Monday, April 2nd 'What If' Question

Everything was in place on Sunday for Hendrick Motorsports to have an historic day at Martinsville Speedway.

Kasey Kahne won the pole, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all led laps. And when came time to decide the winner Gordon, Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. were running first, second and third with less than 10 laps to go.

Whoever won the event for HMS would have delivered team owner Rick Hendrick his 200th Sprint Cup Series win. David Reutimann, Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman had other plans and quickly postponed the celebration.

As Gordon took the lead by inches on Johnson on lap 498 of 500, David Reutimann came to a stop near turn one in his No. 10 Chevrolet. He had been slow for a few laps and had been issued the black flag by NASCAR, get off the track in other words.

Reutimann though was determined to finish the race and try to remain locked into the top 35 in points. Had he done so he would be guaranteed a starting spot in the series next race at Texas. Instead he said he had motor problems and the car shut off, stopping him to get back to pit road.

The caution bunched the field back up and when Earnhardt Jr. pitted it put Clint Boywer in third place, Brad Keselowski fourth, Ryan Newman fifth and Earnhardt Jr. sixth. When the green flag flew Newman shoved Bowyer toward turn one and Bowyer decided to take it three wide for the lead.

Johnson spun, Gordon got sideways and then spun Bowyer. Newman came out with the lead, AJ Allmendinger second and Earnhardt Jr. third. That's how they would finish when the race had their second attempt at a green-white-checkered finish.

Afterwards it was hard to find a happy driver. Either upset with the move by Bowyer, the push from Newman but most certainly because of the caution caused by Reutimann. Days later harsh words still remain for both Reutimann and the top 35 rule with both being the main topics of conversations concerning Martinsville.

HMS will once again put away the boxes full of 200 win hats and wait until Texas in two weeks to see if one of their drivers can win capture the checkered flag.

But ...

What if David Reutimann hadn't caused a caution as Gordon & Johnson raced for the lead, who scores the 200th win for HMS?

@ronsracing88 Jeff Gordon would of won.

@HD388 Gordon would of easily have won the race, he had run Johnson down & was passing him & would of driven off from him

@cruetten Jeff Gordon

@michaelwsays Jimmy would have laid the chrome bumper to the 24

@StrokerAce90 JJ

@CSoloy Niether-M'ville upchucks chunk AGAIN, goes through 24 grill, in turn clips 48 who pits, falls 2 end of lead lap

@HarpAmyStabler Jeff Gordon. My thots on Reuty are the following: He's fighting for the top 35. If you don't want something like that to affect the outcome of the race, then NASCAR needs to get rid of the top 35. But, in this economy, we need sponsors so we need to keep the top 35 rule. It's really a no-win situation here. All drivers have agendas on the track. Respect them.

Monday, July 18 'What If' Question

As the saying goes, sometimes less is more.

In NASCAR that also holds true when it comes to the number of cars a team puts out on track. Not just in the sense of how many NASCAR caps them at, being four, but in terms how all of them can succeed under the same banner. For years it has always appeared that the fourth car was the odd man out. In 2009 that was Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Hendrick Motorsports when teammates Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon won races and finished 1-3 in points.

At Roush-Fenway Racing it used to be David Ragan, until his turnaround this season as all four cars are finally performing to standard. In the case of Penske Racing they cut down from three to two teams after Sam Hornish Jr. not only failed to perform but lost sponsorship. Penske has won races with both his drivers this season.

For Richard Childress Racing they might want to go back to having less. Originally a team with four cars, RCR cut down to three for the 2010 season where all three of their drivers qualified for the Chase and two of the three won races. It appeared that RCR was a company that was perfect for three cars and drivers to succeed together. Then the announcement was made that in 2011 they were going to expand back to four cars.

The last time the company had fours they all struggled and speculation ran wild that one driver, Kevin Harvick, might be on his way to another team. Questions now began whether going back to four cars was the right move and so far it has proven not to be. Only one of the RCR drivers, Harvick, has won a race this season. He's always the only one currently in the top 10 in points.

While Bowyer and Menard have had their share of competitive nature, the same can't be said for Jeff Burton. This time around it seems that Burton and the No. 31 Catapillar team are the odd ones out. After 19 races Burton has zeros across the board: no wins, no poles, no top fives and no 10s and he sits 25th in points.

Sometimes, they aren't even close when at the track and it has everyone shaking their head. This past weekend in New Hampshire things were finally looking up for Burton as he ran in the top five for much of the ran. Again though the team came up empty and they finished 16th. Going forward the team will look to carry over their performance from Sunday while trying to improve on their finishes.

But ...

What if Jeff Burton continues to struggle this season, can a case be made that RCR is better suited & should go back to 3 teams? #NASCAR

@ConwellClark They should all go back to 3 teams and stop the big money monopoly and give some not so rich owners a shot

@Lady31RCR I could go on and on..but I am going to stick with Clint has not been resigned, shame bc he is better than Menard!! I do look for a CC change for the #31 team...poss with the #33 team!!

