An interesting nugget came out of Tuesday's media teleconference with Kasey Kahne.

Kahne believes that Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s disappointing performance is more about confidence and momentum than anything else and when he logs his next win, it may very well set off a streak of trips to Victory Lane.

"Confidence is huge. If Dale, Jr. could win a race, he would definitely have more confidence," Kahne suggested.

"If [he wins] a race, you kind of get that feeling back on how your car felt and how it's supposed to feel ... [you get] on a roll, get that feeling, ... know exactly what you need. Once [he] gets it, they're super hard to beat on Sunday."

Keep in mind, Jr. has not won a race since 2008 and that was a "fuel-mileage" win at Michigan International Speedway.

You have to go back to the Spring race at Richmond in 2006 for a "standard" victory, his only of that season. Earnhardt, Jr. also recorded a one-win season in 2005, taking the Chicagoland race.

So his wins have not come in clusters in recent years. In 2009-10, Jr. has rarely been competitive or challenged for many top-fives, much less any trophies.

Granted, it's likely that the two will be teammates in two years, so that might help explain Kasey's belief in Jr.'s potential success.

So, while many of us struggle to see how Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will climb out of the funk that he's currently in, Kahne at least sees a cluster of wins on the horizon, once the confidence and momentum returns.

What's your take? Is Jr. past his prime or is a cluster of wins just around the corner?

Given that he's still at No. 1 in merchandise sales, would Hendrick let him go if his performance continues to be closer to 15th or 20th, rather than Chase-worthy? How long can he ride his pre-2005 success?

Let the opinions fly—whether you're part of Jr. Nation or staunchly against him.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

It’s a known fact that NASCAR fans are very passionate when it comes to supporting their favorite drivers.

Whether they make it to victory lane, or continually fall short, nothing can deter them from faithfully following even when the season is almost non-existent.

Each driver has certain traits which make them very likeable, and it's no wonder that Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. along with a few others falls into that category.

What I found really intriguing was that his name is on the top 10 list of just about every stat that is out there, which makes it easy to use his accomplishments as the backbone for some very informative stories about his racing career.

It wasn’t hard to depict exactly what Earnhardt has done throughout his racing career, because the facts always tell the true story and they never lie.

All it took was to search through the Sprint Cup archives, along with taking it a step further and digging into the Nationwide series as well.

Since his career just about speaks for itself, as with any driver there are those golden nuggets which magically come to life if you look in the right spots.

With another season close to coming to an end, without a doubt there are legions of fans who would love to thank you for the many memories that you have graciously brought to them.

Not to mention the awesome example that you have been portraying as a human being, despite all the heartaches that you have been experiencing this season.

Many fans have adopted Earnhardt as their favorite driver, and what gives anyone the right to deny them the liberty of who they choose to follow?

Earnhardt has more than exemplified what a true and caring heart he posses, which lies beneath the persona of being NASCAR’s most popular driver.

This article wasn’t written to expound on the many miscues Earnhardt has dealt with since the season began; instead, it’s the way he's handled the heartbreaking mistakes that have been plaguing the team.

I for one can’t imagine what you are going through, especially when there are those around that are just waiting for the opportunity to kick you when you are down.

Kick as they must, this is where your true character really shines and out-shadows anything that they can throw at you, and it’s because of how genuine and truthful that you are, that makes them dislike you even more. 

It’s sad to say character has been lost in our society today, but watching the way you handle yourself even when you aren’t winning, is unbelievable.

It’s easy to say that you still have the heart of a champion—an attribute that many who have chosen to dislike you can learn from. 

It comes as no surprise that some have started their own crusade to attack a driver who has really done nothing wrong. Far be it for anyone to think that you are some sort of god with inhuman type characteristics. 

Life itself is not always about making it into victory lane—that’s important, but it’s the victory you have scored in the people's lives that you have touched in a positive way which can be just as important.

Consistency is a very hard attribute to uphold in this high speed game of cat and mouse; no matter what circumstances have taken over, you have always passed the test of what true character is all about.

If there is one trait that would be reminiscent of your father, it would be positive way that you have portrayed the sport, which would have made him very proud if he were alive today.

So whatever you do, don’t change a thing about who you are or what you believe in because the measure of a man isn’t gauged by how many trophies you have sitting on your mantle—it will always come down to the way you have portrayed yourself when the going got tough.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

We're now two-thirds of the way through the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. You all know what that means—there are only 12 races left, the majority of which comprise the Chase for the Sprint Cup, NASCAR's version of "playoffs."

The Labor Day weekend event at Atlanta marks the beginning of a 12-week uninterrupted stretch to the end of the season. With an off weekend between that race and Bristol, it's safe to say that some of the perceived momentum in the top teams has been frozen.

But just because the teams have received a one-week break, doesn't necessarily mean that those on hot streaks are going to be iced out at Atlanta. Without further ado, the top drivers and championship contenders heading into this weekend's Emory Healthcare 500, and the final third of the season:

Begin Slideshow

No more off-weekends, no more resting, and no more regrouping. Sunday night, the last stretch of the Sprint Cup season begins as the run to the championship nears ever so closer.

This weekend, there are still high banks, but the speeds increase drastically. On the docket for NASCAR, the Atlanta Motor Speedway and the Emory Healthcare 500.

As we saw in March, this track can be ever changing as the race goes through the afternoon. Expect to see the same thing happen this time, but the difference is this race will be run under the lights. Speeds will be faster, and handling will be crucial.

This past March, it was Kurt Busch dominating the race and then once again showing off his form of celebration, what he has deemed his "unwind" victory lap. A few of our creatures predicted correctly that he would be the winner, and he is a heavy favorite going into this weekend. Despite the recent struggles, watch out for him to be strong.

Younger brother Kyle is coming off a complete sweep at Bristol, a race where a lot of our writers were correct in their guesses. Kyle is very good at the 1.5-mile tracks, as he nearly won at Texas last year and got Toyota their first Cup win at this track back in 2008.

Kyle's win was correctly predicted by nearly half our writers, which has brought the standings even closer together. The top five are separated by just 117 points, but anything can happen with two races left before the Chase.

Atlanta is fast, it's wide, and is a favorite for many drivers. Who is going to be smiling at the end of the night?

Here's who our writers believe will be victorious at the end of 500 miles.

Misan Ayuka: Tony Stewart

I am back with my "Stick with Smoke" thing. Tony Stewart is one of the best at Atlanta.  He has two wins, eight top fives, 13 top tens, 790 laps led, and an average finish of 12th.

Smoke was running second right behind Jimmie Johnson when a caution came out and Tony Raines rammed him from behind, ending his night. But still, in the last 13 races, five top fives and 10 top tens.  In the last 11, he has five top fives and nine top 10 finishes.

Stewart is so close to breaking through, and Atlanta would be a great place to do it and get the momentum he and his team need to win him a third championship.

Kyle Brandt: NO PICK SENT

No pick sent.

James Broomhead: Carl Edwards

It's time to realize that Roush are well on their way back to championship-bothering form. Biffle's recent win was only the rubber stamp on the fact, and the blue oval lot could be getting their act together just in time.

Logic says Carl should be the next of Ford's winless streaks to be snapped, and Atlanta is a fine place to do it. Just stay off Keselowski, please.

Billy Fellin: Kurt Busch

I like the blue deuce's chances this week at Atlanta. He won in the Spring, gotta like his odds going into this weekend, especially with the Chase heating up.

Christopher Leone: Carl Edwards

He’s won one in four at Atlanta, and in a way, team owner Jack Roush’s tragic plane accident has been the best thing to happen to that team. They’ve been stepping up their game in a way unlike they’ve been running all season. We all know he’s overdue.

Kara Martin: Carl Edwards

Come on, Carl, what have you done for me lately? It is time to step up your game and win one this year, not just for your team but for me!

Dustin Parks: Kurt Busch

I can't help but think that the 1.5-mile, quad oval tracks have something mystical for the Miller Lite team. Last year, both Atlanta and Texas were where Busch debuted his "unwind" victory lap. Then, this year he goes to victory lane again in Atlanta, followed by sweeping the May races at Charlotte.

He may not be the first choice at this track, but winning two of the last three races here makes him a heavy favorite. Busch has three wins, three top fives, and seven top 10's at this track. Plus, this year the best tracks for the Penske team have been the intermediate tracks.

Busch himself has 15 wins on intermediate tracks, so his Dodge will be one to watch. Should he win, the soaking of Miller Lite will be well deserved.

Patti Rodisch: Kurt Busch

Kurt Busch started the race 11th in the spring race in Atlanta. He ended up dominating the race and winning. Busch has shown the last two seasons that he has mastered the spring race.

Since 2008, he has only finished worse than 11th once, and that was last fall when he finished 38th.  It has been an up-and-down couple weeks for Busch. In the last four races, he has two finishes in the top 10, but also two finishes of 30th or worse.

It is time for Busch and his team to get back to early season form with their consistent finishes and winning races. This week, it will be the older Busch brother taking home the trophy in Atlanta.

Sal Sigala Jr: Jimmie Johnson

NO REASON GIVEN

Rob Tiongson: Kurt Busch

Of the tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit that's seemingly like a majority of the venues on the schedule, this is one where Mopar Power's gonna shine, and it'll be the blue deuce in victory lane.

He's had a knack for these 1.5-mile, quad-ovals all season long, and I think it'll be a Miller Lite filled winner's circle with Kurt Busch and crew chief Steve Addington enjoying the spoils of their triumph.

Alan Wade: Kurt Busch

Kurt is bound to come back into contention with a win sooner or later.  I hope Atlanta is the trick for him and the final chance ever for a driver sweeping BOTH Atlanta races.

Current Standings

Kara Martin (3,327) Carl Edwards finished 12th (2)

Christopher Leone (3,324) Kyle Busch won (4)

Billy Fellin (3,290) Greg Biffle finished eighth (3)

Dustin Parks (3,228) Kyle Busch won (3)

James Broomhead (3,210) Kyle Busch won (3)

Sal Sigala Jr. (3,191) Kurt Busch finished ninth (2)

Rob Tiongson (3,125) Kyle Busch won (1)

Misan Akuya (3,098) Jamie McMurray finished third (1)

Patti Rodisch (2,635) NO PICK SENT (0)

Alan Wade (1,567) Kurt Busch finished ninth (1)

Kyle Brandt (927) Kyle Busch won (2)

Final Thoughts

Even with fall approaching, this place is still nicknamed "Hot-lanta", and for good reason. The drivers are on the edge of out of control all night long, and it is that kind of racing that has made it so popular.

With the schedule change in 2011, Atlanta will be reduced to one race, which will be on Labor Day weekend like this year and last. Drivers understand why the change was made, and fans debated on whether it was the right move, but it is set in stone.

What is also set in stone is an exciting race come 7 p.m. Sunday. Strap in, this race will be exciting flag to flag.

Summary of Picks

Kurt Busch-5

Carl Edwards-3

Jimmie Johnson-1

Tony Stewart-1

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

So, last week I screwed up.

I figured, “Hey, with college about to start and all, maybe I should write my Atlanta fantasy post right now, save it for a week, and then just take ten minutes to post it when people actually need it.” Seemed like a good idea at the time, right?

Well, it was, until I forgot what week of the year it was (blame it on me being awake at four in the morning) and posted it anyway. Oops. If you’re looking for this week’s fantasy picks, click here; otherwise, this column is going to be a general fantasy overview for the rest of the year.

