Brian De Los Santos

I thought I'd address some of the interesting rumors that have made their way across the NASCAR wires in recent weeks.

The biggest name in the NASCAR rumor mill has been ... Danica Patrick?

That's right. Patrick is in the final year of her contract with Andretti-Green Racing in the IndyCar Series, so of course stories pop up that she's interested in making the jump to NASCAR.

That part of the rumor you can believe. Even with the toll the economy has taken on NASCAR in recent seasons, it's still the top racing circuit in America. It would be a mistake for her not to test the waters.

Even if she stinks, the curiosity factor would be a boon to NASCAR. So I do think it's a legit consideration for her from a money making standpoint (for one season at least).

Now for the second half of the most recent rumor about Patrick -- that Hendrick Motorsports would replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. with Patrick in its driver lineup. Earnhardt Jr. would move over to his JR Motorsports operation, which would move up from the Nationwide Series to Cup and, like Stewart Haas, receives engines and technical support from Hendrick.

Don't buy it for a second. It just doesn't make a lick of sense to drop the series' most popular driver, who does have the ability to succeed despite the growing cries of his critics, for an untested stock-car driver. Hendrick may not lose much on the popularity/souvenier sales scale with that switch, but to think she'd have more success behind the wheel than Earnhardt is ridiculous.

The rumor that makes the most sense with Patrick is Ganassi ... in the IRL. That also gives her an in into NASCAR if she's truly interested in trying it out. All in all, I'd be stunned if she's driving a Sprint Cup car next season.

The other big rumor making the rounds involves Michael Waltrip Racing. A MWR press conference has been scheduled for July 7 as which time Waltrip is expected to announce that Martin Truex Jr. will drive the NAPA car.

That's not so surprising because that rumor has been going around for months. The twist in this rumor is that Truex would come aboard immediately.

While I won't argue that Truex won't be joining MWR, I just don't see it happening this year. Maybe for the last few races of the season if Earnhardt-Ganassi, Truex's current employer, is feeling generous.

I'm not saying it's not possible that Truex makes the switch now, but based on the history of how these things happen, I have my doubts.

Keep up with the latest Silly Season rumblings on CBSSports.com:
http://www.cbssports.com/autoracing
/story/10817811

It was great to see the Magic back in the Finals this year ...

But if there was any doubt who the better team was, the Lakers dispelled all doubts in Game 5, stepping on the Magic's throats with some excellent defensive play in the second quarter and never looking back.

I could go on and on about the Magic failures in the series, but what's the point. It's over. Time to to move forward.

Plain and simple, the Lakers were the smarter, more disciplined team.

I was hoping for so much more, but from the coach on down, the Magic made too many mistakes and dumb decisions vs. the Lakers.

Which stinks because even with a great player like Dwight Howard manning the middle, you never really know when/if they'll be back. You need to take advantage of your chances while you got them. The Eastern Conference has some formidable teams to deal with such as the Celtics, who probably have a couple of years left in the tank with Garnett, Allen and Pierce. And, of course, there's the LeBrons, who will certainly fill the holes they discovered after their loss to the Magic in Eastern Conference Finals.

Without a doubt, Dwight Howard needs to hone his offensive game. The Lakers took advantage a great hitch of Howard's as he continually brought the ball down to his waist, allowing smaller players to swipe at the ball. This led to a boatload of turnovers for the big man during the series. He could do worse than to watch how the Lakers' Pau Gasol manages his offense.

Anyhow, that's enough Magic talk for awhile. Looks like I'll have to wait a little longer to end my championship winless streak.

I don't know what's worse, failing to show up like the Magic did in Game 1, or playing downright dumb like they did last night in Game 4.

I vote Game 4. I was disappointed after Game 1, but Game 4 left me angry. From the coach on down, everybody is to blame. A total team loss if there ever was one.

The Magic probably should have won that game easily, but with turnovers, missed free throws, bad defense and horrible coaching they threw the game away, and probably the series.

I think one of the big keys to the game being overlooked was that the Lakers trailed only by 12 at the half. With Odom, Gasol and Bynum all in foul trouble and out of the game, the Magic should have dominated a Lakers lineup featuring the likes of Mbenga, Powell and some other scrubs.

But turnovers and silly fouls by the Magic kept the Lakers firmly entrenched in the game and had me a little worried heading into the second half.

And sure enough, in the second half, the Lakers began to hit shots. And missed free throws by the Magic began to add up. It was sickening.

But the ineptitude didn't end there. Coach Stan Van Gundy curiously decided that Jameer Nelson would be the closer at point guard during this game.

Alston wasn't having nearly the game he did in Game 3, but he wasn't awful. Nelson, on the other hand, aside from a couple of nice assists to Howard, really did nothing of note. In fact, I thought the Magic got back into the game in spite of him.

After Game 1, I said I was fine if Nelson took backup Anthony Johnson's minutes in this series. But twice in this series, Van Gundy has given Nelson starters minutes and he hasn't been worthy of those minutes. Our Gregg Doyel wrote a column after Game 3 that said Nelson should shut to it down for the good of the Magic. I'm in agreement that I probably don't want to see Nelson on the floor anymore in this series, but I don't put it on Nelson, I put it on Van Gundy to make that call.

And for the love of ____ Dwight, quit bringing the ball down to your waist when you catch the ball! Keep it up high so Kobe and Fisher, et al, can't get in there and swipe at the ball. How many times does he need to turn the ball over before he realizes that! Why haven't the coaches been working with him on this?

[Sigh]

It stinks (to put it mildly) that there are two games before Game 5 because this one will stick in my craw until then.

So is the series over?

As perturbed as I am right now, the reality of the situation is that Games 2, 3 and 4 could have swung either way. So it's not as if the Lakers are dominating this thing. I don't think it's totally off-base to think the Magic could win three in a row.

Is it likely? Probably not, but as a Magic fan, until the Lakers have a 4 in the series win column, I'm going to believe the title is still winnable.

But they've got to play smarter.

What a relief. The Magic aren't destined to go 0 for the Finals again.

But they sure like to make me sweat it out.

Much will be made of the fact they had to eke out a win despited shooting an NBA Finals records 62.5% percent from the field, but all that really matters is that they got the win.

Sure it's unlikely they shoot as well as they did Tuesday night in future games of the series, but nothing is ever the same from game to game. The Lakers aren't going to do everything they did Tuesday night either. Every game is different.

So how did the Lakers manage to keep it so close? Offensive boards. The Magic allowed the Lakers 18 second-chance points. Prior to Game 3, it hadn't been a significant problem, but I think Orlando's extra focus on Kobe opened up room for his teammates to track down loose balls. You stop one thing and something else opens up, that's just the way it works in basketball. You have to pick your poison.

Obviously, other players other than Howard, Lewis and Turkoglu finally stepped up in this series. Borth Rafer Alson and Mickael Pietrus came up huge.

I loved how the Magic were attacking the basket. Nothing is more frustrating than to watch them dribbling around the perimeter running down the shot clock to throw up a haphazard 3-pointer. Rafer actually keyed a nice offensive flow for much of the game.

I do think he got a little sloppy and erratic in the fourth quarter,  but the Magic hung on, so I'll let it slide.

All in all, couldn't be much happier and looking forward to Game 4 where, hopefully, the Magic can tie it up.

I don't know if anybody is reading about my Magic thoughts or not, but makes me feel good to get it out, so here I go again with my thoughts on Game 2.

Well, the best thing you can say about the Magic is that they gave it a much better effort than they did in Game 1.

I wouldn't say the lost Sunday night because they were outplayed, rather the guard play was absolutely atrocious.

Anybody care to step up and help Dwight, Hedo and Rashard?

But that's the Magic in a nutshell. Perimeter-oriented teams run hot and cold, and unfortunately they've hit a cold spell. Rafer Alston is stinking up the joint. Jameer Nelson is showing the rust. Courtney Lee has Kobe to deal with. And J.J. Redick is J.J. Redick. He manages at good game every 20 games or so.

Mickael Pietrus, a quasi guard/forward, also isn't stroking it nearly as well as he did during the first three rounds of the playoffs.

Still, the Magic had a shot to win, which is at least a glimmer of hope as the series shifts to Orlando.

Well that was awful.

I was so looking forward to Game 1, but had to turn away when they began to fall apart in the second half. I tried to distract myself with some Men in Black II and Daily Show, hoping upon hope that they'd make a run while I was away, but every time I turned back the Lakers' lead kept growing and growing.

I don't disagree that the Lakers should be the favorite in this series, but they're not that much better than the Magic, though I'm sure much will be written and said that "Game 2 is a must-win game."

Um, no. It's not. Until the Lakers have three wins in hand, there are no "must-win games" for the Magic. It's obviously a game the Magic want to win, but no more than Game 1.

I any case, from a Magic fan perspective, I will admit it was a bit discouraging to see the lack of energy put forth by Orlando.

Are you kidding me?

It's the Finals for !@#!$ sake!

If you look back at the two regular season games, while the Magic won both games, they did it because of their offense. Defensively they were just as inept trying to guard Kobe as they were in Game 1.

So when the offense went on the fritz Thursday night, they basically toast. They actually started off well enough, but after a timeout by the Lakers early in the second quarter --  "poof" -- the Magic suddenly looked discombobulated.

I'm really not too concerned about the offense. Yeah, the Lakers have a bit more size than the Magic saw vs. the Cavs, but I don't think it's anything they can't overcome. The Magic had some open shots, they just weren't hitting them at the same rate they normally do. They probably left 10 to 15 points on the floor, which would have put them at around 90 points. But those things happen sometimes and their lack of hustle didn't help matters.

More concerning to me was the Magic defense and I'm not really sure what the answer is. Apparently neither do the Magic since it didn't appear as if they tried to make any type of in-game adjustment.

There are two areas in which the Lakers have a distinct skill and/or size advantage on the offensive end: Kobe vs. anybody (but especially Courtney Lee) and Gasol vs. Lewis.

I love Lee and think he has been a great find for the Magic. But there was no matchup the Lakers exploited more than when Lee was trying to guard Kobe. He has neither the size nor strength. If Van Gundy is going to continue to put Lee on Kobe, he's going to have to bring more help.

Gasol has a significant size advantage over Lewis. And if Lewis is going to work extra hard on defense trying to defend/box out the bigger, stronger Gasol, it going to tire him and hurt his offense. He needs to turn the tables and make Gasol chase him on offense.

As for the return of Jameer Nelson, I don't think it had much of an impact positively or negatively in this game.

At first, he looked like the old Jameer, igniting a little run that forced the Lakers to call that early second quater timeout. But after that, he looked like the rest of the Magic zombies, doing little of note. I'm surprised how many minutes he got right off the box. I'm fine with Nelson taking the minutes of Anthony Johnson. The bigger question is how do you split the minutes with Rafter Alson?

Even though Game 1 was disappointing, it is just one game. This series if far from over. The Magic have a couple of days to look at the film at make some adjustments. Hopefully they'll come back strong in Game 2.

So this week's Feud has an interesting thread about a perceived bias I have for Dale Earnhardt Jr.

The first post from mikeyfan1599 reads:

Sorry Brian, when it comes to Dale Earnhardt Junior, you have absolutly no objectivity. Just like a lot of those in "Junior Nation", you can show no fault with Junior.  Even in you remarks to who can make the chase you picked a driver who is in 18th position 212 points out of 12th a better chance to make the chase then the three drivers 92 points or closer. 

Your credibility when it comes to Junior is losing face.  Just telling it like it is.  Sorry.

Oy vey. I just don't get this line of thinking.

Why is that when I say something positive or negative about a driver it's because I'm biased? Why can't it just be what it is, an opinion?

Things like this come up in the Power Rankings too. I rank somebody ahead of somebody else and it has to be because I love so-and-so and hate such-and-such. As if the fact that the one driver has three wins and the other none isn't a factor in some way.

If you can't at least see the reason -- even when I provide details -- for me holding the opinion that I do, then you're probably the one that is biased. You may not like all my opinions, and that's fine. But somebody doesn't have to be biased just because you don't hold the same opinion.

Especially in the case with this week's Feud, the response in question was predictive in nature. Sometimes I'm going to be wrong. Most of the time I'll be right. At least let's wait and see how it plays out.

For now, let's take a closer look at the Dale Jr. and the five drivers just in front of him in the standings ...

David Reutimann -- Sure he's only one spot out of the Chase, but there is no evidence to suggest that he and his Michael Waltrip Racing team will maintain enough consistency to move into the top 12. I need to see more, this year's sample size is just too small. While I think MWR has definitely improved this year, my feeling is that they're not quite strong enough.

Kasey Kahne -- I said I think he has a chance to make it ... the caveat being that RPM's new engine package is the real deal.

Juan Pablo Montoya -- I put him in the same boat at Reutimann. He has had his moments this season, but lacks consistency. It's hard to predict that he and his team will suddenly find that consistency when it has yet to happen during his Cup career

Clint Bowyer -- Well, I pointed out that I think his RCR teammate Jeff Burton is in danger of falling out of the top 12, so why would I think Bowyer is capable of moving up in the same equipment?

Brian Vickers -- Same deal as Reutimann and Montoya and history shows he falls off toward the end of the season..

Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- He has 13 races to make up 212 points. That's not at all insurmountable if he runs his equipment to its full capabalities.I don't know how anyone can argue that Hendrick Motorsports has had the best equipment up to this point in the season. As for Jr.'s skills as a driver, he has more victories than the five drivers 13th through 17th in the current standings combined.


In any case, those are my more thorough thoughts on the situation. Fact of the matter is that Earnhardt is the most succesful, experienced Cup driver outside the top 12 within shouting distance of a spot in the Chase.

I know it has been a few days, but other duties have kept me from blogging in celebration that my Orlando Magic have taken down the mighty LeBrons (and won me a free lunch in the process) to reach the NBA Finals.

Cheering for my teams in championships has been few and far between, so I'm trying to enjoy this as much as I can.

The point at which I remember becoming a true fan of sports was 1984-85. I was 10.

Since this time, I've witnessed the Dolphins play in but one Super Bowl -- a loss to the 49ers. At that ripe young age, I was certain there'd be another Super Bowl or two or three in Marino's future, but the Dolphins running game was non-existent during most of his tenure, and the defense was porous most of the time as well.

I think everyone is fully aware of the Cubs' ineptitude over the years.

Prior to Orlando landing an NBA team, I was a 76ers fan (I liked Dr. J) but I missed the boat on their championship season. Instead most of my youth was spent watching Charles Barkley, like Marino, come up short year after year.

Growing up in the 'burbs of O-town, as soon as Orlando landed an NBA team there was no question I would switch my allegiance. I actually atteneded the first Orlando Magic summer league game.

Those early years were rough for the expansion team, so I acutely remember how excited (and stunned) I was when a score scrolled by showing Orlando had beaten the Lakers one day.

And then came their lottery win, the franchise changer that allowed them to select Shaquille O'Neal with the No. 1 pick.

A few years later, I was at the O-rena win the Magic clinched the Eastern Conference title with a win over the Pacers. The town was electric that night.

Unfortunately, the Magic would blow a late lead in Game 1 of the Finals against the Rockets when Nick Anderson bricked a couple of free throws. It was all downhill from there as the Magic were swept in their first and – until now – only trip to the Finals.

Michael Jordan would return to the league to once again dominate and then O'Neal decided to leave for the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. With Shaq gone, the load fell to Anfernee Hardaway, and while he had his moments it appears he just wasn't meant for superstardom. (Do you think my talking Little Penny will ever be worth anything?)

A few years after that, I thought the Magic were onto something when they signed Tracy McGrady and Grant Hill. Even though Hill was coming off an ankle/foot injury, I never imagined what a disaster his tenure in Orlando would be. In six seasons in Orlando, he played more than 30 games just twice. McGrady was a stellar talent in his own right, but the burden of carrying the Magic on his back proved too much.

The lasting memory I have of McGrady in a Magic uniform was when Orlando went up 3-1 in a seven-game first round series vs. the Pistons and McGrady declared he was happy to be in the second round knowing full well they still had to win one more game. The Magic proceeded to lose the next three games.

