Thursday, March 31st 'What If' Question

Nothing makes for better storylines in NASCAR then when it becomes time for drivers and owners to sit down and decide on a new contract.

The last few years it's become quite apparent that big name drivers are no longer off the market and will stay with their big name teams or the organization who may have brought them into the sport. It doesn't seem possible to imagine Dale Earnhardt in anything other than a black No. 3 for Richard Childress or Jeff Gordon leaving Hendrick Motorsports.

Yet, when Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. following the 2007 season it seemed to open the floodgates. He left DEI and then Tony Stewart left Joe Gibbs Racing, a company that he started his career with and had won two championships for. Mark Martin is no longer racing for Jack Roush in the No. 6.

As a new season has begun it means that it's never too early to talk about silly season and who could be where next year. Some big name drivers are again nearing the end of their contracts and a driver that is on the forefront of everyone's mind is Carl Edwards.

Edwards, a Roush-Feway driver in the Sprint Cup Series since 2005, has said he's not focusing on contract talks until a later time. Teammate Greg Biffle recently said he's 'close' to resigning with the organization meaning all the attention will once again be on Edwards. He's one of their most successful drivers in recent years and has been off to a hot start in 2011 and is the current point leader.

He's won a Nationwide Series championship and 29 races with RFR. He's won 19 races in the Cup Series and has a career best finish of second in points in 2008 after he gave Jimmie Johnson a run for his money in the Chase. It would be quite surprising to see Edwards leave the company, however, as previously seen anything can happen.

Biffle though, said it would be a shock if he did in fact not resign with RFR.

But ...

What if for some crazy reason Carl Edwards does not resign with Roush-Fenway Racing, where do you think he will end up? #NASCAR

@Talon64: Red Bull Racing's his only option. Wouldn't fit in at JGR in a4th car, no room at HMS or RCR. Kahne's looked good in #4.

@Matt_Kacar: Joe gibbs racing. Only place he could go and be a championship contender

@racecrazy: J G R

@smokinace88: Wouldnt it be funny if he become team mates with Brad haha

@Emily_488: I hope he ends up back in Missouri or wherever he's from.

@chuckallen2: I'd like to see MWR get a top tier driver to go with the cars. The guys they have are good, but not elite. That's my pick.

@cruetten: Red Bull. Edwards seems to fit the adventurous mold of Red Bull. If not Red Bull, I can see a third team added at SHR for him

@mlarson03: MWR.

@alex141811: I say Penske only because that's who I've heard has been pursuing him seriously.

@ladybug388: Not much out there

@BuckyButler: depends. Is he bringing a sponsor with him? Don't be so short sighted. SHR would love a 3rd team. But they need a sponsor.

@weizdawg: ya think maybe gibbs if there looking for a 4th driver maybe?

@bfellin: id say Red Bull. with Kasey leaving, I think RBR would try and keep two "name" drivers in the stable.

Rich Bohr (via Facebook) Maybe Trevor Bayne will move to either the 6 or 99 car and Carl Edwards will stay with Ford and drive the 21 car. Who knows? Maybe he will drive a 3rd Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy in 2012? Maybe he will bring Aflac and some other sponsers over from Roush Fenway.

Stroker Ace (via Facebook) I think Cousin Carl will end up teaming with fellow Ford driver Jen Jo Cobb. Reason bein... before re-signing with Roush-Fenway Racing Carl does a family tree search on facebook & learns not only is Jen a fellow Ford driver, but she is also his NASCAR cousin!

Monday, March 28th 'What If' Question

When Juan Pablo Montoya announced he was leaving the open wheel division of racing for the challenge of competing in NASCAR it brought excitement on many levels.

Montoya is a diverse driver who has won in nearly everything that he's sat in. Coming to NASCAR would move him from the winners circle of the Indianapolis 500 to a stock car with roll bars and being the rookie. Speculations and predictions ran wild about what Montoya could accomplish in the NASCAR world and many pointed to previous open wheel defect, Tony Stewart, as example of the best case scenario.

Stewart left open wheel came to NASCAR and has become a two-time champion. He's another driver that is called diverse and able to win in whatever he sits in. For Montoya when he arrived in NASCAR in 2007 he quickly found victory lane ... at a road course. While winning any race in NASCAR is accomplishment many weren't surprised that it came on a type of track that Montoya is most comfortable with.