@cruetten absolutely. the 4th car has now twice hexed RCR. but w/ menards $,theyll give it some more time b4 thinking of going back to 3

Monday, April 25th 'What If' Question

If the fastest car won each week there wouldn't be much drama, excitement or even much competition in NASCAR. It would be a runaway with the fans having a pretty good idea who was going to take home the trophy maybe before the race even started.

The fastest car doesn't always win though and it helps set up some of the most intense racing on any given weekend. In May of 2008 the fastest car at the Richmond International Raceway was Denny Hamlin who spanked the field and led 381 of 400 laps. The problem for Hamlin was that when the pay window opened and the laps wound down he wouldn't be around for the finish.

On lap 383 Hamlin lost the lead to Dale Earnhardt Jr. as his right-front tire started to go down. Eventually the tire went down and Hamlin would stop on the track to bring out the caution. He would be penalized by NASCAR for doing so and set up a six lap fight to the finish for Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer.

With three laps to go Earnhardt Jr. was sideways and into the turn three wall off the front bumper of Busch who from that day forward would become public enemy No. 1 to Junior Nation. Meanwhile, Clint Boywer would go on to win as Busch fought off Mark Martin for second.

The win was second of Bowyer's career and the first of the 2008 season. For Earnhardt Jr., he was three laps away from taking home his first win in 71 races. It wasn't meant to be as Earnhardt Jr. would have to wait until a month later to snap a 76 winless streak at Michigan.

But ...

What If @DennyHamlin hadn't stopped & brought out caution in 2008, would Dale Jr. have won or would KyBusch have caught & beat him #NASCAR
@18Winning: Dale Jr would of won and saved Kyle and Junior both a lot of grief, but if Clint didn't win, would be as successful today?

@Tmac2824: NOOO!

@88myjr: I was so pissed! DH was being a baby again bc he had a flat. Jr wld have won that race!

Monday, April 18th 'What If' Question

Noah's Ark racing. Two-car tangos. Dancing partners. Speed dating.

The list could go on to describe the new style of drafting that has taken over the racing at Daytona and Talladega. Drivers pair up for three in a half to four hours and never leave the back bumper unless they're perfecting the switch. There are no longer big packs of racing where drivers are three and four wide row deep for hours on end where one wrong move can cause a 20 car wreck.

While many can sit and compare and contrast the racing and whether or not they like it, that's a conversation for a different day, there have been fantastic finishes in 2011 with the new style of racing in both the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series. In the season's first exhibition race, the Budweiser Shootout, the finish had Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin side-by-side at the line and even though Hamlin was disqualified, it was still a photo finish.

In the season-opening race for the Nationwide Series they too had a photo finish when four cars, two-by-two crossed the finish line with Tony Stewart beating Clint Bowyer. In Saturday's Talladega Nationwide race it could have been a photo finish had the race ended under green. Kyle Busch was being pushed by teammate Joey Logano on the outside while Joe Nemecheck was being pushed on the inside by Brad Keselowski heading into turn three on the final lap.

And then on Sunday it was a four-wide finish with eight cars coming to the line as Jimmie Johnson beat Clint Bowyer by 0.02 seconds, the closet in NASCAR history since they went to electronic scoring. The finish actually ties that of Kurt Busch and Ricky Craven at the Darlington Raceway in March of 2003.

On Sunday there were also again a Talladega record tying 88 lead changes.

It all through the new style of racing that drivers will 'swap' at the last possible time to get a big run on their competitors with a fresh new pushing. In doing so they close the cap to those in front of them and come down to the finish line

But ...

What if Sunday's race was old style plate racing with big packs, would the Aaron's 499 still have ended in a three-car photo finish? #NASCAR
@MattEmbury: Nope, wouldn't of happened

@Talon64: It probably would've only finished 2-wide at best, with the usual spread-out by guys getting every last position possible.

@nathanmedic: Probably. Either way, it would have been exciting for 25 laps and a parade (1x1 or 2x2) for the rest.

@DonRohr: yes

@DRLDeBoer: No

@RoushGirl17: Doubt it. Probably more like last year with two cars.

Monday December 13th 'What If' Question

The Daytona 500 is both the season-opening race and one of the biggest races of the NASCAR season. A driver's name lives on in the history book for infamy, there face becomes engraved on the Harley J. Earl trophy for life and their winning car sits in Daytona USA for an entire year.

No matter what happens for the rest of the season or even their career, the driver who wins the Daytona 500 can't have it taken away from them. They can say they won the Daytona 500. It's that big of a race and that big of a weekend and it's not good when something goes wrong as the entire world is watching.

The 2010 Daytona 500 decided to shake everything up.

Things started off without a hitch but then things started to get a little bumpy inbetween turns one and two. On lap 122 of 200 as Clint Bowyer led, NASCAR brought the red flag out and had the drivers come and park on pit road because a pothole had formed on the track. Crews quickly got to work to repair the hole so the race could finish its listed distance even though it was already an official race.

After an hour and 45 minutes of repairs the race restarted.