Ugh. So that’s just a snapshot of my professional sports fandom. As you can see, not a lot to cheer for over the years.

So definitely looking forward to the Finals and hoping the Magic can pull it out (or at least win a game this time around).

After Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, I refused to watch any highlight shows, especially a certain highlights show on a certain sports network.

I figured it would be all LeBron this and all Lebron that and as a Magic fan, after a loss like that I didn't need to see more of the typical overreaction nonsense.

One glance at our message board was enough for me. One particular post that caught my eye proclaimed after "the shot" the Cavs would now win the next three games. And then there were the obligatory "We are witnesss" posts.

Garbage. All garbage.

Even our own Gregg Doyel, who usually isn't spellbound by hype, launched into hyperbole, calling Game 2 LeBron's "Michael Moment". Nevermind the fact that in came it Game 2 and merely saved the Cavs from choking away two games at home.

Jordan won series and championships with his clutch shots.

All LeBron did was ensure that this series would go at least five games.

Anybody who thought the Magic would wilt after Game 2 hasn't been paying attention. The Magic were beaten on last second shots against both the 76ers and Celtics during this postseason. Lo and behold, they didn't go in the tank.

Rather than one shot, fans and media should have taken notice that the Cavs even needed a last-second miracle to avoid falling into an 0-2 hole. Instead the focus was on coronating Lebron as usual.

Don't get me wrong, LeBron is a great player, but my (admittedly biased) opinion is that the Magic have the bigger, more athletic team.

LeBron may be the best player on the court, but the next best three all play for the Magic, Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis. Unfortunately for the Cavs, LeBron can't guard all three.

That's not to say the Cavs can't win this series. As any Magic can attest, this team is maddeningly, frustratingly inconsistent because they can get too 3-happy at times. And if they're just firing up 3s (and missing) instead of attacking, they're ripe for the taking.

But so far, so good. And thankfully, after a Game 3 victory by the Magic, I can go back to watching NBA highlights again.

Good grief.

Bill Diehl, the attorney for suspended driver Jeremy Mayfield, was on "Sirius Speedway" on SIRIUS NASCAR Radio with host Dave Moody on Wednesday. The quote I love most is when he's asked if he could reveal what substance Mayfield is accused  of taking, Diehl responds -- "I could tell you.  I'm not." -- What? Are we in elementary school?

I don't quite understand the secrecy from NASCAR's standpoint. If it is confident of the test results, then it has nothing to hide. Making it a secret is just adding to the circus. It's playing right into Mayfield hands because he keeps feeding the beast, trying to get public sentiment on his side. 

Host, Dave Moody: "Has there been at this point and will there be a lawsuit filed in this matter?"

Bill Diehl: "First question, no lawsuit has been filed. Will there be a lawsuit? That will depend on what happens between Jeremy and NASCAR which ought to be known in the next couple of days."

Moody: "What kind of conversations are being had between Jeremy and yourself and NASCAR and their representatives right now to try and settle this?"

Diehl: "The conversations I'm having with Jeremy I'm not going to tell you about.  The conversations I'm having with the NASCAR lawyer with whom I've been dealing I'm not going to talk about.  But they're obviously focused on whether or not Jeremy was suspended properly. Is what happened to him legitimate and should he stay suspended?  Should he have to go through some type of rehabilitation, if you will, that they've asked for?  So those issues are what we're talking about.  Should that happen?  Or, the alternative is, has he been mistreated and have they improperly deprived him of a way to make a living? There are some side issues. They've said a lot of unpleasant things about him that Jeremy doesn't believe are true. There's a separate remedy for that kind of behavior."

Moody: "Specifically what has been said about him?"

Diehl: "I haven't heard it directly so what I'm telling you is what's been published.  I read a report where Mr. France gratuitously announced that the serious recreational drug use by Mr. Mayfield was very difficult, very bad and they weren't going to tolerate it.  Accusing somebody that's driving a race car a couple hundred miles an hour of serious recreational drug use, that's probably not too good thing to say about him. Especially if it's not true."

Moody: "Can you tell us what specific substance has NASCAR accused Jeremy of having in his system?"

