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The Cabinet of the United Stars of NASCAR

Submitted by Matt Taliaferro on Fri, 2012-11-09 12:00

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It’s been but three days since our nation elected its leaders, and we’re still all feeling a little bit of a political hangover. The Republicans can’t believe they got beat, the Democrats are relieved they won, and while half the country is wringing their hands over the results and what lies ahead, the other half is just glad it’s over. Or they’re smoking a bunch of weed since it was legalized in a couple locales. Either way, it got me to thinking what a NASCAR election cycle might look like. Here’s how I envision Capitol Hill looking, where D.C.

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COMMENTS

Backseat Drivers Fan Council

Crew chiefs, Chase races and grading Dover

Is Chad Knaus the best crew chief in the Chase? (ASP, Inc.)

Members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council take a wider look at the sport this week, judging who they think the best crew chief in the Chase is and if the length of the Chase should remain 10 races. Here’s a look at what they had to say:

Who is the best crew chief in the Chase?

42.4 percent said Chad Knaus (Jimmie Johnson)
25.2 percent said Paul Wolfe (Brad Keselowski)
18.3 percent said Darian Grubb (Denny Hamlin
5.0 percent said Steve Letarte (Dale Earnhardt Jr.)
2.7 percent said Alan Gustafson (Jeff Gordon)
1.5 percent said Kenny Francis (Kasey Kahne)
1.1 percent said Steve Addington (Tony Stewart)
1.1 percent said Jimmy Fennig (Matt Kenseth)
1.1 percent said Chad Johnston (Martin Truex Jr.)
0.8 percent said Gil Martin (Kevin Harvick)
0.8 percent said Brian Pattie (Clint Bowyer)
0.0 percent said Matt Puccia (Greg Biffle)

What Fan Council members said:
• Five championships, well in contention for six. Chad has been and continues to be the best.

• Chad, and then everyone else. Chad Knaus has revolutionized the crew chief position and forced every other one to step up. If it wasn't for him, I'm not sure J.J. has even one title under his belt.

• Paul Wolfe is not afraid of taking a chance and he and Brad sure make a good pair.

• I gotta give it to Paul for this year. So far they have not faltered, in fact they've shown the way to others by giving his driver all the adjustments necessary to excel at the end, when it counts. And he can count fuel mileage unlike others.

• Darian Grubb has shown that he has what it takes to be a great crew chief. He took Tony Stewart to a championship last year and then was dumped. He bounced back and has given Denny Hamlin his best year yet. No matter if he wins the championship or not, Denny is having a great year. And if he does win the championship, it will be with the help of a great crew chief.

• I think that Darian is the best in the garage. Look at his record the last two years and you can't say any other crew chief has won more races. He's the top dog.

• I chose Steve Letarte because he is responsible for the unbelievable transformation of Dale Jr. I rode with Junior during driver's introduction in 2010. What I saw was a very unhappy and depressed man with no confidence. Interviews were done with his head down. Now he appears to be a happy, confident driver who has an awesome relationship with his crew chief and is appreciative of what he has. One of the biggest changes is what you hear on the scanner.

• So far it's hard to bet against Alan Gustafson. Not only has he made the right calls, the obvious respect he and Jeff have for each other along with the trust Jeff has in Alan's decisions make them a team worth noting.

• Mr. Fennig has forgotten more about technical matters than the other crew chiefs can ever hope to learn.

• Gil is an outstanding crew chief and gets very little credit for having to put up with Harvick on a daily basis.


How long should the Chase be?

80.8 percent said 10 races
10.8 percent said 5 races
4.2 percent said 8 races
4.2 percent said 6 races

What Fan Council members said:
• 10 weeks is good, that way if you blow it one week it does not mean game over.

• I think 10 is perfect. It has most every type of track there is other than a road course. Put one of those in and take one of the 1.5-milers out and you have a perfect collection.

• I like the number of races just the way it is. With 10 races it gives the fans a chance to see who will be the cream of the crop — who really deserves to be in the Chase. The champion won't be fluke, but a team who has shown to have consistency and can win some races.

• Five races. Richmond to get in, Bristol to start, then Watkins Glen, Talladega, Martinsville, Homestead. 10 races is too long. We got spoiled last year with the epic battle to the last lap of the season. I have a feeling we wont see that ever again.

• The Chase is perfect the way it is. If the number of races is shortened there will be no suspense at all. The driver who wins the first race will most likely win the championship. Right now it is fun to watch Jeff Gordon try to redeem himself. He wouldn't have a chance with a shortened Chase.

• One race each at a short track, road course, plate, 2-mile, 1.5-mile and a 1-mile track. Change the 1.5-mile track each year for the finale or have it at Las Vegas permanently.

• I picked 10, but believe 12 drivers and 12 races (with the current 36-race schedule) works best. Makes sense: a greater spread of races and possibility to make moves to the current bland schedule. Richmond could move back to the Chase decider or become a late-season race (a la Rockingham back in the day). I like the thought of a 500-mile race at Atlanta opening the Chase more than Chicago or New Hampshire.

• I don't like the Chase, but 10 is a good number. Attrition/elimination are about to enter into the picture. Fewer races would just make it about luck and who's hot at the moment.


Grade Sunday’s race at Dover

45.2 percent called it Fair
33.3 percent called it Good
18.8 percent called it Poor
2.7 percent called it Great

What Fan Council members said:
• One word for Sunday's race: STRANGE.

• We attended the race and came up with three exciting moments: The one instance of three-wide racing in Turn 2, Kyle Busch gaining on Jimmie Johnson toward the end and the breath-holding laps of Jeff Gordon fans hoping Alan Gustafson was right about having enough fuel (thanks Alan & Jeff for a very nice birthday gift! lol) 400 miles of racing & three moments of excitement (unless you're also a big fan of Brad Keselowski, then add his win). No wonder the stands were barely half full and emptied out by another quarter by the time the race ended. We used to love going to Dover. It's a shame the racing has gone downhill there too.

• What is going on in this Chase? No exciting races yet! This is another “Poor” rating for me for watching another high-speed parade of cars go around the track.

• I was there and any race at Dover is a great “in-person” race.

• Boring race till the last 50 laps.

• Boring race from start to finish. Didn't seem to be much hard racing, excitement or drama. Strategy and fuel mileage races will always be a part of the sport but it really doesn't make for a very exciting finish when drivers can't race each other because they have to slow down so they don't run out of fuel.

