Wednesday, May 9th 'What If' Question

Leave it to Brad Keselowski to throw out all the logic that comes with racing and winning at the Talladega Superspeedway.

After much anticipation and tweaking by NASCAR, it was back to pack racing at the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Talladega. Last weekend drivers went door-to-door and bumper-to-bumper around Talladega for over 180 laps before setting themselves up for a tandem pairing at the end.

On a green-white-checkered finish the driver who had dominated all day, Matt Kenseth, hooked with teammate Greg Biffle and started to pull away from the field. Behind them Kyle Busch started pushing Brad Keselowski and the two began to make headway.

Kenseth though took his eyes off the prize for just a split second and it caused him to become unhooked with Biffle. That lead to Keselowski and Busch blowing by and the win going with them. Keselowski took the white flag as the leader and logic said he wouldn't be the leader when they came back for the checkered flag.

Except just as there's logic which says you can't race and certainly can't win with a broken ankle, Keselowski proved everyone wrong. Coming out of turn four Keselowski took his No. 2 blue deuce and pulled himself off of Busch by moving from the middle lane down to the bottom.

Busch wasn't expecting it and the move gave Keselowski just enough steam to head back to the finish line untouched. Afterwards he said it was a move he had in mind for a while and was saving for the right occasion and that didn't help Busch or Kenseth feeling any better about what had happened.

But ...

What if the Kenseth/Biffle tandem hadn't come apart, would the Keselowski/Busch tandem still have caught them and who wins Talladega? 

@cruetten I'm sure they would've caught them, but I doubt they would've passed them--Kenseth and Biffle would've held tight as a team.

@JoJo_6040 Yes. And BK wouldn't be able to use his shake on KB. Four car run to the finish and Kenseth wins :)

@HD388 still think Keselowski/Busch tandem would of caught Kenseth/Biffle tandem & pulled away from them with Keselowski winning

Tuesday, August 9th 'What If' Question

David Ragan, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards, that's the current lineup for Roush Fenway Racing. At least for the next few years.

Right now those four drivers are under the watchful eye of Jack Roush, or the Cat in the Hat as he's known. Edwards, who is currently leading the Sprint Cup Series points, is often said to be the face of the organization with Kenseth being the veteran and champion. Three of the four drivers have won races this year and all four still have a shot at making the Chase one way or another.

While Roush is still working on sponsorships for some of the teams, things are set at the Cup level with those drivers in place. On the Nationwide Series side there are two other drivers waiting in the wings, Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Bayne might for all intents and purposes be set with the Wood Brothers should he ever decide to come to Cup full-time. He won the season opening Daytona 500 with the team but he races for Roush in the NNS where he has yet to win.

Stenhouse Jr. on the other hand is having a dream season, at least so far. He's won two races and is leading the points. Coming off a year where he was taken out of the car but then came back to win Rookie of the Year, Stenhouse is making the most of every opportunity that's sent his way. This week both Bayne and Stenhouse said they are set for 2012 by most likely staying where they are.

Except, it's never too soon to start thinking about the future. Not just for Bayne and Stenhouse Jr. but for the entire RFR organization. Yes, with the four still signed for years to come it's always fun to wonder what RFR will one day become. Stenhouse and Bayne could very much move up with the company and become Cup stars or they could move to other teams and curve their own path that way.

After winning his first career race earlier this year in Daytona, the driver of the No. 6, David Ragan, is still trying to show people that he belongs in the Cup Series. When Biffle, Edwards and Kenseth move on he could become the face and future of the organization. Will he be teammates with young drivers who make their way into the series or with whoever becomes the biggest free agents in years to come?

But ...

What if Roush Fenway's lineup one day was Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Trevor Bayne, David Ragan & Ross Kenseth, top performer/driver is? #NASCAR

@HendrickGuy Ricky Stenhouse Jr. probably.

@JJohnson51Fan David ragan. He has the most expierance and would be a veteran by then

@mikegieseler Stenhouse Jr or Trevor Bayne....they're both hot new talent and getting better...edge to Stenhouse

Tim Kaufman (via Facebook) Big $$ @ Ross Kenseth! :)

Andy Marquis (via Facebook) Stenhouse.

Dustin Parks (via Facebook) Hmmm, I'd say I'd give the advantage to Bayne as far as top performer. If you think about it, his toughness to come back from illness after having the biggest win of his life, coupled with Roush's constant commitment, he'd be hard not to bet against.

Andy Marquis (replying) Toughness doesn't win races. Talent does. Stenhouse has had less time in Nationwide than Bayne and has won more races. Bayne has one NASCAR win in a race that pretty much anyone in the field can win.

Tim Kaufman (replying) Bayne's pretty smart, though. He's earned the respect of Bobby Labonte, Jeff Gordon and other stars, while Stenhouse is already rattling cages w/ his teammate, Carl Edwards. I think we all know Sunday is the "BIG SHOW" and if ur not good @ give/take, you'll get taken alot more (See: Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman, numerous others).

Andy Marquis (replying) I've seen lots of drivers come and go who have "earned the respect" of veteran drivers early on in their career... very rarely have those guys put up wins or championships. Drivers giving and taking and not racing hard is the reason the racing in the Sprint Cup Series generally sucks just about every race. I seem to remember veteran drivers not liking Gordon, Stewart, Kurt Busch and even Jimmie Johnson in their early careers. Those guys all have championships. How many YEARS did it take David Ragan, David Reutimann, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray (excluding Charlotte 2002) and Regan Smith to win races? And how many wins to those guys have a piece?

Tim Kaufman (replying) Jamie had his first win in his 2nd start @ Charlotte, subbing for the injured Sterling Marlin.

Andy Marquis ‎(replying) "excluding Charlotte 2002". How many years did it take for him to get a win after Charlotte? Answer: Five years.

Tim Kaufman (replying) Only time will tell..

Wednesday, October 13th "What If" Question

Tracks like the Kansas Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California are used to seeing Roush Fenway Racing drivers in victory lane. Two weeks ago Greg Biffle kept up his end of the bargain when he took the checkered flag at Kansas for his second win of the 2010 season.

The win was significant not only for the fact that Ford would be giving his No. 16 team an extra $100,000 for winning a Chase race, but earning the maximum amount of points helped keep Biffle in the championship hunt. Last weekend in California it looked like RFR was picking right up where they left off in Kansas as Biffle, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth each had contending cars for the Pepsi Max 400.

Then one by one they each went up in smoke ... literally. Biffle was the first to go on lap 40. Edwards came next at lap 60 when his car was pushed to the garage. He later returned but 14 laps down. Kenseth remained on track and up front, swapping the lead with numerous drivers over the course of the event.

Then over the final 10 laps his engine started to smoke and he limped to the finish line. Now the three drivers sit outside the top five in points, Edwards over 100 markers out of first and Biffle and Kenseth over 200 out. It's not impossible but it'll be a longshot for them to get back in title contender.

But ...

What if Greg Biffle's engine did not go 'boom' on Sunday at California. Would he have ended up being a factor for the championship?

@Talon64 He probably would've finished top 5, and would still be within 100 points of the lead. Definitely a factor.

@MisanAkuya He would have snagged a top ten maybe top five, run well at Texas and Homestead but ultimately not be a factor

@Spacie_Stacie I think he really would have been ending up being a factor, you never know what will happen this weekend!

@Ol_Man_Winter Didn't watch Cup race Sun., just going on hearing about it. I say no, JJ & Harvick will be factors, Gordon & Hamlin will drop