Hamlin's slide, Johnson's run and owners' worries

Debating the runner-up jinx, staying on top and remaining in contention

1. Denny Hamlin slid nine spots in the standings to 17th after Bristol. Runners-up from the previous season don't have a great track record of contending for the title the next year -- is that jinx bound to continue?

Dave Rodman: Not with Hamlin. A brief statistical overview shows that to this point in the season, he's actually doing a little bit better than he did last year -- and we know what he ultimately did last year. I'm not getting too wound up over this point system and how alarming a rise or fall we've already seen people take. Give 'em time.
Mark Aumann: Nope. First, he rarely gets off to a great start. Second, his best tracks -- Martinsville, Texas and Pocono -- are coming up soon. Third, that's one of those "random occurrence seems to fit a trend" stats to me. Now, if he struggles at his better tracks, then I'd worry a little. But we're four races into a 26-race "regular season." And again, Hamlin's strengths are still down the road.
David Caraviello: Well, to answer the original question, I don't know if we can go quite that far yet. Yes, Denny hasn't had the ideal start to a season, yes, he's 17th in points, but he's still not that far out of Chase contention and we still have a very, very long way to go. Is he digging himself a hole? Absolutely. Is he out of it? No chance.
Dave Rodman: You don't want to have to resort to something as flighty as race wins to get you into anything, but more than most teams in the Cup garage, Hamlin and Mike Ford are capable of winning -- just about any time. So that's a great comfort zone to be in.
Mark Aumann: Two things about the new points/Chase format. You don't have to finish first to make the Chase, so he's really only chasing after the top 10. And secondly, winning races will get you a free pass if you don't catch the top 10. That could play a huge factor for someone like Hamlin or Jeff Gordon by September.
David Caraviello: And yet, despite all that, for whatever reason, runners-up from the previous season have had a devil of a time mounting a title campaign the next year. Look at Mark Martin last year. Carl Edwards went from neck-in-neck with Jimmie Johnson in 2008 to not winning a race in 2009. Even Johnson suffered a fall-off between his close call in 2004 and 2005. Really, only Tony Stewart in 2002 has done this kind of thing successfully in recent seasons. There's no sense to it. All those guys are great drivers. But there seems to be some kind of natural letdown after coming so close to a championship the season before. Again, it's too early to cast Hamlin in that role, but he's certainly showing some signs early on.
Mark Aumann: Of those, only Martin missed the Chase the next season, correct? So I guess we're debating whether Hamlin will fall apart enough to not be one of the top 12 cars after Richmond. And I just don't see that being the case right now. Now, one fly in the ointment might be the engine issues that Joe Gibbs Racing seems to be struggling with right now. If they don't solve that, perhaps I could see a letdown season for Hamlin. But there are too many positives in Hamlin's case to think that he's suddenly jinxed.

Easy does it

Off to a slow start this season, Denny Hamlin says he is in no way in panic mode and has high hopes for a strong finish at Fontana.
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Dave Rodman: To quote a famous Goodyear tire spokesman, Phil Holmer, "beats me, pal." Those kinds of jinxes are too irrelevant for me to waste one second on. If I were any of those guys from 26th on back, I might be worried because they're in a little bit of a deficit, they haven't shown much of the consistency needed to mount a charge back into contention and with the exception of Jamie McMurray, have not shown the ability to consistently win. Relatively speaking, this new point format might work no differently in terms of erasing deficits.
David Caraviello: Yes, Mark, I guess there is a difference between making the Chase and legitimately challenging for the title. But this next three-week span may tell is something about where Hamlin in. After we get through California, we go to two of his best tracks -- Martinsville, where only Jimmie Johnson has been better as of late, and Texas, where Hamlin has shown the ability to run away and hide. So he'll have his chance to make up ground, and soon.
Dave Rodman: I'd say Hamlin will win at least twice by July, so there goes that worry.
Mark Aumann: Dave, if I'm Clint Bowyer, Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano or Jeff Burton, winning races becomes the name of the game. Because at some point, you'll wind up expending way too much energy trying to get back to the top 10. Too many people to leap over.
Dave Rodman: Right. Logano and Burton are kind of a long way from making that happen with any regularity. Their truly competitive, race-ending efforts are few and far between -- though we're probably splitting hairs with Joey considering the way he ended last season. Clint's another who could go on a tear, and he might need to.
David Caraviello: Well, we all thought Mark Martin would win last year, too, right? Shoot, and this time last year he was seventh in points, in much better shape (as far as the standings) than Hamlin is now. And look what happened. Now, Gibbs this year looks stronger than Hendrick last year, where only Jimmie won a race. But there are just no guarantees in this deal. You can't say "so and so will win this many times." Because we never really know if they will.
Mark Aumann: David, I can't refute that. Yeah, Martin's 2010 season was somewhat of a head-scratcher. But again, if you would have told me in 2005 that anybody would win five of these in a row -- based on the randomness of a 10-race playoff -- I'd have laughed at you. Fortune is a fickle thing, especially in this sport.
David Caraviello: Mark, no question. In the no-way-could-that-happen department, that trumps all. But this is a difficult deal. There are so many factors that have to align themselves, and if one of them is a little off ... you're not winning. That's just how it is. And it's too early to tell if Denny's just a victim of bad luck right now, or if there's something else going on. Who would have thought at this time last year, for instance, that the Hendrick cars just wouldn't be fast enough en masse? And that at the end of the year three of four crew chiefs would be moved? Clearly, that's an extreme case. But you never know if it's a slump, or something deeper. Right now, we'll give Denny the benefit of the doubt and assume it's the former.
Mark Aumann: I think everybody keeps waiting for Jimmie Johnson to have that one off-year that all drivers go through, and he still hasn't.
Dave Rodman: Could be the same for Jimmie. His start is nothing to rave about.
David Caraviello: Speaking of that ....
2. Jimmie Johnson has won three of the past five races at Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, but he hasn't yet won this year. Is he still a sure thing, or has the field caught up with him?
Dave Rodman: His record probably shows how fine a line winning these things -- or finishing 18th -- is. He could win again. But there are six or eight other people who could just as easily win. And then you have the dark horses.
Mark Aumann: I'd say you keep betting the favorite until he shows why he shouldn't be considered the favorite any more. Still, there are a number of teams that have run well there, particularly Jack Roush's group. And with the early-season strength we've seen from them, I wouldn't be surprised to see Greg Biffle or Matt Kenseth in Victory Lane on Sunday.