• It certainly was not a great race at all but not the worst. Only having six cars on the lead lap shook it up, which was fun to see. Otherwise, it seemed there was only a few passes and the finish wasn't too bad.

• I was there. This was without a doubt the most boring race I've ever been to (or seen on TV)! I left with about 70 laps to go. I've never seen so many folks leave so early en mass. I used buses provided by local law enforcement and encouraged by the track. Six full buses left before I was able to get on one (before race was over)!

• I really hated to give it a rating of “Poor” because that first caution put a lot of cars a lap or more down. NASCAR can't do anything about that — just dumb luck.

• It was my first NASCAR race and I enjoyed every moment of it. Great strategy towards the end and a surprise winner.


The Backseat Drivers Fan Council was founded and is administered by Dustin Long. Fans can join by sending Dustin an email at dustinlong002@gmail.com.

Please include the following information:
Name, city, state, Twitter name, e-mail address and favorite driver.
 

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COMMENTS

Backseat Drivers Fan Council

The All-Star Edition

Photo by ASP, Inc.

Members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council don’t hold back on their opinions but the comments this week were as sharp and direct as they have ever been. They also weren’t afraid to express their opinions about their fellow fans — good and bad.

Fan Council members had a lot to discuss this week. They were asked about how much input they feel they have in creating change in NASCAR. They also were asked about the fan videos used to introduce drivers before last week’s All-Star Race, and they were asked about that race and the final segment. 

Here’s what members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council said about those issues.


HOW MUCH INPUT DO YOU FEEL FANS HAVE IN AFFECTING CHANGE IN NASCAR?

45.8 percent said Just Right
27.8 percent said Too Much
26.3 percent said Not Enough

What Fan Council members said:
• Hard to say. But I feel like fans are never satisfied and complain so much that NASCAR is constantly changing things and is losing its credibility that way. I understand they want to please the fans, but no other sport is that reactive to the fans. I’m really not sure if it’s a good or bad thing. I will say that NASCAR has the biggest crybaby fans! Suck it up and enjoy the racing in front of you. It’s fantastic what these drivers are doing. So spoiled.

• NASCAR does a great job — heck, they change rules mid-season to tweak things. What other sport does that? NASCAR fans have such a diverse opinion on a wide variety of topics — someone will always be happy or unhappy with SOMETHING. We are a high maintenance vocal group!

• Why is it I feel like NASCAR is listening to the wrong “fans”?

• I think NASCAR listens. When I first became a fan, it seemed as though they didn’t care about what they heard. Now, five years later, I have a different impression.

• I wonder, if NASCAR REALLY listened to the fans, if we would still have “the Chase” and the Top 35 rule?

• I feel between the Fan Council and Twitter, there are plenty of avenues to reach NASCAR with questions and concerns. I know they do listen to what they are hearing.

• We are spectators. I do not feel like we need any input as to how the business known as NASCAR is run. It really upsets me when I hear people say that there need to be changes because they are not “entertained.”

• NASCAR/Brian France is incredibly stubborn when it comes to listening to the fans. They have been waging war on us fans this year, saying we’re not fans if we like crashes; saying we’re needy if we want to see the debris that causes debris cautions. They are doing a great job at making people less interested in our sport.

• It’s important to keep the fans happy, but I think NASCAR has gone too far giving so much control to the fans. Fans don’t understand everything it takes to run this show. Some of their requests are ridiculous.

• Most fans are knowledgeable and have good ideas. NASCAR should listen to them more.

• It’s disconcerting to me that NASCAR is very quick to make adjustments based on fans’ complaints. From my experience, a lot of fans are biased and largely uninformed. I do not think that watching every race necessarily means you know enough to affect change.


GRADE SATURDAY NIGHT’S ALL-STAR RACE

43.9 percent called it Good
25.8 percent called it Great
19.9 percent called it Fair
10.4 percent called it Poor

What Fan Council members said:
• The first 80 laps were awesome. I was at the race and for those first 80 laps we got to cheer drivers who were driving their asses off and putting on a good race. But as someone who was actually rooting for the 48 at the beginning of the race, the way they won it left me completely disappointed. I get it was perfectly legal, and I get it in points racing, but for the All-Star? You can’t be bothered to race for the whole 90 laps? I’ll be finding someone else to root for next week.

• It was the best All-Star Race that I’ve seen in years. The 10-lap shootout was a little disappointing, but the rest of the segments were action-packed. There was racing going on all over the track at once — that is awesome.

• Stupid! Someone should have realized that the tactic of riding around in the back would come into play. Plus having the option for a stop-and-go only for the final pit stop — who’s dumb idea was that?

• The 20-lap segments were awesome. I just wish the last 10 was more exciting. It was a letdown after so much great racing

• Jimmie Johnson said they KNEW if they won the first segment, they had it in the bag. Really? Then why should we bother watching it? I’m pissed I wasted a Saturday night on that lame show. Jimmie Johnson may have won the million, but he can’t possibly be proud of the way he won that race. Way to go NASCAR.

• The racing itself was great, but I recommend an incentive for the segment winners to stay in the racing action. Say must finish top-10 each segment or they lose the advantage of pitting 1-4 before final segment. 

• IMO part of the fun of the All-Star Race is seeing what strategies teams will use to try to win. And to those fans complaining about Jimmie (or Matt or Brad, who employed the same strategy once they won their segments) laying back (they were being smart staying out of trouble and at the same time adjusting their cars) during the middle segments a reminder of one of racing’s rules: To finish first, first you must finish, and Jimmie made sure he was going to be there at the end to finish.

• I finally saw drivers really racing for once. And even doing it without wrecking!

• This was the BEST RACE of the season. It had a little of everything and the drivers seemed to drive hard each and every lap.

• Too much sandbagging by the winners of segments 1-3. It’s NOT strategy, it’s sandbagging, which I abhor.


IS 10 LAPS THE PROPER LENGTH FOR THE FINAL SEGMENT OF THE ALL-STAR RACE?

59.4 percent said No
40.6 percent said Yes

What Fan Council members said:
• It’s not a shootout if its longer. We certainly don’t need another segment. If they change this, they’ll have to tweak everything else too.

• I think it should be 20 laps just like all the other segments.

• I suggest a full fuel run for the final segment or at least 25 laps.

• If you’re not in a position to do it in 10 laps ... ya ain't gonna do it.

• I think 10 laps keep fans more interested since drivers will be racing hard for all 10 laps instead of driving conservatively for 20-40 laps.

• Three segments of 30 laps each would be good. Why do you need a 10-lap shootout? Makes no sense. Most of the cars are just getting dialed in good on a restart at 10 laps. Make it at least 20.

