose does it serve NASCAR to impound all cars after qualifying, when only a few have to really qualify to get in the race?

4. What fate does NASCAR hold for the Martin Truex team after having their car confiscated for illegal roof height?

Limit your answers to 100 words or less. But remember also, to come back and comment on the opinions of others and be prepared to defend your own positions. This is the Fast Lap.  We are going to be using the best of the commentary here in a new feature ON PIT ROW.  We want your absolute best shot. Bring it on.

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NASCAR Fantasy Racing

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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