We’re now two-thirds of the way through this Sprint Cup season, with only two regular-season races and the Chase for the Sprint Cup to go. The remaining schedule is dominated by four cookie-cutters (Atlanta, Kansas, Charlotte, Texas), but contains just about every type of track on the schedule besides a road course.

Of course, this is about the time where Jimmie Johnson kicks into gear. His charges to the championship have been well documented, as no driver has ever benefitted more from the Chase. Currently ninth in points and about a three-race deficit behind Kevin Harvick, Johnson’s top four tracks as judged by average finish–Phoenix, Martinsville, Fontana, and Loudon–all appear on the remaining schedule.

Of the remaining tracks that Sprint Cup will run this year, Johnson only has mediocre records at Richmond (which isn’t in the Chase anyway) and Talladega (which is a crapshoot anyway).

As for Harvick, his team has been the class of the field all year, but most of his best tracks are behind him on the schedule. Homestead is statistically his best track, but five of his six worst active tracks–Dover, Fontana, Martinsville, Atlanta, and Charlotte–come up in the following twelve weeks of racing.

But this year, things have been looking up for Happy on those tracks, and he may not have a reason to worry. Fontana yielded a second place finish, he ran a strong ninth at Atlanta, led 57 laps from the pole at Martinsville, placed seventh at Dover, and came home a respectable 11^th at Charlotte. While those types of races alone won’t knock the defending champion off his pedestal, they will more than suffice for a driver at some of his worst tracks.

In effect, this brings us down to the question of present versus past. Which key factor–history or momentum–should be influencing your fantasy picks from here on out? Should you be focusing on only one over the other, and if so, which?

Here’s the thing: we all know that the 48 team has shown signs of, well, humanity this year. Add to that the intense pressure stemming from the fact that nobody has won five consecutive championships at NASCAR’s highest level, and you may be able to say that the goose is cooked on the drive for five.

Meanwhile, Harvick’s team has done everything right for the majority of the year, won a respectable one in eight races, and has even performed at the tracks on which he’s struggled in the past. (See above.)

In the end, it all depends on which fantasy game you’re playing, and who’s available to you on any given week. (Duh. A little more elaboration, please?)

For a single driver, pick-‘em-once-and-they’re-done games like One and Done at OnPitRow.com, your best bet is undoubtedly to go for history. A driver like Harvick is probably not the best choice for a track at which he struggles, unless you’re picking last-minute and he qualifies really well. Johnson becomes your golden ticket to victory lane, so use him wisely. As for the rest, try and limit your picks to Chase drivers–they’re the only ones who really matter in the final ten events.

For games that give you a fleet of drivers every week, make sure to always pick one of the top five active drivers at any given track. (This is one of my Fantasy Pick’Em rules of thumb.) But in these games, you have a greater ability to go for momentum drivers. Sure, it can crash and burn on you if they perform as history suggested they would, but getting a little lucky with an interesting, out of left field pick could be the difference between first and second in your fantasy racing league.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

NASCAR fans are selective and loyal with the drivers they pick as their favorite.  Once their racing hero is designated, little can assuage them from their support.

The driver may fall into a driving slump or change teams but the die hard fan remains true. They await the next win for their driver and continue to buy their memorabilia and sport attire to show their loyalty.

An odd thing happens though when NASCAR fans face any group of drivers or even just one up close and personal.

Suddenly the drivers who have given their all on a race track at high speeds in close quarters become a bit larger than life.

The fan will wait in long lines for hours, fight to get a camera shot, and drag all forms of memorabilia around in an effort to get it autographed.

For the fan it doesn't matter if it is not the driver they usually support although that would be nirvana.The fan's quest for contact with stock car drivers has been around since the early days of NASCAR.

In those days it was much easier when safety was not so important. Tracks were not grand and glorious venues and drivers were accessible.

Back in the day drivers were just like everyone else. They were doing what they loved despite purses that barely covered expenses before owners became savvy with sponsorship.

NASCAR drivers have evolved over the decades from the approachable, friendly, style of the old school to the highly protected drivers surrounded by handlers that we see today.

Throughout the years certain drivers were considered more fan friendly whether it be at an autograph session or at the race track.

These drivers were not necessarily the all-time best drivers with the most wins and best records.

Some of the sports most popular drivers will not be included in this list because their popularity required them to stay somewhat distanced from fans at many venues.  When these drivers were at places where they could sign autographs, the sheer volume of people prohibited much interaction with the fans.

The list of NASCAR's friendliest drivers is based not only on fan appeal, but the interaction they had with those who sought a picture, autograph, or friendly word.

Let's take a look at 15 drivers who were not only popular but fan friendly as well.

Begin Slideshow

TV's biggest secret has be revealed. The identity of "The Stig" has been named. It is not Michael Schumacher, as some people believed.

The stig is...

Ben Collins.

Collins, 35, was one of the stunt drivers who drove the Aston Martins in the latest 007 film, "Quantam of Solace."

On his website in a small paragraph it says: "Collins is also a leading stunt driver for film and television."

The BBC have been in a battle with Collins after it was found that he was going to reveal who he was in his autobiography.  

The BBC went to court over it but has refused an injunction preventing the revealing of the Stig's identity.

After the ruling a BBC spokesperson said: "The BBC brought this action as we believe it is vital to protect the character of the Stig which ultimately belongs to the licence fee payer.

Today's judgement does not prevent the BBC from pursuing this matter to trial and the BBC will not be deterred from protecting such information from attack no matter when or by whom it should arise."

Top Gear's boss tried his best to keep the secret a secret as he wrote a passionate blog in defence of keeping the Stig's identity secret.

In it he said: "The whole point of the Stig is the mystique—the bizarre characteristics he has, the wonderment created about what he might think, feel, do or look like. Kids adore the conceit, and I believe adults, although they know it’s a man in a suit (or is it?), gladly buy into the whole conceit because they find it entertaining."

The Stig wasn't meant to be a hit with the audience. He was just meant to be a test driver to drive featured sports cars around the shows test track very fast.

The anonymous driver became a legend on the show after Jeremy Clarkson started introducing him each week with different comic sayings.

His face was blocked by a helmet, so not even the celebs who appeared on the show knew who he was.

Now that we all know who he is, Top Gear will change. The moment in the show when the Stig drives the car will not be the highlight it used to be.

Instead of a mysterious guy driving round the circuit...it's Ben.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

As his racing tenure with Richard Petty Motorsports comes to an end, Kasey Kahne has had precious little time to reflect on the difficulties of 2010 or to contemplate the possibilities of 2011 and beyond.

Kahne's soft and slightly weary tone told the story even more than his words during a media teleconference on Tuesday. It is obvious that while he was not originally thrilled to be headed to Red Bull Racing Team in 2011, conversations with RBRT General Manager Jay Frye and other team members have eased his mind over the last couple weeks.

"I got more excited than when I initially heard about it," Kahne admitted. "Right now, I feel really confident with being able to go into next year and being able to perform, race well, and have a good time doing it."

A hint of cautious excitement crept into his voice as he continued. "If I go [into] next season thinking I can't run well, I might as well take the year off."

Kahne has often seemed the pawn in a game over which he had no control. The drama played out during Rick Hendrick's attempt to place him in a competitive ride for 2011, a year in which Mark Martin will continue to drive the No. 5.

Kahne arrives to take over in 2012.

It's worn him down, and it's worn his team down, though he's performed admirably to remain in Chase contention, however slight his chances might be.

"I'd say it was definitely on my mind a lot. Five years that I was looking at. So, yeah, it was on my mind."

During the interview, it was also quite evident that his sometimes-frosty relationship with Richard Petty Motorsports hasn't warmed up a great deal. When asked if he thought his team had performed at their best during the tumultuous months, he frankly stated, "there's been some times that I've wondered."

He quickly backed away from any direct criticism, continuing, "But I wondered about me, too. I feel like everybody's done...the best job that they could." It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement.

Kahne has occasionally clashed with both management and teammates during the last two years at RPM, including an on-track altercation with A.J. Allmendinger at Pocono this spring, in which Allmendinger moved low to block Kahne, running him into the grass, eventually causing the No. 9 (and several others) to wreck.

"I don't know what A.J. was doing there," Kahne said in a post-race interview. "I don't really talk to A.J. ever and I doubt I'll talk to him about this."

With Paul Menard taking his ride and his money to Richard Childress Racing, and a pared-down two-car operation that will leave Elliott Sadler out of a ride as well, some have argued that RPM is a sinking ship.

At this point, the organization looks more like a sinking ship that hit a large iceberg, was torpedoed by a North Korean missile, and finally, was assaulted by Somalian pirates.

No one can really blame Kahne if he is looking ahead to 2011. He insists that's not the case.

When asked about his Chase chances (16th place, 136 points out of 12th with two races to go), Kahne says the right things, but knows that he is racing for little more than pride in 2010.

"Hopefully, we have a good shot. I mean, it's tough right now because everybody is running so well. You're in that position and it's tough to make up a lot of points."

No, those aren't the words of bubbling confidence. While Kahne is the driver who made the greatest comeback ever to make the Chase (in 2004) with two races to go, even that was only a 90-point miracle.

Not only would he have to make up the points, but also jump four other drivers in the process. He knows that's not likely to happen, despite Atlanta and Richmond being two of his best tracks.

Make no mistake; Kasey Kahne will do his best to win every race he has left this year. 

No deal appears to be in the works that would allow him to get an early start at RBRT, though there are a lot of NASCAR subtexts that won't be revealed until the Chase field is set.

"I don't want to be done winning in a Ford. I don't want to be done winning for Budweiser. I don't want to be done winning for Richard Petty Motorsports. Hopefully, we can find some spark to that."

But even if he doesn't find that spark, at least he knows the horizon is brighter, if still a bit murky on details.

Will Kenny Francis follow Kahne to Team Red Bull? Will Kahne be able to overcome the challenges of becoming the first NASCAR driver ever to wheel a Ford, Dodge, Toyota, and Chevy (in four consecutive seasons, no less)? How much contact will he have with Rick Hendrick in 2012 and what will he be allowed to do to prepare for the move to the No. 5?

"Actually, I was kind of wondering that same stuff," replied Kahne. "I think once we get past who makes the Chase and who doesn't, we'll look into those questions that I have and obviously you have."

So if Kahne knows anything, he's not saying...at least not for a couple of weeks.

Kahne, like most Cup drivers, just wants to race. He loves racing. He'd gladly skip the pettiness and politics that so often overtake the garage.

Yes, you could hear the fatigue in his voice when he spoke of his 2010 travails and the long, confusing journey that has landed him at RBRT. But you could also sense the smile in his words when he allowed himself to consider 2011 and beyond.

"I want to start out at Daytona as good as anybody. I want to race, I want to perform and win races."

With a fresh start at a team he is clearly warming up to, don't be surprised if he does exactly that.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Kevin Conway, who recently left his Front Row Motorsports ride to pursue greener pastures with sponsor ExtenZe, has become the answer to Robby Gordon's prayers, as well as NASCAR's Rookie of the Year prayers.

Conway has answered Robby Gordon's prayers by bringing much-needed sponsorship to Robby Gordon Motorsports.  RGM just announced today that Conway will be their driver for the balance of the 2010 season.

On the other hand, Conway's new ride is an answer to a prayer for NASCAR, who desperately needs some continuity for its Raybestos Rookie of the Year program.

Conway currently leads the ROTY Standings, with a margin of 154 points over Terry Cook in the Cup Series competition.

"We are excited to have ExtenZe Racing and Kevin Conway join Robby Gordon Motorsports," Robby Gordon said.   "This is an excellent opportunity for everyone involved, and I am excited to have Kevin behind the wheel of the No. 7."

"I hope we will be able to help Kevin bring home the Rookie of the Year Award while expanding our team and his on-track experience."

Robby Gordon's new driver could not agree with his team owner more.

"I am thrilled to finally be able to announce our signing with Robby Gordon Motorsports," Conway said. "The Bristol race a couple weekends ago came together very late and gave everyone just a quick peek at what was possibly to come.

"Now that everything is in place I can't wait to take to the track this weekend in Atlanta in the No. 7 ExtenZe Racing Toyota."

Conway is most certainly looking forward to a change of pace from his runs with Front Row Motorsports.  Although he has had some success with that team, such as a 14th place finish at Daytona over the fourth of July and leading a lap at the Brickyard 400, more often than not, he has been logging laps in the back of the field or even running a few laps down to the leaders.

Prior to stepping up to the Cup Series with Front Row, Conway raced successfully in the ARCA Series. He also ran a limited schedule for Joe Gibbs Racing in 2007, sharing seat time with Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Aric Almirola and Brad Coleman and garnering two top-5 and four top-10 finishes.

Conway's hopes for success have now been rekindled with the move to Robby Gordon Motorsports. The driver's answer to his own prayers has always been his steadfast sponsor ExtenZe, who also has had faith in their driver, moving with him to his new gig at RGM.

"Moving our racing program with Kevin over to Robby Gordon Motorsports was a no brainer really," Robert Wilhovsky, Director of Motorsports Marketing for ExtenZe said.  "Robby has a great organization with very good equipment and a car locked into the top-35 owner's points that will allow us to get Kevin more seat time and help him continue to grow as a driver.

"We look forward to the remainder of the year with RGM," Wilhovsky continued.  "We are glad we get to have him and his organization join Kevin's quest to be crowned the 2010 Raybestos Rookie of the Year driver.

"I am very thankful for this opportunity Robby has given me and ExtenZe," Conway said.  "I'm looking forward to helping keep the No. 7 in the top-35, gaining more seat time and finishing races while reaching my ultimate goal of claiming the 2010 Raybestos Rookie of the Year title with RGM."

Conway will take the wheel of the No. 7 ExtenZe Racing Toyota in the upcoming Labor Day weekend's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  This will be Conway's second start for RGM, including his inaugural run at Bristol, and he is most certainly looking to better his run earlier in the season at Atlanta, where he came in 31st.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Even before Richard Petty officially told the Roanoke Times that they'd be going with a two-car operation I long had plans to write an article in support of the team.

Last week I wrote an article comparing NASCAR 1996 to NASCAR of today and how much the sport has changed, and changed for the worst.

Among the reasons for this change was NASCAR's blatant abandonment of the South and its countless race fans.

At the forefront of this national Southern decline is the parrell decline of Richard Petty Motorsports.

Much like when Dale Earnhardt Incorporated (DEI) was around, I cannot understand why all the best drivers and sponsors don't want to race for, and financially support this team. If you don't want to race for Richard Petty nor do you want to support Petty as a sponsor, something is wrong with your sport.

Its these two teams that should be the Hendrick Motorsports' and Roush-Fenway Racing of its day. The latter are the two most victorious Cup teams and their success is the same vision shared by all teams, Petty and now-rebranded Earnhardt-Ganassi alike.

The reason RPM fails is the same reason Jeffrey Earnhardt cannot find a "real" ride having to settle for Rick Ware Racing on an inconsistent basis. All the time I hear from friends "If you put the kid in top equipment you would see what he could do" or "then we'd see what he could do (or not do)" but as it is now, with second tier equipment at best, he like so many others struggles just to find and keep a ride.

Why?

Musical Chairs: The Music Stopped and they were left standing

Richard Petty Motorsports has been through a lot in recent years. From moving from its original shop in Level Cross, North Carolina where as I understand it, for example, sometimes it was hard finding people who wanted to work for them since they were located way out in the middle of the Carolina backwoods.

As one of the last teams to make the move to the Charlotte hub (AKA NASCAR's unofficial headquarters beyond Dayona's official stop) they faced a disadvantage from the beginning.

Then, while still Petty Enterprises, there was the failed Boston Venture's merger.

I remember watching with anticipation, the ESPN NASCAR Now! one-hour special from Randleman, North Carolina, where King Richard himself was interviewed boastfully speaking with obvious excitement on how this day, was going to be a new one for the company. Also, how he did it essentially to get on a level playing field with the rest of the bigger teams in the sport who had merged with a big-name corporation for financial support.

Roush Racing has Boston Red Sox owner John Henry are ghost-writing checks. Petty wanted and needed to do the same since Joe Gibbs and Rick Hendrick don't need the same type of corporate subsidy to survive.

You could tell it was a sad day, but a necessary day. I, like Boston Ventures, owner of the Six Flags theme parks, and National Enquirer among other smaller endeavors, wanted to get the team back in Victory Lane and I believed they would, sooner not later.

Bobby Labonte, with his championship experience and provisional in his back pocket signed on in 2008 bringing credibility to the team and hope; only to ask out a year later when the merger fell through. He lost his primary and longtime lucrative sponsor of the team, General Mills, who as we found out shortly after, went to Richard Childress Racing.

With no marquee driver, and the loss of income from the best sponsor they had, in short, the team merged with George Gillette of then Montreal Candian National Hockey League fame, to form a new Gillette Evernham Motorsports. This would quickly, and I mean quickly, change to the more marketable Richard Petty Motorsports team it enjoys today.

Team Downsizes but is it a bad thing?

Why do I like RPM? Not only are they Southern based and Southern owed (at its core with Petty as a figurehead owner), but more importantly, they are a reminder of yesteryear when NASCAR teams didn't just throw four cars out there for the sake of keeping up with the Hendrick's and Roush's.

If you read the second link on this page where I wrote the second of a two-part series on NASCAR in 1996- the last year it was as close to perfect as it could be without actually being the 1970's, when NASCAR was at its height. You will see that with the exception of Hendrick's three car outlier operation and two car team of Robert Yates Racing, every other team had only one car. I am a fan of smaller race teams (note, not too small, start-and-park-ers, you still have to honestly try).

We watched for years as someone did their best to drive the No. 43 while Kyle Petty drove the No. 45 in honor of his son Adam who died in 2000. It was here that Kyle kept saying he drove the car in memory of his son and to further promote the Victory Junction Gang among other notable causes.

While other teams changed and merged, and got bigger and sold out, Petty Enterprises didn't and we all understood why and accepted it.

This year RPM has already lost "star" driver in the overrated Kasey Kahne, whose boyish GQ looks will fit in perfectly with HMS "Hollywood Motor Sports" as I call his new found brood.

True, this surprisingly marketable, but inconsistent driver was the face of the team since they lacked any other real star quality. However, Elliott Sadler could pitch some Stanley and Best Buy product back in the day as well and for some reason, his sponsors seemed to be loyal to him despite not winning.

No matter.

Sadler will soon find himself either in the Nationwide or Camping World Truck series where someone of his talents would be better suited and where he can actually compete for titles and wins on a consistent basis. I think he could be the next Mike Skinner who similarly couldn't cut it at the Cup level but who found later success in the second and third tier circuits.

Finally, the team smartly cut ties with silver-spoon self-made millionaire Paul Menard, whose daddy owns a series of midwest-based hardware stores that bears the family name and whom sponsors his rides. With guaranteed sponsorship money comes a guaranteed ride. Must be nice.

While critics will note the loss of income to a cash-strapped team isn't smart, by not having to waste any more time and effort in a driver like Menard who also clearly belongs in a lower division evident by his current fifth place points standings compared to 23rd in Cup, the team can focus on the two drivers it has and make them better on a weekly basis.

So who do they have, exactly?

The team just re-signed A.J. Allmindinger, who finished 2008 very well for Team Red Bull, only to be given his walking papers in order to make room for another Californian in Scott Speed, who likely will also find himself without a Cup ride. As a cruel twist of fate, Kahne will have his spot next year, but only for that year before he goes to Team GQ (Hendrick Motorsports).

Why does Allmindinger matter? He's 22nd in points right now, which doesn't look good on the surface until you consider he's a streaky driver, unlike Millionaire-Menard, who brings nothing short of cash, to the table. This streak caused many fans to wonder why Allmindinger wasn't getting a ride post-2008 after finishing six of the last eight races with top 16 finishes for a similar two car team.

Many, myself included, thought he deserved a contract extension right then and there. After all, A.J.'s done and seen it all. From not qualifying some events in 2007 and 2008 to finding sporadic sponsorship similar to Travis Kvapil by the name of Hunt's Pizza, to a road course background, the kid had paid his dues.

The problem is what to do with Allmindinger. He's not very good on an oval but his qualifying has been getting better starting out on average 18th position this year, easily a career best. He's also won a pole and led the most laps of his short career.

So why do you get him?

Potential?

No.

I think Richard Petty Motorsports knows they don't want to see him flourish with another team should he be let go and he is good for one thing: Road course racing.

Why does this matter?

Ask Boris Said what one win can do for you and your career. RPM has to know they are taking a step backward next year with no Kahne but rebounded very nicely in singing Allmindinger and new teammate Marcos Ambrose.

At least we know they'll be competitive in two races: Watkins Glen and Sonoma. With any luck, they may be able to notch two top five's with one (Amborse) a real threat to bring home a win. If you told RPM they would have a really good shot at two wins next year, as they clearly will with these two drivers and these two tracks, don't you think they'd take it?

After all, it beats what they have now and next year should be much more cost efficient.

Ambrose Signing a Big Deal

Not only were there rumors of the Tasmanian driver going back to Australia to race, but with his signing the team assured themselves of being competitive for at least two races but they proved to skeptics that they are a free agent destination.

As one of those spectators who is surprised RPM has managed to last this long, they proved to me that drivers still recognize them as being a legit signing point.

Consider, they needed to replace up to three drivers in a single offseason. If not Ambrose then who?

Considering the circumstances, I think they did very well for themselves.

Rumors have it that Stanley/Best Buy will stay with the organization, although it is unclear to which driver they will sponsor. That has to be considered a big save since Best Buy as I understand it, is one of the better in the sport.

Ambrose, who made his name with Ford, gets to return to the make that made his name. That can't be under-estimated and has to be seen as some kind of wildcard for 2011 if all goes well.

Additionally, you have to understand from Ambrose's standpoint, while having a down year statistically this year, long term he's actually moving up to a more stable organization, from the single car JTG Daugherty Racing team that which he's leaving.

Finally, he's excited, likely again because a bigger team means more attention and more opportunities to be competitive.

Think how good he did at tiny JTG-Daugherty. Imagine what could do at RPM next year.

Sure, you could take it one step further and say the same thing, only greater, should he be a 4th car at Gibbs or Childress, where Menard went.

Then again, more time and effort would be split among larger crews and resources meaning he'd likely have to settle for 4th best which is what Menard will find out next year.

In all, we'll see how good it works. If they need any more inspiration, they should look for two-car team Red Bull as inspiration. I wish them the best of luck. They will need it and our support going at it alone in a world of four car conglomerates.

If America truly loves and underdog, their search should start and end here as far as the world of NASCAR is concerned.

Information and Statistics from ESPN.com, The Roanoke Times, Jayski, Fanhouse.com, Wikipedia, and SceneDaily directly contributed to the content of this article.

