potomacnews

Biffle wins, but focus remains on Busch, Johnson

2008-09-15T19:19:00-05:00

Come on, you didn’t see a Greg Biffle win coming either.

It’s hard to tell whether this is a one-off win for the Roush driver, or whether it foreshadows a serious candidacy for the Sprint Cup title.

I’m still more inclined for the former. But I could be persuaded otherwise. As we mentioned before, there was a time earlier in the year when Biffle consistently battled for wins, only to be taken out by mechanical failures.

What does the first race of the Chase really mean?

2008-09-12T15:51:00-05:00

I’ve seen and heard the resulting backlash after the Washington Redskins looked so miserable after their season-opening loss in New York. And, consequently, I’ve heard the response from the players: It’s only one game.

So no matter what happens to your favorite driver at New Hampshire, remember what so many of the Redskins said: It’s only one game.

Our first look at the Nationwide’s new car

2008-09-10T14:59:00-05:00

The on-track action at Richmond extended an extra day into Monday; NASCAR used that day to test its version of the Nationwide Car of Tomorrow (where the moniker still rings true).

Scene Daily has a pretty good breakdown of what will be different about the Cup COT and the Nationwide COT. They’ll be quite similar, though the chassis will be slightly different. The Nationwide COTs will continue to use springs, while the Cup COT uses shock absorbers.

Handicapping the Chase: Week 1

2008-09-09T16:26:00-05:00

Before I get started, let me first apologize for the dearth of posts lately. Last week was a killer, when it seemed like whenever something got done, another thing popped up that also needed doing. Even into Monday, that was the case.

But now that NASCAR has moved into the postseason, I’m hoping to minimize the number of days we skip. It’s time for 12 drivers to buckle down, and it’s time we did the same.

Speaking of those 12 drivers, we’ll take today to list how we see the Chase playing out. The 12 who made the field will be ranked, and the list will be adjusted as the Chase moves forward.

Keeping one eye on Hanna, the other on NASCAR

2008-09-03T19:45:00-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, an e-mail popped into the inbox. It was from Aimee Turner, the PR boss at Richmond International Raceway. The subject line was kind of long, so some of the words were obscured. But it began with the word “statement,” and that’s rarely a good thing.

(Trust me on that. Enough e-mails have come through here that if someone is issuing a statement, it’s probably not good news. Or maybe I remember too well coming into the office one morning several months ago on a quiet morning and seeing an e-mail entitled, “Redskins statement on Sean Taylor.”)

Franchitti heading back to IRL

2008-09-02T21:16:00-05:00

Posting pretty late in the afternoon, my apologies for that. Those Thursday NFL games are a killer…

The big news of the day came to light only a little bit ago, when the Associated Press reported that Dario Franchitti is headed back to the IRL next season.

So if you ever wondered just how hard the move from open-wheel racing to NASCAR is, now you have an idea.

In a quarter of a lap, Busch shows why he’s the championship favorite

2008-09-01T21:49:00-05:00

If you made it to the end of last night’s broadcast – a chore for those of us in the east – then you heard the dominant headline of next-to-last race before the Chase: Jimmie Johnson, to borrow a phrase from a good friend, ain’t dead yet.
Johnson was dominant, to be sure, and was a deserving winner of the race at California.
But on the last lap, you saw the reason that Kyle Busch will bring home the championship at season’s end.

What to expect from California’s fall race next season

2008-08-27T15:41:00-05:00

Labor Day weekend in California. Sounds so natural, doesn’t it?

Perhaps that’s a bit caustic. But we’ve seen time and again the less-than-stellar racing at the Fontana track.

The racing won’t change when the track’s date switches next season, but at least the weather will be more moderate.

What does the future hold for Logano?

2008-08-26T14:20:00-05:00

As expected, Joe Gibbs Racing named Joey Logano to take over the No. 20 next year, replacing Tony Stewart. Logano gets the benefit of an elite sponsor and a championship-winning crew chief, Greg Zipadelli.

Logano’s birthday is May 24, so the 2009 Sprint Cup season will be well underway before he even turns 19.

Do we need to ask if Busch is still immature? Didn’t think so

2008-08-25T14:50:00-05:00

Prior to Saturday night’s race, Kyle Busch had run 20 races at Bristol, whether in a truck, Busch/Nationwide car or Cup car. He should know the deal there.

People get bumped out of the way, particularly those in the lead.