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David Caraviello: This is another one of those wait-and-see situations. Fontana and Martinsville are probably Johnson's two best race tracks, so over the next two weeks we'll get a good chance to see whether the No. 48 team can rise to the occasion. I wouldn't be surprised if he swept both, I wouldn't be surprised if he came out of that span still searching. Because the competition did make up some ground on Five-Time last year, even though he won the title again.
Mark Aumann: I'm interested in Rodman's dark horses? Who are you considering dark horses there?
Dave Rodman: Paul Menard would be a good start.
Mark Aumann: Wow. You realize RCR has never won at Fontana. And Paul Menard ... has never won. Not saying it won't happen, but there's a real dark horse candidate. I applaud you, Dave.
David Caraviello: California is definitely one of those places where you have a rather defined pool of contenders. The two-mile tracks seem to fit the Roush guys. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch have historically been very good there. And then of course there's Jimmie. We could have another situation like Bristol, where it's clear that the No. 48 car is strong even if it doesn't win. But historically, Johnson is much better at Fontana than at Bristol.
Dave Rodman: I know Paul has taken his game to another level, he and Slugger Labbe have proven to have a special driver-crew chief bond and there's no denying RCR's overall strength -- or the fact that Menard's been the most consistent RCR car so far this season.
Mark Aumann: Toyota has never won there. Could it be a place for Kyle Busch to break that streak? Heck, maybe even Hamlin (since we've all but ceded Martinsville to him or Jimmie).
David Caraviello: Harvick came mighty close there last spring, chasing Johnson down in the final laps before getting a little too eager and slapping the wall. Harvick has also won at Michigan, so you'd have to consider him a contender going in. As for Menard ... nobody should deny what he's done this year. The guy has just been fantastic. He's in great equipment, and he's showing staying power. But there's a big difference between running up front and winning. A huge difference.
Mark Aumann: And in the "shut up about your stats" department, only once has the pole-sitter won there: Johnson in 2008.

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Dave Rodman: Kurt Busch could break through here, as well. But while I'm on an RCR roll I'd have to agree about Harvick being a pretty strong contender, as well. His effort could be a the proverbial dam preparing to bust.
David Caraviello: Again, nobody is saying Paul Menard can't win, but that's his next step, and it's a big one. Of course, these two-mile layouts do lend themselves to screwy fuel-mileage finishes, and even though this race is 100 miles shorter, who knows what might be in the cards in the Inland Empire.
Mark Aumann: One thing Auto Club folks deserve credit for is cutting the race from 500 to 400 miles. That's a fair distance and should create more intrigue from green to checker. It worked well in the fall. And I'm not saying other tracks should take a look at that (Pocono, hint, hint), but that's almost a perfect distance for a superspeedway. There's nothing like looking at the scoring pylon at Lap 85 and thinking, "We're still an hour from halfway."
Dave Rodman: Tracks have to do what suits their business model. In California's case, maybe they should have tried five 40-lap heat races. Cumulative finish takes all. Do a green flag pit stop after the 40th lap and order out of the pits determines starting order for next heat.
David Caraviello: Too bad Dave isn't a track promoter. We might have the next Humpy Wheeler right here in our midst.
Mark Aumann: Heck, Dave, just have the cars try to beat the traffic from San Bernardino to Malibu. There's more road rage on I-10 than at Bristol.
Dave Rodman: Instead of Lap 41, do a Lap 20 pit stop -- get out, eat a chili dog and belt back in. How's that, Humpy? Wait a minute -- this is California. Make a pit stop, race under the grandstands to greet all those fans and buy a hat, then get back in the car and race on.
Mark Aumann: Just add fireworks, paratroopers, salt to taste.
David Caraviello: Going back to Jimmie -- I do believe the competition has caught up to him, at least to a degree. It was very clear by the end of last year that other teams had matched or exceeded the No. 48 in terms of speed, and that it was Jimmie's savvy and natural talent that helped separate him from the rest. I see nothing so far this season to make me believe that has changed. Even Johnson said last week they're still working on things, trying to get them to where they want them. Now, clearly, he could go on a tear and leave everyone behind. He's capable of that. But I think everything is more evenly matched than it has been in a while, and he'll have a dogfight on his hands all season.
Mark Aumann: I think Ford has made major inroads. Kyle Busch is the kind of guy who could be a huge factor if he can control his poor finishes. But yeah, Jimmie's the king until somebody dethrones him.
David Caraviello: Mark, good point. Last year the No. 48 was as vulnerable as it's ever been, and that was a year where Ford was a mess until the end. Those Roush guys continue to improve at the rate they have ... well, let's just say there's a reason I picked Carl Edwards to win the championship in the preseason.
Mark Aumann: Gratuitous self-promotion seems to be the order of the day here in Track Smack.
3. A few top-tier teams -- like those of Jeff Burton, Joey Logano, and Brian Vickers -- are perilously close to falling outside the top 35 in owners' points. Should they be worried?
Dave Rodman: Yes, they should be, because it only takes one mechanical failure, a driver error -- either their own or a competitor's -- and they're on the outs. And being on the outs creates another whole field of razorblades you have to dance on. Not pretty.
David Caraviello: No question, they ought to be worried. The series begins working off 2011 owner points beginning next weekend at Martinsville, and no top-tier, fully-funded team wants to go there on the brink of falling outside the top 35. With so many start-and-parkers involved right now, that would be an embarrassment for a program from a championship-caliber organization. And yet, some drivers may face just that if things don't turn around.
Mark Aumann: Nope. A quick check of the owners points shows a pretty big swing between even Vickers in 32nd (69 points) and the car in 36th (51). That's 18 positions in one race. No reason to think at a track like Fontana that the big boys won't run away and hide. This isn't Bristol or Daytona, where things happen not of your own accord.
Dave Rodman: It doesn't seem like qualifying has been their issue, and that's a good thing. But getting caught out in that environment would demand the ability to get out of it, quickly -- lest you fall inextricably into the chasm. And right now, none of them has shown the ability to run and finish consistently well enough to avoid it.