• Johnson’s car was so fast I don’t know if 20 laps would have made a difference.
 

Photo by ASP, Inc.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE IDEA OF FAN VIDEOS TO INTRODUCE THE DRIVERS BEFORE THE ALL-STAR RACE?

33.6 percent Liked it
26.2 percent Liked that fans were a part of this but Sprint should try something else next year
19.0 percent Didn’t like it but if they keep it maybe the fan videos will be better next year
14.3 percent Hated it
6.9 percent Prefer the Fox/SPEED announcers introduce the drivers as before

What Fan Council members said:
• Props to NASCAR for involving the fans as much as possible, so I hate to criticize, but a bunch of those videos were so embarrassing. I assume those were they best they got? Try it one more year to see if the quality goes up.

• Way too many WWE wannabees trying to cut promos for their drivers.

• Some of the video intros were a little “corny,” especially the guy in the shower.

• I liked the fan videos. Actually thought that was kind of cool. Some of them were creative ... like the guy in the shower.

• The videos were really poor, the guy in the shower was in bad taste. Who picked these videos?? Either let the fans VOTE on, say, the top-3 videos for each driver or use the videos as like an audition tape and either film them or bring them to the race to do the intros.

• I would have thought the announcements could have been much more creative. They were amateurish and extremely boring. Kudos to people for trying, and I suppose it was a creative marketing plan for Sprint, but it left me with a “What in the world just happened look?” after it was all over. It took away from one of the most exciting pre-race events!

• I honestly didn’t even know that fans could do a video. I guess I just didn’t see it posted somewhere. I liked it, though!

• I can’t stand the gimmicky crap like this. The videos were annoying. Let Steve Byrnes introduce everybody and let’s drop the rag and race!

• Another way to show that NASCAR appreciates its fans. Great job.

• The whole thing was embarrassing. I would try something new ... let great drivers of the past introduce the competitors.


The Backseat Drivers Fan Council was founded and is administered by Dustin Long. Fans can join by sending Dustin an email at dustinlong002@gmail.com.

Please include the following information:
Name, city, state, Twitter name, e-mail address and favorite driver.
 

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NASCAR's Comers and Go'ers

Taking stock of the 2012 Sprint Cup Series at the Easter break

Tony Stewart has two wins in 2012. (Photo by ASP, Inc.)

Taking Stock of the 2012 Sprint Cup at the Easter Break

Six weeks into the 2012 NASCAR season, the Sprint Cup Series heads into the first of only two off-weekends of the year. With no race this weekend, and thus no fantasy picks to make, let’s take a look at some of the biggest surprises thus far, which drivers and teams are on track for a solid season and which need to turn their season around before it is too late.

There is no doubt the hottest team in NASCAR is Stewart-Haas Racing. The defending series champion, Tony Stewart, has had an uncharacteristic start to the year, winning two races (Las Vegas, Fontana), while teammate Ryan Newman used an aggressive move during a green-white-checker finish to score his first career Cup win at Martinsville.

Typically slow starters, both SHR drivers have hit the ground running after last year's impressive showing in the Chase. Stewart currently sits third in points, while Newman climbed two spots to eighth after last week’s victory.

The mood is soaring at Stewart-Haas, the strong finishes and wins keep coming, the new partnership between Stewart and crew chief Steve Addington continues to roll on smoothly, but can that momentum continue through the summer months and into the Chase?

While the SHR brigade has been scoring wins and making headlines, Roush Fenway Racing’s Greg Biffle has quietly and consistently raced his way to the points lead. After starting the season with three consecutive third-place finishes, Biffle took command of the series standings after Las Vegas and has yet to relinquish the spot.

Frustrated and clearly upset with his team’s 16th-place points finish in 2011, Biffle had high expectations coming into this year and his performances to date have shown the changes made behind the scenes at Roush Fenway Racing have made all the difference.

Although The Biff has yet to hit Victory Lane, he hasn’t finished worse than 13th, with three top 5s and a sixth-place run to his credit. Determined to put last year's disappointing results behind him, expect Biffle and his No. 16 team to continue to lead the way at RFR as the season rolls on in two weeks in Texas — a track at which Biffle could easily break his 49-race winless skid.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon. (Photo by ASP, Inc.)

Also on the verge of breaking a winless streak is perennial fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. Through the first six weeks of the season, the No. 88 team has been the workhorse of the Hendrick stable with three top 5s and four top 10s. Earnhardt nearly scored his second Daytona 500 victory to open the season, finishing second and proving he’ll be a contender at the plate tracks so long as “pack racing” is the draft du jour. He was oh-so-close yet again last weekend in Martinsville before settling for his second straight third-place finish.

Sitting second in the standings, Earnhardt appears confident in his team, the speed in his cars, crew chief Steve Letarte and, perhaps most importantly, himself. His average finish of 7.8 is impressive to say the least, and he has already led more laps in the first six races (75) than he did in all of 2011 (58).

While Junior’s winless streak has now reached 135 races, he truly only has two victories in the last 212 events, stretching back to 2006. His last multi-win season came in ’04 while racing for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. when he earned a career-high six trophies.

With the constant pressure to perform and deliver wins, Earnhardt appears more comfortable with his situation than he has since joining HMS is 2008. This team is nipping at the heels of a victory, and I expect them to be the group to deliver team owner Rick Hendrick his 200th Sprint Cup Series victory, lead the series standings throughout the course of the summer and be a serious contender come Chase time.

As Earnhardt Jr. has started the season with a bang, the rest of his Hendrick Motorsports stable has struggled with poor luck, disappointing finishes and controversy.

The team’s newest addition, Kasey Kahne, was expected to hit the ground running at Hendrick, competing for wins and battling for the points lead. Instead, the No. 5 team has two DNFs and a best finish of 14th, which came in the rain-shortened event in Fontana. Kahne has completed only 76.9 percent of the total laps this year and has four finishes of 39th or worse.

Mired deep in the standings at 31st, Kahne and his Kenny Francis-led team now have to focus on righting the ship and going after wins. Despite the slow start, Kahne's talent and ability to win could easily bump this team into the Chase “wild card” conversation as the season rolls into the summer months that are dominated by big intermediates tracks — a Kahne specialty.

Veteran Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon has also been hit with the bad luck bug, resulting in disappointing finishes thus far. An engine failure in Daytona set the tone for the No. 24 team’s season, with poor luck continuing nearly each and every week. Although he scored an eighth at Phoenix and a 12th in Las Vegas, Gordon is stuck in 21st in the championship standings, with three finishes outside the top 25.

