It’s raining at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., as I write this on Thursday morning, but not here in Marysville. Must be time for me to do some guessin’.
NASCAR has a bit of a homecoming this weekend, with the Cup and Nationwide series racing at Lowe’s in the heart of stock-car country. The Cup NASCAR Banking 500 on Saturday (4:25 p.m., ABC/Ch. 4) marks the halfway point in the 10-race Chase, and the Dollar General 300 on Friday (5 p.m., ESPN2) is the next of just five races left in the Nationwide Series schedule.
As I sit here on Thursday morning, I’m following the Twitter tweets of some reporters on the scene, and the early word is it seems unlikely there will be anything on the track today except the jet dryers.
Normally I try to get my picks done before qualifying because — let’s face it — knowing who’s fast seems smart and I’m anything but. Usualy I write my “Fearless Predictions” Thursday night, but with the earlier than usual qualifying I sat down this morning instead. So with the early rain, I feel like I’ve been ripped off because I could be watching my DVR recording of the “Big Bang Theory” instead.
I know you’re not feeling sorry for me, so let’s get back on subject (Ed: Please).
(Late update: looks like everything has been pushed back — Cup cars are on the track now inlate afternoon and Nationwide to follow. Cup qualifying is set for later on Thursday, so maybe my time wasn’t wasted afterall).
Halfway through the Chase it would appear Jimmie Johnson is probably making room in his trophy case for a historic fourth straight Cup. Obviously they have to run the race, but Lowe’s is a track that Double-J has had great success at, so he could ice the rest of the field this weekend.
That pesky Juan Pablo Montoya and grizzled Tony Stewart are hanging in there, as are sentimental favorite Mark “Better after 50” Martin and fellow Hendrick Racing driver Jeff “One for the Thumb” Gordon.
The rest of the field? Well, some pretty strong runs on Saturday won’t be enough to help the chances of Kasey Kahne, Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle, etc., etc.
Could Kyle Busch be on the way to adding a meltdown in the Nationwide Series to his failure to make the Chase? Last weekend after Busch stepped out of his car because he was ill, Denny Hamlin wrecked it because he got caught up watching out for Brad Keselowski and lost sight of Greg Biffle.
Hamlin’s resulting poor finish at Auto Club Speedway cut Busch’s Nationwide points lead over Carl Edwards to 155, meaning the defending champion is now very much alive in his quest to repeat.
Busch is reportedly feeling better this weekend (gotta love those Twitter tweets!) but I wonder if the Shrub will points race the rest of the way, or continue with his wreckers or checkers style. It just doesn’t seem like Busch to play it safe, but the lure of the championship — and the stigma of another choke — may be the difference-maker.
There are two races left in the Formula One season, but Brawn GP driver Jenson Button can wrap up the title in Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix (9 a.m., SPEED).
F1’s season has gotten more and more interesting, as the early dominance of Brawn GP melted away with some mediocre runs. Still, after a late resurgence Button and teammate Rubens Barrichello (-14 points) are 1-2 in the standings, with No. 3 Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (-16) also mathematically alive.
With new teams coming to the grid next year, and old teams swapping their lineups, a lot of driver movement is expected in the offseason. That means lame-duck drivers will be trying to impress potential suitors, which could make it harder for Button to seal the deal with a strong run.
One driver who won’t be on the track, but will be the focus of attention this weekend, is Felipe Massa of Ferrari. After his freak accident at Monza — getting hit in the head by a spring off Barrichello’s car — Massa has been recuperating. He’s made some test runs for Ferrari, but decided not to push his comeback by trying to start his home Grand Prix.
Looking ahead at upcoming races, I just can’t find a way that Jimmie Johnson doesn’t win the Cup championship again this year. I suppose that makes sense, as he was my pick to do so. Still, let’s spice things up a bit for this weekend, and say Juan Pablo Montoya gets his first oval-track NASCAR win in Saturday’s night race at Lowe’s.
For the Nationwide Series event on Friday, I’m going to avoid Joey Logano’s chance at winning three straight series races — which would put him on par with Sam Ard, Mark Martin, Harry Gant and Kyle Busch — and instead go with Tony Stewart, who will be making his sole start of the season for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s team.
For the Brazilian GP, I’ll stick to my tendency to pick underdogs and say Sebastian Vettel wins but gets eliminated from contention by a strong-enough run from Button — setting up a final-race showdown in Abu Dhabi between the two Brawn GP drivers.
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