Owner Standings

As of Bristol

8.	42	C. Ganassi	126	-24
9.	88	R. Hendrick	124	-26
10.	56	M. Waltrip	123	-27

Mark Aumann: For the most part, there are really only 39 cars racing for 35 spots. The rest are either part-time teams or start-and-park operations. And of those, several are running near the back every week.
David Caraviello: Mark, no question California is a track that puts a premium on aerodynamics and horsepower, two things the big teams hold dominant over the little guys. So yes, this week is a good opportunity for guys like Vickers and Logano to make some space between themselves and that top-35 cutoff line. But we all know, anything can happen. And if you're still in the danger zone going to Martinsville -- well, that's a place where the differences between the haves and the have-nots are equalized, and can bite you on Lap 1.
Dave Rodman: Great point, Mark. It's gonna be hard for any of those teams from 33rd on back to advance much. But that only increases the embarrassment of falling back there for a better funded, more technically-advanced team.
Mark Aumann: Here's a for instance. Dave Blaney's 36th in the points. His best finish is 25th (at Bristol). That means Vickers would have to finish last to get passed by him at Fontana. Gonna happen? I'm not going to say no, but the chances are pretty slim.
David Caraviello: Not likely unless he blows an engine on lap 1.
Mark Aumann: Yeah, the new points system creates a somewhat false closeness, even at the bottom of the standings. And yeah, if I'm Robby Gordon, eight positions is a lot more of a concern than perhaps where Vickers is. But the bottom five or six teams are all fighting around the same spots on the track every week. I just don't see where the 83 and the 31 and the 00 and the 20 can be that consistently unlucky.
Dave Rodman: That's really true. It's going to be a real dogfight among those Front Row cars, TRG, RGM, Tommy Baldwin and the Germain's car.
Mark Aumann: Once we get to the intermediate tracks and things settle down, I think we'll see the standings revert to norm. And maybe we'll get back to normalcy, where Richard Petty doesn't own the Wood Brothers car or the 71.
David Caraviello: Even if the numbers aren't as close as they seem, I'm sure there's a lot of hand-wringing going on at these shops about where these teams are in the standings. It still has to feel too close to those involved. There has to be a lot of nervousness down there -- Burton is a guy coming off a Chase berth, Logano is a guy who seemed on the brink of contending for one, Vickers came back from blood clots that cost him most of last year. It's early, yes, but these guys must be frustrated, to say the least.
Mark Aumann: Certainly, David. I can't imagine any of those teams expected to blow chunks right off the bat. But we seem to see at least one big name stumble out of the blocks. And if there's a poster child for this, Matt Kenseth comes to mind. He made the Chase one season despite being way back in the standings at one point. Just keep doing the little things right and the big things will follow. Gratuitous self-introspection.
David Caraviello: The consolation is, it is early enough that drivers are able to make up points positions in bunches in a single race. Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle -- who just last weekend harbored his own top-35 worries -- both improved eight spots after Bristol. David Ragan improved six, Kevin Harvick five. Of course, things can go the other direction, too -- Hamlin, as we mentioned, dropped nine. But as Mark said, more intermediate tracks are better for the big teams because they have such a technological advantage there, and that's when things will begin to even out,
Dave Rodman: I don't think frustrated even comes close to describing how they feel. It doesn't write off the season, but for all intents and purposes, if they don't turn things around pretty soon, they'll only be racing for wins. Hey, wait a minute... If they could win -- they'd be in the Chase! What a concept!
David Caraviello: Yes, just what we need -- a wild card that's spent most of the year scuffling along at the bottom of the standings. Yes, that's how title contenders are made, all right ...

Core business

As a soft economy continues to contract, tracks focus on adding value for fans

It was roughly 11 years ago when Bruton Smith, chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., laughed at the thought of empty seats at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Heck, he wasn't yet finished adding them. At the time, BMS had a grandstand seating capacity of 147,000 and Smith claimed he had a waiting list compiled with more than half that many names who had requested additional season tickets.
"We have so many people on the waiting list to come to Bristol, we just stopped taking orders," Smith said then. "I mean, it was foolish. We stopped at 84,000 people. They think they're going to get 'em someday. But with a waiting list of 84,000 people, for most of them it's not likely in their lifetime."

“

At one point, ticket prices weren't an issue -- because, hey, if this guy didn't want to pay X amount of dollars for a ticket, there was a guy right behind him who would. So I think we all got a little fat and happy, and this has brought us into check.

”

-- CLAY CAMPBELL

If those folks are still around, they could have had their pick of seats at BMS for last Sunday's Jeff Byrd 500. By NASCAR's estimate, there were 40,000 empty, unsold seats for the race -- and others, including television analyst Darrell Waltrip, put the estimate at closer to 60,000 empty seats or more.
Bristol seated a mere 71,000 when Smith first bought it in 1996 -- and today seats over 160,000.
So Waltrip, Smith and others also correctly pointed out that in their estimation that still left a crowd of about 100,000 that was huge in its own right and needed to be kept in perspective, especially after strong crowds at the first three races of the season that preceded Sunday's event. But it still was the lowest attendance for a NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Bristol in years -- and it was a stark reminder to all race-track operators that despite the otherwise strong start to this 2011 season, all is not a bed of roses in the business just yet.
With attendance and television ratings up markedly over the first three races leading into the Bristol event, the signs are there that the business side of NASCAR is on the recovery path. But there is still work to be done, and race promoters insist that they are working harder than ever.
"I'd say the past two years in particular have been the most challenging since I've been in the business," said Clay Campbell, who has been president at Martinsville Speedway since 1988. "You seem to be working harder to accomplish the same that you used to, or less. But it's not an isolated case with our sport or anything else. Everybody is facing the same challenges, with the economy being what it is.
"I do think the positive thing this year is that our season seems to be going on the right path. To me, it's gotten off to a positive start. There is just a different feeling in the air."
Explaining Bristol
Smith and Jerry Caldwell, who is in his first full year as general manager at Bristol, candidly admitted heading into last Sunday's race that times have changed since a 55-race sellout streak at the track was snapped in the spring of last year.
Both said that while sales for the Sunday afternoon race that was just held were sluggish, sales for the August Saturday night race at the track have continued to be brisk. That race fell just short of a sellout last August, even in the throes of the bad economy, and Caldwell said he remains hopeful that it will sell out or at least come close to selling out this August.
But the track used to insist that if fans wanted to come to one race at Bristol, no matter which one, they had to buy tickets to both in that given season. That stipulation was dropped this year, which likely has helped save sales for August at the expense of the spring race.
"They still want to come to the races," Caldwell said. "They love Bristol. They may have their job, but they're still very cautious with their money -- so they're going to come to one event and not two. Our August ticket sales are playing out that way. Our August ticket sales are very, very strong."
While many other tracks have slashed ticket prices in recent years, Bruton Smith said he hasn't seen the need to adjust ticket prices too much, and that instead the focus has been on giving the fans the best value for what they do pay. Both he and Caldwell said that they also implored local merchants to work with the track on helping in that regard.
"We've got so much that's going on here, and we just continue to try to add value for the race fans," Caldwell explained. "Because we hear from them and they say it's not $5 or $10 [in ticket prices] that's having them decide what races they're coming to. It's value and the overall expense of the trip.
"So local chambers of commerce in local cities around here, and hotels and restaurants and campgrounds have all worked with us. We met with them at the beginning of this year as well as at the end of last year where we said, 'Hey, guys we're all in this together. We need for you to work with us.' If you'll come down in your prices so we can pass that along to the race fans, we'll relay that to the race fans and promote the heck out of you."
Working with local merchants to help the race tracks bring in fans is something most of the track operators are doing these days. In short, they've discovered that they need to help do more for the race fans in many different areas than ever before.
"We're doing a lot on a lot of different levels," said Marcus Smith, Bruton's son who is president and general manager at Charlotte Motor Speedway. "I think that's the real silver lining on the cloud that was the last 24 months for the race fan. It woke up a lot of people who really were resting on our laurels, not focusing on the core customer.
"All race promoters -- and really anyone in any business -- has really had to refocus on the core customer. For anyone in our business, the race fan is the core customer. So we're focused on delivering a great event with great racing and great amenities at a great value to the race fan."