Last weekend’s dominating performance at Martinsville seemed to show the tide might be turning for the four-time Sprint Cup champion, but a late-race spin battling for the lead and then subsequently running out of fuel resulted in a 14th-place finish. The No. 24 team has been strong at times this season, but the results simply have not shown.

Five-time series champion Jimmie Johnson’s start to the 2012 season has been filled with drama and controversy instead of race wins and celebrations. A rules infraction at Daytona set the stage for a showdown between the No. 48 team and NASCAR that stretched on for weeks.

NASCAR's initial penalty on the No. 48 team would have kept crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec away from the track for a total of six weeks, plus cost Johnson 25 driver points. Leaving Daytona 42nd after a Lap 2 wreck and with the penalty hanging over the team’s head, things looked grim.

Yet after multiple appeals, Hendrick Motorsports got the answer it wanted. The suspensions levied on Knaus and Malec were dismissed, as was the points penalty for Johnson. Jumping from deep in the standings, Johnson climbed within reach of the top 10.

Despite all the drama surrounding the penalty and appeals, Johnson was able to knock off four top 10s in the ensuing four weeks. His battle with Gordon on Sunday at Martinsville was shaping up to be one for the ages, but Johnson was forced to swallow a 12th-place finish after also getting collected in the G-W-C melee at the front of the field.

So while things started off rough for Team 48, its performances are proving it has put the drama behind and are as focused as ever going for that sixth championship.

The 2012 season, while still in its initial stages, has been anything but dull. From rain delays, to jet-dryer fires, to appeals drama, to surprise success and surprise struggles, the storylines have been deep.

Following this weekend’s Easter break, the Cup Series hits a stretch of continuous racing that lasts until mid-July. As the temperatures soar, so will the intensity on the track and off. Expect slow starters like Kahne, Gordon, Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards to make some noise, while Biffle, Earnhardt Jr. and Stewart hope to maintain their solid starts.

Be sure to take time this week to look over your spot in the fantasy standings, examine the good calls and questionable mistakes you've made in setting your lineup and look ahead to the upcoming events in the next few weeks. Much like the drivers and teams, preparation is the key to success in any fantasy league.

By Jay Pennell. Follow Jay on Twitter: @JayWPennell

For complete Fantasy coverage each week, visit “Pennell’s Picks,” published each Thursday at AthlonSports.com.

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Have Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus Lost Their Edge?

The Long and Short of It

Chad Knaus (left) and Jimmie Johnson. (ASP, Inc.)

THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT

by Dustin Long

Tony Stewart ended Jimmie Johnson’s championship reign last year but are NASCAR fans witnessing an end of an era? For a driver who, on average, once won about one out of every six starts, Johnson has two victories in his last 50 races.

While many drivers would gladly take two victories in such a span, Johnson’s stretch raises questions. This is the driver who won so many races in the final 10 laps, either taking the lead or holding off those trying to take it from him. This is the driver whose team put him in position to win. This is the driver whose car often was so much better than anybody else.

Now, this driver and team are no longer as dominant.

Yet, before one laments Johnson’s woes, consider Johnson’s record in the last 50 races:

• Johnson has finished in the top five 44 percent of the time (Stewart finished in the top five in 26 percent of those races).
• Johnson has finished in the top 10 66 percent of the time (Stewart finished in the top 10 in 50 percent of those races).

Johnson’s feat is impressive but expectations are so high that when he doesn’t win, it gains attention.

“I look back and I think of five or six races that got away,” Johnson said before Sunday’s race at Martinsville — another one that got away after he was collected in a late-race incident.

“Making those mistakes, I didn’t make those in years past or the team didn’t make them. There are some things that boiled down to strategy and others down to restarts that have been on me.

“I heard Jeff (Gordon) say something a long time ago, when he won 13 races or something like that in a year. He said he won every race he should have and then some that he shouldn’t have. We need to win the races we should be able to win and that we have a shot to win.”

There’s no doubt that Johnson’s team has lost a bit of its edge. Yet for all his struggles, he left Martinsville 10th in the points, hindered by his 42nd-place finish in the Daytona 500 when he was wrecked on the second lap. Since then, he’s finished no worse than 12th and that came Sunday at Martinsville after he was spun while battling for the lead in the final laps.

“Nothing is eating at me,” Johnson said before Sunday’s race. “Right now I’m very optimistic about our season. I have not paid attention to a stat or a number since our last win. I feel that we’re knocking on the door and we’re running on the race track where we should, and up front, and that’s going to give us chance to win.”

BACK IN THE SADDLE  John Wes Townley drove in this past weekend’s Camping World Truck Series race after his team sat him out of the Daytona race because he was arrested and charged with DUI after crashing his 2012 BWM on Feb. 7 near Athens, Ga.

RAB Racing reinstated him for Martinsville. NASCAR placed Townley on probation for the rest of the year and he will be subject to random drug and alcohol testing. Townley said his team also has placed “internal sanctions” on him that he would not discuss. 

Townley, who was cited in Feb. 2010 for underage possession of alcohol in Las Vegas, says he’s abstained from drinking since the February crash.

“That night I was having a few drinks with some friends and that morning I had to get up really early to go to Charlotte to go get some seats done and I left really early in the morning,” Townley said of what happened Feb. 7. “It was really foggy. It was really rainy outside, and I ran off the road and I hit my head pretty bad. I was disoriented. I went up to somebody's door because I left my cell phone back at the house and when that all happened — that's where I was.

“But I don't want of those conditions to undermine the decision that I made, because it's on me. It was up to me. I’m the one who got in the car. It was just a perfect storm that everything happened that night. I want to send my deepest apologies to anybody.”

The crash is just part of his curious past. Townley suddenly left his ride and the sport in Sept. 2010 before the Richmond Nationwide race.

“I needed to step back and re-evaluate how I felt about continuing on with the sport,” he said. “I didn’t really know where I was at the time and I just needed that time to step back and re-think what I wanted out of life and coming back into it I really just wanted to give it another shot and certainly didn’t want to leave it the way I left it. So to answer your question, I really want to get back into it to show some people that I can really perform out there and give it another shot.”

Townley finished 23rd at Martinsville.
 

Ryan Newman and his Grandfather clock. (ASP, Inc.)

SPECIAL WIN  Ryan Newman’s victory Sunday at Martinsville came on the 19th anniversary of former champion Alan Kulwicki’s death in a plane crash on the way to Bristol.