He's even won a Nationwide Series race ... on a road course.

Since then though the Columbian driver has had so many close but no cigar moments on ovals. He's dominated the Brickyard 400 the last two years only to take himself out of the race late in the going. He even qualified for the Chase for the Championship in 2009 and has pulled off numerous top five finishes but no wins.

He's even won poles like just this past weekend at the Auto Club Speedway.

Some of his best career finishes though have come at tracks like New Hampshire, Dover, Kansas and Talladega, thus proving that he can be competitive and win in this sport.

In 2010 he finally found victory lane again ... but again it was on the road course of Watkins Glen. The oval win still alludes him and Montoya is is getting frustrated. He knows what his No. 42 Target team is capable of they just haven't been able to seal the deal. The day is coming though as many believe.

But ...

What if Juan Pablo Montoya never puts an oval win on his resume, will his career be thought of as incomplete or unsuccessful? #NASCAR

@jester_3: no. Every driver has their venue. Will Mark Martin's career be a failure if he never wins the Daytona 500 or the Sprint Cup?

@animefan89: It won't be a success if he can't win a race in nascar on an oval needs to show he is the all-around driver.

@Emily_488: If he wins more, even if it's not oval wins, he would be successful. He'll only be unsuccessful if he doesn't win more.

@nathanmedic: Montoya must have multiple oval wins to be successful in his NASCAR career - just like any other NASCAR driver.

@dhammis: his career will be successful, but his NASCAR experience will not.

@ladybug388: A bit of both as incomplete due to missing it, but unsuccessful due to that lack of accomplishment with championship

@cruetten: incomplete, yes. unsuccessful, no. regardless of where he won, he is a two-time race winner in the cup series.

@weizdawg: if he never wins on a oval i believe so unless if he wins a title other then that yes he should win on one right

Jose L Acero (via Facebook) I wouldn't call unsuccesful because he has a couple of road course wins. Incomplete would be more fitting but I do see an oval win in his near future. Good question, Kelly!

Friday, March 25th 'What If' Question

Sometimes the mind wonders.

No more so than when watching a favorite television program and the commercials start. When watching NASCAR to break away to commercial is like stealing candy from a baby, if you were wise you wouldn't do it. If you were nice you also wouldn't do it, but commercials pay the bills and NASCAR fans have had a hard time dealing with that.

Commercials, commercials, commercials! They make everyone want to scream.

There are too many, they come on during inopportune times, whatever argument you can think of NASCAR has probably heard it when it comes to why the fans want to do away with commercials. Yet, that can't and won't happen, so they sit and watch and hope they aren't painful.

As drivers become bigger and bigger celebrities the more commercials they star in. During a NASCAR broadcast it might be safe to say that almost half of the commercials shown feature a driver and a sponsor. Everything from Dominos Pizza to Budweiser even Tums. There's been Viagra, Home Depot, Nextel, Sprint and car parts/stores. Of course, the Sponsafier commercials are in a league of their own.

Some are better than others and most are quite entertaining. Then there are some that have overstayed their welcome.

Since no one can control how many commercials are shown during a NASCAR broadcast it would be nice if they could at least give the fans some say in which ones are shown and how often. That however, can't and won't happen either. So, they'll continue to sit and watch and have certain jingles stuck in their heads as well as certain advertisements they wish they never saw.

But ...

What if you controlled the commercials during a #NASCAR broadcast, which ones would you keep and eliminate? (I'd get rid of Aarons)

@nascar200mph: Get rid of the comcast commercial

@ARosser14: I'd get rid of the Aaron's too, except where Lucky Dog dances. Also the Logano Sponsafier. So damned annoying.

@mikeymac5306: if I have to look at @mw55 shake his ass one more time...

@nathanmedic: Needless to say, I would rather blow my head off with a shotgun than hear Napa Know-How on repeat. :) Please, please put Danica and Jr. out of our misery by eliminating the Nationwide commercials with them.

@johnson1439: I would get rid of the Dale Jr commercials ( u and me both Jr ).

@Cruetten: i'd definitely get rid of the godaddy commercials. as far as which ones to keep, most of them are actually pretty good; but after you see them for the 30th time, they all get a little annoying. the "you and me both, jr" commercial comes to mind...

@Emily_488: Can you get rid of them all? If not, I'd go for everyone that has Danica in it and all the GoDaddy ones too.

@ollie1972: I'd get rid of commercials for trying to sell tickets to upcoming races

@WilliamCheerboy: Anything Nascar product commercial w/Nascar drivers. Just keep it with Nascar promos of the next race, Nascar.com, etc.

@RoushGirl17: I would get rid of all of our commercials because Canadian commercials suck and they have been showing the same ones for the last 3 yrs.

@hillbillyDem: I would get rid of all the "napa know how" commercials that includes singing first #nascar

@StrokerAce90: I'd get rid of them boner pill commercials. Nothin worse than hearing about a 4-hour erection while eating a BBQ'd hot dog.

Wednesday, March 23rd 'What If' Question

Next to Jimmie Johnson, no driver has made more headlines since 2008 than Kyle Busch.

Once he joined Joe Gibbs Racing and the Toyota camp, Busch has been unstoppable in everything he's sat in. He won eight races in 2008 and led the point standings for the first 26 races. In 2009 he won the Nationwide Series championship and in 2010 he started his own Truck Series team and won the owner's championship there.

He's now won 90 races across all of NASCAR's three series. Yet, besides the NNS title in 2009 he has failed to capture a Cup championship and has yet to be a real factor in the Chase fight. Last weekend he again swept the races at the Bristol Motor Speedway and put himself back in the spotlight as some are making him their picks for Busch to dethrone Johnson for the title.

Except the question has again been raised, is Busch outracing himself? Even at 25-years-old, running in all three series has it's downfall and Busch loves to race anything he can. Of course, being damn good at what he does makes that decision come easy, however Busch continually has more success in NASCAR's lower two levels than he does in the Sprint Cup Series.

During the off season the question was raised by yours truly on whether or not Busch would be a better Cup driver if he cut back on the racing that he does in the Truck and Nationwide Series. In doing so, his focus would be only on the Cup Series and who knows what his potential would be. You don't see Johnson running in anything other than the Cup Series and his success has yet to be matched.

Others though say that Busch should race while he can and that his success on Sunday has nothing to do with what he does on Friday and Saturday. That he could have, before NASCAR's new rules, become the first driver to win the championship in Nationwide and Cup in the same year. Then there are some Busch fans that just want to see him race and keep winning because that's where all the fun is at.

But ...

What If Kyle Busch was like Jimmie Johnson - raced/focused solely on Sprint Cup, would he already be a champion? #NASCAR

@Talon64: Probably not, Carl Edwards came close in 2005 and 2008 despite running full time in #NNS.

@smokinace88: Yes I dont want to sound mean here but the more he focuses on Tracks and Nation Wide he'll never win a Championship

@RoushGirl17: Not yet, he still has some maturing to do. He needs to find patience. He needs to find that cool under pressure Jimmie has. Once he finds that, he could be though. Once he gets all of that, he can settle into one series and do it.

@denver2u: No, I don't think he had the maturity to pull off all the wins that JJ has.Moving forward,I think he's a real good contender

@StrokerAce90: No. He's a driver other drivers refer to as an ass, say he races like a clown & claim to owe him payback. It'll never happen.

@cruetten: yes. the same goes for harvick too. they have a lot going on, whereas JJ drives mainly cup and doesn't own truck/NNS teams...

@csigmon12: KY is definately a great driver, but JJ makes what KY does look EASY...Wish BOTH their clutches slipped a little more often

@NancyatStudioN: Nah, While extremely talented, Kyle has not been mature enough to focus on the big picture. All he could see was THIS race, right NOW. This may be changing. If it does, look out. If you think ppl have hated having JJ win all the championships, imagine how it would be if Kyle started winning them.

VOTE For Your Favorite 'What If' Bumper Sticker Design

Recently, NASCAR's What If Moments blog was approached by Megan from Build a Sign.com for the opportunity to have bumper stickers made for our followers.

