Photo by ASP, Inc.

The racing is over. All that remains is for NASCAR to get together in Las Vegas next week, dole out some money and party. Before the banquet arrives, members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council take a look back at the sport’s TV coverage this season and the racing, while looking ahead to 2013. Here is what they had to say:

Grade the TV coverage of NASCAR Sprint Cup races this season by FOX, TNT, Speed and ESPN/ABC

48.1 percent said Good
31.1 percent said Fair
12.6 percent said Poor
8.2 percent said Great

What Fan Council members said:
• ESPN had one of the best with their side-by-side halfway through the races of the Chase. This should be done for all races so we do not miss any action. And this should be in place for the ENTIRE Daytona 500! The most important race should be seen in its entirety. All networks could improve on their pre-race show except for FOX; FOX keeps it short and sweet and that is what it should be.

• This season was the first time that I actually changed the channel during a race or left the house completely. I always used to look forward to the TNT races, but even they dropped the ball this year. I seriously hope the 2013 season is better. The broadcasters need to stop "phoning it in" and actually listen to the fans and fix their coverage.

• Oh don't get me started! FOX might have good camera coverage, but I cannot stand the booth. TNT was just outright awful. SPEED has the most offerings, but they killed “Trackside” and “RaceDay” by making them way too silly. I love their programming, I just think sometimes it looks one step above cable access.

• It's nice to have the three TV crews covering the races because it’s a variety and they all do very good in their own way. I REALLY enjoy SPEED's pre-race and post-race coverage. I sure hope when they re-brand SPEED to FOX Sports they don't take away my NASCAR shows, including “Race Hub.’’

• Still a lot of room for improvement. Side-by-Side coverage = A+

• There's no better team than Bestwick, Jarrett and Petree. There's the gold standard right there. Mike Joy is another gem but the rest of the circus at FOX and SPEED are little more than a traveling carnival show, especially “Trackside,” which is no longer watchable. Oh yeah, TNT does broadcast a few races, but does anyone even recall them? Too little time on the schedule to be noticed or remembered.

• I said “good,” but in my opinion, it was borderline great. FOX is absolutely the best followed by ESPN/ABC. In Chris Myers' book, he explains that NASCAR really did listen to the fans when it came to TV programming. I've been a fan over 20 years, and I love the improvements the TV stations have done: more cameras, better announcers and most importantly the ability to listen to the drivers/crew chiefs/spotters radio communication. Mike Joy and Allen Bestwick are the best in the business! I also love the SpEED Channel and the pre- and post-race shows.

• “Great” for FOX because no matter how long the race goes over, they talk to the competitors. If it is short, then they go that much further to talk to others — not TNT or ESPN/ABC. They can have 15-30 minutes extra time and they'll go to some other stupid program.

Grade the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season

57.9 percent said Good
21.9 percent said Fair
16.8 percent said Great
3.4 percent said Poor

What Fan Council members said:
• This was a great season is so many ways. Having Brad win the championship was refreshing to see. What a great interview he gave on ESPN. He was real. Seeing Dale Jr. finally make it into Victory Lane in the Batmobile was awesome. Being in Victory Lane to celebrate with the No. 88 team was a thrill of a lifetime for me. Watching MWR teams do so well did a lot for the sport, too. Quite surprising to see Carl Edwards and Kyle Bush miss the Chase and Jeff Gordon just squeaking in. It was refreshing to see some emotions between drivers come to light this season. All in all, I enjoyed this season and am looking forward to the 2013 season.

• I have only been a fan since 200, but since then I have watched every race and have gone to at least one race a year. All I have to say is NASCAR has a serious problem on its hands, as this was the most boring season in memory. Do I have a solution to this problem? No. But something must be fixed.

• There were some good moments, but this year just did not seem to have the same buzz as last year. I enjoyed the Nationwide and Truck series races more this year.

• Flashes of brilliance followed by long stretches of zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ...

• Lots of drama, intensity, at times great racing, and there was always something new going on. I’m going to have withdrawals for the next few weeks.

• All in all, I would say this season has been good. I was almost leaning toward a “great,” because we got a new champion, but there were too many snoozer races to say it was great.