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NASCAR is a sport where things can go from good to bad in the blink of an eye. One wrong move and you can go from the the lead to the back.

There are many exciting drivers to watch on the Sprint Cup circuit, guys like four-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, but there are also plenty of racers who are just taking up space on the track.

This is a list of 10 Sprint Cup drivers who just haven't cut it this season. All 10 of these drivers have made at least five starts this season, and they range in experience from rookies to 18-year veterans.

Some have had past success, and others have had little success, but this season none of them have had success.

Begin Slideshow

If Saturday's Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 will go down in history as the final IZOD IndyCar Series race at Chicagoland Speedway, the fans in attendance and watching on television certainly got everything they hoped for in a finale.

Dario Franchitti held off a hard-charging Dan Wheldon after a daring call in the pits gave him the late-race lead, producing the 17th closest finish in IndyCar history.

His victory closed some of the gap on points leader Will Power, who had been leading late in the race but ran out of fuel with five laps to go to finish way down the running order.

All in all, the race featured a record-breaking 25 lead changes among 11 drivers.

Ryan Briscoe dominated the early stages of the event, battling side-by-side with Marco Andretti for a good chunk of the race's early stages. Briscoe, the polesitter and defending race winner, led 113 of the race's 200 laps, though he could only muster an 11th place finish.

Meanwhile, the top four drivers in the finishing order—Franchitti, Wheldon, Andretti, and Ryan Hunter-Reay—all led at least two laps, with Franchitti's 28 tops among them. Franchitti actually did not lead until the very end of the race, when his team gambled by not taking tires under the final caution.

While Briscoe could not keep others from leading laps while he was out in front, Franchitti managed to do just that

Some of the drivers who spent time up front were surprising, to say the least. Wheldon, Vitor Meira and Alex Lloyd all led a handful of laps. Even the part-time entries of Ed Carpenter and Sarah Fisher spent time up front.

Fisher stayed out under the race's second caution to gain the point, but managed to hold a top-three position for many laps after the green flag dropped.

Unfortunately for the little guys, nobody was really there at the end besides Wheldon. Meira salvaged a ninth place finish, but Fisher was the first car a lap down in 15th, Carpenter pulled out after 179 laps when his team couldn't get fuel into the car, and Lloyd crashed out to finish 21st.

Heartbreak was no stranger to the series' top team, either. Power nearly lost control of his car in the early laps of the race, making a fantastic save, a feat he would have to replicate a couple of other times before the night was over. Power drove his heart out all night, showing a level of talent we had previously only witnessed from him on the road and street courses, and was a contender for victory until the very end.

Unfortunately, Chicagoland left Power and his Team Penske crew with Indianapolis 500 deja vu: a fueler error ended all hope for a strong finish.

At Indy, it was Power driving off with part of his fuel assembly. At Chicago the team didn't quite get enough in the car to make it. To his credit, Power was surprisingly upbeat in post-race interviews, looking forward to the challenge of maintaining his points lead over the final three races.

With three races to go and Kentucky up next on the schedule, Power's points lead has shrunk from 59 to 23 over Franchitti. It may be a race between those two alone; third-place Scott Dixon is 85 points out, while no other driver is within 100.

For more on the IZOD IndyCar Series from Christopher Leone, go to OpenWheelAmerica.com.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

We all know "who wears the fire suit" at Bleacher Report: scantily-clad women in slide shows, and the writers who garner hundreds of thousands of hits by displaying the "assets" of one sport or another's athletes, wives, girlfriends, second-cousins' sisters' friends' roommates, etc.

Oops. I almost forgot the clearly newsworthy pictures of women who totally thought about this one super-cool sport when they were, like, 12 or something, but then were photographed wearing a swimsuit made of high-grade twine at 18.

Sorry, folks, but it had to be done: Kara Martin threw down the gauntlet.

Martin's well-read feature blessed the female members of the Bleacher Report NASCAR community, showing off the supposed hunks of NASCAR.

This challenge simply can't go unanswered, not when there are women like Chrissie Newman, Katie Kenseth, Ingrid Vandebosch, Amanda Sadler, and the above-pictured DeLana Harvick blessing the infield and the pits every race.

You didn't really think you would get away with that did you, Kara? (Leaving off Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch...did you really think it would go unnoticed?)

As Katy Perry was mandated to answer Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind" with her smash hit, "California Gurls," so I must respond to Ms. Martin's blatant sexualization of NASCAR's finest drivers.

Allow me to retort.

I present to you: the ten best bodies NASCAR has to offer in 2010.

Yes, Kara needed 15 slides. I can do it in 10. Enjoy.

Begin Slideshow

Labor Day racing festivities are rapidly approaching at Atlanta Motor Speedway, so it is time to revisit a racing event that had it all, drama, excitement, firsts and lasts.

There are so many great NASCAR races, but the 1992 Hooters 500 must rank near the top.

Temporary seats had been erected and even they were sold out.  It was the final race of the season under the points system that was tallied after all the races were run.

Davey Allison needed a sixth place finish to claim the Winston Cup  (Sprint Cup) title.  Alan Kulwicki was in second place, 30 points behind Allison.  Georgia favorite Bill Elliott had won the spring race at Atlanta Motor Speedway and was 40 points behind the leader in third place.

A crowd estimated at 150,000 had gathered not only to see a race, crown a Champion, but to bear witness to Richard Petty's final race.

Ironically, Jeff Gordon was making his first Cup start.  Rick Mast captured his first career pole.

On lap 254, Davey Allison crashed with Ernie Irvan, dashing his hopes to claim the series title.  Now it was up to Alan Kulwicki and his crew chief, Paul Andrews, to settle the score with Bill Elliott.

Kulwicki was intense and serious with the ability as an owner/driver to plan strategy while driving as he worked with Andrews.

Kulwicki needed bonus points for leading the most laps and stayed on the track as Elliott closed on him, despite running low on fuel.

Kulwicki made it to the pits despite transmission problems and took gas only.  His crew pushed him from the pits.

Elliott won the race having led 102 laps, while Kulwicki led 103 laps.  Kulwicki won the Championship title having led the most laps.

One more lap led by Elliott would have given him the Championship, though points would have been tied with Kulwicki.  Elliott would have broken the tie because he had five wins that season compared to two for Kulwicki.

Richard Petty had a bad day at the track and his crew worked to get his car running.  Petty took his heavily damaged car around the track on the last few laps and he waved to the crowd.

Fans watching the Hooters 500 that day witnessed drama, racing at it's best and history in the making.

Begin Slideshow

It would seem modern political campaigns are more concerned about search engines than real engines, but Florida Governor Charlie Crist has taken a different tack this political season. Not only has the lifelong Republican switched to Independent last April in his bid to secure the open Florida U.S. Senate seat, but he has also taken his campaign message to the people via a variety of means.

Crist chose a V-8 high horsepower FASCAR Pro-Truck racing machine from many entries at New Smyrna Speedway in New Smyrna Beach, Florida earlier this year. The bright red No. 11 Ford race truck owned by Robert Strader of B&H Truck and RV Services, Inc. and driven by his son, FSU student Bobby Strader, now carries “Charlie Crist for U.S. Senate” decals on it when it roars to the green flag.

While Crist is busy spreading focused quotes like: "It's about the people, not about the party,” he also takes time to relate to the many folks he encounters. It was that process that hooked him up with 23-year-old Strader at New Smyrna Speedway. 

Track owner Robert Hart explained Crist’s visit to his speedway.

“He had been to our racetrack in New Smyrna,” Hart said. “He poured beer, drank beer, got in with the guys and really became one of the people. Not just for himself. He really enjoyed it.”

Crist was pleased about the chance meeting with the local racing team.

“It was a wonderful opportunity to get together and ever since then we’ve been running and racing together,” Crist said.

Young Strader enjoyed the process only after his dad urged him to meet the governor. 

“We met back in February,” Strader said. “He came down to the World Series of Asphalt Racing at New Smyrna Speedway. We hit it off because we are both Florida State. He’s an alumnus. 

“Ever since then we’ve both been able to help each other. I’m helping to get the word out for his race to the U.S. Senate and it’s an honor to have his name on our truck.”

During a “meet and greet” session recently at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Hall 803 in Orlando , Fla., the Straders brought out the No. 11 Ford race truck for public display.

Robert Hart attended that event out of respect.

“I’m here to support him, because he supported us,” Hart said. “We got Mr. Strader here with his truck that’s got a Charlie Crist sign on it, so two of us can’t be wrong.“

The economy has had profound effects on candidates and business owners. Hart spends most of his time with the difficult task of running a racetrack.

“The biggest thing is trying to get a purse worthwhile for racing,” Hart added. “It’s very difficult. I’ve only got one night a week to crack the nut to keep that track open.”

Strader is sympathetic.

“The track owner Robert Hart, he puts a lot into letting us race,” Strader said. Without him keeping those racetracks open, we would have nowhere to go locally.”

Robert Strader, Bobby’s father, understands the significance of local racing. 

“If it wasn’t for the local level racing that we do, there would be no NASCAR,” Strader said. “Although there is no money to be won in our level, people get to see what our local tracks are like and meet the drivers.”

At New Smyrna Speedway you might see advertising banners from Coca-Cola, Budweiser, Sunoco, and stickers from JEGS high performance parts, but don’t look for major sponsors on race car hoods and quarter panels. Young Strader explained.

“All the local racers and short track guys have to do everything themselves,” Strader said. “It’s all their blood, sweat, and tears that goes into these cars.”

Strader is determined to finish up at FSU, and discussed his plans for the future.

“I’ll be done in December with a double major in accounting and finance and after that we do not know where we are going to take this as far as we can,” Strader said. “We’re working very hard to try to get somebody on board that respects how clean we are and how hard we work and where we’re going with this operation.”

Just like Crist looks to move up to the U.S.Senate, the Straders hope to move up to NASCAR. Crist seeks voters. The Straders seek sponsors.

When asked to compare his campaign to motorsports, Crist was swift to answer.

“Well, they are both races,” Crist said. "No question about it. You got to run hard. You got to run smart. You got to run safe.”

Crist had a faster response about what he prefers when going to New Smyrna Speedway.

“Watching Robert win,” he said.

Perhaps these grassroots will be the fast patches of earth where new careers launch.

Photo credit: Charlie Crist and Bobby Strader by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com

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While the Red Bull Racing drama plays out on the Cup level, including the juggling of drivers Brian Vickers, Scott Speed, and Kasey Kahne set for the 2011 season, a new Red Bull Racing driver, Cole Whitt, has quietly joined the fray.

Whitt, Red Bull's newest up and comer, is currently racing in the K&N Pro Series East, one of NASCAR's developmental leagues. And he has indeed been making his own Red Bull mark, most recently scoring a runner up finish at Gresham Motorsports Park this past weekend and a top five finish at Lee USA Speedway in the prior East Series race.

With his most recent runner up finish, Whitt has also garnered himself a place in the top five in the championship standings in the K&N Pro Series, currently sitting in the third spot. He is next scheduled to race his No. 84 Red Bull Toyota in the New Hampshire 125 on September 17th at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Whitt definitely was looking forward to racing at Gresham Park Motorsports. In fact, Whitt boldly predicted that his team had a chance for a win there in spite of a rocky test session.

"I think we will be fine at Gresham," Whitt said. "We got a test in there but unfortunately had a tire go down and had a little more work to do. But all in all the test weekend went well and our car was fast."

"Going into this race, everyone here seems to be more excited than going to any other track," Whitt continued prior to the race. "I think we will have a good chance to win it."