Getty Images

Kyle Busch celebrates a weekend sweep with fans at Bristol. Jerry Caldwell, general manager at the track, says he is more mindful of the many aspects of putting on a race, because fans want more for less or they won't come.

No more complacency
When every track was full week after week, television ratings were soaring, and the general economy was rolling along -- as it all was back when Bruton Smith boasted of his long Bristol waiting list -- there may have been a tendency for race promoters to get complacent. They all seem willing to admit that now.
"There was one point -- and we all remember it -- where I don't care what you did, you were going to fill the place up. So you didn't have to do a lot," Campbell said. "At one point, ticket prices weren't an issue -- because, hey, if this guy didn't want to pay X amount of dollars for a ticket, there was a guy right behind him who would. So I think we all got a little fat and happy, and this has brought us into check."
Campbell and others agree that in the long run it may turn out to be a positive. In fact, Campbell insisted that it already can be construed as such for what it has set in motion.

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"Everything is not bad. Everything that has happened is not a negative," Campbell said. "It's gotten us to open our eyes a little bit, and understand what our audience is and what they can afford.
"It's been said time and time again that this is a sponsor-driven sport, and to a degree it is. But if we don't have people in the grandstands watching it, it's much harder to attract sponsors. I've always said if we please the fans first, everything else will fall in line behind it -- and I've never changed my belief on that."
Caldwell said the tough times have forced him and his fellow Bristol employees to change the way they think about many aspects of putting on a race. It isn't enough now simply to advertise a great pre-race concert or blow something up in the infield. Fans want more -- and now they want more for less, or they obviously won't come.
"We have always -- and I'll put it up against anybody -- been the best in the business with customer service, from taking care of the race fans with amenities at the track and other things," Caldwell said. "So in the past we've been able to focus on that experience. It's like none other.
"The areas that we did not have to focus on were the fan-loyalty programs and ticket packages, those kinds of things. We were able to focus on the fans' experience here at the track. The softness in the economy and the contraction, it made us have to focus on how we're going to take care of our season-ticket holders and give them more value. And how are we going to reach out to these other markets and get tour operators to come in."
Tour operators? At Bristol? That in itself is a sign of changing times.
"Years ago, we pushed away from the tour operators -- because we though they were doing a disservice to our race fans because they were charging a lot more than the face value for tickets. So we didn't embrace them," Caldwell said. "With what's going on now, we've started embracing a lot of those folks -- because they're offering much more affordable packages. We're doing lots of things that we've not focused on in the past.
"But it's been good. I think anytime you go through a challenge like this economy has been for the last couple of years, it's going to make you stronger in the end. It's going to make you trim some fat and see where you need to focus and where you need to gain ground. That's what we've done.
"I think that's prone to happen in any industry after a lot of success. I think we all, unfortunately, just had become complacent with our spot and how we interacted with our customers. I don't think going through a challenging time is a bad thing. It's how we grow and become better."

Charlotte Motor Speedway

Marcus Smith is overseeing construction of the largest High Definition television in the world, which his father, Bruton, has insisted will ensure a sellout of the Coca-Cola 600 this May.

What they're doing
Examples of tracks trying to meet these as-yet undefined demands are everywhere. Campbell is selling four seats (two adult, two youth) to the upcoming Sprint Cup race at his track, including four sodas and four famous Martinsville hot dogs, for $99. For the recent race in Las Vegas, which sold out, the general manager of that track, Chris Powell, pushed an initiative to appeal to younger fans by offering 50 percent off all tickets purchased by or for fans 15 and younger. And on the backstretch of Charlotte Motor Speedway, Marcus Smith is overseeing construction of the largest High Definition television in the world, which his father, Bruton, has insisted will ensure a sellout of the Coca-Cola 600 this May.
"We've never offered discounted tickets before," said Powell, whose facility seats 142,000. "And this is not some type of desperate act to fill seats -- because we've had a very good year in selling tickets. We just thought it was a statement we needed to make to get more young people out to the race.
"We're trying to appeal more to the younger set, while at the same time not forgetting the core fan who has made the sport what it is."

“

We've never offered discounted tickets before. And this is not some type of desperate act to fill seats -- because we've had a very good year in selling tickets. We just thought it was a statement we needed to make to get more young people out to the race.

”

-- CHRIS POWELL

Campbell said he is aiming to do the same at his track.
"We've done a lot of things differently in the last couple of years," Campbell said. "One thing we're doing is we're targeting the youth market more, because a lot of our older fans are aging out and we've got to replace them. To that point, we've been targeting a lot of colleges and universities. We've got a lot of great ones all around us.
"We've got special pricing for college students. We've got special pricing for children -- because if you attract the children, obviously you've also got the parents. That's a focus we're heavy onto now that maybe at one time we were not. I would say primarily it's families. We've got that $99 four-pack -- two youths, two adults, four hot dogs, four drinks. Years ago, we wouldn't have attempted to do that -- because there was no need to. Now we're working a whole lot harder to attract youth and the family as a unit."
Marcus Smith insisted that never before have race fans been able to get so much for their money at NASCAR's biggest events.
"When you look at the cost of going to a NASCAR race this year, last year and the year before, it's the best time we've ever had for race fans," he said. "There is more access than ever before, better entry-level prices than ever -- and for the fans who want to see more and do more, you can see more and do more than ever before. Access to pit road and season-ticket packages that really give you more for your money are things that all tracks are doing, and hotels are dropping their rates. The market is really coming to the race fans to supply a lot more for the race-fan dollar."
Some tracks are kicking up their pre-race concerts a notch as well. Brad Paisley played before the season-opening Daytona 500, Smith recently announced that Dierks Bentley will play prior to the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race, and legendary Lynyrd Skynryd has signed on to play prior to the Labor Day weekend race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
"Our fans really enjoy the pre-race concerts. We've done pre-race concerts for a long time, and this is part of how we like to try to bring the race to the fans," Smith said. "A NASCAR race is so much more different than a typical sporting event. It's not a two- or three-hour event like a football game or a baseball game. It's a huge festival that kind of blends in the atmosphere of a state fair and a race and a lot of friends coming together all rolled into one.
"You've got a lot of fans coming in from out of town. An average fan travels more than 300 miles one way to come to a race, and with over 10,000 campsites around most of our speedways, you can see how a festival is really more what a race is than just your typical sporting event."
More challenges ahead
With the average fan traveling such great distances to see races, another obvious stumbling block that played a role in all the empty seats at Bristol last Sunday was high gasoline prices. With Americans paying $3.50 or more for a gallon of fuel these days, many of them are simply opting to stay home.
"I wish I could wave a magic wand and do something about that," Bruton Smith said.
He can't, of course. No one can, although Campbell did say that he is working with a couple of service stations around his track to hopefully have them lower their prices during his race weekend.