• Anyone who says anything less than great, must not remember Daytona, Watkins Glen, ‘Dega, Phoenix, among other great races, this year. Loved it and I hope next year is even better.

• I'm glad to see Keselowski as the champ. I'm glad to see Dale Jr. back in Victory Lane. But when I look back over the season, I don't have as many lasting images as I have from years past. There never seemed to be that "defining moment" of 2012. Maybe it's just me.

Grade Sunday’s Cup race at Homestead

53.1 percent said Good
26.9 percent said Fair
16.0 percent said Great
4.1 percent said Poor

What Fan Council members said:
• Most of the race was enjoyable, but I was disappointed that Jeff Gordon won. After his reckless behavior at Phoenix, I preferred that they take points away rather than suspending him for the benefit of sponsors and fans. However, the way everyone treated the win like it was some kind of vindication for his actions last week made me wish he'd been suspended. The championship race between Jimmie and Brad was great, and Brad's win made up for any other disappointment.

• I have to say great because Brad won. It is great that someone other than Jimmie or Tony won the championship.

• Not really a great race, other than I was thrilled at the ending. Very boring, at least on TV. As much as I loved seeing Brad K. and Jimmie J., it seemed like the whole race was just the two of them. Awful TV coverage.

• It was exciting to watch the 48 and the 2 battle for the championship. If that had not been going on, it would have been another boring race.

• It was typical of all the past races. Not a whole lot of excitement. Anti-climatic.

• The race had it all: Kyle leading but not winning again, Jeff winning at a track he never won at, Matt's last race in the No. 17, Jimmie about ready to make the biggest comeback in championship history and Brad topping the season off with the top prize and a cool 5 million bucks to boot! Not bad for a guy whose family was about ready to lose it all just a few short years ago because of their investment in their son. Wow!

How much faith do you have that the 2013 car will make the Cup racing better?

39.0 percent said Some
30.2 percent said A little
20.3 percent said None
10.5 percent said A lot

What Fan Council members said:
• They've been working on them a long time so hopefully they'll get them right. They have nailed the looks of the cars. They look great and I can tell them apart now. If they race as well as they look, we will have a very exciting 2013 season.

• It's not the cars that are at fault, it's the track configurations and NASCAR rules that hamper competition. Daytona and Talladega are little more than Barnum & Bailey near-death experiences. Nothing will change there until NASCAR kills its next driver.

• NASCAR is a corporation that is trying to promote a product. Sadly, I will have to see it to believe it.

• I don't quite understand why tighter competition is a good thing. If you make the cars the same, they all run around the track together and can't pass. Don't fans already complain about restrictor-plate racing forcing them into packs? Besides, I believe the problem is the TV coverage, and no change to the car will fix that.

• I give them the benefit of the doubt. As much as a few may have issues with NASCAR, they do a way better job at most issues than other sanctioning bodies.

• I had awesome faith for the CoT to be a lot safer for these drivers and we haven't had a death in NASCAR for a long time. Now we need to focus on tight racing cars and hopefully this new car will work. I have faith.

• Little faith but lots of hope. Soooo tired of hearing “track position is key.” I hope to hear that a fast car is key.

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.
 

Carl Edwards' new crew chief, Jimmy Fennig. (ASP, Inc.)

Until last week, crew chief Jimmy Fennig admits he had “very seldom’’ talked to Carl Edwards in their years together at Roush Fenway Racing.

“I’m the type of crew chief that I focus in on the job at hand and the driver I have and don’t really pay too much attention to other drivers,” said Fennig, who most recently was Matt Kenseth’s crew chief.

Next season, Fennig and his crew will partner with Edwards as Kenseth drives for Joe Gibbs Racing. It’s part of a series of changes taking place at Roush Fenway Racing. Two-time defending Nationwide champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. replaces Kenseth in the No. 17 Cup car. Trevor Bayne takes Stenhouse’s Nationwide ride. The Cup team of Greg Biffle and crew chief Matt Puccia will remain intact.