Newman’s crew chief, Tony Gibson, joined Kulwicki’s team in 1986 and was his car chief in 1992 when Kulwicki won the title. Gibson said he thought of the anniversary the night before Sunday’s race.

“A lot of the reason I’m where I’m at is because of Alan,” Gibson said. “You know, the fight to never give up, and always believe in yourself comes from him, too.

“It’s just pretty cool to be with Ryan with the engineering background, and he’s just like Alan. He's just like him. He’s wicked smart and when you ever try to catch him on something, he’s got a little bit better answer for you. So I don’t try that anymore.”

Said Newman of Kulwicki: “He was (an) inspiration for me. He was part of the reason why I chose to be an engineer and follow through with my racing career at the same time.”

PIT STOPS  All three national NASCAR series are off this weekend. The Nationwide and Cup series compete April 13 and 14 at Texas Motor Speedway and the Camping World Truck Series races April 15 at Rockingham Speedway. ... After six Cup races, 15 drivers have collected at least $1 million in race winnings (typically divided between the team and the driver). Daytona 500 winner Matt Kenseth has collected the most at $2,344,947.

Follow Dustin on Twitter: @DustinLong
 

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Chad Knaus Penalty Overturned

by Matt Taliaferro

The National Stock Car Racing Chief Appellate Officer, John Middlebrook, reduced a penalty handed down by NASCAR to Hendrick Motorsports’ No. 48 team on Tuesday. Middlebrook rescinded the loss of 25 owner and driver points and the six-race suspension of crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec. The $100,000 fine remained in place.

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Oh, Say, Can You C-Post

Photo by ASP, Inc.

by Vito Pugliese

You could forgive team owner Rick Hendrick if he now believes NASCAR really is an acronym standing for “Never Appeal Suspensions for Chad And Ron”.

Following Tuesday’s initial appeal before the National Stock Car Appeals Panel, the suspensions of crew chief Chad Knaus and car chief Ron Malec were upheld, one-upping five-time Jimmie Johnson becoming six-time — as in, out of commission for six straight races. While Hendrick was diplomatic and conciliatory, recognizing NASCAR for providing the opportunity to state his case, he was nonetheless steadfast in his commitment to further escalate the appeals process. When asked if he accepted the outcome of the board’s review, he was unusually stern in his response:

“I don’t accept it. Period.”

So what of the perpetual appeal process for unapproved C-post modifications that has gone on since the Daytona 500? Are Hendrick and Knaus fighting a battle they cannot win, simply delaying the inevitable? Or is it a bit of formulated “strateegery” in an effort to help maximize the first few races of the season and build some much-needed momentum in the likelihood that the brain trust of race-weekend preparation will be out for the same time it takes a broken leg to heal?

As we have come to recognize since 2004, it is never too early to start thinking about The Chase.

Think back two weeks ago to the race at Phoenix. If not for an uncharacteristic mid-race loose wheel pit miscue, the No. 48 team would have checked out, standing in Victory Lane, and nothing would have been written about Denny Hamlin’s newfound confidence or Darian Grubb being a war wagon Zen master.

Last weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in their sponsor’s Kobalt Tool’s 400, Johnson was snookered by quasi-teammate Tony Stewart on a restart with four laps to go, finishing second. Those two near-wins have catapulted Johnson — who was at –23 points just a couple of weeks ago — up to 23rd in the standings. While not exactly something the dynasty of the decade usually would rally around, it has brought the team to within 36 points of 10th-place driver Mark Martin.

This is significant for a few reasons. First, Martin is driving a part-time schedule and is taking this weekend off — which heading into the concrete mixing bowl of retaliation that is Bristol, is probably good news for Dale Earnhardt Jr. following their dust up in the closing laps in Vegas. The 10th-place position in points is of utmost importance, of course, as that is the cut off for marking the Chase after race No. 26 at Richmond.

Finally, 36 points is what is paid for finishing in eighth place. In the last six races at Bristol, Johnson has lead 694 laps and posted an average finish of 9.0. Factor in a bonus point for leading a lap, and you have eighth-place points for the 48 nearly guaranteed this weekend. The one anomaly during those last six Bristol races was a 35th-place finish at the night race in 2010. Even then, Johnson had led 175 of 263 laps before being turned into the backstretch wall by Juan Pablo Montoya.

A strong run at Bristol will provide much-needed momentum that will overcome the 25-point fine levied at Daytona, and should the final appeal be heard next Tuesday, Knaus and Malec will begin serving their suspensions during the weekend of Fontana when the series heads to the Auto Club Speedway. How has Johnson faired at what is essentially his home track in Southern California?

In the last eight races he’s won four times, posted two second-place finishes, a third and a downright shameful result of ninth in 2009. Safe to say, I could clamber up atop the box in Fontucky and engineer a top 10 for J.J. at Michigan International Speedway’s illegitimate sister track.

The schedule then winds back east to Martinsville, where the results are similar. Two wins in eight races with an average finish of 4.4. If he keeps the fenders on it and the curbs off it, a top 10 is a virtual certainty. Intermediate tracks Kansas and Texas follow where Johnson enjoys lifetime average finishes of 8.4 and 10.2.

Richmond would be the fifth race of the Knaus/Malec suspension, and may prove to be a stumbling block. The last eight races at the three-quarter mile track have produced an average finish of 16.3, although there is a 2008 win mixed in, and three of the last four visits producing top-10 runs. I know, “Oh the humanity!” Sub-par days for the 48 have most other teams buying a case of beer and fist-pumping into the wee hours of the morning. That said, if there is one race to write off in the final six, it just might end up being Richmond.

Or the next week at Talladega.

Always a crapshoot — and an even larger roll of the restrictor-plate dice than Daytona — Johnson traditionally finds himself involved in or triggering the requisite 30-car Alabama junkyard. No reason to throw in the towel though, as he is the defending race champion, Hendrick Motorsports doesn’t hurt for horsepower at the big tracks, and as long as he doesn’t get wiped out in two laps like at Daytona — and there are no shenanigans with the C-posts or calls to crack the back of the car — things should be fine.

That is, of course, if the big one doesn’t crack up the front of the car for him.

The six-week vacation for Knaus and Malec would wrap up following Talladega. In the meantime the duo will be able to spend a few extra days a week in their little shop of horrors, preparing new cars for the next races at Darlington for the Southern 500 and perhaps the most important event in the first third of the schedule, the Coca-Cola 600.

These two tracks are significant for a number of reasons. The Southern 500 has long been considered the second-most prestigious race on the schedule (until the advent of the big-money Brickyard 400), and while the Daytona 500 was the race the drivers wanted to win, crew chiefs and mechanics always longed to beat “The Track Too Tough To Tame.” After a month and a half off, Knaus and Malec will likely be itching to get back into pitched battle with The Lady In Black.

The Coca-Cola 600 run on Memorial Day weekend is the longest race of the year and puts the cap on two weeks spent at the epicenter of the NASCAR industry in Charlotte. It was the track that Knaus and Johnson once deemed “Our House” in reference to team sponsor Lowe’s, which once owned naming rights to the facility (and because the 48 won five of six races, as well as two wins in the All-Star Race). Going green just hours after the Indianapolis 500, it rivals the greatest spectacle in racing as the most important motorsports day in America, and is also the kickoff to the famed “Summer Stretch” of NASCAR: an eight-week grind that sees the series go north, west and south, comprised of intermediate tracks, a road course and the second restrictor plate race at Daytona.

It is during this time when teams find out if their latest generation of cars are up to snuff, provides an indication of who is top 10 material, and who will have to rely on pulling out a win to make the 12-driver Chase come September. If early-season performance has been any indication, the No. 48 team will easily qualify, as it has every season since the championship format was introduced in 2004.

If Knaus, Malec, Johnson and company should get their noses bloodied during Knaus’ and Malec’s absence, unable to overcome the 25-point penalty, they can still qualify for the playoffs on wins as a wild card. However, it is unlikely that will be necessary, and even if it is, is there any doubt this team could crank out a few wins if the entire might of Hendrick Motorsports was brought to bear?

As always, it is never too early to start thinking about the Chase. If the appeal strategy and timeline being followed by Hendrick and Knaus is any indication, they began thinking ahead as soon as they were pulled out of the inspection line nearly a month ago.

Follow Vito on Twitter: @VitoPugliese
 

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Hendrick Penalty Upheld

by Matt Taliaferro

The National Stock Car Racing Appeals Panel upheld NASCAR penalties against Hendrick Motorsports and crew chief Chad Knaus on Tuesday.

Knaus was fined $100,000 and, along with car chief Ron Malec, suspended six races for unapproved C-posts on the No. 48 Chevy driven by Jimmie Johnson prior to inspection for the Daytona 500. The No. 48 team was also levied 25-point fines in the championship and owner standings.

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Backseat Drivers Fan Council

Photo by ASP, Inc.

by Dustin Long

The Backseats Drivers Fan Council is back! While NASCAR and tracks have their own fan councils, most people don’t see the results of what fans are asked. That’s why I started a fan council last year where anyone could answer questions about the sport and see the results, along with comments fellow council members made.

Was NASCAR’s punishment of Chad Knaus fair? Do car brands matter anymore to NASCAR fans? Will rising gas prices force some fans to attend fewer NASCAR races? Those were among the topics members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council debated in this week’s survey.

There’s much to discuss, which Fan Council members did, so, let’s get to what was said:

NASCAR’S PENALTIES TO CHAD KNAUS
NASCAR announced that it would suspend crew chief Chad Knaus six races, fine him $100,000 and dock Jimmie Johnson 25 driver points, among other penalties after issues were found with Johnson’s car at Daytona in the first day at the track. Fan Council members were asked what they thought of the penalties, which Hendrick Motorsports is appealing.

44.4 percent said the penalty was appropriate
41.4 percent said the penalty was too harsh
14.2 percent said the penalty was not severe enough

What Fan Council members said:

• It's about time that they start looking at the body of work and not individual events for the 48 bunch. Has a year gone by in recent history when they weren't caught trying something? They were warned not to mess with the body and they have repeatedly. Time to drop the hammer and let the chips fall where they may.

• NASCAR officials seemed to talk a lot in the off-season about being more transparent and consistent with the fans, but I don't think this decision is very transparent. I believe that this punishment is about more than just C-posts. It's no big secret that NASCAR has been unhappy with how far Knaus has pushed the limits of the rules, so it appears to me that they are trying to 'put him back in place' with the suspension and fine, rather than just respond to the C-post issue.

• Innovation has always been part of racing, why kill it altogether. Not a 48 fan, but come on NASCAR, give the teams a break.

• I feel like there is either more to this story we don't know or this is too harsh.

• I think NASCAR is way out of line on this one. I figure what makes a good crew chief is a natural talent for figuring things out. Their goal isn't to cheat, but to figure out how to go faster. NASCAR believes its job is to rein them in, but I believe it's wrong for NASCAR to penalize them for being innovative. Tell them no, we don't like that, go change it, but a suspension and penalty like this is just way over the top.

• Chad is a repeat offender. He didn't learn from his previous penalties so it is only right that NASCAR make these penalties more severe. Bottom line is that Chad Knaus was cheating and he got caught and he was punished appropriately.

• Should 100% be overturned on appeal.

• It's impossible for fans to know the true violation without some kind of evidentiary support. Until NASCAR does a 5-minute video presentation on why it was illegal or not, fans will never completely understand what was wrong and how bad it was or wasn't. Have to trust the sanctioning body on this one.

Photo by ASP, Inc.


IMPORTANCE OF CAR MANUFACTURERS TO FANS
In light of the recent announcement of Penske Racing moving from Dodge to Ford after this season, Fan Council members were asked how important is it that their favorite driver races a particular car brand. 

38.3 percent said the car brand was not important
22.9 percent said the car brand was moderately important
20.8 percent said the car brand was slightly important
18.1 percent said the car brand was very important

What Fan Council members said:

• I don't pick my drivers based on car brand. I select drivers based on talent, contributions to the sport, and society, as well as their personality.

• Something in my brain makes me feel like it SHOULD matter, but in the end I don't think it does. I like my drivers because of their personalities and the way they perform on the track - if it takes a different manufacturer to help them achieve better results, then I think I'm OK with that! 

• The cars don't look like anything that resembles a stock car, for a number of reasons. Therefore, there's hardly a reason for brand loyalty. Our favorite driver is Junior, and we could care less that he's driving a Chevy, even though our favorite vehicles are Fords.

• Historically, I have been a Chevy fan. I previously only cheered on drivers who were racing Chevys. I guess with the COT and the lack of "REAL" brand identity, I've soften a bunch. However, my favorite driver does drive a Chevy.

• As long as my driver doesn't switch to a Toyota, I'm fine...not saying I would pick a new driver at that point but I sure wouldn't be happy! This used to be referred to as "The Great American Sport" and it pains me to see that one manufacturer has changed all that!