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"It's a challenge and there again, it goes back to another way we're now marketing our events," Campbell admitted. "We spend a lot of focus on the 200-mile radius, where fans can make a morning drive to the track for the event. Prices haven't leveled off to where they need to for fuel or anything else, because the economy is still tight. So we need to attract people who can drive to Martinsville to watch the race and then get back home in one day.
"We're still targeting areas outside of that, but a big focus is on that. That's one of the things we've changed. How can we attract people who want to make it but maybe don't want to stay over one night or more? Fuel prices are a big part of that, but we can't control that. It's kind of like the weather. It is what it is -- but it sure puts a dent in someone's wallet when they have to travel great distances. Hopefully that will level off at some point and it won't affect us too bad, but it does have an impact."
Meanwhile, despite attendance being down at Bristol, there have been plenty of positive developments to build on this season, according to Campbell and others. There were the popular wins by drivers Trevor Bayne, Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards to start the season in front of large crowds at Daytona, Phoenix and Las Vegas, respectively, as well as improved television ratings over a year ago for each of the first three races. (The overnight ratings for the Bristol race were down nine percent, but that race went against the NCAA college basketball tournament).
"The races have been good. I'm optimistic that 2011 will be a year of getting back to what we once had," said Campbell, whose facility seats a more modest 65,000 and had its own lengthy sellout string of 34 consecutive races snapped in 2008.
"I think everything is starting to turn around. I think this year will be a year of improvement. It's going to take us a while to get back -- and I don't know that we'll ever get back to what we had at one point. But I think we are going to start slowly recovering."
One thing is certain in NASCAR. It's no longer business as usual. Race promoters have found that approach no longer works.
"I think some had gotten complacent, some had gotten focused on other things and assumed certain things were taken care of," Marcus Smith said. "But you know, everybody in every business has had to make adjustments for the economy we're in. It's not unique to NASCAR racing. It's the same at the mall, it's the same anywhere you go, really. There is more value for your dollar today because of the tough economy that we've been in, and NASCAR is no different. We've just got to keep working to get the word out about that everywhere we go."

Hard work helps offset bad luck at Bristol

The season is in full swing after our race last weekend at Bristol. We had a lot of on-track action with some drivers getting mad at other drivers. And after the race at California this weekend, we'll be using this year's owners' points to determine who is locked into each race. We're definitely off and running and things are starting to become routine again following the offseason.
Bristol was a unique weekend for both of my teams. Once again, we had two very fast race cars, but circumstances kept us from getting the finishes we deserved. I've never had three consecutive weekends where I've cut down right-front tires, but that's what we've had with the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge. I don't know if we had a car that could have won the race, the 18 car [Kyle Busch] was in a class by himself, but it kept us from having the opportunity. Still, to grab a ninth-place finish after the incident was a testament to a lot of hard work by the Discount Tire team. After the year we had in 2010, I guess it is our turn to have some misfortune.

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Keselowski gets caught up in a seven-car wreck at Bristol.
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Hard work was basically the theme of the weekend. The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge was stupid-fast. I am very excited about how we will race over the next couple of weeks as I think we have hit on a few things that will transition well to other tracks. I really think we could have finished in the top five in the Cup race. But Bristol being Bristol, we were involved in a multi-car wreck on Lap 28 when Jeff Burton had an ignition box problem. We just had nowhere to go and we all just piled into each other. That's just short-track racing. After making repairs, we had a flat right-rear tire and the two incidents combined caused us to lose two laps. No one panicked. Paul [Wolfe, crew chief] and all the guys put together a plan to get both laps back, which we did and were able to scratch out an 18th-place finish. While 18th is a long way from a win, it felt like a win because it showed everyone that their hard work does pay off.
Now we go from one of the smallest tracks we race on, to the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Not only is that a big transition in setups and race strategy, it's a big transition mentally for a driver. Bristol is all-out, race-your-guts-out-every-lap, intense racing. You can't lie down in the seat for one second. Fontana is completely the opposite. It's very wide, with plenty of racing room. You still have to race hard, but you aren't fender to fender every lap, like Bristol.
One of the coolest parts about racing at Fontana is seeing what celebrities will make it out to the track. In past years we've had to go up against the Oscars, which probably kept some away. This year we have a new date so hopefully we'll get to see more of them. Sugar Ray Leonard is the honorary starter, which is pretty cool. I'm a big boxing fan and I look forward to meeting him.
From the fans
This week's fan question comes from Gary Lael in Illinois. He asked if there is still a "guys, have at it" decree this year?
Gary, we haven't been told otherwise by NASCAR, so I'm going to proceed this year like it is the same as last year. Clearly, I was the one driver that epitomized the "guys, have at it" mantra from last year. Although, I was on the receiving end of both incidents last season I don't go into any race with retaliation on my mind. That is a disservice to the guys working on my cars because if I'm thinking of payback, I'm not giving them 100 percent to make the car faster. That is my only concern when I get to the race track.
That's it for this week. Make sure you tune in to both races from Auto Club Speedway this weekend. It's never been a very strong track for me over the years, but we ran up front in both Nationwide Series races there last year and I think we've hit on a few things that will make us much better in the Cup car moving forward.


Behind the Wheel with Brad Keselowski runs every other Wednesday on NASCAR.COM as he shares his experiences throughout the season. The opinions expressed are solely those of Keselowski. Have a question for Brad? Submit inquiries to bradkeselowski@penskeracing.com and follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/keselowski.

NASCAR's remarkable start to the season continued at Bristol Motor Speedway with a fourth different winner in the first four races and there are enough strong drivers remaining that we could easily see a fifth fresh face this weekend.
Roush Fenway Racing has dominated the 2-mile tracks in the past, which combined with the fact that Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth have run strong on occasion in the first four events makes them drivers to watch. And the dramatic win for Trevor Bayne at Daytona suggests even David Ragan could get into the mix if the cards fall right.

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Toyotas run strong on the unrestricted, intermediate speedways; that not only means the two winless Joe Gibbs Racing guys have a shot, but Brian Vickers won at Michigan International Speedway a couple of years ago, which gives him and Red Bull Racing teammate Kasey Kahne a reason to be hopeful.
The doglegged, unrestricted, intermediate speedways dominate the NASCAR circuit with more than one-third of the races contested on a variety of similarly configured, 1.5- and 2-mile tracks and while that favors big-budget, multi-car teams, it also gives drivers like Michael Waltrip Racing's David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. with slightly more modest coffers at their disposal an equal chance to challenge for the victory.
Playing by the Numbers
The first three races of the year were challenging for fantasy owners with 22 different drivers scoring top-10 finishes; when half the field proves they can run that well that early in the season, all bets are off the table. That is especially true when drivers like Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Jeff Gordon were able to earn only one top-10 compared to two results outside the top 15 in those first three races, but then Bristol finally went according to plan.
True, Kenseth and Biffle became the 23rd and 24th different drivers to score top-10s this season -- and in the case of the No. 16, his previous best result was only a 20th, which made him a surprise contender by most estimations -- but for the most part the drivers at the top of the order were the ones expected to be there.
In fact, if you glance back at last week's fantasy preview, you will notice that the three favorites were (in order): Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. If you look at last week's rundown, you notice the same thing.
A pattern is starting to emerge. Kurt Busch is the only driver with four top-10s in the first four races and that is a big part of the reason why he sits atop the point standings, but three other drivers now have three top-10s and quite a few have already logged two strong runs in the books. NASCAR wants parity and is getting it; fantasy owners want predictability, and it is starting to be restored.
The Favorites
Looking at this week's Auto Club 400, odds-makers should be equally divided between the chances that NASCAR will continue its streak of unique winners. This week, we will lean slightly toward keeping the streak alive because two of our favorites are winless in 2011 while the third already has one tally in the victory column.
The driver who has dominated this track in recent years finds himself in unfamiliar territory. Johnson is suffering through a dry spell of 12 races since he last tasted champagne in Victory Lane, which certainly pales in comparison to Gordon's 66-race skid, but it is starting to get the naysayers' tongues wagging. Of course, in those 12 races, he's scored eight top-fives and 10 top-10s, but two meager results came at the start of this season. Auto Club Speedway should remedy that because he has been as close to perfect on this track since 2007 as is physically possible. In the past eight races, he has finished worse than third only once and that was a ninth in spring 2009. His five total victories on this track take precedence by far and he should be on everyone's roster.
Carl Edwards had a bad season last year in California with a 13th in the spring and a 34th in the fall. Before that, however, he amassed 10 top-10 finishes in his first 11 attempts at Auto Club and all of these were results of seventh or better, including one victory in spring 2008. He has an equally strong record on the other 2-mile track in Michigan, which makes this his favorite track type. The biggest reason to start him this week, however, is his current momentum: the driver of the No. 99 has finished first or second in five of the past six races he's entered and if not for an accident at Phoenix a couple of weeks ago, that record would almost certainly be perfect.
Last week was the first time fantasy owners have seen Tony Stewart struggle all season and it was not a comfortable sight. Quite a few drivers ran strong at times and then jumped the fence on their final adjustments. Stewart seemed to be one of those drivers and even though he kept his emotions in check, rest assured that Smoke is smoldering. His only outlet is going to be on track this week and that could be bad news for the competition. Stewart does not have the same long history of success on 2-mile tracks as either Johnson or Edwards, but he does enter the weekend as the most recent winner after taking the checkers at Auto Club this past fall.
Dark Horses
Given Jack Roush's record on 2-mile tracks, perhaps Kenseth and Biffle don't really belong in the dark horse category, but we are going to place them there this week because it took four weeks for them to earn their first top-10s of the season on the bullring in Bristol. Both drivers ended the 2010 season with as much momentum as Edwards and while they ran strong on a few occasions, they just couldn't capitalize and crack that magical mark.

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Kenseth came closest at Phoenix and again in Las Vegas with 12th- and 11th-place finishes, respectively, but he should have finished among the top five in either of those events. Drivers can ignore the raw numbers for a while and concentrate on the strong runs, but there is a limited amount of time they can do so before the overall weight of that disappointment begins to crush them. For Kenseth, this is the perfect time to visit Auto Club because he has four combined victories there and on the sister track of Michigan. When he misses the top spot, it is often not by much and his 17 career top-fives on this track type far outweigh his eight results outside the top 15 in 41 attempts.
Biffle is less flashy than Kenseth, but no less fast. Roush has made a career out of placing all of his drivers in the top five at Auto Club and Michigan sometime during their career and that rising tide elevates everyone in the organization. The No. 16 has had its own share of success with one win on this track and two in Michigan. Biffle has been stronger in the Midwest than California, but there are some recent highlights that must be noted. Biffle earned back-to-back Auto Club top-fives in fall 2008 and spring 2009 and he backed that with a 10th in this race last year.
Underdogs
Richard Childress Racing has had a rough start to its season. With the exception of Paul Menard, who is currently carrying the banner, the seasoned members -- Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Harvick -- have all experienced abysmal luck. Every time a caution waves for an accident, fantasy owners heads are on a swivel to see if one of the RCR drivers is involved and most often they find one of them in the carnage. That could change this week because each of them had some success at Auto Club last year. Burton finished third in the spring race, but fantasy owners will want to skip him this week because that is his only top-15 on this track in his past five attempts. On the other hand, either Harvick or Bowyer should be on your roster because each of them enters the weekend with three consecutive top-10s. With a little more luck, they could have swept Victory Lane last year. Harvick finished second to Johnson in this race, while Bowyer was runner-up to Stewart in the fall.
When bad luck strikes, it can be hard to shake and that makes Joey Logano a risky proposition each week. He was a dark horse candidate to make the Chase before the green flag fell over the Daytona 500 and now he simply wants to pad his position in the top 35 in owners' points after suffering through engine failures and accidents early in the season. Last week, this team struggled early at Bristol but they finally made the car stronger in the closing laps and were climbing toward the top 10 until a loose wheel sent the No. 20 hard into the wall and several laps off the pace. If fate will forgive the kid, however, Auto Club should be a place to shine. He finished fifth in this race last year and enters the Auto Club 400 with a three-race streak of top-15s on this track.

Fantasy Power Ranking

Two-mile tracks (past three years)

Pos.	Driver	PA*		Pos.	Driver	PA*		Pos.	Driver	PA*
1.	Jimmie Johnson	4.50		15.	Kurt Busch	16.65		29.	Paul Menard	29.23
2.	Jeff Gordon	8.89		16.	Clint Bowyer	17.04		30.	Regan Smith	30.00
3.	Greg Biffle	9.69		17.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	17.53		31.	Marcos Ambrose	31.04
4.	Carl Edwards	9.78		18.	David Ragan	19.16		32.	Andy Lally	33.50
5.	Brian Vickers	9.87		19.	David Reutimann	19.28		33.	David Gilliland	34.22
6.	Tony Stewart	10.03		20.	Joey Logano	19.96		34.	Bobby Labonte	34.73
7.	Matt Kenseth	10.26		21.	Jeff Burton	20.00		35.	Robby Gordon	36.29
8.	Trevor Bayne	11.00		22.	Martin Truex Jr.	22.26		36.	Michael McDowell	36.35
9.	Denny Hamlin	11.40		23.	Jamie McMurray	23.38		37.	Dave Blaney	36.53
10.	Mark Martin	11.66		24.	Ryan Newman	24.78		38.	Tony Raines	36.93
11.	Kyle Busch	12.23		25.	A.J. Allmendinger	25.36		39.	Joe Nemechek	37.11
12.	Kevin Harvick	13.58		26.	Brad Keselowski	27.98		40.	Mike Skinner	37.96
13.	Kasey Kahne	14.42		27.	Casey Mears	29.03		41.	J.J. Yeley	40.32
14.	Juan Montoya	16.49		28.	Travis Kvapil	29.15		42.	Landon Cassill	40.75

* The Power Average is the average finish during the last three years, plus the number of laps spent in the lead, in the top five, and in the top 10 expressed as if they were finishing results. For example a driver who has led the most laps receives a hypothetical first-place finish, the driver who leads the second most laps receives a hypothetical second-place finish, and so on. This rewards drivers who competed at the front of the pack for the majority of the race, even if an unfortunate event takes them out of contention at the very end of the race. A driver's recent record in the support series is also factored in, as is his average running position as provided by NASCAR Statistical Services. Failures to qualify are credited to the driver as if they were a finishing position (i.e. the first non-qualifier is assigned a 44th-place finish). The 2-mile tracks are Auto Club and Michigan.

