POCONO SEZ NO SALE

It figures...as soon as I write about the possible rumor of a sale of Pocono, it's shot down in the media. So, if Pocono is not for sale, that leaves Indianapolis (NO WAY!) and Dover...hmmm, Dover's a possiblity, but would they strip both dates from that track. Doubtful...
Bruton Smith doesn't make statements for the sake of making statements...something's going on and it will be interesting how this plays out...

KENTUCKY SOLD; COULD POCONO BE NEXT?

The news of SMI's purchase of Kentucky Speedway may have some implacations for NJ NASCAR fans who like to visit the races at Pocono. Rumors are the track could be sold and then SMI would take the two Pocono dates and give one to Vegas and one to Kentucky...while Pocono is not my favorite track, I would hope they keep at least one date...

A LONG NIGHT'S JOURNEY...

The one factor about the Coke 600..it's 100 extra miles longer than most races and that last 100 miles is tough...Sunday's race took out contenders one by one until Kasey Kahne stood alone. Junior fans have to be surprised at his finish after the wreck with just over 100 laps to go. Jimmie Johnson found bad luck in 'his house'. Why is it Junior is the only consistantly running car from Hendrick?

Other thoughts from Sunday...the Indy 500 was very interesting, but the Ganassi cars dominated the month of May. Why can't Chip have that kinda success in NASCAR? I did get the feeling the folks there feel the merger will help them in terms of marketing...note the addition of DirecTV in their marketing...

KASEY'S THE FAN'S MAN

Talk about a return to form...Kasey Kahne owned Lowe's Motor Speedway in '06 but struggled in '07. After finishing out of the money in the prelim, the fan vote got him into the All-Star race. And he made it work...winning a million bucks in the process.
Kyle Busch was dominating, then blew up; Carl Edwards looked good, then faded; Greg Biffle dominated, but faded in the last segment. Even Junior struggled after taking the lead....

Some suggest this Sunday's Coke 600 might be a yawner if the COT car isn't sorted out...

ANOTHER AM-BUSCH WIN...

Gotta hand it to Kyle Busch - he loves wearing the black hat...and he's on fire. Another win Saturday after various trials and tribulations. Junior fans were no doubt unhappy with that, but their boy finished 4th.
The latest rumors have Greg Biffle moving to Gibbs to replace Smoke when he leaves for an ownership deal. You get the feeling Biffle is getting tired of the mechanical issues at Roush/Fenway.
All Star race comes Saturday....on SPEED. Then comes the big one - Coke 600.

Want to plug my fill-ins for Kevin Williams this Friday and Thursday 5/22...have Jack Arute from ABC/ESPN scheduled for this Friday and Jamie Little next Thursday at 3:40 to talk racing. The Locker Room from 3-6p on 1160 WOBM-AM and Fox Sports 1310.

K. BUSCH PUBLIC ENEMY #1

The Junior nation has a new villain...Kyle Busch. But now, you are aware he spun Junior out and took away a chance at the win. And the Junior nation blames him for everything including Global Warming and High Gas Prices. What I find interesting is the number of negative comments from other competitors directed at Mr. Busch. He better watch himself or else he could find himself in a bit of trouble andf wrecked.

Gotta love Richmond races...lots of short track action...couldn't believe the 'big one' which wiped out alot of good cars. Gotta feel from Denny Hamlin - having such a dominant car and losing the race like that - much like Carl Edwards in Atlanta...

What's gotten into Mikey? Darrell's younger brother parked by NASCAR for wrecking Casey Mears....I'm guessing there's a bit of frustration at MWR these days....

The Lady in Black with a new surface is next up - Saturday night....

RICHMOND TV CHANGES

Very interesting situation with ESPN committed to carrying an NBA game on ESPN 2...the Nationwide race will be seen on both ESPN Classic and Speed live then either joined in progress or replayed in it's entirety on ESPN 2.

TONY STEWART, CAR OWNER?

I find it interesting with all the attention paid to the silly season that Smoke's situation is getting sooo much attention. Look - he already owns his own Sprint Car/Silver Crown car...and he's looking ahead. A Jeff Gordon type of situation is not out of the question for him at Gibbs...it certainly would lock him up for the rest of his career.

Interesting to hear rumblings that UPS might align with Roush/Fenway on the #99 car. I've got to believe Big Brown wants someone who's going to do something during a race other than crash or not qualify...

TALLADEGA RECAP...

I can't say I was glued to my set for this one...after a long morning at the March for Babies in Ocean County, I settled in for the hour pre-race and watched the first 20 laps before the sandman carried me off to la-la land, waking up in time to see Junior in 2 wrecks and the last 20 laps of Kyle Busch's win. While I missed most of the race, I have to say what I watched was entertaining.

Give Kyle some props...his save early in the race was a classic...

I watched most of the Nationwide race Saturday and would ask this question - Is Kevin LePage one of the most stupid drivers in the world? That was a boneheaded move and he should really think about a new spotter. Causing a wreck like that due to stupidity is wrong...

On to Richmond...