Upcoming Events in the World of NASCAR

The Pocono mountains are a beautiful spectacle in the summer time. So beautiful in fact, that NASCAR's top series chooses to visit it twice a year in the summer months. Next week, the Nextel Cup teams head to Pocono Raceway for the 2nd time in 7 weeks for the Pennsylvania 500.

The first time around, Denny Hamlin earned his first official Nextel Cup victory by winning the Pocono 500. The win helped catapult Denny into contention for the Chase for the Championship. Denny will need another strong finish to help his chances.

Also expect the following drivers to do well next week:

Other drivers to note:

Jimmie Johnson - Average Finish 8th
Brian Vickers - Average Finish 9th
Carl Edwards - Average Finish 10th

Next Week's Schedule:

Nextel Cup: @ Pocono Raceway
7/22/06 - 11:05pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Pennsylvania 500 Practice
7/21/06 - 03:40pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Pennsylvania 500 Qualifying
7/23/06 - 02:05pm NASCAR Nextel Pennsylvania 500

Busch Series: @ Martinsville Speedway
7/21/06 - 06:00pm NASCAR Busch Series Goody's 250 Practice
7/22/06 - 12:05pm NASCAR Busch Series Goody's 250 Qualifying
7/22/06 - 03:00pm NASCAR Busch Series Goody's 250

Craftsman Truck Series off until August 4th at Indianapolis Raceway Park

Who's Hot?

The competition for Rookie of the year is heating up, and Denny Hamlin is the frontrunner. The driver of the #11 FedEx Chevrolet has already scored a win in NASCAR's top series, and nearly had a 2nd place finish yesterday in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway before running out of gas. In the end, Hamlin finished 6th and moved to within 18 points of 10th place and 465 points of the leader.

Other rookies faired well in yesterdays Nextel Cup race including Reed Sorenson. Reed was running towards the front most of the day, and moved as high as 3rd place late in the race. However, Reed had to make a late race pit-stop for gas that moved in to the back of the pack and ended up finishing in 24th place.

Other rookies who performed well in yesterday's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 included David Stremme (11th) and J.J. Yeley (12th). This year's crop of rookies could be the best class ever. They have certainly scored high in the first semester of their freshman year, and we can only expect them to make the dean's list in the 2nd half of the season.

Who's Not?

Tony, Tony, Tony. What's happened? In the last 9 races, Tony Stewart has finished in the top 12 only twice with a 3rd place finish at Pocono and a win at Daytona. Yesterday's crash with Ryan Newman knocked Stewart back to 37th for the race, and shuffled him out of the top 10 in points.

His latest 9 race backslide came off of a string of 5 top 6 finishes. However, since the All-Star race, Tony has suffered a broken shoulder blade, had various mechanical problems, and ran out of gas at Chicagoland Speedway after running in the top 10 for much of the day.

As bad as all of this sounds, Tony sits in 11th place in points and is only 11 points out of the top 10. The next two race tracks on the schedule are Pocono Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tony averages a top 15 finish at Pocono and finished 3rd there earlier in the season and he is the driver to beat at Indianapolis where his average finish is 7th.

Last Week's Headlines

Who can argue with NASCAR's new championship format now? Not only has the new Chase for the Championship created a playoff atmosphere for the final 10 races of the season (where in previous years ratings and fan's interest waned), it's had the same effect on the races leading up to the 10 cut-off point.

Why else would you spend several hours on a summer Sunday afternoon watching Wally Dallenbach stutter while watching a race at New Hampshire's flat 1-mile oval? I must admit I'm partial to the Fox broadcasting personalities, and while I recognize the challenge of racing on a basically flat, sharp-turned track it still makes for boring racing.

Nonetheless, the drama is intensifying leading up to cut-off race at Richmond International Raceway on September 9th. Some of the top driver's in NASCAR are sitting on the "bubble", and may not qualify for the Chase for the Championship. This includes former champions Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and the fan favorite Kurt Busch. Other talented and fan-favorite drivers at risk of not qualifying for the final 10 races are Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.

Speaking of fan favorites, the ever popular (can you hear my sarcasm) yet talented Kyle Busch dominated New Hampshire when it counted and took the checkered flag on lap 308 of the Lenox Industrial Tools 300. With the win, Kyle took advantage of poor finishes from Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony Stewart and jumped 4 spots in the points to 4th place.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered from engine problems and dropped out of the race on lap 135. The poor finish dropped Jr. 4 positions in the standings to 7th place. Tony Stewart's run-in with Ryan Newman on lap 91 dropped him to 11th in points.

In all there were 11 cautions and 11 lead changes in yesterday's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway.