Joe Gibbs Racing

When Robin Pemberton uttered those four words last year in January, a lot of people were curious as to how the drivers would react. Most thought it would equal some emotions being shown, but at the end of the year, it went beyond just a little bit of emotion.

It was easily seen that Kyle Busch would be the poster boy for it, via some of his antics in the past. These antics have some fans not liking Busch for who he is.

A simple poll of the fans easily shows that one of the drivers that seems to be on everybody’s list is Kyle Busch. In asking a group of fans as to why, you quickly get the sense it has to do with attitude and actions like the above.

“He just gives off this vibe that he is better then everybody else and it’s all about him,” Evan Towle said. “Sort of like a young Tony Stewart used to be. Tony used to get on my nerves when he first started in NASCAR, but now he has matured and I like him.”

“I tend to agree with a lot of the way Kyle Busch acts,” Kyle Sedan said. “Sometimes it’s rather annoying.”

“Arrogant attitude, expects respect on the track but doesn’t give it back, whines about others when he is doing the same thing, fake,” one fan commented.

“His attitude,” Cathy Gamble Costigan simply puts it.

If you take his attitude out of the equation, then a lot of people seem to have respect for him.

“I am, personally, a Tony Stewart fan, but for Kyle, love him or hate him, he is a damn good driver,” Mike Hearty said. “Race wins don’t lie.”

“I do really like his support/involvement and commitment to short-track racing.” Sedan added.

A lot of people have been debating that he needs to change, which has come with mixed reactions.

Towle says, “We don’t need him, as the sport is doing fine without his babyish acts.”

In some ways, there are certain things that Busch has to become better at, such as some of the things that we saw this past weekend.

However overall, the sport needs somebody like Busch. His actions do spruce things up and add something different to the sport, and are needed to invoke discussion and rivalry. If everybody was the same cut, wouldn’t it get boring after a while?

As Mike Hearty and Kyle Sedan both say, it adds to the sport.

“I personally love Kyle’s attitude myself,” Hearty said. “NASCAR is entertainment and Kyle entertains in any way he can. Each sport needs a standout person the fans can have a choice to love or hate and he is the one. I do believe, though, when he matures more, his attitude will die down. I think he is young, a star and living in the moment right now.”

“People either 'love him' or 'love to hate him',” Sedan says. “So he most definitely adds to the sport, and it is good for it.”

This year was no exception as he added his own version of "Have at it Boys" to each of the divisions.

Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race with Denny Hamlin

After teammate Denny Hamlin took the air off the back of Busch's car during the Sprint All-Star Race, Busch wasn't too pleased at all as he called Hamlin out on it.

"Somebody better keep me from Denny Hamlin after this race!" Busch yelled on the radio. "I had this race won. It was won.”

Busch then drove the car to the garage area, parking directly in front of Hamlin's hauler. He went inside and waited till Hamlin got there, where they had a discussion with car owner Joe Gibbs in the middle.

“Kyle had a run to the outside and with me moving up and getting real tight, it then took some air away from the front of his car and he slid up into the wall. It’s tough for me,” Hamlin told Speed. “We talked about it and basically Kyle was just frustrated; he felt like he had a really good car. Me, I just came from the back with no practice and got back to the front where we needed to be and I felt like if I gave up the lead right there then I was going to give up the win.

“I don’t think Kyle would do anything different if he was in my situation. It’s just when you’re the leader, my feeling is that you’ve got the whole race track. If a guy is to the outside. then that’s when you need to hold your line.”

Nationwide Series Food City 250 Bristol Race with Brad Keselowski

As the Nationwide race was getting closer to ending, Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski were battling hard for the lead. After contact from Keselowski caused Busch to hit the wall, Busch drove back up to Keselowski's bumper, spinning him.

"I raced him, raced him, raced him, I don't know, 12-15 laps? I thought I had him cleared up the back and I moved up in front of him and instead of him doing an [Dale] Earnhardt crossover, he decided to just run into the back of me and put me in the fence," Busch said.

"That's Brad Keselowski. So I went down into the next corner and I dumped him. He does it to everybody else, why can't I do it to him?"

Busch won the race while Keselowski ended up 14th.

"He did a good job, almost cleared me and took it for granted that I would lift to let him in line and I didn't," Keselowski said. "That's his right. We're going to go to work on beating him next week, and the week after and every other week."

In his victory celebration, he changed it up by mocking somebody crying like a baby instead of his bow to go along with the reaction of the fans.

Truck Series Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky and Championship Battle with Todd Bodine

Early in the race, it was set in stone that it would come down to a battle between Todd Bodine and Kyle Busch. On lap 82 while battling for the lead, Busch took the air off of Bodine's truck causing him to spin. Though this ended up helping Bodine as with the unscheduled pit stop and resulting strategy, he came out as the winner while Busch finished seventh.

"Our misfortune turned out to be a fortune," Bodine said in victory lane. "I'd like to thank Kyle Busch for driving dirty, sucking me down and getting me spun out. That (stop) gave me enough gas. He doesn't cut anybody a break. He drives that way in every division in every race."

Upon hearing the comments, Busch interrupted Bodine's victory celebration to display his displeasure.

"He (Busch) doesn't have to drive like that to win; but he does," Bodine said. "NASCAR won't do anything about it. He was mad because I called him out on it."

This confrontation at Kentucky promoted a long, hard battle for the Owner's Championship between Germain Racing (Todd Bodine's team) and Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Martinsville was no exception to their battle as they fought hard side-by-side, and at one point, Bodine was accused of trying to fool Busch on a restart.

"If they think I was trying to do a slow restart to fool Kyle Busch, they are wrong," Bodine said on the radio at that time. "I just didn't get a good restart. Message delivered—I'll work on it."

In the end, it was KBM coming out on top.

The Complete Texas Weekend

On Friday, Kyle Busch won the Camping World Truck Series race to take over the owner's points championship standings for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

On Saturday, Busch finished second to Carl Edwards in the Nationwide Series race, though was unhappy about it as he thought Edwards jumped the start.

“Does it f—- matter?” Busch said afterwards. “Race is over, guy’s in Victory Lane.”

On Sunday, Busch stirred up controversy again, following repairs that he had to make on pit road after a wreck.

Under caution, Busch sped off pit road to try to beat the pace car and stay on the lead lap. He caught up, but NASCAR penalized him one lap for speeding.

Busch then went on a rant on the radio against NASCAR and showed the officials the middle finger on pit road, which incurred a penalty of two laps for driver misconduct.

"I'm the only one who will stand up to 'em, and they're gonna show me how far I can stand up," Busch said on the radio after the penalty. He then added that it was freedom of speech, going against the constitutional rights of everybody.

NASCAR penalized Busch $25,000 and putting him on probation until December 31st for "actions dentimental to the sport of stock car racing".

Busch released the following statement following the announcement...

“I accept NASCAR’s penalty and realize what I did during Sunday’s race at Texas was inappropriate.

“Even in my relatively short time here in NASCAR, it’s pretty obvious to everyone that I wear my emotions on my sleeve. Sometimes that passion has allowed me to find that little something extra I needed to win, and other times it’s made me cross the line. Sunday at Texas was one of those days.

 “I lost my cool, plain and simple. It’s not acceptable, and I know that. I apologize to NASCAR, its fans, all the partners who support Joe Gibbs Racing, and all the people who work so hard to give me a race car that’s capable of winning races every week. All of those people deserve better from me, and I owe it to them to keep my emotions in check.”

 

Busch had other key incidents this year, including an argument with Jeff Burton. Though with them all, he just kept being himself and holding his part in the "Have at it Boys" policy.

During the next couple of weeks, I will reflect upon these incidents as we look back at what all broke loose in 2010.  

Joe Gibbs Racing made the announcement a couple weeks ago that they'd have three teams next year.

The first team will include Brian Scott running the No. 11 car full-time with crew chief Kevin Kidd.

The second will include Adam Stevens, previously an engineer on the Cup side, as crew chief on the No. 20 with Joey Logano running the majority of the races. Denny Hamlin is also expected to run some of the races.

The last team will include Jason Ratcliff with Kyle Busch driving the majority of the races as they try to defend their Owner's Championship title.

This all looks good on the surface, though it begs questions. Joe Gibbs Racing has drivers in development, including Brad Coleman and Matt DiBenedetto, so why not give them the chance behind the wheel full-time? Both have proved that they are talented and are worthy of being champions if given the equipment.

Why let drivers like Busch, Logano and Hamlin compete in a series and win just to look good? All the fans know they are just winning due to competing against smaller teams and less talented drivers?

By allowing DiBenedetto and Coleman full-time shots, you are allowing the talent pool to expand, which is why the Nationwide Series was built. It was built to give drivers a shot and get them ready for the Sprint Cup Series. Numerous drivers have come through that ladder and it has worked successfully. Why delete that system now and have drivers behind the wheel who have succeeded the ladder?

It's simple—Gibbs wants the publicity and knows the sponsors will pay the big bucks if he goes down this road.

This is something you see with numerous of teams as you saw Penske Racing (Brad Keselowski) and Roush Racing (Carl Edwards) do it last year, just for a start. Though at least they stepped it up and put drivers full-time behind the wheel to give them a chance (Justin Allgaier and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.), but they still add to the problem.

Till somebody, like NASCAR, stands up and puts an end to this, you are going to see the problem grow and the series lose fans. NASCAR has spoken about getting back to their roots and it's about time they start doing it by starting with the Nationwide Series.

Gone was the look of confidence and the joy that NASCAR Sprint Cup points leader Denny Hamlin displayed after his win in the AAA Texas 500 on Nov. 7.

Instead, it was replaced with a look of repugnance, after watching his dominating performance take a backseat to Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick’s late-race fuel strategy payoff.

Hamlin, who led a race high 190 laps while Johnson failed to lead a lap and collect the extra five bonus points, now finds himself having to protect a small lead against the four-time champion who looks to have the chase format mastered.

Not only did Hamlin allow Johnson to close within an arms distance of winning his fifth championship, he also gave Kevin Harvick a second wind after pushing him back from being a serious threat. On lap 233 Robby Gordon spins out, bringing out the caution as the leaders head to pit road.

Kyle Busch beats Hamlin off pit road to grab the lead with 87 laps left in the race.

Johnson passes Harvick in the pits to take fourth, while Mike Ford tells Hamlin they're about 12-13 laps short on fuel.

Knowing from team radio chatter that Hamlin was not going to be able to make it to the finish without stopping again for fuel, Knaus began scheming with Johnson to save fuel with hopes of cutting into Hamlin’s point lead. 

Knaus’s gamble paid off when Johnson started conserving fuel with 15 laps left, and the team was able to finish race in fifth, seven positions ahead of Hamlin.

More importantly Johnson was able to shave an additional 43 points with the gamble and put himself within 15 points instead of 58, had Hamlin also gambled and finished the race in second without running out of fuel.

On lap 288 Hamlin told his crew chief, "Don't let them short-pit us, Mike,” and two laps later Hamlin also begins saving fuel knowing that Ford had already told him earlier they would be 12-13 laps short.

Hamlin begin to drop even farther back from race leader Carl Edwards, and with 21 laps left in the race Hamlin’s deficit was 2.3 seconds.

Finally with 14 laps left in the race, Ford called Hamlin in for two tires and fuel which took him 7.6 seconds and put him a lap back.

It wasn’t until lap 301 when Hamlin would pass Edwards and get his lap back, with Johnson and Harvick running fifth and eight respectively. 

Hamlin was quickly running out of time, and with only five laps left he was still outside the top-10 in 15th place, while Johnson was in serious conservation mode running in sixth and Harvick closing in from the seventh position.

By the time the checkered was thrown, Hamlin crossed the line in 12th, Johnson picked up a spot and finished fifth with Harvick right behind in sixth.

Now going back to the last round of pit stops on lap 225 when Ford told his driver they would be 12-13 laps short.

Why would Ford have Hamlin begin to save fuel on lap 291, only seven laps from his next stop on lap 298 already knowing they did not have enough fuel to finish the race?

Hamlin lost valuable time by slowing down to conserve fuel, along with losing positions which meant losing points in the process.

Ford should have brought his driver down pit lane on lap 291, instead of having him conserve fuel for seven laps especially when he already knew they would be making one more stop for fuel.

Hamlin was able to pick-up seven positions in 12 laps, and could have picked up another four or five spots, or possibly caught Johnson or Harvick had Ford not slowed him down and brought him in on lap 291 instead of lap 298.

Instead of the 15-point advantage over Johnson, and the 46-point advantage over Harvick.

With four more positions Hamlin would have a comfortable 58-point lead over Harvick, and a 27-point lead over Johnson which would have put more pressure on Johnson and Harvick to perform.

If Hamlin is going to hang on and win the championship, Ford also will have to walk the walk—and hope this time he's fast enough and smart enough to beat the crafty Knaus to the finish.

You have to wonder if Ford was listening to the radio chatter the same way Knaus was because those extra seven laps of having his driver run at full speed and picking up those extra points could be the deciding factor.  

Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick fought back and forth all day for the lead. However, after Busch took the lead with 22 to go, he never looked back as he got his second win of the weekend.

The win marked his record-setting 13th Nationwide win of the season and 43rd of his career.

The win also gave Joe Gibbs Racing their third owner's championship in a row.

"I don't know," Busch said about putting it in perspective. "You don't right now. You just keep doing it and enjoying it."

Harvick came home second.

"I didn't want to see it," Harvick said of the final restart. "Once you get the lead, it's fun to get that clean air. We were already getting tight and once we got to that point, we just got real too tight."

Keselowski finished third after already clinching the champion two weeks earlier.

"It's just so special," Keselowski said. "It's not just for me, but for everybody that works on these cars and supports us."

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished fourth to win the Rookie of the Year Title after struggling at the beginning of the season.

"It's awesome," Stenhouse Jr. said. "It's been a tough season and to get it turned around, it's pretty cool."

Trevor Bayne rounded out the top five for his first top-five with Roush-Fenway Racing.

"This is exciting as we get to go into the offseason now knowing we're a top-five," Bayne said. "We had to fight back after getting in the wall."

Pole sitter Joey Logano finished seventh.

Meanwhile, Danica Patrick scored his first top-20 finish in NASCAR and first finish on the lead lap after starting fifth.

"Why am I so upset?" Patrick asked herself afterwards. "'Cause I was working my ass off to try to get by that 09 car and I couldn't get by. I'm not contending for wins, so I've got to find the little victories and I'm mad. We qualified really well and there are a lot of positives, but I'm still mad."

The teams will have their banquet this Monday at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel to celebrate their accomplishments. The top five drivers and teams from the Nationwide Series will be joined by the top five drivers and teams from the NASCAR Camping World Series for the second straight year. Those top five drivers in both series will be featured on stage, while positions sixth through 10th will be recognized for their accomplishments.

Also, for the second consecutive year, SPEED personalities Rick Allen and Krista Voda will host the banquet. Additionally, comedian Tom Papa will entertain the crowed.

The banquet will air on SPEED on Friday December 3, 2010 from 7:00pm to 9:00pm EST as a lead-in to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Awards Banquet, also on SPEED.

Then in 90 days, the Nationwide Series will begin the 2011 season with the season-opener at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday February 19.

Nearly a year ago at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, Denny Hamlin and his No. 11 FedEx Toyota team made a vow that they'd be the team to beat for the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup championship, even if that meant dethroning four-time titlist Jimmie Johnson and the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet.

And why not?

Hamlin's confidence in his Joe Gibbs Racing group, led by crew chief Mike Ford, had all the reasons in the world to believe that they could outperform and outmaneuver the likes of Johnson and fellow headwrench Chad Knaus.

While Johnson and his familiar blue and white No. 48 Chevy Impala have dominated the series for the past four seasons, Hamlin's black Toyota Camry has lurked in the picture in a way that it's not off the frame, but just waiting for the right moment to become the center of attention.

Aggressive, cunning, and treacherous, the Chestefield, VA native is in the midst of a career year, capturing eight checkered flags, including a season sweep of the races at Martinsville Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway.

His pit crew has been on its game all year long, particularly during the AAA Texas 500 held a few weeks ago, when crew chief Mike Ford played mind games with Johnson and Co., pitting adjacent to them to dictate their entrance and exit out of pit road.

By obstructing his path for a clear exit out of their pit box, along with solid, fast stops all race long by the FedEx pit crew, the Lowe's team found itself in a peculiar situation unlike in years' past.

Due to slow stops, Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus essentially "fired" his pit crew.

A somewhat risky decision, he elected to replace them with the "Rainbow Warriors,"  who have reeled off consistently fast stops all year long.

Although Johnson salvaged a top-10 finish, the biggest winner was Denny Hamlin, who took over the points lead, leapfrogging past Johnson as the Sprint Cup gang headed to Phoenix last weekend.

For most of the Kobalt Tools 500K, it appeared as if Hamlin's points lead would extend to a somewhat comfortable margin of 50 to 60 markers over Johnson, piloting a dominant mount in the Arizona venue.

However, poor fuel mileage relegated the '06 Raybestos Rookie-of-the-Year winner to a disappointing 12th place result.

Instead of appearing like a man with exuberant confidence, he seemed more defeated, musing on his slender 15-point margin over the No. 48 team.

Despite doing everything in their power to get maximum results, including leading the most laps last Sunday, it was all for naught for the 29-year-old racer.

"It’s tough not to be happy with a lead going into the last race, but I was sitting pretty,” Hamlin said following the 500K race, per Yahoo! Sports' Jay Hart's article.

A driver hardly satisfied with anything but victories, his race at Phoenix was hardly indicative of his desire and determination to capture a Cup title, particularly when the Johnson Express rallied home to finish fourth after a hard charge from a 21st starting position.

Given how stout a car they had and that they were in position to win their ninth race of the season, 12th-place is basically a giveaway by Hamlin and his No. 11 team.

Now, with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heading to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the Ford Championship Weekend, Hamlin has no choice but to look "forward" if he wants to make good on his word from a year ago.

Of the three remaining title contenders, only Hamlin has won a race at the famed South Florida facility, driving his way to Victory Lane, leading 71 of the 267 circuits enroute to his fourth victoy last season, while his 2010 championship rivals Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson placed third and fifth, respectively.

Can Hamlin duplicate his magic from a year ago, only this time, with greater implications on the line?

If he's able to repeat his efforts in this year's season finale, there will indeed be a new Sprint Cup champion to crown on Sunday afternoon after 400 miles of hard, intense racing.

“It’s going to be tough,” Hamlin said. Commenting on how Johnson and Harvick's consistent seasons, he added, "As far as I’m concerned, it’s going to take a win (to capture the title).”

If there's anybody in Hamlin's camp that can relate to the pressure, intensity, and excitement that will culminate with this Sunday's Ford 400 (Live, 1 PM ET on ESPN), look no further than car owner Joe Gibbs. A three-time Super Bowl championship-winning coach, he'd know exactly how special yet stressful it is to win the ultimate prize of any sport.

With guidance, confidence, and motivation, while it may take a Super Bowl effort to beat two juggernaut teams like Johnson and Harvick, if anyone's up for the challenge when the stakes are high, Denny Hamlin is surely the man to get the job done.

Whatever the outcome on Sunday afternoon, the biggest winner after the four hour season finale will have certainly earned their stripes as true-to-blue champions in America's most prestigious form of stock car racing—NASCAR Sprint Cup racing.

As if the championship battle heading into Phoenix wasn't tight enough, after the checkered flag fell the battle only got better.

This was a race that was all about being in the right position at the right time, and it came down to fuel mileage. Fans may not love those kind of races but because of what came of it, there's no doubt they are loving what's happening.

Denny Hamlin, the dominant driver all day long, had to pit with a few laps remaining for fuel. He tried everything to get back to the front, hoping for a caution. But it never came.

He would finish 12th, a far cry from where he hoped.

At the checkered flag, Hamlin began punching the dash, tossing a water bottle to his car, all in anger and disappointment. The points lead entering the weekend was 33 points; now it sits at 15.

"We were sitting pretty," Hamlin said on pit road.

What it also meant was that both Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson could gain ground in the championship hunt. Johnson came home fifth, with Harvick in sixth. It means that Homestead will be the most intense championship battle since the Chase began.

As if all that wasn't enough, the fuel mileage gamble for Hamlin paid dividends for another driver.

The winner on this day was Carl Edwards, ending a winless streak dating back to Homestead in 2008, a race that also came down to fuel mileage.

It capped off a perfect weekend for Edwards. He led all the practice sessions, won the pole for the Nationwide and Cup races, won the Nationwide race Saturday, and then ended his streak on Sunday.

It's the third win of the year for Jack Roush and Ford, which gives the organization a lot of momentum coming into 2011. There may be no championship for Roush this year but the second half of the season has been great for the Roush-Fenway camp.

As for our creatures, it wasn't a perfect weekend by any means. At the same time, a majority of them had a good outing with all but one scoring a top-10 finish.

Here's how the writers stack up following the Kobalt Tools 500:

Dustin Parks (6,418) Mark Martin finished eighth (6)

Rob Tiongson (6,378) Mark Martin finished eighth (3)

Christopher Leone (6,256) Mark Martin finished eighth (5)

Misan Ayuka (6,251) Ryan Newman finished second (4)

James Broomhead (6,213) Mark Martin finished eighth (4)

Alan Wade (6,199) Kyle Busch finished 13th (3)

Kara Martin (6,195) Mark Martin finished eighth (3)

Billy Fellin (6,156) Joey Logano finished third (5)

Kyle Brandt (5,727) NO PICK SENT (2)

NEXT RACE: After 35 grueling weeks spanning 10 months of the year, it has come down to one final weekend of action.

The season has experienced some of its most incredible action NASCAR has seen in years from the wrecks to the confrontations, the surprises and the excitement. Drivers have left quotes that still echo in our minds to this day, while others let their actions do the talking.

Now, one race will decide the final race winner of the 2010 Sprint Cup season, and the 2010 champion.

We all have our own championship to decide. Creatures, this is the final weekend of our pool. A champion will be crowned after Homestead, and it will be very well earned.

I ask that you have your picks for the final race of the year, the Ford 400, sent by Thursday, November 18, at 7 p.m.

Denny Hamlin took the lead with 29 laps to go, held Matt Kenseth off on a last race restart and took the win in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

"What a run!" Hamlin said in victory lane. "Just can't say enough for this whole FedEx team. I told everyone that I'd wait for three to go, and I felt that was the most aggressive I've been on a restart all year."

Hamlin worked his way through the field after starting 30th.

"At the beginning of the race, we're struggling, we're running 25th," Hamlin said. "Every stop, we kept working on it, adjusting it and finally when night fell, we were ready to go. This is why I told everybody not to read into qualifying and practice times as we know what kind of car we need."

Matt Kenseth finished second, after almost going into the wall during the final run.

"Denny was getting all the air off of me, like he should, and when I got back to the gas, I just got such a run and had to let off." Kenseth said after the race.

With the win, Hamlin leads the championship standings by 33 points over Jimmie Johnson, who finished ninth.

"It was just a long day," Johnson said. "We just gave away so much track position at the beginning and it was tough to get back to where we needed to.

"On the restart, it was the 16 spinning the tires on the restart and all those guys who took tires behind us."

"It was pretty rough day for sure," crew chief Chad Knaus said. "We lost the track position and when you get back there, you don't know how you should tune on the car."

The race was an eventful one for the No. 48 team. It even included a pit-crew swap.

Out of the first seven stops of the day, the No. 48 team lost spots on four of them, costing their driver valuable time. Once teammate Jeff Gordon was wrecked out of the race, Hendrick officials decided to use Gordon's pit crew.

"Ultimately, it was my decision to make the decision as we were getting beat," Knaus said. "I hope we get back with the 48 guys and get things back on track."

"I'm okay with it," front tire changer Mike Lingerfelt said. "We're all team players."

Johnson said that despite everything, don't count his crew out.

"I've lost plenty of championships in the past," he said. "You're not going to get everything you want every weekend. I can promise you this--33 back is not where we want to be, but we're going to work hard on getting it back."

Harvick finished the race in sixth and now sits 59 points behind Hamlin.

Fighting: Jeff Burton vs. Jeff Gordon

Under a caution for Martin Truex Jr. wrecking, Jeff Burton made contact with Jeff Gordon, causing them both to wreck.

“That sucker killed it," Gordon said after the contact on the radio. "What the hell? He’s the one being a dumb###.’’

Gordon was angry about the whole event and proceeded to get out of his car and throws some punches at Burton.

The events on track led to some interesting commentary on both Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson's radios.

Harvick's Spotter Bill O'Dea: "Now they're fighting."
Harvick: "For real?"
Harvick's Crew Chief Gil Martin: "For real fighting."
Harvick: "Cant be for real. Gotta be a show!"
Richard Childress: "Oh yeah, they were swinging and pushing."

Knaus: "Man, Jeff Gordon just knocked the shit out of Jeff Burton."
Johnson: "Punched him?"
Knaus: "Big time."

For Gordon, the entire trickle of events leads back to the previous green flag lap before the caution.

"He went wide going into turn three, I went underneath him," Gordon said after the incident. "There were three car lengths between us and he came right down to me and got into me.

"Under caution, I went up to him to tell him what I thought; I never even touched him. He just drove into my right rear and put me into the wall under caution. Out of all the people, I never would have thought that Jeff Burton would do something like that. I had a lot of respect for him and now I've lost a lot of respect.

"I was walking toward him, and I started going through all the scenarios in my mind. Thankfully, I had a long walk down there to him, because I did about the least amount I wanted to do. I wanted to show him how upset I was, but I wanted to do a whole lot more than that. I held back.

"I'm just still in disbelief. I like Jeff. Usually he's a guy that's very rational and I respect his opinion. He apologized. It's over."

Burton said he didn't mean to get into Gordon, as he wanted to tell him he was right to be mad.

"Well, we came off turn four and he drove underneath me and when he drove underneath me, I should've let him go," Burton said. "He pulled up next to me to tell me he was upset with me. Then I went to pull up next to him to acknowledge him, to say he was right. I turned left, and he was turning left, and we just hung up. And when we hung up, off we went. I honestly don't know what happened.

"One hundred percent, it was my fault. It was definitely my fault. We got together, I couldn't get off of him. I didn't mean to hit him, I meant to pull up next to him and tell him he was right."

Burton also said that he's not mad at Gordon for wanting to say a few words.

"I knew he was going to be mad, and I don't blame him for being mad," Burton said. "He didn't do anything he shouldn't have done. He was upset, and he should have been upset. I wrecked him under caution – I didn't mean to wreck him, but I wrecked him under caution – and he meant to tell me he was upset. That's OK. I don't have a bit of problem with what he did. He was mad, and he should have been mad."

Kyle Busch Gets Mad at the Officials

Under caution, Busch sped off pit road to try to beat the pace car and stay on the lead lap. He caught up, but NASCAR penalized him one lap for speeding.

Busch then went on a rant on the radio against NASCAR and showed the officials the middle finger on pit road, which incurred a penalty of two laps for driver misconduct.

"I'm the only one who will stand up to 'em, and they're gonna show me how far I can stand up," Busch said on the radio after the penalty. He then added that it was freedom of speech, going against the constitutional rights of everybody.

Busch, in case you haven't read the Constitution, it only protects freedom of speech against the government.

Now that the NASCAR traveling roadshow has come and gone for the last time in the fall for the foreseeable future, it's a good time take a moment to reflect a bit on NASCAR's recent history at the Auto Club Speedway as well as delve into changes planned for the next year and see what, if anything, might be gleaned from it all.

The Loss of Camping World Truck Series Racing

The February races I knew always held something special in that there were going to be three races—the third, of course, being a Camping World Truck Series race.

This became especially entertaining when Kyle Busch would be running in all three, and even managed to win two races in the same day last year—a first in NASCAR history.

This is also where Busch came extremely close to doing what it would take him another year and a half to do at Bristol earlier this year—the weekend triple-sweep. After winning both the truck and Nationwide series races on Saturday in 2009, he came back Sunday and finished third in the Cup race—coming so close, yet so far.

This year, there were no truck races. I can't honestly tell you that I missed them at first when they didn't come this year, as I was so busy learning how to cover a race that it slipped my mind entirely.

But later in the year I began to wonder when they were going to be here, and if they had made the truck race a stand-alone event or combined it with a race from another series. Looking it up, I could find nothing.

I also can't honestly tell you what attendance was like specifically for the truck races at Fontana and if it was enough to be sustainable. Given the lead-in of practice and qualifying for the other series as is often the case at other tracks, one would think so, but I wouldn't know for sure.

But as I have traveled back to Las Vegas the past two yeas to watch the stand-alone truck events, I can say that the truck races there continue to draw large crowds who generally end up leaving happy, or at least all the people I go with do.

There are no Camping World Truck Series races scheduled here in 2011, so the thrill of seeing if someone can pull off a triple weekend sweep will not be a possibility once again.

And with the truck series quickly becoming one of the most competitive series on a race-by-race and championship basis, it is a shame that there will be no truck race here again next year.

The Introduction Of Double-File Restarts

Probably the biggest substantive change to affect the overall racing at Fontana in the past two years has been the change to double-file restarts.

This is true of many other tracks and the series as a whole, but like many of the larger, wider tracks known for long green-flag runs, this change made a large impact on the quality of the racing seen. And neither the last Nationwide nor the last Chase race proved to be any different.

I personally have been watching NASCAR religiously for about eight years. The last four I have attended at least one race at the Auto Club Speedway every time the Nationwide and Cup Series came to the area.

And I'll be the first to admit, coming from my first experiences with watching live races at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, I was not impressed.

Actually, it didn't really matter whether I was at the track or watching on television, the field usually spread out single file fairly quickly and whoever hit the setup right took off into the sunset and never looked back.

If a caution did happen to come out, the single-file restarts led quickly back to the same old, same old very quickly.

Only within the past year have I realized that this wasn't a problem caused necessarily or solely by something inherent in the makeup of the speedway, but at least in part by the way restarts took place.

Other tracks on the circuit were equally "less than exciting" before double-file restarts became the norm. It just so happened that I lived closest to ACS and went to there to watch, so it seemed to hit home a little harder when a race here wasn't a thrill a minute.

But since last year's fall races, the quality and excitement level of the racing has increased dramatically.

True, there were still long green flag runs and Kyle Busch or someone from Joe Gibbs Racing dominated the Nationwide Series races and Jimmie Johnson or someone affiliated with Hendrick Motorsports still managed to run away with the Cup races.

But the fact that when a caution did fly meant that there would be some serious side-by-side racing going three- four- and sometimes five-wide—especially toward the end of races—that made watching truly exciting.

One can only wonder if having double-file restarts all along would have made any difference in getting more fans to the track and kept them coming back, or if it was just a matter of too little, too late.

Or of course, it could have had no effect whatsoever as there are many other reasons that have been offered as to why Fontana and Ontario before it were unable to stay filled to capacity in what everyone hoped would be a burgeoning market.

One thing is certain, however, with the increased intensity level seen from the teams now starting at the green flag at Daytona, the intensity level of every restart in the one race remaining at the Auto Club Speedway should provide for exciting racing to continue there next year and beyond. 

Race Weekend Reinvigoration

After watching the Pepsi Max 400, the first 400-mile Cup race to be run at ACS, one has to wonder what sorts of changes will be in store for future races at the track. Already the track is promoting the Auto Club 500 for next spring, so a shorter race is pretty much out of the question for next year.

But the format did seem to be fairly popular and added to the intensity of the race. Other suggestions I heard bandied about were to combine the efforts, energies and resources currently split between two race weekends in order to provide a bigger single event to attract more interest to the one remaining race weekend.

Again, here I plead ignorance as I don't know nor do I pretend to know how sponsorship dollars for race weekends work. But I'm betting that there won't be a pooling of money from Pepsi and the Auto Club to put on one big Cup race called the Auto Club Pepsi Max 900 next year. I'm pretty sure that's not how it works.

But I can see working to involve fans more in the spring race than has usually been done in the past. RaceFest, for example, has been a tradition before the summer/fall race weekend for six years now and is quite popular.

Nothing similar has been held for the spring race—a time when fans can come and have drivers sign autographs, check out the FanZone, be entertained by bands and extreme shows such as Metal Mulisha and purchase merchandise from the haulers without having to buy a ticket to get into the gate.

Anything else that can help Southern Californian fans already traffic-weary from the week get to and from the track more easily or give them more bang (or more options) for their buck might be a way to turn the loss of a second date from having two race weekends with lackluster attendance to one major weekend event.

Danica Patrick's Entry Into And Return To Nationwide Racing

In February, IndyCar driver Danica Patrick began her journey as a stock-car driver, first with an ARCA and Nationwide race at Daytona, and then her first non-restrictor plate race at the Auto Club Speedway.

Danica-mania was in full swing and her merchandise trailers were surrounded by fans while she and her car (and her garage and pit stalls) were constantly surrounded by media and onlookers in general.

Her first start at ACS was not auspicious, but it was not terrible. She qualified and started 36th, ran the full race and finished 31st, three laps down.

A fair amount was written about her return and whether or not she would do better or worse coming back and having some familiarity with a track for the first time in her short NASCAR career.

Many thought her time away running in her main series, the IRL, would have detracted from anything she might have learned the first time around.

Many added that obviously her "dabbling" in NASCAR had "obviously" hampered her Indy efforts given her relatively lackluster season—especially compared to 2009.

From the beginning of the weekend, however, it looked like she was more comfortable in the car and doing better overall.

Her fourth place standing in final practice seemed to show great improvement, although many dismissed that as her running in qualifying trim while most of the regulars never bothered to make qualifying runs.

Even her 14th place qualifying run was a huge improvement over February, but few people seemed to expect much.

