By Richard Allen

Only one short year removed from the biggest win of his career it is hard to believe Matt Kenseth is looking to improve upon what turned out to be a season filled with a few ups and many downs last season.

Kenseth fulfilled a long time dream when he won the rain shortened Daytona 500 in 2009. The usually stoic competitor actually shed a few tears in his victory lane celebration after the win. It seemed that a driver so known throughout his career for steady consistency was sure to be a championship contender after getting off to such a great start.

The next week at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California only served to confirm the notion that Kenseth would be threat to claim a second Sprint Cup title. He dominated the second half of that race and scored his second win in as many weeks to open the 2009 campaign.

However, things went downhill quickly after that for the Roush Fenway Racing #17 team. Kenseth’s Ford suffered a blown engine at the very beginning of the next race in Las Vegas which resulted in a last place finish. From there, this driver and team seemed unable to find the right combination that would provide the solidity they had become so accustomed to in the past.

Ultimately, the #17 team missed out on the Chase for the Championship for the first time since the playoff system’s inception in 2004. Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson had been the only two drivers to have qualified for the Chase in every possible season prior to last year’s miss.

Even in a season in which he won the biggest race of his career and followed that up with an immediate second win, 2009 had to be considered a bit of a failure in the end.

Last year was the first season together for Kenseth and crew chief Drew Blickensderfer. At times, the lack of familiarity showed in their relationship which led to adjustments being made that were not to the driver’s liking. Listening to radio chatter between the two seemed to indicate that the honeymoon ended abruptly after their initial successes.

After a full year of working with one another and a full off season to build on that all important driver/crew chief relationship this tandem may well be set to lead the #17 team to a recovery of sorts.

Jack Roush himself has declared that his teams will have everything they will need to be successful in 2010 and that RFR will pay more attention to detail than ever before. With the resources at hand at Roush Fenway Racing and the talent compiled here it would seem as though a return to his normally consistent ways would be in order for Matt Kenseth in the coming year.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.

By Richard Allen

On Thursday NASCAR Sprint Cup cars hit the track for the first time in 2010. Shortly after that, they began hitting each other and the wall. Quickly, drivers and commentators began blaming the new restrictor plates being used. The more open plates caused cars to close on one another too quickly they said, which in turn caused the wrecks.

That much may or may not be true. The cars were closing on one another at a rapid rate which might have caused them to run into one another. However, there is more to it than that. Careless driving played a role as well.

Can you imagine having to come back to the garage after causing a big crash and explaining to Dale Earnhardt, Sr. why you just wrecked his car in the season’s first practice? How about having to face the legendary Petty or Pearson after you caused the destruction of their cars? Perhaps, Yarborough, Baker or Allison would offer you a friendly welcome back after your release from the infield care center, but most likely not.

New rules are part of the equation in explaining practice, or even race crashes. But a lack of garage area leadership and a lack or respect, or even fear, for each other is another cause. Granted, drivers need to find out what their cars will do leading up to a big race but there is no reason to wreck cars in practice, especially so early on.

Unless they meant to deliver a message, drivers did not run over each other in practice when the people mentioned above were driving because they knew better than to do so. The older drivers respected each other and the younger drivers were afraid to touch the older veterans.

Nowadays, drivers are so busy with their public relations guides and other corporate ‘handlers’ they don’t have time to deal with other drivers and assert themselves in a meaningful way in the garage area.

Jeff Gordon admitted as much on media day just before activities commenced at the Daytona International Speedway.

NASCAR racing has changed. Perhaps there is nothing that can be done about it in regard to the drivers’ inability to assert leadership. However, if they do not wish to continue riding back to the garage in an ambulance they may wish to let the other drivers know they do not appreciate that ride.

Even with all that said, it is still better for NASCAR not to serve as a garage area leader by instituting bad rules. Let the drivers figure it out on their own or let them suffer the consequences.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.

By Richard Allen

Everything seemed to be going so well for NASCAR on Saturday.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., the sport’s most popular driver, looked to take the first step toward a comeback by qualifying on the outside of the front row for next weekend’s Daytona 500. After a disastrous 2009, NASCAR needs its top fan favorite to recover and contend for race wins and championships. Last year was a nightmare as he did neither. A strong qualifying run gave his fans something to be excited about, which is good for the sport.

After Daytona 500 qualifying, NASCAR had another good thing to happen. Even though it was in an ARCA Series race, one of the sanctioning body’s rising stars had a good day. Danica Patrick made her much anticipated stock car debut(or NASCAR debut as one ESPN radio sportscaster called it). She raced well, made a nice save and scored a top-10 finish. Such a run bodes well for her Nationwide Series future, possibly beginning next Saturday in Daytona.