Upon realizing that I have no creativity at all and didn't want to give the fans something they might not like, I decided to open it up for the fans themselves to design the bumper sticker. After a week of submissions it's time for the voting to begin so that the bumper stickers can be made and sent out!

Here the designs that were submitted. Please vote for your favorite by leaving a comment in the comment section below! For a larger image of each design just click on it ...



Above design submitted by Klarissa Mitchell





Above two designs submitted by Jose Luis Acero Jr.



Above design submitted by Corey Ruetten

Wednesday, March 16th 'What If' Question

It is a topic that is approached every so often and has been before here in our 'What If' blog, just in a different way.

Everyone who is a fan of some sport or maybe even television show (dear CBS you have royally destroyed Criminal Minds) has had a moment where they sat and thought about something they would change. NASCAR has a rich 60 plus year history and pages among pages of history have been written. Some good, some bad. Others memorable, some to be forgotten.

However, it's all there and can revisited at any time. It can't be changed and whether the results were what was wanted or not, it happened. It just doesn't stop anyone from wanting to have changed the outcome or the event. We wouldn't be human if we didn't.

In NASCAR there have wrecks or unfortunate deaths. There have winners both liked and disliked. There have drivers that have come and gone. To sum it up - there has been a lot that has occurred in one of the biggest sports in America and there is a lot more to come. Which, again won't be changed.

But ...

What if you could go back and change something from the past 60+ years of #NASCAR history, what would you change and why?

@dougthethird easy. I'd have Dale Earnhardt win the 1989 Winston Cup instead of narrowly losing it to Rusty Wallace

@Talon64 I'd only change one inch; the difference between Kurt Busch hitting the pit wall barrels at Homestead in 2004.

@NascarIntern24 2001 daytona 500....I miss seeing the black #3 on the track.

@fuckjimmie48 I would go back in time and make sure Jimmie Johnson's father had pulled out the night of his conception. #NASCAR

@robwright11 Every gwc finish that wasn't allowed to be decided under green at the finish line.

@18Winning I would have Davey Allison's helicopter not crash

@cruetten i would go back to '98,'99,'00; and change NASCAR's safety regulations (HANS, safier barriers, etc.). If the post-Sr death regulations would've been in place for the 2001 Daytona 500, it's possible that Sr wouldn't have been killed in that wreck.

@Tradertoms I would change the way they gave Richard Petty better cars than everybody & he just piled up wins because of it

@denver2u ..I'd for sure change the safety req's..maybe Dale Sr would still be racing today..

@ronsracing88 Acting too slowly on safety issues; they waited until we Dale Earnhardt before they acted on anything #NASCAR

@ladybug8848 would've worked on safety innovations sooner so we could save lives

@Lady31RCR #3...Do I really need to say why?

@lecroy24fan I can't top the Jimmie Johnson answer

@phathead I'd keep Brian France from eating lead paint chips as a kid. Kind of would explain a not, no?

@kkjlluver Dale Earnhardt dying safer cars back then

@NancyatStudioN I'd like to go back & reverse the deaths of DE, AK, DA, KI, but most of all - AP. I still get choked up when I think of him.

@TJIngerson Prob popular answer but the Day Earnhardt died..sport would be so much different today if he was still alive, no question

@TominBristol Bobby Allison would officially have his 85th win and would forever be ahead of DW.

Robert Pritchett (via Facebook) pit row speed on green flag stops

Dustin Parks (via Facebook) I'd do what they did this year...change the point system. Its easier to follow, simpler to understand, and means each position matters even more. There's no "good points" finishes, just balls to the walls racing.

Jose L Acero (via Facebook) I would do what they did after Dale Sr. passing away. Install SAFER barriers, implement the HANS device. That way we would still have The Intimidator with us. RIP #3

Thursday, March 3rd 'What If' Question

For all that Mark Martin has accomplished in his career there are still some major parts missing on his resume.

They include things such as the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400 and a championship. He's come close a few times. In 2002 he battled Tony Stewart but wasn't able to beat the No. 20 team. It also didn't help that just days before his team was penalized by NASCAR for an illegal part.