The race began and Danica held her own somewhere between 15th and 20th much of the day, falling one lap down for a while before getting the free pass to bring her back up to 18th out of 19 on the lead lap.

From then until her last restart, she passed other drivers and moved up through some attrition to as far as 12th at one point.

On the next-to-last restart with 10 laps to go, she was shuffled back to 17th position before beginning a run forward, during which she supposedly made contact with James Buescher coming out of turn two one lap, squeezing him into the wall.

The next time around, opinions differ as to exactly what happened, but in the end, the No. 7 ended up making a hard right turn into the wall on the straightaway aided in some capacity by Buescher's No. 11, damaging or taking out Ricky Carmichael and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the process.

Bewildered, she asked for directions on what to do next and was told to bring it to the garage. A top 15 to top 20 day that might have become as good as a top 10 day was done, and Danica ended up finishing 30th, bettering her last finishing position by only one spot.

From where I sat in the press box, I was amazed. Many of the press who undoubtedly had to endure more "Danica-mania" than a part-time journalist like myself had been at best indifferent and at worst openly hostile toward the idea of Danica in NASCAR back in February.

But on Saturday, people in the media center were cheering her on and keeping track of her progress more closely than that of the leaders, where it was quickly becoming evident that Kyle would win again.

And when she was involved in the wreck and turned hard into the wall, audible sighs of disbelief were heard and twitter traffic jumped incredibly.

I've read other articles where writers and those commenting argue that's part of racing and because the record books will show another 30th place finish, she needs to seriously reconsider her future in NASCAR.

Most of those people are generally shouted down in comments asking how blind and/or misogynistic the person must be to not be able to admit that she had improved considerably.

How she does over the next five or six races she's supposed to run will tell a lot about her ability to handle a stock car in general, but her experiences at ACS definitely showed she could not only take the scrutiny, but she could perform well under pressure on the track where it counted. 

Kyle Busch And Joe Gibbs Racing's Nationwide Domination

With Kyle Busch's win in the CampingWorld.com 300 this past weekend, Busch not only swept the track for both races this year, but helped Joe Gibbs Racing become the first team ever to win six races in a row at a track.

Of those six wins, Busch has four and might have a fifth were it not for an illness that forced him from the car last year leaving his teammate Joey Logano to carry on the Gibbs domination at the track and during this season.

That's just another record piled upon those he continues to rack up every time he gets into the Nationwide car. Every lap he led set him farther ahead of Mark Martin's all-time laps-led record—and he's only 25.

And then there's the obvious, he added a little more icing to the cake that is now his solely held record for most wins in a season at 12. And he not only didn't run in five of the races, but he's going to run in four of the five still to go.

Say Hello To The Nationwide COT

The CampingWorld.com 300 at ACS marked the last time the current Nationwide car will be run there. Beginning next year the Nationwide COT is slated to be run at all events, having by then run at four very different tracks throughout this year.

This opens up a whole new storyline that we'll surely be hearing and talking about for much of next year. Every time the car is taken to a new track where it has never run before, crew chiefs and drivers will be working extra hard to begin building up new notebooks.

This could either shake things up when it comes to Nationwide series races at ACS or prove the dominance of those teams that are finishing in the top five and top 10 week in and week out.

In fact, four of the top five finishers from Saturday's CampingWorld.com 300 (Busch, Keselowski, Edwards, Logano) finished in the same order they finished in the February Copart 300. The only difference was Biffle finishing second in the February race and Harvick finishing third in last Saturday's race.

In the three races with the Nationwide COT so far, the Joe Gibbs dominance of the series seems to be a question mark. Both the 18 and the 20 cars have run well and been up front, but have yet to win a race.

Could this new car be the great equalizer that finally brings the JGR juggernaut back to the rest of the pack? One indication may come from this week's upcoming race at Charlotte Motor Speedway—the fourth and final track the new car will be run on this year.

If the JGR cars, and in particular Kyle Busch and the No. 18 team, can put it all together and win on the intermediate track, it's a good bet that the JGR winning streak will continue at the Auto Club Speedway next March when they return. 

The Wing Is Gone, Bring On The Spoiler

The Pepsi Max 400 marked the first Cup race run with the COT in its most recently modified configuration—that of having a spoiler and "shark fin" rather than the wing originally included as part of the design of the COT back in 2007.

For the most part, it didn't seem to be a factor—or at least not one worth discussing. Many questions were asked about it before the race, but most answers focused on the fact that since the teams had been running with the wing for a while now, most of the major differences between it and the wing that needed to be worked out had been worked out.

Although this may seem like little now, this will most likely affect "double-duty" drivers returning next year. Already comparisons between the current cup car and the Nationwide COT (which also retains its spoiler) are being made and studied.

Although there will be obvious differences that will make the cars handle quite differently overall, the fact that they will be any closer to each other in any of the important characteristics that make up aerodynamics, drag, and handling in general is important.

In the long run, this change will probably help some teams who have "double-duty" drivers and hurt others, at least in the beginning. We will have to wait and see how they mesh at each track to see who it helps and who it hurts in terms of information transfer between the teams of "double-duty" drivers.

Three-In-A-Row for Jamie McMurray?

Jamie McMurray went back to Chip Ganassi this year when Roush Fenway had to cut one team from their stable. But no one could have seen the year he had coming. Before this year McMurray had three Cup wins (one each in 2002, 2007 and 2009) and three pole awards (one each in 2003, 2005 and 2007).

This year so far, McMurray has two major wins (Daytona and Indianapolis) and four pole awards (Darlington, Chicagoland and both races at Fontana). So he has won races on the high-banked restrictor-plate track at Daytona and the flat, almost square, super-speedway at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

With regards to the Auto Club Speedway, he won the pole position in February in the car with the wing, and came back and won it again in the car with the spoiler. It will be interesting to see if McMurray's winning ways continue on into next year and if he can win a third pole in a row at the Auto Club Speedway.