• If the King can successfully shift to Ford, anyone should be able to drive the make that offers them the best opportunity for success

• Always been a Ford fan, but had to swallow hard and root when Mark Martin moved to Chevy and now Toyota.

• While I make it a point only to purchase vehicles made by NASCAR manufacturers, it actually isn't that important to me if my favorite is behind the wheel of a Chevy or a Toyota - as long as he's winning!


FAVORITE MANUFACTURER
Fan Council members were asked what was their favorite car manufacturer competing in NASCAR and why.

58.1 percent listed Chevrolet as their favorite
22.0 percent listed Ford as their favorite
14.1 percent listed Toyota as their favorite
5.8 percent listed Dodge as their favorite

What Fan Council members said:

• My pops may not have had a whole lot of hard and fast rules when I was a kid, but I remember this one distinctly. "Don't ever drive up here in a FORD." We were Earnhardt fans, Chevy people through and through. I would even go so far to say that I honestly don't care who wins as long as they are driving a Chevy. To this day I tow my Chevy race car to Midwest dirt tracks with a Chevy Silverado.

• Don't have one. Personally, I don't have ties to any manufacturer and will not pledge blind allegiance to one. The American manufacturers were once the leaders in their industry. But they grew complacent and failed to listen to the consumers and continued to produce inferior products while selling better products overseas.

• For NASCAR it would be Chevrolet due to the deep history in the sport. For my personal use, it's Toyota due to dependability and value.

• I believe in the Toyota product and have owned several. Love Toyota being in NASCAR shaking up the good ole boys. And for me, my driver favorites are based upon the car they drive. Smoke in a Toyota, Go Smoke! Smoke in a Chevy, good for him. (Martin) Truex Jr. in a Chevy, good for him. Guess what? I now pull for Truex Jr.! I pull for all the big boys in a Toyota except for Kyle Busch. I am loyal to Brand.

• Ford, because they haven't taken a dime of your money that you haven't freely and willingly given them as a customer. Ford has supported the Wood Brothers since the late 50's, and I own a Ford.

• Was born and raised to like Chevy and hate Ford and Dodge.

• I drive a Ford. I like Jack Roush.

• Both my husband and I pull for Chevy drivers...plan on our next car being a Chevy mainly to reward their hard work to get the company back on track.


RISING GAS PRICES EQUALS SLIDING ATTENDANCE?
With gas prices rising (and topping $4 a gallon in some parts of the country), Fan Council members were asked if the cost of gas would impact their decision to attend a NASCAR race this year.

57.5 percent rising gas prices would not impact their travel plans
17.8 percent said they won’t be attending a NASCAR race, partly due to rising gas prices
16.8 percent said they are changing their plans to attend a NASCAR race closer to home
7.9 percent said gas prices won’t impact their plans unless it tops $4 a gallon nationally

What Fan Council members said:

• I won't attend Dover or Bristol as I'd planned to do.

• I go to both Talladega races each year, and that will not change. I haven't planned to go to any other tracks this year, but if gas was to go down it would help my decision a little bit.

• We're only a 7-hour drive from Kansas Speedway. My car does pretty good on fuel. I don't think it will affect me. We can only afford one race anyway. We'll just have to cut back on something else.

• Always make room in the budget for a race!

• I usually go to Martinsville and Pocono at least once a year. Both of those tracks are 4 hours from my home. This year my husband (a new fan finally) and I are attending the Richmond race in April. Richmond is about 1.5 hours from home.

• I have given up on going to TMS this year, but will go to Chicago since it is closer.

• It does make me re-consider plans, yet I am still attending Daytona, Martinsville, Rockingham, Richmond, and Dover this year. I am lucky that there are so many races I can go to and come back in the same day from my home in SE Virginia. If these high prices are sustained or get even higher it will certainly impact my future travel plans.

• I live in Seattle...I considered driving to Phoenix for the race. At 2800 miles I'm looking at $400.00 worth of gas alone to make that trip, so I watched from the sofa. I'm still considering Sonoma...a more reasonable 1600-mile roundtrip.

• We've already renewed our race tickets and camping spots for 2012 for the 5 races we plan on attending. We have a diesel motor home and fuel prices are important but this is what we do for vacation and budget accordingly. We take advantage of the easy pay plans and have them paid for before we attend them. It's great that the tracks offer these wonderful ways to make attending the races more affordable.

• Please. I'll drop my lattes before I'll cut back on my NASCAR races.

• My husband and I plan on going to Talladega in May. The only thing that could stop us are the gas prices. If they do go over $4 a gallon, we probably won't be able to make it.

• I’ll walk to Bristol if I have too.


RATING SUNDAY’S CUP RACE FROM PHOENIX

53.1 percent called it Good
33.1 percent called it Fair
11.7 percent called it Great
2.1 percent called it Poor

What Fan Council members said: 

• Fair number of leader changes, good mix of drivers and manufacturers up front and not too many cautions. Just how I like it!

• It wasn't the most exciting race, but it never is at Phoenix.

• The racing was most exciting in the few laps after restarts. Things tended to get a bit strung out during the longer green flag runs, but the race race still held my attention pretty well. I also liked watching the drivers negotiate the dogleg on the backstretch - I think PIR did a good job re-configuring the track last year.

• Length was OK, not too long. Racing action was real good. I prefer tracks this size and smaller, or road courses.

• I was there in person, turn 1 Allison Grandstands, the race was absolutely fantastic. Saw the whole race ... no commercial interruption, and the great play-by-play work by MRN made it 100% enjoyable.

• Great. Fuel strategy and good side-by-side racing through the field. Some parts of the race were single file but you will have that at non-restrictor plate tracks. There's nothing we can do about it. It cannot be 3 or 4 wide every lap. People who understand racing will know this.

• I think I OD'd on Daytona because I just wasn't ready for another race. It was okay, but it didn't hold my attention very well. 

• Fuel mileage races are not too exciting. I would prefer to see drivers race for the win. They call this sport racing not strategy.

Fans can join the Backseat Drivers Fan Council by sending Dustin an email at dustinlong002@gmail.com.

Please include the following information:
Name, city, state, Twitter name, e-mail address and favorite driver.
 