Fennig, who became a crew chief in 1986 and won the 2004 championship with Kurt Busch, admits he doesn’t know Edwards too well but doesn’t see that as a hinderance in their pairing.

“My goal has always been to win races,” said Fennig, the winning crew chief in the 1988 Daytona 500 with Bobby Allison and this year’s Daytona 500 with Kenseth. “No matter who drives the car, that’s what I try to do every week and that’s something I know we already have in common.”

Fennig will be Edwards’ third crew chief since the start of the 2012 season. Bob Osborne started with Edwards. Osborne, citing health issues, stepped down as crew chief in July and was replaced by Chad Norris.

Edwards was winless this season and finished 15th in the points a year after losing the championship on a tiebreaker to Tony Stewart. Edwards scored only four top-10 finishes in the 17 races with Norris as crew chief, thus a change wasn’t surprising.

“We all just sat down and looked at it and Chad and I talked at length about it,” Edwards said of the change. “Everyone agrees the opportunity to have the experience of Jimmy Fennig on the box to get ... back to Victory Lane is what we should do. It wasn’t something that I single-handedly requested or just that Jack (Roush) wanted to do it. As a team we thought this was the best thing to do. The biggest thing at Roush is that he has so many good people that we can move people around and do things like this and it is good for the whole company.”

Along with that move, Roush will pair Stenhouse Jr. with crew chief Scott Graves. Both will be rookies in Cup.

“I would normally not be an advocate for bringing a crew chief who hadn’t been established with a rookie driver into the Cup Series, but Scott Graves – in my words – he’s been a prodigy for the small amount of experience he’s had making the final decisions,” Roush said.

“He made great decisions for Carl at Watkins Glen and he’s made great decisions for Ricky when he’s been with him this year. So I think given the fact he’s a mechanical engineer as well as an experienced team engineer, he’s going to bring enthusiasm and creativity to Ricky that we might not otherwise be able to achieve with somebody that had more experience.”
 

JR Motorsports' Regan Smith. (ASP, Inc.)

JR MOTORSPORTS MOVES  JR Motorsports announced a new crew chief for Regan Smith on Tuesday and hinted that it could run just one team full-time next season in the Nationwide Series.

The team announced that Jimmie Johnson’s longtime engineer, Greg Ives, would become Regan Smith’s crew chief next season. Ives was the engineer for all five of Johnson’s Cup championships.

JR Motorsports also noted in a release how it “continues to streamline its race program.” The release stated that the team is preparing for the “likelihood” that it will run one full-time team with Smith as driver and one part-time with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and select drivers. This past season, Danica Patrick and Cole Whitt were the team’s two full-time drivers. Patrick is moving to Cup to drive full-time with Stewart-Haas Racing and has stated a desire to run some Nationwide events.

ROOKIES OF THE YEAR  Ty Dillon was selected as the Rookie of the Year in the Truck series, marking the third consecutive year a Richard Childress Racing driver won that honor. Austin Dillon won it in 2010 and Joey Coulter won it last year. ... Austin Dillon was selected as the Nationwide Rookie of the Year and Stephen Leicht won the rookie of the year honors in Cup.

SEEKING SPONSORSHIP  Kyle Busch said after Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race that Dollar General will not return as a sponsor on his Kyle Busch Motorsports entry.

“Unfortunately, we’re sponsor-less next year, so we’ll see what happens through the offseason,” Busch said.

The team announced earlier this month that Joey Coulter will drive full-time for it in the Truck series next year.

PIT STOPS  Joe Gibbs Racing confirmed Monday that Elliott Sadler will join the team to run in the Nationwide Series next year. ... Paul Menard ran the most laps in Cup this season. He completed 10,406 of the 10,442 laps run (99.7 percent) this season. ... Jimmie Johnson led the most laps in Cup this season at 1,744. Kyle Busch was next, having led 1,436 laps. ... There were 15 different winners in Cup this season, down from 18 last year. This season marked the second consecutive year no driver won more than five Cup races. Champion Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin each won a series-high five races this year.

by Dustin Long
Follow Dustin on Twitter: @DustinLong
 

Photo by ASP, Inc.