Can Roush Fenway Racing Rebound?

Leaving Southern California after the Pepsi Max 400, Jack Roush could not have been a happy man. Three of his four cars had engine or electrical problems, and the fourth was involved in an accident with a former driver of his (Kurt Busch) with seven laps to go that took him out of the race.

Thus, the best-finishing RFR car team was the No. 17, who finished 30th, the last car on the lead lap, after experiencing engine problems late in the race. The others finished 32nd (Ragan, DNF), 34th (Edwards, 13 laps down) and 41st, (Biffle, DNF).

I'm not sure, but I'm guessing that is most likely the worst average finish Roush Fenway Racing as a whole has ever had at the Auto Club Speedway. Between RFR and Hendrick Motorsports they have dominated that track pretty much since it opened in 1997.

The question now is, can the Cat in the Hat bring his teams back into contention—if not within what remains of the Chase this year, can he at least bring them back to their dominant ways at the Auto Club Speedway when they return next year?

 

The King Is Dead, Long Live the King

Jimmie Johnson did not win the Fall Sprint Cup race this year for the first time since 2006. Another Hendrick Motorsports-affiliated driver, Tony Stewart won (for the first time in his career), keeping the trophy and additional bonus points away from the Chase points leader.

Johnson did, however, do what he needed to do, and that was stay out of trouble (and there was plenty to get into), run well, and extend or at least maintain his points lead over most of the rest of the field. And that he did.

Only two drivers gained any points on him. Stewart gained 20 points and moved up five spots in the standings, but still sits over 100 points back, and Clint Bowyer gained 5 points but is sitting 12th in the standings and is no real threat for the championship.

So the king's crown may have slipped, but it hasn't fallen—at least not far enough away that anyone close by could grab hold of it. Denny Hamlin, who was eight points behind Johnson when the day began, ended up finishing eighth and now sits 36 points back.

And with the rest of the schedule full of tracks Jimmie has won at (except Homestead, where he hasn't needed to win), once again Johnson is sitting in the catbird's seat.

The "drive for five" is still definitely alive and thriving and it will now require any challengers to knock the No. 48 team off the top of the hill or a stumble on the their part for another team to overtake the lead.

Anything is possible, but those boys have become pretty used to the pressure by now.

The records that Kyle Busch is breaking this year in the Nationwide Series are not impressive at all.  For the simple reason that he, or any other Cup Series driver, does not belong down there in the first place. 

Of course Kyle wins all the time, of course Kyle is breaking all the records in that series, he's better than anyone else out there.  He has top notch equipment and talent, and should not be racing in the lower divisions of NASCAR once achieving entry into the pinnacle of the sport.

It's like Tiger Woods playing at the amateur level again, a MLB player going down to the minors outside of a rehab assignment, or Michael Jordan playing college ball again.  NASCAR, unlike any other sport, allows their top athletes to go down a level or two to whoop it up on the up-and-comers.

The reason the Nationwide Series has been dubbed "Cup Light" is because week after week, especially on companion events, the stars of the sport hop in their top-tier race cars and destroy the credibility of the lower divisions.  This not only hurts the Cup Series, because it makes achieving that level less special, it hurts the lower series because they lose their own identity and opportunity for young talent to rise through the ranks.

Why are drivers like Justin Allgaier and Trevor Bayne losing rides and sponsors? 

It's because the sponsors would rather put their money into a Cup driver since they'll be running up front without question.  It's a no-brainer.  Meanwhile it makes it harder and harder for new talent to advance due to lack of sponsorship and lack of good equipment to showcase their talents.

Having so many Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series also dilutes the Cup Series itself.  The ongoing argument is that having these drivers achieves two goals.  First, they attract a larger audience in the grandstands and on television.  The evidence of that was pretty hard to see on Saturday at Auto Club Speedway, as the grandstands were not so "grand." 

According to NASCAR, it was, "Before an estimated crowd of 25,000."  Seriously, 25k?  The pitiful LA Dodgers get more than that on a Tuesday night against the Pirates.  Clearly, the Cup drivers are not bringing in the crowds. Second, it allows the younger drivers to race against these top notch drivers to learn from them—well, this may or may not be true, but sounds good on paper.

So here's my suggested solutions since keeping the Cup drivers isn't achieving anything significant.

There shouldn't be any Cup Series drivers allowed after three years of making their Cup Series debut.  Why am I giving this grace period?  Simple: Seat time is everything in this sport, and for developing drivers, it's needed to run both series for a while.  Once you graduate after the three years under your belt, that's it, you're done going backwards, you are now a prestigious Cup Series driver and it should be an honor to get to that level. 

Major League Baseball players refer to getting to the MLB as 'the show' because that is the best of the best, the top level you can be in baseball.  If you keep heading back to the minors, it's because you are either injured, or you can't cut it up there. 

Would you put Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, or Carl Edwards in that category?

Certainly not.  I would, however, have provisions in the rules for say a driver that loses their full-time Cup ride and can only get a Nationwide Series ride to be allowed back.  Drivers have to feed their families too.

By making these simple changes, the NASCAR Nationwide Series would instantly have it's identity back.  "The Future Stars of NASCAR" would be one way to promote it for example.  It would be a place where we can see unique cars like the Mustang and Challenger racing, and the up-and-coming driver talent with sponsors backing them for who they are.  The racing would be unique, the cars would be unique, and the drivers would be unique.  The alternative is watching the Cup superstars dominate week after week.

Kerry Murphey is a syndicated radio host, podcaster, and writer on all things NASCAR. Visit http://finallapradio.com to listen to his weekly podcast, video features, news, and information.

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