Whitt almost fulfilled that prophecy, coming in second behind first-ever race winner Ty Dillon, grandson of Richard Childress.  

"Our car seemed to get better and better and then those reds just kind of killed us," Whitt said of the red flags during the race run.  "It was horrible just sitting there and it was hot but we come home second and we're happy with it and we will take what we got."

Whitt was especially looking forward to getting back into race mode this weekend. The K&N Pro Series East had been idle for the past few weeks since they last raced on July 30th at Lee USA Speedway.

"I've been trying to keep busy at the shop," Whitt said. "It takes forever in between races and I just chomp at the bit to go racing for sure."

"Sometimes I don't get to sleep because I'm so excited to go racing," Whitt continued.  "It sucks that we don't get to go every weekend. You try to keep yourself busy and find some type of fix for how bad you just want to race."

One way that Whitt does manage to keep busy is indulging in his favorite hobby, video games. The young driver's favorite is "Call of Duty". "That's pretty much the only one I play," Whitt said.

The Red Bull racer's only other sports passion is football, especially college football, another past time that now keeps him occupied in between races.

"I like college football more than I like the NFL," Whitt said. "I'm a big fan of the San Diego Chargers, but they don't give you much to cheer about."

The video game and the football fandom may come in handy as the driver awaits his next turn behind the wheel in a few weeks.  However, the hiatus in between races has given the young Red Bull driver a chance to reflect a bit on his season to date.

"We've done pretty good this year," Whitt said. "The whole DNF deal killed us at Iowa in the third race. And New Hampshire killed a little bit of the momentum we had."

But Whitt is now focused solely on race wins, especially since his place in the points standings, third at present, seems to be fairly secure.

"I don't really look at the points right now," Whitt said. "I'm not even worried about the championship. Going into the season, that was our first goal but reaching that right now probably isn't realistic."

"We will keep going for wins and we will do everything we can to collect some wins," Whitt said emphatically. "We want to go to every race and be first in practice and on the pole for qualifying and win the race."

"That's our goal going to each track," Whitt said. "If we can do that then the points will take care of itself."

So, Red Bull Cup aces, Brian Vickers and Scott Speed and future Red Bull racer Kasey Kahne beware. Cole Whitt has announced his Red Bull presence and is joining the fray as he makes his way through the ranks in NASCAR.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Each week, Jeff Gordon hits the track knowing he's risking his life for a career he enjoys. His wife Ingrid stands by his decision to take that risk and achieve victory.

Gordon now has two children that watch him go fast every Sunday.

However, when next Sunday comes around, his daughter Ella will be riding with him in more than just spirit.

When NASCAR makes the trip to the Atlanta Motor Speedway in one week, Gordon will have Ella's influence on his car. With the help of renowned NASCAR artist Sam Bass, who designed every paint scheme Gordon has driven since 1992, Gordon will drive a car created by his 3-year-old daughter.

The car will help promote awareness for the newly-renamed Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation, which focuses on pediatric cancer and the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital.

For Bass, the opportunity was a special one because it allowed Ella to show her own creativity.

"Ella was raring to go and spent about an hour and a half just making marks, squiggles and creating," Bass said.

One unique aspect of the car is the hand prints on the sides. Bass said Ella is not old enough to write her own name, but what she did was put her hand in watercolor paint and put hand prints on the paper.

In a way, it can be considered Ella's "signature."

Bass then took Ella's idea, and put his own refinements to make it one of the most unique paint schemes to be run this season.

Katie Harty, a representative for the foundation, says the Ella-inspired paint scheme represents a new direction for the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation.

"Over the years we have really narrowed our mission to pediatric cancer [research, patient support and treatment programs] along with supporting the Jeff Gordon Children's Hospital and we felt it was time that our name focused on what we were focused on and that is children," Harty said.

In 2009, the foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary, and for most of those years Gordon and die-cast manufacturer Motorsports Authentics made collectible cars to raise funding for the foundation.

Famous characters such as Elmo and Speed Racer have been on the cars, but not once has a foundation car gone on the race track.

The 2010 edition will be the first time the Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation will be in race competition.

Bass says the car looks like Ella had come up and started drawing on it, which is the exact look they were going for.

"That is how it was supposed to come off, that a child did this car and it comes across very well and I'm quite proud of that," Bass said.

Bass is proud of the car especially since he wasn't the primary designer. He later joked that if Gordon wins the race in the car, he was going to do some hiring at his gallery.

"She [Ella] will have a job here waiting for her," he said.

The DuPont/Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation Ella-designed car will take the green flag next Sunday at 7:30 p.m.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

With only six races to go in the 2010 Formula One Championship season, it’s time for the big teams to make some difficult decisions and pick a preferred driver for the remainder of the season to maximize the team’s chances of taking out the championship.

Leading in to the Belgian Grand Prix, there were five drivers who were in a position—some better than others—to take out the championship with both McLaren and Red Bull drivers being joined by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso as the outside chance.

Coming out of the race, everything has changed. Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber have opened up clear breaks on their respective teammates. Both now have over a full race win advantage and surely must now be anointed as their team’s No. 1 driver.

At Red Bull, the decision is seemingly very easy. Despite statements from the team earlier this year after the Turkish Grand Prix and some shenanigans around preferential treatment with access to newly developed parts at Silverstone, Webber has taken a clear step forward and established himself as the team’s best hope to take out the championship.

It may well be that Sebastian Vettel has more raw talent than Webber, but his inconsistency, rash decisions and propensity to crash has destroyed his chances for success this year. His race at Spa merely served to underline the already widespread belief that his impetuousness would cost him the championship.

The manoeuvre that Vettel pulled which lead to the collision with Jenson Button defies explanation. It was an extremely aggressive move which ended with Button’s car out of the race and Vettel heading in for one of five trips to the pits for the race. He was to pit at least once more for puncturing his tyre in a later overtaking effort that went wrong.

His litany of mistakes meant that he came out of the race without points and now sits 28 points behind Webber and should be told to support his more consistent teammate over the remaining races.
At McLaren, a similar situation has arisen, but for completely different reasons. Jenson Button was the innocent victim of today’s action, but has been slowly slipping behind his teammate since his early successes in Australia and China.

While there would be a fair bit of sympathy for the reigning world champion, the terrible reality of F1 is that it cares little for reputation and previous success. All that matters is getting the team in the best possible position to take out the championship.

Of course, team orders are specifically banned in the world of F1, so neither Button or Vettel could be told to yield to their more highly placed teammates, but there are any number of tactics that can be employed.

Cars can develop “brake problems” or “lose grip” to help explain a drop in lap times to allow a team mate to pass.

Subtlety is the key, lest teams want to end up facing the wrath of the administrators. Ferrari will be able to advise of the consequence after they face the World Motor Sport Council in ten days time to face charges arising out of the German GP.

The teams have a couple of weeks to figure out how to progress their season before the circus hits Monza—another circuit that the McLaren’s will like more than Red Bull. From there it is back to tracks that are better suited to Red Bull’s strengths for the remainder of the season.

The racing may not be exciting, but there is plenty of interest remaining in the title chase with only three points separating leader Hamilton for Webber.

Now it gets serious.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

It was a wild race for the drivers in the Izod IndyCar race at Chicagoland, best described as "hell" by Tony Kanaan.

If it wasn't for the open-wheel cars, one would have thought they were watching a NASCAR race as the cars ran in a pack often four abreast, drafting one another and bumping tires at speeds in excess of 200 mph.

Will Power led much of the race, but was forced to take two gallons of fuel near the end of the race under green flag conditions, which impacted his points lead.

Dario Franchitti took the win in his No. 10 Ganassi Racing car with an atypical paint job of blue rather than his well known red racer.  Dan Wheldon finished second and Marco Andretti finished third.

Franchitti described the race as being like "restrictor plate racing."  He knows a bit about that from his stint in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.

Ryan Hunter Reay described the race as "nuts."  Many drivers reacted much the same, saying there would be some hard feelings between the drivers after such chaotic racing especially as they tried to navigate lapped cars.

Milka Duno was the last car running, finishing three laps down and was an obstacle to be dodged by the fast pack of some 12 or 13 cars that ran within a second of the leader.

Danica Patrick seemed to fade a bit when the going got tough toward the front and finished in 14th position.

Sara Fisher was pleased with her performance having led 10 laps and finishing in 15th place.

Will Power exuded disappointment and summed up his feelings by saying, "that's racing."  Power added, "never thought you could race ovals like that."   He lost some 36 points to Dario Franchitti in tonight's race leaving him only 23 points in the lead.

The Peak Antifreeze & Motor Oil Indy 300 was indeed an exciting race to watch, perhaps the best they have had all season.  The drivers who were interviewed after the race all agreed it was great for TV, but the fun factor was replaced by some scary fast side-by-side racing for the drivers.

IndyCar racing at Chicagoland would have made a wild NASCAR race had it been with stock cars. It would be great to see that kind of racing more often if it wasn't so dangerous.

Thankfully the race ended without any serious accidents or driver injuries.  Now with three races left this season, the IndyCar drivers move on to Kentucky, Motegi, and Homestead.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

To gain an advantage, you need to do whatever you can. JR Motorsports is doing that by taking two Canadian drivers to the only NASCAR Nationwide Series Canadian stop.

Missausaga, Ontario, native Ron Fellows will be behind the wheel of a JR Motorsports car for the fifth time in his career.

In those five starts, he has one win, three top-fives and, four top-10 finishes with seven laps led.

Fellows knows his way around Montreal, as proven in 2008, when he qualified sixth and led seven laps en route to becoming the first Canadian to win on Canadian soil.

"Montreal is a great event, not only for the Quebec-based fans, but for the teams too," Fellows said in the team preview. "It's such a change of pace from what we typically deal with. Most of the tracks we visit in the states aren't in the middle of a city like Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. So it's definitely a unique weekend. My family always enjoys going to Montreal, especially all the great restaurants."

In three starts on the 2.71-mile road course, Fellows has one win and two top-fives, with an average finish of fourth.

"As far as the track goes, you need the best of both worlds," Fellows said. "You need good brakes and a lot of power. The track has some very long straightaways followed by high braking corners. Our Canadian Tire Chevrolet will need a lot of horsepower to get off the corners and onto the straightaways with speed, but we'll have to have a good brake package in order to get slowed down enough to make those sharp corners. It's a fast, fun track and you get to do a lot of shifting."

Canadian Tire, one of Canada's most shopped general retailers, will be sponsoring Fellows. They have over 480 stores in Canada and are currently the title sponsor of the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series (NCTS).

NCTS Points Leader J.R. Fitzpatrick will be aboard the second JR Motorsports car, driving the No. 7 Shick Hydro Chevrolet.

This will be Fitzpatrick's third start with JRM this year. Earlier this year, he finished seventh at Road America and 13th at Watkin's Glen International.

"It's been a good experience for me to work with Tony Eury Jr. and all the guys on the Shick Hydro team at JRM," Fitzpatrick said. "We've had one top-10 effort in my two races with the team, but now I want to go out there and get a top-five run at Montreal. I know we're a good enough team to do it. We just need to stay focused and stay out of trouble, which at Montreal cna be a tough thing to do. Sometimes tough just seems to find you there."

Fitzpatrick will compete in the NCTS race Sunday morning before the Nationwide race.

Currently with an average finish of 3.7, Fitzpatrick leads D.J. Kennington by 16 points. He has led 99 laps this year with two road-course wins (Mosport, Edmonton), six top-fives, and nine top-10s in nine starts.