NASCAR reacted this week to Jeff Gordon intentionally wrecking Clint Bowyer at Phoenix and the melee between the crews, but was its penalty enough? Members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council debate what should have been done and what they would do if Bowyer exacts revenge this weekend at Homestead. Those are just among a few of the topics the Fan Council debated. Here’s what they said:

What should NASCAR have done in regards to the Jeff Gordon-Clint Bowyer incident on and off the track?
On Monday, NASCAR announced it had fined Jeff Gordon $100,000, docked him 25 points and placed him in on probation until Dec. 31. NASCAR did not penalize Clint Bowyer but fined Bowyer’s crew chief, Brian Pattie, $25,000 and placed him on probation until Dec. 31 (crew chief is responsible for the team). Gordon’s crew chief, Alan Gustafson, was placed on probation until Dec. 31. Fan Council members were asked what they would have done:

33.7 percent would have suspended Jeff Gordon for Homestead
23.3 percent would have issued no penalties at all
16.5 percent would have fined Gordon, Bowyer & crew members
12.6 percent would have done “other”
7.4 percent would have suspended Gordon and instigators of melee and fined Gordon, Bowyer and crew members
6.5 percent would have suspended instigators of the garage fight for Homestead

What Fan Council members said:
• Jeff Gordon needs to be suspended. And that is coming from someone who got into the sport because of him. Kyle Busch got "parked" for wrecking Hornaday at the Texas Truck race last year. Gordon didn't just take out Bowyer, he also took out Joey Logano and Aric Almirola, who had nothing to do with the feud. Fining Jeff won't do anything, since he’s earned more than just about anyone in the sport's history. $100,000 is chump change for Gordon. Sit him out.

• Boys have at it. ENOUGH SAID!

• Donate $50,000 to each of Jeff and Clint's charities and throw a ticker-tape parade in their honor for waking us all up from a season-long slumber and giving sports outlets not known for their coverage of NASCAR to realize it exists! At the most, I'd pick the "fine everybody" option. But I still say this is what NASCAR needed.

• I think what Gordon did was unacceptable and not appropriate at all. He should be suspended for one race with a $100,000 fine.

• Make Gordon and Bowyer pay the expenses for the 20 and 43 cars.

• Gordon is not one to do this type of thing often, the crew members were charged up and lost control and the melee ensued. I don't think that penalizing them will do any good. I'm not sure you could tell who the instigators were of that mess. Just let it be and move on.

• Gordon's blatant disregard for NASCAR's black flag definitely needs to be addressed. As well as whomever it was that "jumped" Gordon in the garage area. As far as Bowyer's alleged contact with Gordon on track, chalk that up to competitive racing — incidental and lacking true malice. To lie in wait, however, speaks to intent and the collateral damage that could have been avoided is inexcusable.

• Without a Kyle Busch-like rap sheet, I feel all they can do is put Gordon on probation. If Bowyer pays him back next year, then it's deserved ... as is probation at that time for him as well.

If you were NASCAR, would you be OK with it if Clint Bowyer retaliated and wrecked Jeff Gordon at Homestead this weekend?

51.7 percent said No
48.3 percent said Yes

What Fan Council members said:
• They did say "Boys have it" so I think Bowyer would be within his rights to retaliate.

• If I were NASCAR ... no. Drivers shouldn't use their cars to retaliate. As a fan ... you bet I want to see Bowyer retaliate. :D

• I don't really believe any driver should retaliate with their car. If you're pissed off someone ruined your day, when you get out of the car, go find them and settle it face-to-face, man-to-man, or fist-to-face. The fighting was the most exciting part of the whole race! At least Clint wanted to settle it right. As exciting as it might be to have him dish out some payback, I really hope he doesn't do it on track.

• I would be OK with it. Emotions ON THE TRACK are very good and needed in this sport. All anybody does these days is talk. People watch when there's controversy like Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick or Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards.

• Two wrongs don't make a right; someone will eventually get hurt.

• Premeditated retaliation at a high-speed track is unacceptable. Gordon's actions were heat of the moment. A calculated act carried over to another event should be a more serious offense.

• I would be fine with it. An eye for an eye, right?
 

