Backstretch Motorsports

If the New Hampshire opener proved nothing else, it shined light on just how volatile the Chase can be, just as humbling.

Now enter Dover, The Monster Mile, it can be it’s own “wildcard” in The Chase, have no doubt.

It’s a tough track. Speeds are quick, disaster looms and can become reality just as quickly.

The drops in points position are hard to recover from, the gains are just as hard to maintain.

Dover has that modus operandi: 400 miles, hard on drivers, hard on equipment…

It can be a game changer for certain.

One race neither wins or loses a championship, but two races can become an indicator, a look at the end for some. [read more...]

Michigan’s dust-up has barely settled, the fuel milage battle was a game changer in many ways.

Brian Vickers gets the ‘all-important’ 10 bonus points, and albeit not comfortably, stays ahead of both Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch in actual standing.. but still not quite in the “Chosen Twelve” that get to the Chase.

The win was the important part, and another win would put him in no matter what others do. [read more...]

Throwing numbers from past seasons is a good thing, right?

Stats are a good barometer.. usually.

It would be except, this hasn’t been the easiest season to handicap, has it?

I mean, who would have really given Stewart Haas, the first year team for all intents and purposes, the top points position at all, let alone the potential to hold the number one spot.

And having both cars from that organisation in the Chase at this point? Nothing short of phenominal. [read more...]

Yesterday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard proved several things, long known in racing circles, one thing in particular …the connection between the racing head and the throttle foot is not sophistry, it’s absolute certainty. And it is a sometimes delicate relationship.

Case in point, Juan Pablo Montoya. The race was 160 laps in length, Montoya ran 126, leading 116 of them.. and won that distance quite handily, I can add.

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Kasey Kahne proved one thing on Sunday at Sonoma.. it ain’t over till it’s over, and the fight goes on to fall of the checkers.

But the season takes a definite turn in pressures come this Sunday. The one-mile flat oval of New Hampshire Motor Speedway takes center stage.

It marks the start of the summer stretch of ten races leading to the absolute 10-race Chase for NASCAR’s top prize, the Sprint Cup. [read more...]

Sports car racing fans have given the annual 24 hours of their lives , dedicated to the grandfather of competition. the twice-around-the-clock excitement, splendor and accomplishment that is Le Mans.

The 77th race took place in front of a crowd of 234 800 spectators, down from the 2008 figure by around 9% (which set a record-beating figure of 258 500 spectators). [read more...]

The job will take it’s toll. only the strongest will surivive it. Not being competitive is a stress level that will take even the best out of the game.

Two-time Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip will retire at the end of 2009 if he can’t return to a competitive level this season.

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Jimmie Johnson would just about have to NOT be able to roll off the starting grid Sunday at Homestead to not win a third consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title.

It’s simply his.. to lose

Here’s what he must do to clinch his third consecutive series title — finish 36th or better on Sunday. Additionally, Johnson can clinch by finishing 37th and leading at least one lap or 39th and leading the most laps.

Relax. Just race the track.

“I really think where we are in points is going to allow me to go to Homestead and take a little pressure off my brain this week,” Johnson said. “We can just go down and relax and get in the car and set it up, just do what we know how to do.”

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More on that in a minute, but first… Scott Speed

Red Bull did confirm that the “a couple of steps away from ordinary” one has been doing some open testing in the Cup cars at Nashville and Kentucky and will be participating in a test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on September 23 – 24. Speed will drive the No. 82 Red Bull Toyota under the watch of NASCAR officials who will assess his ability to participate in future Cup races.

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“Michigan is a flat two-mile oval, and track position is huge there. It could turn into a fuel-mileage race at any time so you really have to be on your toes and be aware of what could happen.” — Tony Eury Jr., crew chief No. 88 National Guard/AMP Energy Chevrolet, most recent winner at MIS in June.

The Michigan International Speedway is a key player in NASCAR racing. Firstly, it’s in the backyard of the “Big Three”, Chevy, Dodge and Ford and traditionally a source of bragging rights for the Motor City brands with the win there.

Toyota has certainly made huge strides in knocking on the winning door at MIS.

[read more...]