"I think running the Canadian Tire Series race on Sunday morning before the Nationwide race is a good thing," he said. "Not only have we been running great in that series, but as a driver any time you can get more laps at a track you're going to take advantage of it. Plus, we're running full-time in that series and have the championship points lead right now. It's a thrill to have the potential to win that race and the Nationwide Series race. I'm really looking forward to that chance."

Both Fellows and Fitzpatrick look to do well as the No. 88 sits seventh and the No. 7 sits 18th in owner's points.

EVENT: NAPA Auto Parts 200

LENGTH: 74 laps

TRACK: Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2.709-mile road course)

DATE: Sunday August 29, 2010

TV: ESPN2 (coverage begins at 2:00p.m. EST)

RADIO: MRN (broadcast begins at 2:00p.m. EST) 

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

What can you say about Spa, eh?

What a brilliant restart to the season we were treated to today.  For the first time in 2010, Q1 was actually worth watching, Q2 provided shocks, and although Q3 was a little flat, it has produced a tantalizing grid! 

Qualifying One

Di Grassi opened the session, followed by almost all the other drivers.  Belgium’s weather has been as unpredictable as ever this weekend and although the track was dryish when the light went green, black clouds loomed over the circuit. 

It didn’t take long for the wet areas of the track (practice three had been wet) to cause havoc! 

Petrov’s Renault went slightly wide and hit a damp patch sending his car spinning out.  The Renault was finished, and I thought so too was Q1...how wrong I was!

The session had to be red flagged as Petrov’s bumble bee car was in a difficult place to salvage.

When the session did restart a few minutes later, Buemi led out the pack as the rain began to fall!

There were spins galore at Turn 14 as many drivers struggled with the dangerous conditions.  These spins will be investigated later today.

Times were set, but everyone darted into the pits for more sensible tyres.

With 11 minutes to go here were the positions:

Hamilton, Button, Massa, Barichello, Rosberg, Webber, Liuzzi, Schumacher, Alonso, Glock, Kobayashi, Hulkenberg, Yamamoto, Kubica, Rosberg, Sutil, Vettel, Senna, Buemi, Alguersuari, Kovalainen, di Grassi, Trulli, Petrov.

As you’ll probably notice, at this point there were new teams in the safe zone!  In fact, at one point, four new cars were safe!

As the session returned to normality, the bigger drivers found crucial speed, and the newer drivers slipped down.  Nevertheless, Spa’s Q1 had been a thrill and most importantly of all...Glock and Kovalainen had made it through!

Some may argue that they were only there thanks to the misfortune of the Saubers and Petrov (all of whom had spun out), but I’d like to think that on previous performances, if any of the new teams were going to make it to Q2, Kovalainen and Glock would be the guys to do it for them. 

Q1 Top Three

Rosberg
Hulkenberg
Barrichello

Out in Q1

Trulli, Kobayashi, Senna, Yamamoto, de la Rossa, di Grassi, Petrov.

 
Qualifying Two

More rain was expected for this session so all of the drivers were keen to get a lap in.  Hamilton led the pack out and set the first time of 1:50:794.

Ten minutes in the positions were as follows:

Hamilton, Webber, Kubica, Rosberg, Button, Massa, Hulkenberg, Barrichello, Alguersuari, Schumacher, Buemi, Alonso, Vettel, Sutil, Glock, Liuzzi, Kovalainen.

Neither Alonso nor Vettel looked particularly fast throughout qualifying but both men managed to claw their way up the standings to safe positions.

The drivers to watch were the struggling Mercedes who yet again looked to be exiting far earlier that they would like!

With six minutes left, we had seen no rain, but spins from Massa and Liuzzi.  It was nice to see Glock lapping in P15, but the real action was a little higher with Button, Rosberg, and Barrichello all in the knockout zone.

The last few minutes were brilliant.  Button hit about a much traffic as a busy day in Manhattan, but still got up to P1, the Ferraris threatened a drop out but found speed, Webber pulled some time out of the bag, and Barrichello did enough to stay safe.  

However, all this came at a heavy and embarrassing price for the Mercedes who just couldn’t find the speed.

I still don’t understand Schumacher’s comeback or Mercedes’s purchase of Honda/Brawn and I think there will be some serious head scratching going on in the silver garage.  

Q2 Top Three

Hamilton
Button
Vettel 

Out in Q2

Scumacher, Rosberg, Alguarsuari, Liuzzi, Buemi, Kovalainen, Glock.

 
Qualifying Three

Unfortunately, Q3 was a bit flat.  Hamilton again led the snake of cars out and set the first time of 1:46:203.

After all drivers had set a time the grid was as follows:

Webber, Kubica, Vettel, Hamilton, Massa, Button, Sutil, Barrichello, Hulkenberg, Alonso.

Not a lot changed after this.  Alonso just couldn’t find any speed and stayed down, Hamilton and Kubica did great jobs to finish well, and Button put in a strong performance too.

The Ferraris don’t look good in Spa, so I think tomorrow will be a fight between McLaren and Red Bull.  I hope that Kubica will be able to mix things up a bit as well.

All in all, Spa produced a great qualifying session today and an exciting grid.  Sure we ended up with yet another Red Bull pole, but you just never know what to expect at Spa!

FYI I’d just like to say that it will be difficult for me to get to my computer today so thanks in advance to any editors or commenters!

Provisional Grid

Webber
Hamilton
Kubica
Vettel
Button
Massa
Barrichello
Sutil
Hulkenberg
Alonso
Schumacher
Rosberg
Alguersuari
Liuzzi
Buemi
Kovalainen
Glock
Trulli
Kobayashi
Senna
Yamamoto
de la Rossa
di Grassi
Petrov

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Ron Fellows has five starts for JR Motorsports and one resulted in a win at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2008, the sight of Sunday's race.

Both drivers for JR Motorsports hail from Canada as they prepare for the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal, Canada.  Fellows is from Windsor, Ontario and Fitzpatrick's hometown is Cambridge, Ontario.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a 2.71 mile circuit with 13 turns on a man-made island in the center of the St. Lawrence River which is considered part of Montreal.

Fellows will be driving the Canadian Tire No. 88 and Fitzpatrick will be driving the Schick Hydro No. 7 Chevy under the guidance of Tony Eury Jr.

Fitzpatrick will run the Canadian Tire Series race just prior to the NASCAR Nationwide race on Sunday.  He runs that series full-time and is currently in the points lead.  The additional track time should be to his advantage in the NASCAR Nationwide race.

Fellows said of the Canadian circuit, "As far as the track goes, you need the best of both worlds.  You need good brakes and a lot of power.  The track has some very long straightaways followed by high braking corners."

Road course ace, Fellows, has three class championships in the American Lemans Series, two class wins in the 24 Hours of LeMans, and 19 overall victories in the SCCA Trans-Am Series as a driver for the Corvette Racing Team.

Fitzpatrick has two starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with a career best finish of seventh at Road America.

Perhaps one of the two Canadian drivers can bring a win to JR Motorsports this weekend in Canada.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

As Fernando Alonso and the rest of the F1 circus splutters back into life this week, so do the All-Motorsport Power Rankings, fully recovered and relaxed after two weeks on a lounger around a pool surrounded by other tongue-in-cheek sports columns (and yes, the Germans still get their towels there first).

Returning this week we cast a sideways eye over the best news of not only this week, but some of the stuff just too good to let slip away in the summer break.

From announcements ready to 2011 to the hints and clues to what lies ahead in the rest of 2010, the Power Rankings will be here, whether you like it or not.

Begin Slideshow

There is nothing sadder than the death of a race dream, symbolized by the fire sale just announced to liquidate the race assets of Kirk Shelmerdine, the former crew chief and Cup competitor.  

Yet in a most sorrowful way, the public auction of Shelmerdine's race shop, cars, and other equipment may be the foreshadowing of things to come for many of NASCAR's independent race teams.

Shelmerdine's auction, under the supervision of Iron Horse Auction Company, will be held on Tuesday, September 14th at 11:00 AM on the premises of his race shop in Welcome, North Carolina.  Some of the items that will be sold at auction will be three Cup COT cars, a Featherlite car hauler, pit equipment, shop equipment, and vehicle parts, among others.

There is no doubt that Shelmerdine could never have predicted that the end of his independent team and his run as a race car driver would come in a public auction.  The driver and team owner cited the lack of sponsorship, as well as the lack of technological support for independent teams as the primary sources of his financial woes.

Shelmerdine certainly has fallen a long way from his perch high atop the rungs of the NASCAR ladder. In the early 1980s, Shelmerdine had it all, crew chiefing for the "Intimidator," Dale Earnhardt himself.

He was the youngest crew chief ever to win a NASCAR race and the youngest crew chief to win a Cup title.

"Kirk understands every facet of this sport better than anyone else I know," Earnhardt once said of his then crew chief.  "His hard work and dedication are what sets him apart from the rest."

After reaching the pinnacles of NASCAR achievement, Shelmerdine decided to pack it in as Earnhardt's crew chief. He "retired" in 1992 to pursue his real dream—being a NASCAR Cup driver.

Shelmerdine initially ran in the ARCA Series, in which he visited the victory lane three times.  He also ran in all of NASCAR's three divisions, including Cup, Nationwide, and the Truck Series.

Unfortunately, Shelmerdine lagged in the mid to back of the pack in most of the races in which he participated.  He started his own Cup team in 2002, however, that really never took off either and he ended up primarily in the field-filler role.

"It's the toughest thing there is," Shelmerdine said of that time in his career.  "We're proud to be here, even though we're not competitive at this point."

Even with his savings from his heydey with Earnhardt and Richard Childress Racing, Shelmerdine found it challenging as an independent team to make it with little sponsorship funding and even more sparse race purses.

"We know we're doing the impossible," Shelmerdine said of his attempt to run in the Cup Series.  "We may be king of the junk cars but that's something."

"It's hard for others to realize the odds we're up against," Shelmerdine continued.  "But we hold our heads up knowing that we're doing what can't be done."

Yet, in spite of all the blood, sweat, and tears, Shelmerdine has succumbed to those odds.  The crew chief turned driver and race team owner has reached the end of his independent run, culminating in the auction of everything that he has worked so hard to obtain.

Unfortunately, Shelmerdine may also be the poster child of things to come for other independent teams. And there are many that are struggling at the highest level of NASCAR, the Sprint Cup Series.

Probably one of the most visible in this same category is Robby Gordon, principal of Robby Gordon Motorsports.  Gordon's team has struggled mightily, with an average finish of 34th and the omnipresent danger of not making the show.

In addition to those troubles, Gordon has also had financial woes, having to sit out races due to lack of sponsorship.  His team's only saving from public auction grace came recently when Kevin Conway split from Front Row Motorsports, bringing himself and sponsor Extenze, to Gordon's team for the rest of the year.

Will independents like Robby Gordon, or Front Row Motorsports for that matter, go the way of Kirk Shelmerdine?  Only time, sponsorship dollars, and the state of the economy will tell.

But in the meantime, Shelmerdine will no doubt struggle through the most difficult time in his life, watching all that he has worked so hard to accumulate be auctioned off piece by piece.

In spite of it all, Shelmerdine will close this last chapter in his racing life with his head held high.

"I'm extremely proud of what we've built and accomplished here over the years," Shelmerdine said. "But the time has come for a completely new business model."

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

This weekend, the IZOD IndyCar Series enters the fourth and final quarter of the season. The stretch starts with the Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 at the Chicagoland Speedway.