Photo by ASP, Inc.

Rate Sunday’s race at Phoenix

54.4 percent called it Good
28.7 percent called it Great
13.7 percent called it Fair
3.3 percent called it Poor

What Fan Council members said:
• Any race that gets me to jump up out of my chair and go, “HOLY CRAP DID YOU SEE THAT!?” multiple times has GOT to receive a “GREAT!”

• A 10-lap crash fest does not make it a great race.

• A lot of excitement and drama ... still can't compete with the NFL, but I did have a split screen at the end and I watched the Speed Channel’s post-race coverage for the first-time ever.

• Fantastically old-school-style racin'! I know there's folks upset at how things unfolded, but c'mon, tell me you EXPECTED to see the melees that happened! It was a great race — even if two of my drivers in my pool were taken out as a result! Now THAT is NASCAR racing!

• The finish alone made the race worth watching. The Brawl. Epic. Haven't enjoyed a race ending like that since Harvick had his car wrecked by Shrub on pit road after the (Darlington) race.

• This is one I watched flag-to-flag. Even though Kyle led for much of the race, there was just so much going on that it held my attention throughout. With J.J. blowing a tire and the whole Clint/Gordon melee, this race was awesome.

• This is the race NASCAR needed! ^^^Ratings!

• This was a pathetic race which ended in a gang war. Punks will be punks whether in a back alley or a racetrack in front of thousands of people. This is a sport?

• A lady at work (casual NASCAR fan): “If every race was like (Sunday) I’d watch it every week religiously.” So, I think it was a GREAT race.

• I was in the grandstands. I always love being at PIR but watching the one driver I can't stand dominate most of the race makes it a very loooong race for me. I was so happy he didn't win. The Jeff Gordon/Clint Bowyer deal was very entertaining! Watching first Clint's crew running towards the garage, and then Clint running like crazy was awesome! The last-lap crash-fest seemed uncalled for. I still can't understand why NASCAR didn't throw a caution with Danica stopped in the middle of the track. Very eventful race and I'm glad I was there.

What do you think of Kevin Harvick’s move?
Last weekend, it was reported that Harvick will leave Richard Childress Racing after the 2013 season to drive for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014. Fan Council members were asked what they thought of the move.

52.5 percent said great move by Harvick
33.9 percent said move will hurt Harvick in the short-term but be good long-term
13.6 percent said it was a bad move by Harvick

What Fan Council members said:
• It's clear that Richard Chidlress’ only focus is on his grandkids and their future in Cup. Burton is only keeping the seat warm for one of them and Menard is only there because of the sponsorship money. I think Harvick desperately needs a change in scenery.

• I believe RCR is a sinking ship, so I think it's a great thing for Harvick to get out as soon as his contract is up. I think he will be able to get aggressive again and become the Happy Harvick we all know and love.

• It's going to hurt Harvick in the short term. I just would not like being in the lame-duck situation as a driver, especially for a whole year. I had Harvick pegged as a championship contender for next year. Now, however, I feel he'll have a very similar year to this season. Overall, this could be a great move, having two championship-caliber drivers at SHR will be huge for that team and not to mention can only be beneficial in Danica's career.

• 2013 will be a total waste of time for RCR and Harvick. Lame-duck drivers never succeed.

• Matt Kenseth is one of the few drivers that I know that could handle the lame-duck status with class. Kevin and RCR will implode toward the end of next year — sooner if they are not running good.

• I am a huge 29 fan and I was shocked at this news. I really wish that he would stay with Richard, but for an organization that is getting ready for his grandsons as flagship drivers (not that I blame Richard for doing this at all) I don't blame Harvick for wanting to join his friend Tony.

• Change can be a good thing. Harvick hit a rut before signing in 2010 and I think that giving RCR another chance then was good. Now, however, I think that a change will help give Harvick a renewed spirit.

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.
 

Texas Motor Speedway. (ASP, Inc.)