Then in 2007 Martin was leading the points early in the year but stepped out of the car to keep to his part-time schedule. That was one of the many years in which he said he was retiring. At the time he was driving for Bobby Ginn. And of course the year that will be most talked about is 2009 when he drove for Hendrick Motorsports and finished second in points. He won five races that year and was the sentimental favorite to capture the title.

The 2011 season is another final for Martin. He will not be returning to HMS next season but has said that he will race somewhere. One can only imagine that he's hanging on for as long as he possibly can in hopes of winning those prestigious races and the championship. But he struggled in 2010 and missed the Chase and has a new team this year, a team that struggled with Dale Earnhardt Jr. last year.

A championship just hasn't been and isn't in the cards for Martin. Just the years of coming oh so close and wondering what might have been. Many though will continue to talk about what he accomplished in 2009 as his greatest year.

But ...

What If M.Martin ran full 2007 season after leading points early on, would his 2009 season have been as impressive or successful? #NASCAR

@Talon64 Don't think 2009 would've been affected. Bsd on avg points per race, would've made Chase but finished 12th in 2007.

@BigBankHank18 nope, don't think DEI could of maintained that for 36 races

@cruetten tough to say.with so many team swaps (cup and NNS) in two years, it would've been tough to hold on to any momentum from 2007

Toby Christie (via Facebook) Not only that, but had that been the case where would Aric Almirola be right now? Remember he was the guy splitting time with Martin those seasons.

Patty Wells (via Facebook) a great journalist always provides us with "food for thought" thats you my girl :)

Tuesday, March 1st 'What If' Question

It's hard for NASCAR's most popular driver to go under the radar, no matter how hard Dale Earnhardt Jr. tries.

Heading into 2011 it will be even harder now that team owner Rick Hendrick has again made changes to his No. 88 AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet team. In a widely discussed and publicized move, Hendrick took Earnhardt Jr. and had him pick up his driver's seat and head over to the shop that used to be the 24/48 shop. Earnhardt Jr. inherited everything that used to be Jeff Gordon's.

With that move came the move for Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin. Gordon now has everything that was once the 5 team and Martin has everything that was once the 88 team. Hendrick denied all claims that the move was made solely for the purpose of Earnhardt Jr., instead saying that he wasn't pleased with any of his team's performance in a year where Jimmie Johnson was the only HMS car to win a race.

When the combination of Steve Letarte and Earnhardt Jr. hit Daytona it was instant chemistry. By luck they sat on the pole for the Budweiser Shootout, but ended up wrecked in the garage. The next day, by speed, they won the pole for the Daytona 500, but again ended up wrecked in the garage after a practice session.

Never one to panic, Letarte told Junior not to worry they had another car. The two got to work and went out and ran strong all during the 53rd running of the great American race. Only, to once again, end up wrecked. While many will say that's nothing to be proud of, others will say looking at their performance as a whole they did everything right.

At Phoenix it was more of the same. All of the HMS teams struggled in practice and qualifying but were able to fight their way to front come race time. Earnhardt Jr. in a surprising turn of events never really lost too many spots on the racetrack and instead was fighting all day long to crack the top 10.

When the checkered flag flew he had done so and came home with a 10th place finish. Again, some will say it's nothing to be excited about but for a team that has a long season ahead of them it was a step in the right direction.

But ...

What if Dale Earnhardt Jr. did not have a flat tire at Daytona and a loose wheel in Phoenix, does he still end up with same results? #NASCAR
@mbauerherzog: No, he would have been at least a contender in both races. He may not have have gotten the win but would have been up there.

@Talon64: Top 10 at Daytona but not at Phoenix; forced Phoenix pit strategy gave him fresher tires at the end. He'd be top 10 in points

@cruetten: absolutely not--Jr's final results would've been much better! I still think before his wreck, Jr had a legitimate shot to win the daytona 500. This year Jr has the crew chief, the cars, and the confidence to win races and possibly make the Chase. He just needs a little luck...

@Jim_Yoak: What if? At Daytona YES. At Phoenix, NO. He wasn't a top 10 car until everyone else had bad luck. he was top 10 by default.

@The_Bumpdrafter: doubtful. Prob top sox or seven at Daytona. About the same at phoenix. Maybe ninth.

Stephanie Davis (via Facebook) I say no...atleast in Daytona