After the earlier happenings came the main event at the Daytona International Speedway. The Budweiser Shootout, a traditional preliminary event leading up to the ‘Great American Race’, rolled off under the lights. The racing was tight and exciting, especially in the final 50 lap segment. And, there were no significant bump drafting incidents until the closing laps.

However, it is those last laps that come into question. Jeff Gordon appeared to get into Greg Biffle going into turn 3, possibly because of a flat tire, which caused the #16 Ford to spin and collect a number of other cars. The race was called when the caution came out and Kevin Harvick was declared the winner.

Here is the problem I have with the way the race ended. Whenever a caution comes out with more than two laps to go NASCAR seems to always run the laps down to two to go and then say this is the one shot at a green/white/checkered finish.

To me, that violates the spirit of the g/w/c rule. In my opinion, if the track is cleared with two laps or more to go, that is not the time for a g/w/c finish. If the track is cleared by the time of two to go then that should just be a normal restart. Then, if something happens before the cars get back to the white flag there should be a g/w/c finish.

Besides calling a g/w/c finish at the wrong time, there was a question as to whether or not this particular race was supposed to finish under green no matter how many tries it took. Even Harvick said after the race that he thought the race had to end under green. One circulating story cited an obscure note in the television contract that said the race was to finish as soon as possible in the event the race had extended beyond 10:00pm eastern time. Hopefully, that story was incorrect and NASCAR is not in the business of cheating paying fans out of a green flag finish so local Fox affiliates can show an ‘Everybody Loves Raymond’ rerun leading into the local news.

Notice from here on at how many times the track appears ready for racing after a late caution but the laps are run down to two to go and then a green/white/checkered finish is called for.

The green/white/checkered rule is a good one. NASCAR should go out of their way to make sure it is used as it ought to be instead of the way that is convenient for the television networks.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.

By Richard Allen

In the grand scheme of things qualifying on the front row for the Daytona 500 does not guarantee anything other than a front row start in the Daytona 500. However, for the teams of Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Saturday’s qualifying results must have been very satisfying.

As is often pointed out, the shops at the Hendrick Motorsports’ compound are separated. The cars of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon are housed in one building while cars are prepared for Martin and Earnhardt in another.

Typically, when people speak of the success at HMS they point to the 24 and 48 teams and their eight championships. The 5 and 88 bunch are often spoken about as an after thought. That was especially true before Martin arrived to pilot car #5.

Finally, the ‘second garage’ is getting the bulk of the attention at HMS after Martin took the Daytona 500 pole position and Earnhardt grabbed the outside front row spot.

“When we get to California, Las Vegas and them other places we’ll see what we’ve got,” Earnhardt commented when asked if his team had turned a corner.

“It’s a small step in the right direction but we’ll try to keep it going,” he added.

Junior is absolutely correct in pointing out that the ‘real season’ begins when cars get to the more aero-dependant 1.5 to 2 mile tracks. The 24 and 48 cars may or may not continue to run well on those tracks. However, the Daytona 500 is the most important race in NASCAR. Winning that race can define a career.

Sitting on the front row is a badge of honor that can be worn for an entire week leading into the big race. For this coming week at least, the 5 and 88 teams will having the bragging rights among the HMS shop.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.

From the department of giving credit where credit is due, NASCAR made a good and fair decision by allowing those teams who did not get to practice on Friday due to the weather to have some track time on Saturday morning before Daytona 500 qualifying.

While some might argue that the track was open and every team had ample opportunity to get out there, the truth of the matter is jumping ahead of others in the line would have violated a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’. The teams who were shut out of practice were those who were last to get through the technical inspection line, meaning they were teams who had the fewest points from last season. There are few household names among these drivers and no heavily sponsored efforts. And more, these teams often depend on getting hand-me-down parts from bigger teams. To jump ahead of those teams in a practice line might harm a relationship needed for the future.

**********

A look at the top of the speed chart from Friday’s practice shows Dale Earnhardt, Jr. at the very top. That ought to be pleasing to many fans. And although there are no rewards for ‘winning practice’ it has to also provide some confidence for this team that the work they did in the off season turned them in the right direction after a disappointing 2009.

Also near the top of the speed chart were Robby Gordon and Bill Elliott. Neither driver looks to run the full season in NASCAR Sprint Cup competition, at least as of now.

Gordon was 5th fastest in the first practice in a Toyota. He has only a handful of races on his schedule as a driver in 2010. “I think we have a legitimate shot at the pole for the Daytona 500,” he said.

Elliott was even faster. He timed 4th in his Wood Brothers Ford. As was the case last year, the Woods only plan to run a select number of races. Having Elliott as a driver could benefit the team. Not only is he an accomplished driver but he also has a past champion’s provisional that can be used provided a more recent champion does not require the qualifying free gift.

**********

There were no incidents in Friday’s practice. Runs were essentially made in a one car at a time manner with no drafting.

**********

Daytona 500 pole qualifying will be at 1:00pm eastern on Fox.

The Budweiser Shootout will be at 8:00pm eastern on Fox.

By Richard Allen

A couple of recent February trips to the Daytona International Speedway have produce big wins in the career of Kevin Harvick. Unfortunately for the driver of car #29, those are the only wins he has had in three years.

Last year Harvick scored a victory in the lucrative but non-points paying Budweiser Shootout on the 2.5 mile track.

Aside from that win there was little to cheer about in 2009 as far as Harvick was concerned. He had no points paying wins and finished a disappointing 19th in the overall Sprint Cup standings. He posted only five top-5s and nine top-10 finishes.

In 2007 Harvick just beat Mark Martin to the finish in a somewhat controversial ending to the Daytona 500. Obviously, winning the Daytona 500 was a high point in the career of this driver. However, since that time he and his Richard Childress Racing team have failed to win any other points paying race.

Harvick made the Chase for the Championship in 2007 but managed only a 10th place result. He also won the Sprint All Star Challenge in 2007.

In 2007 and 2009 Harvick looked to be off to a great start as he and his team left the Daytona International Speedway in February. However, neither of those years turned out as they would have liked in the end.

This year has not started so well for Harvick. He was unable to practice his car on Thursday due to illness. In turn, his car was crashed by teammate Clint Bowyer in the season’s opening practice. Harvick, if he is able to race, will be forced to go to a backup car for Saturday’s Bud Shootout.

Kevin Harvick has started two of the last three seasons well in Daytona only to have his season go off the rails later. Perhaps, in some strange twist of fate, he will start poorly in Daytona this year and improve as the season goes on.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.

By Richard Allen

When NASCAR announced they were going to reverse the policy instituted last season at Talladega and again allow drivers to bump draft I had the fear that after a couple of practice wrecks they might once again take away the bump draft.

Well, they’ve now had some practice crashes. As a matter of fact, the drivers made it barely a half an hour into the first Bud Shootout practice before they managed a ‘big one’. No less than eight cars were involved in crashes and most of those teams were forced to pull the backup car off the truck.

After his hard hit in the second practice Kurt Busch explained that the closing rate is very fast and drivers just need some time to get used to it.

In the past when things such as this have gone wrong NASCAR’s reaction has been to overreact and over legislate.

Last season at Talladega when NASCAR announced the no bump drafting rule just before the race is one example. Another example occurred when a few years ago cars had their camber angles off at Pocono. A number of them blew tires, NASCAR then started dictating exactly what the angles could be. There are other examples of gear ratios, shock rates, tire pressures and a myriad of other parts and pieces in which NASCAR has dictated instead of allowing teams to experiment.

NASCAR seems to think it is their job to protect teams and drivers from themselves. What is wrong with allowing teams to fail while at the same time allowing them to possibly find a new way to succeed?

As has been said over the past several days, the theme of this off-season is that NASCAR is listening. Hopefully that is true and hopefully they will not feel the need to over legislate in this case. Give the drivers time and let them figure out how to do this. If they can’t they will lose and sometimes experience is the best legislation of all.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.

By Richard Allen

That’s right sports fans. This weekend promises one of the biggest events of the year in all of sports. Yes, I am talking about the debut of Danica Patrick driving a stock car.

Well, you might have thought I was going to mention that other sporting event taking place just a little south of Daytona Beach, Florida. To hear many in the racing media tell it one might think the arrival of Ms. Patrick in the world of stock car racing is as big as the Super Bowl.

Not since Kyle Petty ran his first ever race in 1979 has an ARCA event in Daytona been so heavily publicized. Television crews and print media members were dispatched earlier this winter to the ‘World Center of Speed’ to report on ARCA preseason testing. Yes, that’s right, ARCA preseason testing!

Many newcomers to the sport, or even longtime patrons for that matter, may not even know what ARCA is. The acronym stands for Automobile Racing Club of America. It is a mostly Midwestern based sanctioning body that runs a few companion races with NASCAR shows throughout the year.

The series rarely garners very much attention, especially like that it has recently gotten or is about to get. JR Motorsports, the NASCAR Nationwide Series team owned as a joint venture between Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports, will field cars for Danica to race in NASCAR’s second series for twelve events in 2010.