Is Sunday still the best day to run NASCAR Sprint Cup races? Or is it time for NASCAR to admit defeat to the NFL and move the Cup races to Saturday as a writer suggested this week? Or what about mid-week races—would that work and would fans attend those events? Members of the Backseat Drivers Fan Council debated those issues and last weekend’s Texas race. Here’s what they had to say:

Should Cup races move to Saturday afternoon to avoid conflicts with the NFL?
Jim Utter of The Charlotte Observer, citing declining TV ratings for many Chase races, suggested that NASCAR should run those races on Saturday to avoid going head-to-head against NFL games. Fan Council members were asked about that idea:

46.0 percent said they’d rather see more Saturday night races
33.5 percent said that was a bad idea: NASCAR’s tradition is Sunday racing
14.8 percent said they’d be for some Saturday afternoon Chase races but not all
5.7 percent said Saturday afternoon Cup races was a great idea

What Fan Council members said:
• Can anyone say “duh”? While NASCAR on a Saturday night would have to fight a premier College FBS game, the decline would be mitigated to one or two regions in the country instead of nationwide.

• The problem is not going head-to-head with football, as they’ve done it before and saw huge ratings and attendance numbers. The PROBLEM IS THE RACING!!!! Why does everyone, especially in the media, ignore this fact? The “racing” is horrendous! F1 has better battles and more drama! I’ve grown up and lived in and around NASCAR and it’s sad that I’m looking more forward to the F1 race in Austin than I am NASCAR in Homestead.

• I don’t think there is any need to do anything too rash until we see what happens with the 2013 car. Regardless, if NASCAR fans are watching NFL games instead of NASCAR races then there is something wrong with NASCAR that isn’t fixed by moving race times around.

• I’ll admit I’m one of those watching more NFL this year than NASCAR. Moving the Chase races to Saturday night would be good in one way, but they would also be competing with the big college football games.

• If you really want to avoid the football conflict, shorten the season so it ends Labor Day weekend.

• Cup racing is a Sunday tradition. Leave it alone!

• Why not try it? Got nothing to lose. But Saturdays has college football, so I’m not sure what is a good time slot.

• That would put NASCAR races up against college football games and honey-do lists. I think that would cut the audience considerably. The average person spends more time outside the home on Saturday than on Sunday. Kids activities, errands, home improvement tasks, college sports and travel often consume the average person’s Saturday. Sunday afternoons are typically devoted to family time and televised sporting events. I believe there’s a better chance to get people to watch on the day of the week there are fewer distractions. I think Saturday night might offer a larger audience than Saturday afternoon, but I believe the audience would be less inclined to watch NASCAR.

• I love the idea. You’d still have college football to go up against, but most people will only watch the great CFB matchups or when their team is on—not near as much competition as the NFL poses. The only thing that gets me thinking is what about the Nationwide race? Would you put that on Sunday against the NFL and have no one watch it? Or have that in the morning/early afternoon and have the Cup race late afternoon/evening?

• Can’t compete with the NFL. Chase or no Chase, Sundays from September to February belong to the NFL. All other sports recognize this, so why can’t NASCAR? Many local tracks are done with their schedules by the time the Chase heats up. Continuing to go head-to-head against the NFL is pointless and as long as NASCAR continues to try and do that, they will always take a back seat to it as far as coverage and ratings.

Mid-week Cup races: Would you be able to attend those if the schedule changed?
Some have called for NASCAR to hold a race or some races during the week instead of the weekend. If the race you were going to was scheduled to be run between Monday-Friday instead of the weekend Fan Council members were asked if they would still be able to go?

66.7 percent said No
33.3 percent said Yes

What Fan Council members said:
• I think it would decrease attendance. Not everyone can just take time off during the week. I use vacation time to go to the race, so it would not make a difference to me.

• If I’m headed to a race I’m all in, taking a week off to really enjoy it.

• Yes, BUT it would drastically decrease the amount of time I could devote to the race event. As it stands right now I only have to use one vacation day from work to enjoy a full race weekend at my local track. If the same events were held during the week it would require at least three and up to five or more days of vacation time. Since I only have a total of 10 vacation days per year, that would significantly impact my annual leave just for my local race. I love NASCAR, but I would prefer to see many races at different tracks with my time off, rather than one or two due to the time requirements.