Last year's race, won by Ryan Briscoe by about six inches over Scott Dixon, was yet another example of how exciting IndyCar racing can be when the series heads to the Illinois speedway, and nobody expects anything different this year.

In the lone practice session preceding qualifying, Briscoe once again paced Dixon, though the gap was much larger. Briscoe's 217.874 mph best lap was a full mile better than Dixon. Will Power, the series points leader despite only ranking eighth in the oval championship, had the third best lap, with the four Andretti Autosport drivers - Marco Andretti, Danica Patrick, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Tony Kanaan - ranking fourth through seventh.

In qualifying, Briscoe took the pole over Dario Franchitti as well as teammates Power, Helio Castroneves, and Andretti. Dixon could only muster a 15th place qualifying run.

Patrick, in particular, has to be excited to return to the ovals, after ranking a dismal 15th in the final road course standings. She was the only Andretti driver to place outside the top 10. Meanwhile, she ranks sixth in the oval standings, with a runner-up finish at Texas her best run of the season.

The field at Chicagoland, a whopping 29 cars, will be the largest field of the season (excluding Indianapolis) and the largest in a non-500 field since 28 showed up for this race in 2008. Entries for Graham Rahal, Ed Carpenter, Davey Hamilton, Jay Howard, and Sarah Fisher have expanded the field from the 24 full-season entries.

Four times out of nine, the winner has come from the pole position, a feat Briscoe achieved last year, after Castroneves won from the last starting spot the year before. Penske drivers have won the past two events at Chicagoland, while perennial series power Chip Ganassi Racing has only one win at the track, by Dan Wheldon in 2006.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Did you just feel a chill go through the room and a giant sigh of relief brush through the hallway like a gale force wind? 

That was the collective feeling of the IZOD IndyCar series drivers after leaving behind the road and street courses for the year and returning to ovals for the final four races of the season.

Every driver except of course Will Power.  Power won five of the nine road and street courses and finished on the podium in all but one race, a personally horrific fourth place finish at Barber Motorsports Park. 

So that sigh of relief? 

That was Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon realizing their chances at the 2010 IZOD IndyCar Championship are greatly improved by the remaining four 1.5 mile ovals.  What remains to be seen is whether Franchitti can overcome his 59 point deficit or if Dixon can overcome his 95 point backmark.

The maximum number of points available for the winner of any race in the IZOD IndyCar series is 53 points, 50 for winning, two for the most laps led, and one for the pole position.  Second place earns 40 points, meaning a first place finisher can always gain between seven and 13 points over second place. 

This gap is not large enough to make up the current deficit for the drivers of Chip Ganassi Racing, so Franchitti and Dixon must finish several spots above Power at the remaining races to have a shot at the championship.  Of course, a crash by Power would bring it wide open, while a crash by Franchitti could slam the championship door shut.

Power has never won an oval race, while the Target Chip Ganassi team has won on all of the remaining tracks.  Power does have the benefit of being on Team Penske and being the most locked-in driver in the field at the moment, but he does lack overall experience on tracks with four left turns.

The track is quite simple, as a D-shaped oval with 11 degree banking on the front stretch, five degrees on the back stretch, and 18 degrees in the turns.  In these previews, you may be used to me explaining where major passing zones are the tracks, well this will be my favorite. 

There will be two and three wide actions throughout the entire one and a half mile track, with passing throughout.  So strap in while watching, because with a record 29 cars on the track there is going to be some incredible action.

There are four former winners in the field.  Team Penske has won the last two years in a row with Ryan Briscoe in 2009 and Helio Castroneves in 2009.  Dario Franchitti and Dan Wheldon won the race for Chip Ganassi, while Wheldon also won the 2005 race with Andretti.  Scott Dixon also won in 1999 and 2000 in the CART Indy Lights Series.

The field expanding to 29 cars for the race means there will be several new cars and drivers on track. 

Ed Carpenter returns to Panther Racing in his partnership with Vision and Fuzzy's Vodka.  Carpenter will run the remaining US ovals with the team and the sponsorship he had at the 2010 Indianapolis 500.

Ana Beatriz also returns with Dreyer and Reinbold Racing, filling in for Mike Conway while he is recovering from injuries.  Davey Hamilton will get another shot with de Ferran Dragon Racing and the support of HP Computers.  Tomas Scheckter will continue his season with a new team, driving the No. 36 car for Conquest Racing.  J

ay Howard returns for his last race with Sarah Fisher Racing, but he has hinted he may have other options lined up for the end of the year.  Sarah Fisher also will run her No. 67 Dollar General Car.

Last years race featured just 23 cars, but the action was still intense. 

The cars stormed around the track, wheel to wheel in what looked like an accident waiting to happen.  Only two cars excited the race due to contact, and both were with the wall.  With 29 cars on the track however, the racing will be very tight and incidents seem likely.  Drivers will have to keep their energy and focus up for all 200 laps of the event.

The race will be broadcast live on Versus network at 7 p.m. Saturday night.  Qualifying can be seen starting at 5 p.m. Friday night.  Night racing under the lights in Joliet, Il., is the perfect welcome back for the series after a string of road and street courses.

To further get you ready for the 2010 Peak Antifreeze Indy 300, we present our writer's picks.

Chad Smith

First to crash: Bertrand Baguette
The rookie will probably be starting near the back, and lets face it, that’s where the trouble will be in the 29 car field.

Dark horse: Ryan Hunter-Reay
I wanted so bad to put Dan Wheldon here, but I’m going with RHR. Ryan has finished in the top ten in two of the last three races here. Ryan will either wind up in the top five, or in the bottom five.

Third place: Will Power
With Dario on his heels, Power needs to have a solid finish to keep his points lead at a safe distance. In his only race here in 2008, he finished in fifth, and a third place finish should keep him safely in the lead.

Second place: Dario Franchitti
Dario has the championship in his sights, and he knows he has to be on top of his game in order to get it. A top three finish will be nice, but it all depends on where Power finishes.

Race winner: Scott Dixon
Scott still may have an outside shot at the title, but he will need Dario and Power to have bad nights. Dixon has finished in second place here four times, and he may finally get over the hump Saturday night.

Christopher Leone

Win: Scott Dixon. One of the best oval drivers on the circuit is due for another oval win.

Place: Ryan Briscoe. Defending race winner Briscoe hasn’t won since Texas—too long for a Penske driver, even (especially?) when it’s his teammate snaring the victories.

Show: Ryan Hunter-Reay. RHR has a legitimate shot at climbing as high as fourth in points with a solid finish this weekend and a little luck.

Dark Horse: Ed Carpenter. Returning to the series this weekend, he’ll look for a strong finish at a track where he placed sixth last year.

First to Crash: Ana Beatriz. Just a hunch. Glad to see her back in the series, though. Dreyer & Reinbold would do well to find a way to keep her.

Ryan Worden

Win: Ryan Briscoe.  Chris is right, Briscoe needs to win.  Whenever it seems like he is in trouble at Penske he goes out and wins a race to silence critics.  Winning here will keep points away from Franchitti and Dixon and make the Captain very happy.

Place: Dario Franchitti.  Dario is going to push as hard as he can to win the next four races, while I believe Power will drive more cautious since he has a large lead.  I think Briscoe will be able to hold him off, but I also think we'll have a winning margin of less than .1 seconds.

Show: Scott Dixon.  Dixon has always been good here, but has never won.  Unfortunately for him, I see that continuing this weekend, but a podium finish is always positive.  Dixon is a fantastic oval racer, and will be doing everything to ensure Ganassi cars finish above Will Power.

Dark Horse: Dan Wheldon.  Dan has two wins here, and really needs a good showing to be back with Panther in 2010.  He is a great driver with a quality teammate in Ed Carpenter this weekend.  A top five finish would be great for the National Guard team.

First to Crash: Takuma Sato.  Sato has been fast this year, but he has also been reckless.  Combine that with possibly intentionally smacking into Danica Patrick and Takuma returns as my popular pick.

Control Pick: I just got back from Sonoma a few hours ago, so I am squeezed on time, so our control pick will be a random draw from the entry list.

Win: Ryan Briscoe.  That was just plain lucky, random draw and my brain think alike.  I am slightly scared.

Place: Tony Kanaan.  Ok, two best picks for control so far this year.

Show: Ed Carpenter.  Still not bad, but Ed did have a suspension failure during practice.

Dark Horse:  Mario Moraes.  Well, he is fast, but probably more likely in our next category.

First to Crash:  Sarah Fisher.  Definitely not a fan friendly pick.

Join the conversation.  Feel free to join our writers and make your picks in the comments section below.  The writer can be contacted at rworden@indiana.edu.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Chicagoland Speedway was added to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2008.

It is a great addition to the series, like the 150 Lap/ 225 Mile formatted, and it's just enough laps to make the race exciting.

The 1.5 mile oval is one of the expansion tracks, when NASCAR went "cookie cutter" crazy adding multiple speedways that all looked like Charlotte, Michigan, or Atlanta.

It has a D-shape to it, but it is unique in shape with it's continuous curve with the backstretch having a noticeable bend to it.

I like the track, it was a great edition market wise for NASCAR, and more importantly Kevin Harvick's won at the track in both Cup and Nationwide.

The inaugural event last year, had 11 lead changes, three to four wide racing action, had seven cautions for 28 laps, and an average speed of 119.293 MPH.

Which saw Rowdy Busch lead four times, for 79 laps, and won by 0.580 seconds over Todd Bodine in second.

No doubt this year will be just as exciting. Don't just think the Rowdy One will just stink it up again this week, but it is a shame that he just didn't let Johnny Benson Jr. run the No. 18 for a change.

I do predicted we'll see Mr. Pouty Face, this weekend at Chicagoland (LOL).

Begin Slideshow

Depending upon who you ask, Rubens Barrichello will start his 300th Formula One Grand Prix when, and if, he takes to the grid to start the 2010 Belgian Grand Prix.

Now, if you’re one of those who believe that starting a race actually means starting a race, then please come back in six weeks to read this again and replace all references to Belgium and Spa with Japan and Suzuka.

If, however, you’re one of those who thinks that just turning up on race day is enough, then read on.

When Barrichello is discussed by future pundits, it will almost certainly be for his longevity and not because of the brilliance of his record. Not that he’s a dud, you don’t last 17 years in F1 without being talented, but averaging less than one win per year hardly puts him amongst the greats.

Barrichello simply doesn’t have that most crucial of all driving skills—luck.

His early career saw him hamstrung by substandard cars in Jordan and Stewart. While he consistently outperformed his teammates, he was unable to compete on even terms with the leaders due to unreliable and underperforming equipment.

When he did finally break into a competitive team at Ferrari for the 2000 season, Barrichello had the tremendous misfortune of becoming the teammate of Michael Schumacher—the only driver in the world to rival Fernando Alonso in his desperation to be the team’s unchallenged No. 1 driver.

Despite this, Barrichello managed to achieve some comparative success, including his first GP victory at a wet and tricky Hockenheim in 2000, a race that was overshadowed by a Mercedes Benz employee making an on-track protest.

This was to become the signature of Barrichello’s career.  His successes were often overshadowed by other events.

In 2002, when he had dominated the Austrian Grand Prix, he received orders from the team to allow Schumacher to pass and win the race. Barrichello was so disgusted by this decision that he famously waited until after the final corner before he yielded to his teammate in a display that earned the team a lot of bad press and led to the banning of team orders from the 2003 season.

