Daily NASCAR

Wow, what a race! Drama. Damage. And a drag race!

What we saw Sunday in Montreal is why we all enjoy watching racing. There was no anointed winner, leading the most laps led to disaster, and the best funded team didn’t win. There was passion (and one middle finger), and boy was there carnage.

What really got me excited though was the large and passionate crowd. Our friends to the north love NASCAR and I’m starting to think they deserve more than just one Nationwide race a year.

NASCAR entered the Canadian market in 2004 and has since expanded with the acquisition of the former CASCAR series (now the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series), and the staging of that one yearly event at Circuit Gilles Villenueve in Montreal.

Unlike their four year foray into Mexico, NASCAR’s Canadian event has remained quite popular. And it’s no wonder given the occasionally strange, and always entertaining events Circuit Gilles Villenueve produces.

Some last week were calling for NASCAR to bring a Cup Series event to the track. And I say why not? Given the Nationwide races we’ve seen at the track I’d love to see what kind of hijinks the Cup cars could get into on the 2.71 mile road course. But honestly I’d be fine with a Cup race anywhere in the country. I thinks the fans have earned it – I think they deserve it.

Have you heard about the proposed Canadian Motor Speedway in Fort Erie, Ontario (near Buffalo, N.Y.)? It’s nothing more than an idea right now, but the developers are working with Jeff Gordon and they’re in talks with racetrack architect Paxton Waters to build the one mile tri-oval. They’re still a ways from anything being built, but the potential is interesting.

In the meantime we have a perfectly good (or as I should say, exceptional) facility with a group of people who can’t get enough stock car racing. I’m always an advocate for bringing the sport to people who want to see it, so why isn’t NASCAR doing more?

As we just wrapped up the scheduling for 2011 and saw what could have been pretty big changes turn into some cosmetic moves, we got a front row view of the politics involved.

NASCAR is privately owned by the France family. The France family is the majority shareholder (with 70% of the voting stock) in the publicly traded International Speedway Corporation. And then we have Bruton Smith and his publicly traded Speedway Motorsports Inc. Those two control all but three of the tracks that have NASCAR Cup Series dates and neither is giving up one of their very valuable dates anytime soon. Ask Jerry Carroll how hard it is to get a Cup date.

Still, Canada is a market NASCAR should be more involved in. We’ll see in the future if NASCAR thinks so. I just hope Canadian NASCAR fans get the respect they deserve.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR

LOUDON, N.H. — So much for the talk of seasoned scores to settle and high drama.

For the fifth time this season and second consecutive week, four-time Sprint Cup Series champ Jimmie Johnson won the trophy in what’s becoming NASCAR’s recurring theme.

Far from the retaliatory free-for-all everyone predicted after a series of run-ins in last week’s race, Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway came down to the final three laps and a test of wills between two champions — Johnson and 2004 champ Kurt Busch, who nudged Johnson out of the lead with seven laps remaining and then had the favor returned with three laps left.

Tony Stewart, Busch, Jeff Gordon and points leader Kevin Harvick rounded out the top five.

”I was pretty pissed off there for a minute there, I thought he took one from us,” Johnson radioed to his crew after taking the checkered flag.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Nationwide Series, Joey Logano, Danica Patrick, NASCAR

LOUDON, N.H. — The NASCAR education of Danica Patrick continued Saturday with a hard-knocks 30th place finish — five laps down to winner Kyle Busch — in the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

It was a day of frustration, tough lessons and small accomplishments for the IZOD IndyCar Series starlet, whose effort Saturday is actually her best showing in four Nationwide Series starts.

It didn’t feel like that for Patrick, however. She spent most of the day mired in the back of the pack carefully avoiding the race leaders as a dominant Kyle Busch led 126 laps to become the all-time laps leader in Nationwide Series history.

Patrick brought out the first caution of the day only eight laps into the race — spinning out after a collision with veteran Morgan Shepherd. Frustrated, she radioed to her crew, “He totally took me out.” And then later asked, “Doesn’t he get some sort of penalty for that?”

On the ensuing restart and again as cars parked on pit road after the race, Patrick handed out her own justice — driving her No. 7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet into Shepherd’s rear bumper to let him know she didn’t appreciate the run-in.

“I obviously got dumped in the first corner,” Patrick said. “It’s hard to recover from that. … but I guess that’s racing.”

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

LOUDON, N.H. — Asked if he needed to be looking over his shoulder this weekend after an uncharacteristic string of run-ins during a high-action afternoon at the Sonoma, Ca., road course last Sunday, Jeff Gordon smiled and nodded.

“I think you’re going to have to get in line,” Gordon said, laughing about all the drivers who may seek payback in Sunday’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“We left the race track with quite a few guys upset at us for good reason. It was intense racing and some mistakes on my part and hey, when you make those kinds of decisions and those things happen, then you’ve got to deal them.

“I’m going to deal with whatever comes my way,” Gordon said, adding with a smile, “I’ve been dealing with it with (Matt) Kenseth a long time.”

While the four-time NASCAR champ was able to laugh about it following Friday’s opening practice at New Hampshire, aggressive driving is a legitimate issue and a concern among many of the front-running drivers this week.

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by Holly Cain

Filed under: Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Sprint Cup, NASCAR

LOUDON, N.H. — Asked if he needed to be looking over his shoulder this weekend after an uncharacteristic string of run-ins during a high-action afternoon at the Sonoma, Ca., road course last Sunday, Jeff Gordon smiled and nodded.

“I think you’re going to have to get in line,” Gordon said, laughing about all the drivers who may seek payback in Sunday’s LENOX Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“We left the race track with quite a few guys upset at us for good reason. It was intense racing and some mistakes on my part and hey, when you make those kinds of decisions and those things happen, then you’ve got to deal them.

“I’m going to deal with whatever comes my way,” Gordon said, adding with a smile, “I’ve been dealing with it with (Matt) Kenseth a long time.”

While the four-time NASCAR champ was able to laugh about it following Friday’s opening practice at New Hampshire, aggressive driving is a legitimate issue and a concern among many of the front-running drivers this week.

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