• Nope. The ratings/viewership would really tank if they went that route. It must be on a weekend to get max viewers and attendance. Most job holders and anyone who attends school/college would be alienated. Not only that, a lot of fans attempt to make a full day or even a two or three-day weekend out of a NASCAR race. Now you’d be asking the fan to take two-three days off from work for a race in this economy? Good luck.

• Top-tier racing has always been on Saturday or Sunday. Races during the week would be a bad idea and cheapen the NASCAR product.

• I think that would be an interesting change. It might be a good idea for NASCAR, and I could see it getting higher ratings.

• Primetime during the week would be AWESOME. Daytona was fun on Monday night.

• Less likely to be able to attend live, but I would watch on TV.

• I live in Canada. Almost any race I decide to attend requires taking time off. With limited holidays, the weekend helps to maximize time off.

• Most tracks that I travel to require several hours of driving or a plane flight. I would not attend races during the week. I don’t mind giving up a Friday or a Monday vacation day for travel, but not several days out of my week.

Grade Sunday’s Cup race at Texas:

46.4 percent called it Good
26.4 percent called it Fair
21.1 percent called it Great
6.1 percent called it Poor

What Fan Council members said:
• This is honestly the first race I’d rate as “Great” I think for the whole season. Not too many wrecks, and some good old fashioned, hard, honest racing. I really enjoyed (it). Rooting for BK, I, of course, disliked the ending but it still was incredibly exciting to watch. NASCAR’s problem, which is to me the same as hockey’s, is that the sport is much better live than on TV.

• First 3/4 of the race pretty boring. Last ¼ … holly hell, that was great.

• Having the two championship finalists starting 1-2 in a GWC restart is about as “great” as a race can get. Lots of interesting racing going on throughout the pack—but we were there live so it was easier to see it. Not sure what the race looked like on TV.

• How many ways can you say boring?? Just to be sure I remembered correctly, I went back through my Twitter timeline. Not only were fans making jokes at the lack of any fun whatsoever, but the NASCAR media was asking for suggestions on making the race more entertaining. Many of the drivers’ PR people and wives/girlfriends (who usually provide updates) were discussing anything BUT the race. I think that’s a pretty good indication of what kind of race it was. The only race-related tweets were to say someone blew a tire, someone blew up or someone was sent through the grass. No mentions of passing or side-by-side racing or anything else. If there was any at all, not only did ESPN not show it, but the folks who usually tweet it didn’t see it either.

• The ending was amazing. Even if you complained about the first half of the race, you’ll admit you were glued to the TV for the last few laps.

• Unbelievably boring. For the life of me I cannot figure out why TMS has two races. I slept through most of this one.

• Excellent race. Need to make more 1.5-mile tracks 500-milers.

• The end of the race was great. I actually cheered for JJ all the way at the end, and am so grateful for the help he sent to my area for Sandy.

• Side-by-side racing, passing, beating and banging, GWC finish, fuel mileage, pit strategy, tires wearing out over the run—TEXAS is racing!

• Aside from the excitement at the end, this was a real snoozer. It’s amazing to me that we have cars that are supposed to be so close, but after 10 or 12 laps the top 10 are eight or more seconds apart. That, my friend, is not close racing.

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.
 

Chevrolet's as-yet-unveiled 2013 Cup car. (ASP, Inc.)

A Goodyear tire test Tuesday and Wednesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway could provide a clue as to how racy NASCAR’s 2013 Sprint Cup car can be.

While the focus will be on tires at the test, NASCAR also will experiment with the car in hopes of making it easier for drivers to run closer together. One of the reasons mentioned this year for the relative lack of cautions was that it was so hard to race close together for a stretch, although Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski showed it can be done late in last weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, said Monday that “there are some things that we are working on that show promise” and could create tighter racing when the cars debut next season.

He noted that officials are experimenting with the car’s underbody, along with the front of it and the rear spoiler.

Andy Graves, Toyota’s Cup manager, notes that when a car is alone in clean air, it has maximum downforce, thus is compressed and as close to the ground as possible. When two cars are running near each other, the trailing car loses some of that air pressure and the car rises.