But on lap 159 the red flag came out again, this time with Kevin Harvick leading, because the pothole had formed again. NASCAR officials again went to work, determined to finish the race. An hour later the race was restarted again and would go to it's conclusion but not without two green-white-checkered finishes that saw Jamie McMurray take the lead on the last lap and Dale Earnhardt Jr. charge to second.

McMurray won his first Daytona 500 in his reunion with Chip Ganassi while Earnhardt Jr. finished an exciting second.

But ...

What if Daytona 500 was run straight through (no red flags/pot holes). Would it still have had dramatic ending/Jamie McMurray win?

@TJIngerson Daytona 500 should end under lights, and no pothole means it wouldn't have had that great ending

@NASCARJeannie yes I believe it would have had the same outcome just maybe not as dramatic.

@mwoodruff8829 No because Kevin Harvick had the most dominating car that day and he would had won it ether way pothole or not.

@cruetten yes. Both Daytona and Talladega have had mostly dramatic finishes lately, regardless of race circumstances.

@garrettu88 doubt it very much

@MattEmbury Dramatic ending yeah, maybe a different winner...probably Harvick.

Monday, November 1st 'What If' Question

The last few restrictor plate races have come down to a last lap pass: Matt Kenseth taking the lead of the 2009 Daytona 500 before the rain came 45 seconds later. Kevin Harvick on Jamie McMurray at Talladega in the spring of 2010. Harvick on teammate Clint Bowyer at Daytona in July.

This past Sunday at Talladega it looked like that could be the case again as teammates Bowyer and Harvick were side by side heading to the white flag. Juan Pablo Montoya was pushing Bowyer and David Reutimann was pushing Harvick. When they hit turn one however, 'The Big One' hit the track when Tony Stewart and a few others started spinning and AJ Allmendinger went flipping.

Since the white flag had been displayed, the race was official and the only question remained was who would be declared the winner. Boywer started celebrating as Harvick looked on and waited for the official word. About 5-10 minutes after the race was over, NASCAR finally announced that it was Clint Boywer and his No. 33 that was ahead of Harvick when the caution came out.

Boywer won his second race of the 2010 season and second in the Chase. He did so with interim crew chief Scott Miller who was atop the box for the suspended Shane Wilson. After their winning car failed inspection in New Hampshire, Wilson was given a mandatory four week vacation by NASCAR. The win was the fourth of Bowyer's career.

But ...

What if 'The Big One' didn't happen & leaders finished the race under green. Who wins: Bowyer, Montoya or Harvick, Reutimann?

@shanbedd Montoya!!

@mbauerherzog I think it would have been Harvick.

@nwnscrfan Bowyer probably. Harvick's car wasn't quite as fast after the damage as it was before & Bowyer had the inside (faster).

@RedChevy14 The 42. 00 woulda left the 29 too early, 33 woulda been a sitting duck.

@Talon64 JPM and Reutimann make their move to try and win on front stretch, all 4 wreck and Joey Logano wins!

@cruetten harvick for sure

@chuckallen2 Michael Waltrip.

@StrokerAce90 This one fired up Lugs Harvey. He says Harvick because he's a Plate Racer & a Wheelman. Haps 2.75 avg finish in 2010 says so.

Wednesday September 29th "What If" Question

It's dominated the news the last two weeks and won't be completely resolved until Tuesday of next week. Fans, drivers and media alike can't stop talking about it and it was only natural to throw it out on Twitter to get an unofficial response from NASCAR fans.

After winning the first race of the 2010 Chase at New Hampshire, which was his first win of the season, Clint Bowyer's car was found to be illegal. After passing inspection at the racetrack, NASCAR brought the winning car back to their research and development center for further evaluation. Regardless of where Bowyer finished at NH, it was going to happen since a week before his No. 33 team had been warned by NASCAR that they were getting close to the crossing the line.

NASCAR handed down a penalty of 150 driver/owner points, $150,000 from crew chief Shane Wilson and a six week suspension to Wilson and car chief Chad Haney. The penalty took Bowyer from second in points to 12th, over 100 points behind the leader. Team owner Richard Childress called for an appeal of the penalty saying his team didn't cheat and the car was knocked out of proportion by the tow truck that pushed Bowyer to victory lane after the win.

Before the appeal could be heard the second Chase race was run at Dover where Bowyer finished 25th and fell over 200 points behind in the championship, coming ever so close to eliminating himself from contention. Earlier this week NASCAR heard the appeal and denied overturning. While Childress said he'll further appeal to the commissioner, Bowyer said his title hopes are over and it's not worth fighting anymore.

But ...

What if Clint Bowyer's penalty was overturned. Would he still be able to win the championship? (Would be 85 points behind Hamlin)

@SummerDreyer Um... no. LOL just a little brutal honesty. Good driver but wouldn't compete with the likes of Hamlin, Johnson, etc.

@Talon64 Clint would have as much of a chance as any of the RCR guys, which is only a small chance.

@TERRIFICSTWEETS Nope

@mbauerherzog I think it would put him back in the chase and if he stayed solid, he could potentially win.

@nascarjaj I dont think so, because he hasnt been as strong as the 11 has all year

@Ol_Man_Winter No. JJ would still win even if Clint Bowyer's penalty was overturned.