Thursday, May 19th 'What If' Question

On Saturday night at the Charlotte Motor Speedway there will be the ultimate checkers or wreckers race when select drivers compete in the Sprint All-Star race for one million dollars.

Not among them, currently, is Dale Earnhardt Jr. who has to race his way in through the Showdown event early that evening since his 10 year grace period of winning the All-Star race is over and he hasn't won a Cup race in over two years. Should he not race himself in, there comes the Sprint Fan vote which many, except Earnhardt Jr.m have already decided to award him. There are many variables that go into earning the Sprint Fan vote should Earnhardt Jr. not win or finish second in the Showdown.

To begin, his car must be in one piece at the finish, in other words, in raceable condition determined by NASCAR. The driver must also finish on the lead lap, meaning not only can he not wreck but they must keep pace with the leaders on the lead lap and not get caught down a lap or run poorly. They won't be able to rely on the fan vote to get into the big show.

Earnhardt Jr. has stated he and his fans would like to earn their way into the event by racing their way in. There is in fact a way for another driver to earn the fan vote over Earnhardt Jr. and that is if Earnhardt Jr. goes out and finishes first or second. Meaning fans of all drivers should have been voting the past few weeks and months. Instead many have just assumed and lost hope that the Most Popular Driver for the past eight seasons is just going to ride around and get in through the loyal and many fans that he has.

But ...

What If Dale Earnhardt Jr. races his way into the All-Star race on Saturday, who do you think will win the Sprint Fan Vote? #NASCAR

@WilliamCheerboy: Jeff Burton, no brainer on that one as he is the next pop vote.

@Talon64: Jeff Burton, popular plus he's the best driver (although not the best-performing driver right now) not in the All Star race.

@scubazuke72: being from Connecticut I'd like to see @JLogano win the vote. he's got the talent to be there. NASCAR

Wednesday, May 18th 'What If' Question

Contrary to what Jimmie Johnson has done the last five years, winning a Sprint Cup Series championship is never easy. In 2002 Sterling Marlin was cruising toward what could have been his first, winning early and often in the season and firmly sitting atop the standings.

During the summer months Marlin started to stumble and his point lead started to decrease and was down to 90 points by September. During a time when there was no Chase, the pressure was on the competition to hunt down Marlin and take the point lead by outperforming the No. 40 Coors Lite team. It would end up happening but through unfortunate circumstances.

It started in Richmond when Marlin crashed hard and suffered chest and shoulder injuries while again letting the point lead close up. A few weeks later in Kansas Marlin would again wreck and ended up fracturing a neck vertebra, ending his season. Jimmie Johnson would take the point lead.

From there it appeared that the next seven weeks the championship would be determined between Johnson and Mark Martin. But the two would get together on the pace lap at Talladega the following week before the green flag even flew. Their misfortune put Tony Stewart in the point lead for the first time in his career and he never looked back.

Stewart went on to win his first Sprint Cup Series championship by 38 points over Martin. Stewart would go on to win his second Cup championship three years later, 2005, by 35 points over Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards.

What if Sterling Marlin didn't fracture a neck vertebra in 2002, would Tony Stewart be a two-time #NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion?
@Talon64: Sterling had a 91 point lead going into Richmond where he originally hurt his neck. Without the injury, he would've won.

@carolynbrewster: YES!!

@Irrational_LA: Yes.

@ladybug388: Yes

@GL2488: Nope, Marlin would have won, everyone wanted Stewart, which is a crying shame

@MattEmbury: Still don't think Tony would've caught Sterling that year.

Andy Marquis (via Facebook) Yes. Marlin had a free fall going.

Thursday, May 12th 'What If' Question

As Tony Stewart announced his departure from Joe Gibbs Racing in late 2008, the dominoes began to fall. JGR had to find his replacement in the No. 20 Home Depot Toyota and would do so in speeding up the career path of Joey Logano. For the 2009 season and beyond the JGR stable would consist of Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 FedEx Toyota, Kyle Busch in the No. 18 M&M's Toyota and now Logano.

Stewart though wasn't done. He would hire Ryan Newman away from Penske Racing to drive the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet. That left Penske searching for a replacement for the No. 12 and found one in David Stremme who would drive without a sponsor that season. Their lineup now consisted of Kurt Busch in the Miller Lite No. 2, Stremme in the No. 12 and Sam Hornish Jr. in the Mobile 1 No. 77.

Since that time a lot has happened to all organizations involved. Stewart became a championship contender in 2009, as he lead the point standings through the first 26 races before stumbling in the Chase. Newman won his first race since 2008 when he found victory lane at Phoenix in 2010. Joe Gibbs Racing has never been better with Busch and Hamlin tearing up the series as they too became championship contenders with Hamlin falling short of dethroning Johnson in the last race of the 2010 season. Logano has also become the youngest Sprint Cup Series winner with a victory in a rain shortened race at New Hampshire.

Penske Racing has gone through many changes. Kurt Busch is now the driver of the No. 22 Shell/Pennzoil Dodge while Brad Keselowski who was hired in 2010 has moved to the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge. Sam Hornish Jr. has moved to a part time Nationwide Series schedule as the No. 12 and 77 are no more.

But ...

What If Tony Stewart didn't start his team w/Newman & stayed at Joe Gibbs Racing, how different would JGR & Penske Racing be today? #NASCAR

@Talon64: Tony would leave JGR after contract over, maybe still form own team. But Newman would've already left Penske for another team

@Lady31RCR: Where would Joey be....sad face....and I didn't like Tony back then...but he is my #2 driver now!!

@Jrocket10: great "what if". I think the 20 car would be performing much better w/ smoke in it.. Meaning JGR would overall be better

@cruetten: I think Home Depot would be happier,and I never thought Newman and KuBu were that great together--would've gotten worse.

Tuesday, May 10th 'What If' Question

When NASCAR started to revamp their schedule a few years ago many different tracks felt the effect, some still feel it as the schedule continues to change. Among the tracks targeted was Darlington Raceway, one of NASCAR's crown jewels and a popular venue amongst the fans and some drivers.

Since the Sprint Cup Series started racing at the South Carolina facility in 1972 it has done so twice a year. There have been photo finishes, excuse me, the closest finish in history between Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven, nasty wrecks like Tony Stewart in 2002, and more cars into its wall than any other track has ever seen. And most recently, there's even been a fight.

Except, when the series headed to the track in 2005 it would only be for one event that season, which has unfortunately been the case for the last six years. No more does Darlington host it's annual labor day date, instead opening its gates for an early season battle in May. While many have continually called for NASCAR to bring back it's second date or at least

NASCAR has yet to change their mind but it hasn't been all bad for Darlington. The track remains one of the most respect and storied as well as intimidating. The racing has been fast and furious and the winners have been relatively new, with only one repeat winner, Greg Biffle, since it went to its one date a year schedule.

This past Saturday night it seemed everything and anything that could happen in a NASCAR race did at Darlington. There was an exciting race to the finish with not only a first time winner but a Cinderella story pulling off the upset. There were classic Darlington stripes, driver meltdowns on the radios and hard nosed racing which led to a punch being thrown. Not bad for a track that only has one race to make memorable.

But ...

What if @TooToughToTame still had its two race dates, could their second race live up to this past Sundays? #NASCAR

@hillbillyDem: the racing is always great at @TooToughToTame I always enjoyed the spring 400 as much if not more than the Southern 500. the reason @TooToughToTame has one race is because of ticket sales, if quality of racing counted we'd still go to Rockingham

@JordanTMcGraw: Nope

Tim Simmons (via Facebook) I didn't get to watch all the race. But was the racing really that good? Or just the drama, the race didn't seem like anything special. But Darlington is still a cool place

Wednesday, May 4th 'What If' Question

Not everyone is cut out to be a NASCAR driver. There have even been some individuals who have come from other forms of racing where they excelled but couldn't do the same in NASCAR.

For Ohio's Sam Hornish Jr. he's hoping not to fall into that category but through the first half of his NASCAR career it isn't looking too promising. Coming from the IndyCar series where he's won races, including the Indy 500, and championships, Hornish Jr. was hired by Roger Penske to pilot his No. 77 for the 2008 Sprint Cup Series season.

With limited stock car experience and with only a few Nationwide and Cup races under his belt, Hornish Jr.'s rookie season didn't go as planned. He only competed in 34 of the 36 races and finished 35th in the final point standings with zeros across the board. No wins, poles, top 10s or top fives. In 2009 things improved slightly when he finished 28th in the final point standings this time with seven top 10s and two top five finishes.

That season Hornish Jr. won a race, be it a non-points event in the Sprint All-Star showdown to transfer into the Sprint All-star race. In 2010 his statistics regressed when he finished 29th in points with only one top 10 and zeros across the rest of the board. Lack of sponsorship would remove Hornish Jr. from his ride in the Cup Series but Penske wasn't about to let him go.

For the 2011 season Hornish Jr. has an 11 race deal in the Nationwide Series. With four races already complete Hornish has one top 10 but has been running better than his finishes are showing. He's staying out of trouble, at least of his own doing, and hopes that his stint in the Nationwide Series will lead to him one day being able to make it back to the top.

Or maybe he'll find a home in the NNS. Some drivers are better suited in the lower series and are quite content to run there and not move up.

But ...

What if Sam Hornish Jr. ran in the NNS full-time would he a) become a contender and b) eventually return to the Sprint Cup Series? #NASCAR

@RTiongson: I think he'd be a contender in the NNS. Provided he has good equipment, he MIGHT return to Cup, but as a dependable run-in.

@kartracer3886: no

@ladybug388: I think Hornish would be in contention for NNS as he'd get the hang of the cars and probably run well. I think he'd also return to Cup eventually as he'd have some laps under his belt and the experience

@cruetten: a) no. b) no. I think it's about time for him to go back to open-wheel. He's had more chances than most--it's just not in him

@ollie1972: a) yes I think he MIGHT contend..if he'd stop WREAKING b) no sponsorship is way too tough to come by only way is be NNS champ

@Talon64: a) Yes, better than results in Cup, b) if the success translated into sponsorship to bring back 3rd Penske Cup team. #NASCAR