Tuesday, October 9th 'What If' Quesiton

Sometimes all it takes to ruin the perfect moment or the perfect race, is one split second decision. Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart found himself in that position when he came down the track to block Michael Waltrip's big run and caused a 25 car wreck.

Stewart, who was leading at the time, was trying to win the race. When he quickly found himself in the sucker-hole, the middle of the track with cars flying past on the outside and inside, he made the only decision he could: try to protect his position.

Stewart ended up getting turned by Waltrip who was being pushed by Casey Mears. When the dust settled and the checkered flag was shown, Matt Kenseth was declared the winner with only Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon making it through the carnage behind him. Stewart did apologize for starting the wreck and took responsibility, but many others weren't happy with the type of racing they had seen.

Most vocal was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who we learned later had suffered a concussion. He'll be sitting out the next two Sprint Cup Series races.

The wreck also shook up the point standings. Brad Keselowski extended his lead to 14 over Johnson, who wrecked while Keselowski was able to save his car and drive to a seventh place finish. Anything could have happened had the pack made to the finish line as they were, instead one mistake on the final lap, in the final corner changed everything.

Such is the life in NASCAR.

But ..

What if Stewart and Waltrip didn't get together and start last lap crash, of that big pack coming off turn four, take your pick: who wins Talladega?

@TheOrangeCone Josh Wise

@Anthony_Stuart Kenseth: not enough time was left for them to get by him

@FurnitureRow_78 Waltrip definitely would have won!

@NaScArFaN995 michael waltrip or casey mears

@Gman1439 Waltrip vs Kenseth, I say Waltrip would of won

@31SpazCat15 I think Mikey wins!!

@philenespanol Mikey. He had a full head of steam (hence getting into smoke) and probably would have settled it between him and Clint

@mattwoodruff29 Harvick he was right on Kenseth's and could had went for the win!

@NancyatStudioN Michael Waltrip

@chuckallen2 @mw55 was going to win, no doubt in my mind. His momentum, getting pushed in the perfect spot on track were just enough

@Rasenna Tony! He's the man!

@HarpAmyStabler I think that Mikey or Casey Mears would have duked it out for the win.

Monday, November 28th 'What If' Question

The season finale in Homestead-Miami was more than anyone imagined it would or could be. Sure, everyone had hoped that it would come down to the last lap with Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart going at for the championship. But no one actually thought that it would come down to the last lap with the two drivers chasing each other to the finish line with the winner taking all.

Or that after 36 races, 22 tracks, over 10,00 laps and 10 months of racing that it would end in a tie.

That's exactly what happened though when Stewart won the race and the championship for the third time in his career. He capped off an incredible Chase where he won five of the 10 races and became the first owner-driver to win the championship since Alan Kulwicki did so in 1992. The title, as mentioned third for Stewart, was the first for his organization, including co-owner Gene Haas and crew chief Darian Grubb. Stewart now sits behind Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt (seven), Jimmie Johnson (5) and Jeff Gordon (4) in the championship history books.

It didn't come easily though. Stewart started the day 15th on the grid while Edwards was on the pole. Then just eight laps into the race Kurt Busch lost his transmission which flew through Stewart's front grille. The damage sent Stewart to pit road and the back of the field, 40th, for the restart. As Edwards racked up the most laps led, 119 of 267, Stewart charged to the front.

More repairs sent him to the back of the field again where he again didn't stay long, going three and four wide as the No. 14 flew through the field, never feeling the affects of the damgae. Suddenly the race was on as Stewart earned the lead and Edwards started trailing him. Through the second half of the race the two never left the top five, even waited out a rain delay, before closing the season in dramatic fashion with a fight to the finish.

Stewart won the race, Edwards finished second but lost the championship because Stewart had the tie breaker. It will go down as the closest finish in NASCAR history and to some the best finale in history. Either driver would have been a deserving champion, both turning out gutsy performances through the Chase. Yet it led them into Homestead where it all came down to wins.

But ...

What if Stewart never had hole in front grille, would he have raced Edwards all day for most laps led & avoided points being a tie? #NASCAR

@MattEmbury Don't think it would've changed his style, that was "Tony being Tony"

@Talon64 Robert And he still has the pit stop gaffs? Then he probably doesn't lead the most laps either way.

@mrnascar2488 That my dear friend we will never know about #TonyStewart

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.