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Chad Knaus: An Appeal for Ingenuity

Photo by ASP, Inc.

by Vito Pugliese

As if starting out the 2012 NASCAR season by getting turned mid-pack on the second lap of the Daytona 500, it was announced Wednesday that Chad Knaus, crew chief for the No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, will be suspended for six races and fined $100,000 for tinkering with the C-posts of the car prior to qualifying for Daytona. Also on involuntary leave will be car chief Ron Malec, another key cog to the five straight championships Jimmie Johnson and team won from 2006-10.

Should the suspensions hold up — team owner Rick Hendrick has stated they will appeal the penalties — Hendrick Motorsports doesn’t exactly hurt for a talent pool from which to pull. It is rumored that a potential replacement atop the pit box could be No. 48 lead engineer Greg Ives, or Mike Baumgartner, former car chief on the No. 24 team of Jeff Gordon.

“Our organization respects NASCAR and the way the sanctioning body governs our sport. In this case, though, the system broke down, and we will voice our concerns through the appeal process,” Hendrick said in a statement following the announcement of the penalties.

Chief among Hendrick’s concerns (as well as mine): If what NASCAR found was repaired before the car went onto the racetrack, why are suspension being handed down? That’s akin to slapping a radar detector on the windshield, but never actually pulling onto the highway at 90 mph.

The C-post sheet metal on a Cup car is a manufactured and stamped piece that is produced for the teams, and in NASCAR terms, not something they encourage be modified and fiddled with — even though there were some cars during Speedweeks in Daytona that had similar modifications, though not to the same degree as the No. 48.

The way the infraction was discovered seems a bit obtuse, as well. While there wasn’t a stated specific rule against what was used, the first statement regarding the piece was that NASCAR “didn’t like how it looked.” Further explanation from competition director John Darby that NASCAR, “did some additional inspections with gauges and stuff,” which resulted in the pieces being cut off, replaced, and more in line with what NASCAR wanted to see on that area of the Lowe’s Chevrolet.

Which brings me back to my original point of contention, as well as that of Hendrick and many in the garage: If the part was never used in competition, was identified and remedied during inspection for the biggest race of the year, where really is the justification for such a staunch set of penalties?

Adding further fuel for confusion is the track history this particular car had established over the last year, having won a race (Talladega) and competed in three others. The car had also been taken to the NASCAR R&D Center for evaluation, where apparently nothing egregious or objectionable was discovered. There was not a statement from NASCAR that the car was ordered to never come back to the racetrack, nor was it confiscated and held for evaluation like the tail section of the stealth helicopter used by SEAL Team Six in the Bin Laden raid and as one of Tony Stewart’s JGR Chevrolets was several years ago when NASCAR didn’t like what it saw.

Knaus is a bit of an anomaly in NASCAR. Name one other crew chief that is given the credit (or even recognized) for the success of a driver and race team as much as he has been since 2002. It’s usually the driver who gets the credit and the crew chief who shoulders the blame if things go wrong when a pilot is unable to produce. Not until Johnson won his fifth straight title did the driver start to receive due credit for actually winning these things; most attributed it to Knaus building a better mouse trap than his competitors — including the rest of his Hendrick Motorsports (and Stewart-Haas Racing) stablemates.

While improved safety was the initial focus when NASCAR’s Car of Tomorrow was rolled out in 2007, it was also engineered to prevent the mangled and twisted bodies of the previous generation of NASCAR racecar. The Bizzaro World smeared and bent bodies were constructed to develop maximum downforce and sideforce while in the corners did not remotely resemble anything on a car dealership lot. These machines also required a substantial amount of time and dollars spent in the wind tunnel, money that has been long in coming since the economic downturn of 2008.

With the dawn of the second iteration of the CoT, the 2013 machines legitimately do look like their street-going counterparts, and in the interest of cost control and maintaining aesthetic integrity, further body massaging on NASCAR racecars will continue to be discouraged more than close contact at a high school dance.

Part of the allure and lore of NASCAR, that has been missing in recent years, has long centered on the trick cars and pieces that have actually been on the track in competition — and won. From Junior Johnson’s “Flying Banana,” to Bill Elliott’s 9/10-scale Thunderbird that dominated the super speedways of the mid ’80s, to Smokey Yunick driving his car away after NASCAR had removed the gas tank as a result of questions about its fuel mileage, it used to be the individuals who prepared the cars were recognized as much as those who wheeled them into Victory Lane.

That Knaus is routinely singled out for trying to exploit the rules and simply build a better car — some of which never even make it into competition — flies in the face of NASCAR’s efforts the last few years of returning to its roots, and getting back to the formula that worked so well in the past. He also seems to be singled out for simply doing a better job than his competition, which is to build faster racecars that win races and championships. If there isn’t a specific rule against it, how is it illegal? And if something is out of tolerance during pre-race inspection (key word: “pre”), and is then brought up to code, what is the justification for suspending the guy for a month and a half?

While fines and suspensions are bad enough, even more damaging is the 25-point docking in both driver and owner points, levied, putting Johnson in the awkward position of having -23 points going into the second race of the season. It has been a rough start to 2012 for HMS, with virtually every affiliated car suffering damage or falling out of the Daytona 500 (the exception, of course, being Dale Earnhardt Jr.).

So what does this mean for the No. 48 team at Phoenix? Is the season over before it even really started? Knaus and Malec will still be allowed to show up and compete until the appeal process runs its course. The potential for distraction is clearly evident, though, as these types of penalties for a championship-caliber team will likely overshadow anything revolving around Danica Patrick or Matt Kenseth’s second Daytona 500 victory.

It might also provide some foreshadowing as to the future of Knaus within the walls of HMS.

As the stress and friction of the 2011 season took its toll, Knaus took a rare vacation and extended time away from the shop prior to the start of the 2012 campaign, going on an African safari. Knaus’ time, effort and expectations of his team are legendary (and borderline obsessive compulsive). With as much success as he has had overseeing operations on the No. 48, might he want to pull back off the road and move into a leadership role within Hendrick Motorsports as a whole?

While a $100,00 fine is nothing to sneeze at — relative to sponsorship dollars, race winnings, exposure and championships that have been generated since Knaus and Johnson were united in 2002 — it is a pittance compared to what has been generated since then. But is Knaus going to tire of the constant hen pecking, suspension, fines and bad press that come whenever he tugs on a fender or is in the lab of his little shop of horrors trying to put together the missing piece for “The Fix for Six”?

In the end, should the suspension hold up and Knaus is sent home for six weeks, NASCAR might just have woken a sleeping giant. If he’s not at the racetrack, that simply leaves him more time to cook up new ideas of Lex Luthor-like diabolical proportions.

Follow Vito on Twitter: @VitoPugliese
 

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