Autostock

Clay Rogers has yet to race a full season in any of the three national divisions, but that could change this season.

Rogers looking for career rebirth in a truck

Thirty-year old second in Truck Series points after up-and-down 10-year career

Clay Rogers is far from a household name, but he once shared a Nationwide Series ride with Matt Kenseth and recently helped tutor a teenager by the name of Trevor Bayne.
Rogers also is a four-time champion in the USARacing Pro Cup Series, including back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010. Now Rogers sits second in the Camping World Truck Series standings heading into Saturday's Too Tough to Tame 200 at Darlington Raceway. He talked with NASCAR.COM about his season and his exploits with Kenseth, Bayne and his own 16-month-old daughter, Ava.

“

I've talked to Trevor a couple of times ... I told him I was racing for 23 years before I finally got a chance to race at Daytona. Then I finish third [in the Truck race], which I thought was pretty good, and he has to go out and top me almost before I can even get back home.

”

-- -- CLAY ROGERS

Q: What was it like sharing a Nationwide ride with Matt Kenseth, who now is a Cup veteran and champion, back in 2001?
Rogers: That was with Reiser Enterprises. A lot of people thought that was a Roush car, but it really wasn't. It was actually owned by Robbie and his father, John, who has since passed on.
But I got the opportunity to run some races in that car. We were going to run 13 races, but of course when the planes hit the [Twin Tower] buildings [in New York] that year, sponsorship started dropping left and right. I ended up having to give a few of my races back to Matt in the hopes of the team procuring sponsorship in 2002, which didn't happen anyway. It was a lot of fun and a learning experience. I wish I had gotten to race a little bit more than I had, but I definitely got some experience on a lot of the tracks we're still racing on today.
Q: Such as Darlington Raceway, where you'll compete in the Camping World Truck Series on Saturday night?
Rogers: Somebody asked me if I'd ever raced at Darlington and I said, 'The only time I ever got to drive at Darlington was when I got to drive Matt Kenseth's car from Victory Lane around to the tech area.' He won the [Nationwide] race there at Darlington that year we shared a ride together. They were busy taking pictures, so I just drove the car around to the tech area.
Q: You're sitting second in points right now. What were your plans for this Truck Series season initially, and have they changed at all because of your fast start?
Rogers: Well, our original plan at RBR Enterprises was to come in and run 15 races in the Truck Series this year. Ricky Benton, the owner, got his feet wet in the series last year with Dennis Setzer, and decided to make a little bit more of a run at it this year. Then we decided we needed to run the first five races and kind of see where we stack up. Of course, after being second in the points after the first two races, there seems to be a little bit more sense of urgency to try to procure sponsorship.
Ricky's got a very successful business of his own that's a pretty large tire dealer and distributor in North and South Carolina, but we've leaned on those folks awful hard just to get to this point.
Q: Saturday's race is sort of a home race for you guys, isn't it?
Rogers: The race shop is only about 40 minutes from the track, so yeah, we've got some big things planned for this weekend. We've got a lot of hospitality stuff planned for Darlington, so for us to go out and perform at a high level is important. The other thing to remember is that we're second in points going into the weekend, but we've still got to qualify in on speed and you don't know how many quality trucks are going to show up. I'm sure it'll be another tough crowd.
Q: What do you like to do away from the track?
Rogers: I've lived in the Mooresville [N.C.] and Lake Norman area all my life, so I like to spend time on the water -- in the summertime, especially. I just like to go sit out on the pier or sit on a pontoon boat. That's how a lot of our Sundays are spent: out on a pontoon boat, listening to the Cup races on the radio. But in the last year and a half, things have changed for me quite a bit. I have a 16-month-old daughter [Ava] and she occupies my time. I really enjoy spending time with her and my wife, Cheryl.
I had a really interesting [Monday] morning, in fact. Our daughter has been really healthy since she's been born, but this morning she got up and wasn't acting right. ... I dropped her off at my Mom's house and was just sitting there, and she got sick and threw up all over me. That was the first time that happened. Then it was game on for her; she went about chasing the dogs.
Q: What is your long-term goal in racing?
Rogers: Racing started out as my hobby and turned into my career. It was almost 10 years ago when I got to run my first Nationwide race. I feel lucky to be 30 years old and still racing, to be able to be successful and pay my bills doing it. Four or five years ago, I would have said yeah, I'd still like to make a run at the Cup Series. I don't feel like that's a realistic goal anymore, being 30 years old. ... I'm going to have to get going on it if it's ever going to happen.
Q: Do you keep in touch with Matt Kenseth?
Rogers: Matt's a really good guy, but I haven't been able to keep up with him over the years. The drivers I'm friends with are guys like Steve Wallace, Trevor Bayne and guys I've raced against in the Pro Cup Series. Trevor used to stay at my house some when he had first moved to Mooresville from Knoxville, [Tenn.]
Q: So when did Trevor spend time at your house?
Rogers: When he was about 15, 16. He was running in the Pro Cup Series and his dad decided to move his team from Knoxville to Mooresville, which turned out to be an excellent decision -- especially looking back on it now. ... It sounds ridiculous to say now, but I tried to help him out a little. I went testing with him and we talked a lot. I tried to share a little perspective with him about what I had gone through to try to make it to the big-time. But definitely he's giving me advice now, let's up it that way.
Q: Where did he sleep, on your couch?
Rogers: He never stayed weeks at a time. He would stay with me for a couple days; he'd stay at the house of a former crew chief of mine who was crew chiefing him at the time, Blake Bainbridge, who lived up the street. The guy who is spotting for Trevor now, he'd stay with him. It was kind of a group effort there until he got an apartment. He's just a good kid. Everybody knows that now.
Q: Where did you watch the Daytona 500 this year, and what was your reaction when Bayne won?
Rogers: Actually all of my friends and Blake were up at Blake's house, watching it. Me and a couple of guys who had worked with Trevor in the past, we had a pretty good feeling about it because we knew he had a good car. But when he won it, there was an awful lot of jumping up and down and hugging, and maybe even a few tears shed. When he crossed [the finish line] to take the checkered, it was just an unbelievable feeling for all of us.
I've talked to Trevor a couple of times since then. I told him I was racing for 23 years before I finally got a chance to race at Daytona. Then I finish third [in the Truck race], which I thought was pretty good, and he has to go out and top me almost before I can even get back home.