Though Ferrari was rarely so blatant again, Barrichello only ever won races at Ferrari when Schumacher was either so far ahead in the championship out of the race, or if there was another car competing for the win.

Even Barrichello’s terrifying accident and near death experience in 1994 at the San Marino GP is largely forgotten because of the terrible accidents that claimed the lives of Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna on the same weekend.

In 2006, Barrichello left Ferrari to join Honda, but it soon became clear that he had landed himself back in an underperforming team again and he seemed destined to serve out his career having never really had the opportunity to compete for a championship win.

Indeed, when Honda announced that they were pulling out of F1 at the end of the 2008 season it seemed that Barrichello’s career was finished, with all of the other teams having secured drivers for the 2009 season.

When Ross Brawn rescued the team for the start of the 2009 season, Barrichello had one of the few strokes of good luck in his career. From looking into the abyss, he suddenly found himself not just with a car to drive, but in one that was capable of winning and in a team that would allow him to do so.

History tells us that he wasn’t able to convert this opportunity—finishing third behind Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel—and then, predictably, his luck ran out when Mercedes bought out Brawn’s operation and Barrichello moved on to Williams.

Although it had been a career-long ambition to move to one of F1’s most successful outfits, he did so at a time when the team was past its prime. Although Barrichello has been performing admirably, the team is far from the front of the grid and he seems destined to see out his career looking at the back of faster cars.

Of course, Barrichello fans would know that he is lucky to be in a position to see out his career at all, given what many see as Schumacher’s assassination attempt in the closing stages of the Hungarian GP.

Rubens Barrichello has written his name indelibly in the F1 history books by becoming the first driver to reach 300 races. It’s a remarkable record, however on reflection, he may not have achieved everything in the sport that  his talent may have deserved.

Then again, in Formula One, very few drivers ever do.

Read more Motorsports news on BleacherReport.com

Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso set the fastest lap in two rain affected Friday practice sessions. He set the time in the second practice session as he was lucky to be the first driver out of the pits after a red flag, leaving him with no traffic to hold him up on his flying lap.

First Practice

After 14 minutes of the first session, Timo Glock set the first fastest lap with a 2:06.752 in the rain. However, after the first third of the session, many drivers ventured onto the track, and Pedro de la Rosa beat his time by nine-tenths of a second. Sutil then went faster with 25 minutes later with a 2:05.117 on the extreme wet tires, before Alugersuari beat the time, but Sutil soon got the top spot back. Alonso went fastest ten minutes later with a 2:02.582.

At the halfway point of the first session, and despite Vettel going faster, Alonso once again claimed the top spot. Despite very rainy conditions and some lightning, many drivers stayed out to test upgrades for their cars, but the drivers who didn't have to test stayed in the pits, showing how the teams treat many of these sessions as testing sessions because there is no in-season testing. With 36 minutes to go, however, all the drivers retreated inside to avoid the heavy rain.

Michael Schumacher was the first driver to come back onto the track with 22 minutes to go in the session, despite the rivers of water in some areas of the track, but he ventured back into the pits without setting a lap time. Toro Rosso driver Alguersuari went out and set a lap 4.5 seconds off the pace, complaining on his team radio that "there is too much water on the track."

Despite the sun coming out, many teams stayed in because of the water standing on the track, leaving only a small threat that anyone else would reach the top spot in practice as only the HRT of Yamamoto and Lotus of Heikki Kovalainen were out on track. The rain eased away for the last ten minutes, leaving the track to dry up for some drivers to set their fastest laps, but no one could beat Alonso's improved time of 2:00.797 in the first session.

Second Practice

Massa beat De La Rosa's initial time by five seconds to be on top of the leaderboard after eight minutes in the second session. He was joined by Alonso as the track dried out further, who then set the first time under two minutes with a 1:59.490.

The white lines were treacherous, as shown by Sebastien Buemi in the early part of the session, who lost control going into a corner but then regained control of the car. Lewis Hamilton then went faster just as it started raining, before yellow flags came out as Timo Glock and Vitantonio Liuzzi went off the track, but the latter managed to drive away with a damaged front wing, unlike Glock, who went into the wall as another victim of a slippery white line.

After the yellow flags went away, Massa went fastest once again, but then Renault driver Kubica went faster by 0.280. Due to the circuits length, in several places it was drying out but in other areas it was quite wet, which led to some mistakes around the track, but these were only punished with slightly slower lap times rather than crashes. Adrian Sutil went faster around the track after a third of the session, and it stayed that way until Jaime Alguersuari set the fastest time by over two seconds.

Alguersuari was the first driver to go out onto the track on slick tires and set the fastest time in the second and third sectors, and setting the third fastest time, before setting two consecutive fastest times, showing how dry the track was getting. The yellow flags came out again for Jarno Trulli, who went onto the grass at one corner. As more drivers went on the slick tires, Kamui Kobayashi set the fastest lap with a 1:53.678, which was just faster than Alguersuari, before trading places at the top for another lap.

Rubens Barrichello went off the track and Mark Webber seemed to have a problem with his engine as he was driving slowly, but the team found that it was fine and he went back up to full speed. Jenson Button then went very fast in his McLaren to go under one minute 50 seconds with a 1:49.755, 1.974 seconds ahead of nearest rival Kobayashi. The gap was narrowed by Kubica to 0.118 seconds, before Sutil went to the top, but Hamilton went almost half a second faster than the time of the Force India driver.

Renault's F-duct seemed to be working as Robert Kubica kept posting competitive times in his car, and he was the fastest driver through the speed trap, but his teammate was far adrift of the lead. Sutil set the fastest lap time once again, before a red flag came out with fifteen minutes left, with race control suggesting that there "may be spectators in a dangerous area," depriving the drivers of an important portion of time to practice driving in the dry conditions, as the red flag was only lifted with 4 minutes to go.

However, another minute was lost because of a problem with the lights at the bottom of the pit lane. This left all the drivers with one final flying lap, which was heavily affected by traffic, meaning only Alonso (who was the first out of the pit lane) managed to beat the top time with a 1:49.032.

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Don’t look any further from the title, because from the impression of NASCAR’s current situation, these few words are only a figment of what most fans could only dream would happen.

Wishful thinking could be another way of putting into perspective where the sport is headed today, if indeed there is trouble on the horizon with all the speculating that’s been crowding the various NASCAR social sites.

The latest word on the street is that NASCAR is headed down a road of destruction, and it won’t be long before the sport quickly disappears into its own self-made black hole.

Of course, none of this news is coming from the big man himself; instead, most of it gets started around these highly sophisticated tailgate parties, where the fans congregate to see who can conjure up the best destructive scenarios.

For those fans who really feel the need to challenge themselves, try visiting one of the hundreds of NASCAR social sites which can be found on the Internet.

There you will find every rule or regulation that NASCAR has ever implemented, along with the current state of the sport broken down to the root while being argued with the basis being, “Because I said so, and I have been a fan for x amount of years.”

Now given the fact throughout the years, NASCAR just like any other sport is and always will be debated amongst its fans, try naming one person, or a group of people who could do a better job at managing one of motorsports' biggest organizations?

The reason being is because once again, the integrity of those who are running the sport has come under intense enemy fire from the fans, with most of the ammo targeting a false sense that the sport is in dire need of another rebuilding process.

One area which is being falsely attacked is the decline in viewership, along with the current rule changes that many feel are not helping to boost the ratings.

Viewership along with the fan base within the sport believe it or not, is up from where it was before NASCAR went full-time to national television in 2001.

NASCAR is still the third most popular professional sport in the United States, behind the National Football League and Major League Baseball.

What other sport comes close to averaging 70 to 80 thousand fans per event, and that’s without the other three or four million who are watching at home?

Just this past weekend, ESPN reported a 6 percent increase from last year’s night race at Bristol, which attracted 5,322,537 viewers, and this increase was from the Sprint Cup race alone.

An average of 5,841,952 viewers tuned in on Saturday, which is still above the 4.5 million average who were watching back in the 90’s when attendance jumped from 3.3 million to 6.5 million between that 10-year time span (1990-99).

It’s no big secret the sport has seen a steady decrease in the last few seasons, but not all is lost in the game of love and war when looking at the numbers from a broader perspective.

When NASCAR went to national television in 2001, the attendance at each track grew, which forced a lot of the smaller tracks to add more seating to accommodate the rapid growth of the sport.

As an example, Bristol alone added an additional 90,000 seats between 1996 and 2002 which brought their total up to 160,000 from the 71,000 they were at before the increase.

Dover also added an additional 20,000 seats between the same time period, along with Richmond, which joined in with 10,000 of their own.

So as the sport continued to grow and become more popular, so did the fans that flocked to the various race tracks to get their fill of the fastest growing sport in the Nation.

The sudden growth left even the biggest critics scratching their heads in amazement, as America fell in love with the color, the speed, and the fast-paced excitement that at one time could only be viewed from one of the cable networks who covered the series.

NASCAR reached its peak amid the 2004-06 seasons, even though the fans began to complain about some of the rule changes, with the biggest one being the institution of the Chase format.

Between the 2007 and 2009 seasons, it became obvious the numbers began to taper off, and all you had to do was look at the empty stands which at one time were hard to come by.

Many of the fans began expressing their displeasure with the way the sport was being run, with much of the speculation focused on the Chase format along with the introduction of Car of Tomorrow in 2008.

No longer was NASCAR outpacing all other professional sports, and it was because the majority of the younger fans between the ages of 18-34, began looking elsewhere to get their adrenaline fix.

In the meantime, the core of older fans continued to stick next to a sport that most grew up with, and NASCAR began to once again take action in hopes of keeping them from wandering off.  

"Our core fan is older, said NASCAR spokesman Ramsey Poston.

Poston also added, "That’s a fact. Our strategy and focus the last couple of years has been to target our core fan base. If we’re making strides with that fan base, it shows that our strategy is working."

NASCAR took it a step further by getting a fans perspective as far as what changes needed to be made to keep the sport exciting, and to bring the fans back when they created a 12,000 member online fan council.

The fan council was responsible for a series of rule changes which included the double-file restarts, multiple attempts at overtime finishes, and a return to the traditional spoiler.

NASCAR also added the Citizen Journalists Media Corps in 2009, which consists of 28 additional websites which are dedicated to providing information about NASCAR to a growing readership.

Ever since the invention of the Internet, more fans have become dependent on the various websites that provide up to the minute news and information about the sport.

The newspaper is quickly becoming obsolete around the world of sports, and NASCAR felt that a lot of the independent websites are becoming more professional with their content.

NASCAR has been taking the necessary steps to keep the fans involved in the sport, even though the economy has taken its toll on the sport as a whole.

Just like any other craze or trend, NASCAR reached its peak, and now it’s beginning to level off after going through a normal drop-off period.

When you look at the viewership numbers from 10 to 15 years ago, NASCAR is still above their average, even though the teams and the tracks look as if they to are scaling-down.

Don’t think for a second that most of the fans who no longer attend a race are not sitting at home watching on television.

The organization now has nine regional touring series, and three national series including the Nationwide Series, Camping World Truck Series, and its premier series, the Sprint Cup races.

NASCAR is not going to slowly disappear into the abyss known as another mismanaged business venture as many think it might.

Instead, the sport will be here longer than either you or I, and when you sit back and think about the competition it faces every single day as a family-owned organization.

It does really well at holding its own against the big multi-billion dollar sports organizations, which have many athletes under their belt.

Failure has never been part of the France family vocabulary, so why should they start now?

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