In order for new drivers in NASCAR to be permitted to race at the fast Daytona International Speedway they must first prove themselves in some other way. Thus, Ms. Patrick will attempt an ARCA run to gain approval for her proposed Nationwide start the following week.

Over the course of her Indycar career Danica has won one race, a fuel mileage saving run in Japan back in 2008. Aside from her racing career, she is well known for her television commercials and magazine cover photos. She brings a short list of racing credentials and excessive marketability to stock car racing.

With all that said, one has to wonder just what will happen if she actually wins something? With all the attention she is already commanding without having accomplished anything other than signing a contract in NASCAR the publicity will be off the charts if she were to be posing for pictures in victory lane at some point this season.

My guess is that should she actually win a race fans will be left wondering if there are any other drivers out there. However, my prediction is that all of this speculation is for nothing. Her best chance to win will come this weekend in the ARCA race where her Hendrick car may simply overpower the rest of the field. I do not foresee her winning a Nationwide event. But one thing is for sure, Danica Patrick will be getting plenty of attention this weekend both in Daytona and in her Super Bowl television commercials.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.

I’ll admit that when I first heard Michael Waltrip was forming his own NASCAR Sprint Cup team I was less than optimistic that the new team would ever be successful. It is extremely difficult for any new car owner to make it in racing, let alone as a driver/owner. And more, Waltrip’s television persona did not exactly inspire one to believe this was a serious businessman who could effectively deal with drivers, crew members, sponsors and officials.

After the team’s disastrous first weekend and first full season with Toyota it seemed as though my initial suspicions would be confirmed. MWR was slapped with harsh penalties for rules violations found in a pre-qualifying inspection at Daytona and went on to miss a number of races during that season.

However, since that time this team and its owner have taken a number of significant strides forward. A strong working relationship with Toyota has been maintained. Each of their teams has sponsorship, which in the current economic climate is a significant accomplishment. Highly regarded crew chiefs and other team members have been added in support of the operation. And, a joint venture with JTG Daugherty Racing has brought in one of the more talented newcomers to NASCAR in Marcos Ambrose.

This year, as Michael Waltrip himself looks to step away from the sport as an active driver, the team has contracted Martin Truex, Jr. to pilot the #56 NAPA Toyota.

All the pieces seem to be coming together for MWR. With that said, it looks as if the organization is about to take that next step up the ladder.

While I do not necessarily believe MWR is set to move all the way to the top in such a way as to threaten Handrick Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing or Joe Gibbs Racing, I do believe they are set to be one of those teams who are nipping at the heels of those top organizations.

Last year, David Reutimann gave MWR its first win when he took the rain shortened Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte. This year, look for Reutimann, Truex and Ambrose to each make visits to victory lane.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.

By Richard Allen

Carl Edwards will win races in 2010.

Coming off a 2009 campaign in which he did not score a single Sprint Cup win, Edwards has to be chomping at the bit to get back to victory lane. Especially considering that in 2008 the Roush Fenway Racing driver took home nine trophies from NASCAR’s top division, he must have felt more than a little disappointed at the end of last year.

Granted, in 2009 he did manage to qualify for the Chase for the Championship, but he was never a serious challenger to the dominate Hendrick Motorsports cars in that ten race playoff.

This year, the Ford teams are entering the season with a renewed sense of optimism. It was apparent during the Sprint Media Tour and throughout the winter testing sessions that the Ford camp feels as though they have found something.

“Last year we just never found that one thing that would give us an edge,” team owner Jack Roush remarked during a question and answer session for the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame ceremony. “This year we will be more detail oriented.”

Among the Ford contingent Edwards is one of the clear leaders along with Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. But this year Ford has added more talent and depth to their ranks via the merger between longtime Ford campaigners Yates Racing and Richard Petty Motorsports. Namely, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and A.J. Allmendinger will be driving Fords in 2010. More drivers, more crew chiefs and more engineers have to be a benefit to the overall program for the manufacturer.

All of these factors combined with the fact that he is one of the more talented and determined drivers in NASCAR leads me to believe there is no way Carl Edwards will go through another season without a trip to a Sprint Cup victory lane.

But to answer the question posed in the column’s headline, that may remain to be scene. After a Frisbee incident last year which left him with a broken foot Edwards’ back flipping may have to be shelved. However, he may feel like doing one later this month when he and wife Kate Downey have their first child.

Richard Allen is a member of the National Motorsports Press Association. His weekly columns appear in The Mountain Press and The Knoxville Journal.