Earnhardt enjoying progress made with Letarte

Eighth-place finish at Las Vegas gives driver two top-10s to start season

LAS VEGAS -- You can hear it in his voice. You can see it in his face, and in the results on the scoring tower. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is having fun again.
"I'm happy. It's a fun team, a great group of guys," he said. "I'm proud to be a part of it, and hope I can keep working well and keep doing well."

“

I'm happy. It's a fun team, a great group of guys. I'm proud to be a part of it, and hope I can keep working well and keep doing well.

”

-- DALE EARNHARDT JR.

He had good reason to feel that way Sunday, when Earnhardt turned in his third consecutive solid effort to start the season, an eight-place result at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Earnhardt ran as high as fourth late in the event, but got stuck behind several cars that took two tires on their final pit stops, and then had his No. 88 get tight in the final laps of the race. Even so, the performance follows a 10th-place run at Phoenix, and a Daytona 500 where he was among the leaders late before a cut tire ruined his day.
Working with new crew chief Steve Letarte, Earnhardt has now recorded back-to-back top-10s for the first time since New Hampshire and Daytona in the middle of last season, and he stands 10th in Sprint Cup points -- the highest he's been since he was eighth after Talladega last spring. Perhaps most importantly, Earnhardt continues to show signs that he's capable of ending a winless streak that now stands at 96 events.
And he's clearly enjoying the process.
"We're just doing what we're supposed to do, I reckon. We didn't have too bad a car in practice and I just didn't nail it in qualifying. ... But I guess the best thing that we did all day long was the adjustments. I kept telling Stevie what I thought I needed and what the car felt like it was doing wrong, and he was hitting on it every time. We were kind of working together on some ideas and we hit on one idea that was really good and it really woke the car up," Earnhardt said.
"We decided to take four [tires] at the end, and I'll back Stevie's call there. It might have cost us a spot in hindsight, but we just need to run good and get good finishes under our belt and keep their confidence and keep my confidence up. Midway through the race was the first time in a long time I actually was feeling like I could beat them guys, you know? That I was around. It gave me a lot of confidence [Sunday]; we just need to keep doing that."
Car owner Rick Hendrick paired Earnhardt and Letarte in an offseason personnel shuffle because he thought Letarte's penchant for keeping his driver upbeat and confident could help a driver who's struggled since joining NASCAR's top organization. Sunday, Letarte was at his best. "Come on, buddy. You're absolutely doing great," he told Earnhardt as the driver tried to gain positions in the final laps.
That relationship extends off the track, and goes in both directions. Earnhardt and Letarte -- who won 10 races with Jeff Gordon before being moved to the No. 88 team in November -- met Saturday night with team engineers to discuss what changes to make to the car for the race.
"It's fun in this hauler, man," Earnhardt said. "When you're running good, everything is easier to do. But I really enjoy brainstorming with Steve, and I think having worked with him, I've become better at helping him just in a short period of time. But it's fun to brainstorm with and work with him, and I just want to do good."
Earnhardt can sense he's making progress, which for him is paramount. He's on his third crew chief since joining Hendrick Motorsports prior to the 2008 season. If it doesn't work with Letarte, he's not sure where he might turn next.
"Failure at this point is completely unacceptable, and I've got to put it all out on the line and do everything I can to make this work," he said. "If it don't work with [Letarte], I got nowhere else to go. I got no other options, really other than just to race myself into oblivion with my own team and Tony [Eury] Jr. and them guys. But I want this to work. I want to be in a [Cup car] the rest of my career as long as I can, and I want to be successful, and so I'm just trying to work hard, man. We're getting better. It feels like it's working."

In the Draft: Dancing with the Lady in Black

This weekend is an off weekend for the Nationwide and Sprint Cup series. Many of the drivers are taking short vacations and getting away from it all but not me. I'm headed to the track "Too Tough to Tame" to compete in the Camping World Truck Series event! I'm really excited to go to Darlington. The track has such a rich history and I'm hoping that I get to add to it this weekend.
In the past I've had a lot of success there both in the Cup and Nationwide series. I have several poles, top-five and top-10 finishes. I haven't been able to score a victory yet, but I'm hoping this weekend we can change all of that. I'm ready to slide back into the seat of the No. 2 Chevrolet Silverado. The last time I drove the truck we narrowly missed the win at Daytona. As disappointing as that was, I couldn't think of a better guy to win that race than Michael Waltrip.

"Many of the drivers are taking short vacations and getting away from it all but not me. I'm headed to the track 'Too Tough to Tame. - ELLIOTT SADLER

Not only am I ready to get back to racing in the Truck Series, but Darlington also has one of the best restaurants on the planet. All of the locals know about Red Bone Alley Restaurant and Bar. It is a really cool place, with lots of room to sit and eat. The food is to die for. They have a lot of dishes that are native to the South Carolina culture and you cannot go away from there hungry. I always try to make a point to stop by and I know a lot of the crew members always make a point to carve out a night to head over there. It's not far from the track so if you get a chance, be sure to check it out.
Aside from eating at Red Bone Alley, I will also probably take some time to spend with my spotter Brett Griffin. His family is from nearby Pageland, S.C., and they always take good care of us when we are in town. I know Brett has several members from his family coming to the race so it will be fun to have them over to the motorhome one evening to listen to stories about old Brett Griffin growing up and reminisce about his time as a dancer. In case you didn't know, he was a break dancer when he was younger, so last week while we were in Las Vegas he attended the JabbaWockeeZ show. We got a good laugh after he got back about how skilled he says he was back in his hay day. I'm glad he decided to become a spotter though -- I can't imagine going to see his show!
After we spend time filling up on food and telling stories about old friends we will focus on the task at hand, which is figuring out the fastest way around the egg-shaped Darlington track. The No. 2 team has a little added pressure this weekend as we will be running the Armour Vienna Sausages blue and gold paint scheme. This paint scheme has gone undefeated since they have been a primary sponsor with Kevin Harvick Inc. (KHI). Kevin Harvick has three wins in the colors, including his first Nationwide Series win for KHI at Bristol in 2009.
I'm really excited and I hope the magic of Armour can take us to Victory Lane for the first time this season. I hope everyone has an enjoyable week and if you are in the area, be sure to make your way down to Darlington Raceway to take in some exciting Truck Series action this weekend. Until next time, HOLLA!

Will Patrick start to run up front consistently?

After record-breaking fourth-place finish at Vegas, pressure is on to keep it going

The buzz is still being felt from Danica Patrick's historic fourth-place finish in the Nationwide race last Saturday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Not only was it a career-high for Patrick, but it was the highest a woman has finished in any of NASCAR's three national series.
But will that success continue for the second-year part-timer? Patrick has one more race at Bristol before her focus returns to her roots of IndyCar racing. Patrick has eight events left in 2011, will she be consistently run up front, or was this just a one-time thing? Joe Menzer and Bill Kimm have their thoughts on Patrick. Read theirs and then weigh in with your own in the comments below. And don't forget to vote for whose argument you agree with more in the poll at the right.