 “If the car is very pitch-sensitive and very ride-height sensitive, then, unfortunately, you lose more downforce when you’re behind someone,” Graves says.

 “We’re trying to develop from the splitter, the spoiler, studying the data, looking at wind tunnel information that is more advanced than it’s ever been; we’re trying to understand and come up with some characteristics that performance stays the same whether you’re all by yourself or in traffic. That is going to help the racing.”

Pemberton said he’s confident that the new car will be better than when the current car debuted as the Car of Tomorrow in 2007.

“It goes back to us spending more time getting the car closer developed when we hand the car off,” he says. “It will be a far, far, better racing car to start off with and then the teams will take it to the next level.”

Brad Keselowski suggests not judging the car’s performance too early next season, though.

“The odds are that this car is not going to come out of the gate perfect,” he says. “It’s going to take time. But much like if you unveiled a new iPhone and rolled it out and said, ‘In a year we’ll have it working right,’ your customers probably aren’t going to be happy about that. I think we all know that and are braced for it, but we know long-term that this car is going to be part of the solution for getting NASCAR as strong as it possibly can be.”

If everything goes as NASCAR hopes, Graves says the cars should be easier to drive than the current cars but says the driver ability will still matter.

“Making cars hard to drive, that’s not what separates talent on the race track,” he says. “It’s all the other intangibles. It’s operating in traffic from setting someone up for the pass, it’s managing your tires, managing the race, understanding fuel mileage. There’s a lot of different aspects, in my opinion, rather than making the cars hard to drive and say the best driver is going to be the guy that best manages that.”

NEW FAVORITE  At one point during last weekend’s race at Texas, the crowd roared when Brad Keselowski took the lead. He missed that.

“I would have liked to have heard that,” Keselowski said. “That’s one of my biggest regrets of being a race car driver is missing out on those moments. In other sports, like football or basketball or baseball when they do something and the crowd cheers, you really feel it, (but) racing, you’ve got none of that. It’s really a big bummer because I would have loved to have heard that.”

Keselowski knows that he’s gained fans during this Chase as he battles five-time champion Jimmie Johnson for the championship.

“I think I have a lot of Jimmie-hater fans,” said Keselowski, who trails Johnson by seven points with two races to go.

“I’m not sure how I feel about it. I try really hard to engage a very informed and positive fan base. That might not be necessarily along those lines, but I’ll take every fan I can get.”

Keselowski understands why some fans feel the way they do toward Johnson.

“It’s American culture, build somebody up just so you can tear them down, whether it’s the president or sports star,” he said. “It’s just American culture. Maybe one day I’ll be so fortunate as to be torn down.”

CHARGING  Although not a title contender, Kyle Busch has scored 274 points in the Chase, fifth-most among all drivers. Busch is coming off a third-place finish at Texas last weekend, his fifth top-5 finish in the Chase.

“I wish we were in the deal,” Busch said after last weekend’s race at Texas, “but that’s what next year is for.”

TITLE RACES  With two races to go, Elliott Sadler and Ricky Stenhouse are tied for the points lead in the Nationwide Series. Austin Dillon is third, 21 points behind them.

In the Camping World Truck Series, James Buescher has a 15-point lead on Ty Dillon with Timothy Peters 25 points back and Parker Kligerman 27 points out with two races to go.

PIT STOPS  NASCAR announced Tuesday that comedian Howie Mandel will host the Sprint Cup Series Awards program on Nov. 30 in Las Vegas. ... Donny Schatz won the World of Outlaws championship driving for Tony Stewart’s team. ... Kyle Larson, a development driver for Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing, won the K&N Pro Series East championship last weekend with a sixth-place finish in the season finale at Rockingham Speedway. ... Sunday’s Cup race marks Danica Patrick’s 10th and final one of the season. She is coming off her career-best Cup finish of 24th last weekend at Texas. ... Jimmie Johnson, victorious last weekend at Texas, has won 22 races in the Chase. Next on the list is Tony Stewart with 11 Chase victories.

by Dustin Long
Follow Dustin on Twitter: @DustinLong