Diehl: "I could tell you.  I'm not.  But we do have two reports that they furnished me yesterday and then they just sent me one a couple hours ago that they hadn't furnished.  So we've got two reports but I'm not going to talk about them yet. If we get in a situation where we've got to talk about them then we'll talk about them.  But I'm not going to talk about them today."

Moody: "Do the two reports come to the same conclusion? Do they name the same chemical substance?"

Diehl: "I'm not going to talk about what the reports say except to tell you I have them. And then you've already been told or I've read lots of stuff that indicate what the NASCAR reps have said and what this guy, [drug test administrator Dr. David] Black, has said. The game about what is in the report is probably just that at this point. It's a game but I'm not going to participate in that game currently beyond saying that they finally furnished us two reports which they probably should have given to Mr. Mayfield long before this week."

Moody: "Jeremy has said from the start of this that this all boils down to a prescription medication that's been prescribed by a doctor for his allergies combined with a couple of Claritin D tablets that he took on the day in question in Richmond. Can you tell me what the prescription medicine that he is taking was?"

Diehl: "No, I won't reveal that yet but again that's something that he's told NASCAR. They know what it was and they've gotten the information from the doctor.  They're dealing with everything Jeremy could have furnished them about anything that he'd taken, according to Jeremy. He did take a prescription drug and he does have a medical doctor who prescribed it and they have that data and they had the information about the Claritin D."

Moody: "What would it take at this point to avoid taking this to the court system?  What would have to happen here in the next few days to avoid a lawsuit?"

Diehl: "Some type of acknowledgement that what happened was a mistake on the part of somebody in connection with what they did and how they did it. We're exploring that with them. We can't put Humpty Dumpty back together again. They've said it.  They've suspended him.  We know there are a couple of reports because we now see them. Somebody is going to have to come forward and acknowledge that, well, we thought we did what we were supposed to do, maybe we made a mistake, let's try it again."

Moody: "What's Jeremy's frame of mind and attitude right now?"

Diehl: "I think he's very upset and he's insulted.  He's had a 17 year career, had some successes.  He's just getting started with his own team, and this sort of takes you out at the knees if you're suddenly accused of being a recreational drug user and you're suspended from doing what you get paid to do.  So, he's upset.  He's trying to keep a handle on it, I think.  Hopefully he's listening to what I tell him to do.  He wants everybody to know that he's not guilty of what he's accused of."

Show personality, Suzie Armstrong: "How soon did he contact you after he was notified by NASCAR about this?"

Diehl: "I don't remember the date.  When I knew about it I think I was watching the race from Darlington on television and it came on that he'd been suspended.  And that occurred, if my memory was right - I'm not looking at a calendar - May the 9th, a Saturday.  And then he called me the next week when I got back in town."

Moody: "Is there any unofficial timeline at this point for you to decide whether or not this takes the next step into the legal system?"

Diehl: "Yes, there is but I'm not going to tell you what it is."

Matt Kenseth touched on a number of subjects during his weekly Q and A on Friday. Not sure why he should care about Earnhardt Jr.'s plight considering he's having problems of his own (despite those two wins to open the season), but it was asked and he responded as one might think he would. Anyhow here's what he had to say ...

WHAT IS YOUR APPROACH FOR THIS WEEK? “I don’t really approach it much different than any other race. You go there and just race hard and try to win. You try to win every race you’re in, but the only thing we’d probably do a little bit different is maybe try some setup stuff with the car that maybe we haven’t tried before and maybe gamble a little bit on that because if you miss it, it’s not like missing it for 600 miles. So we might be a little bit more aggressive with some of that stuff, but, other than that, we just try to run it like any other race and try to be up front at the end.”

HOW IS THE ROUSH FENWAY INTERMEDIATE TRACK PROGRAM? “Our intermediate program is probably the strongest part of Roush Fenway Racing right now, I think. It certainly has room for improvement and we could make it better, but where I think we’ve really struggled is like Richmond and Phoenix and Bristol and Martinsville and the shorter tracks, so I don’t think our intermediate stuff is as far off as what our other stuff is. I think some of our cars will be pretty competitive here, but we have been working on it. We’ve been trying to work on all aspects of the program.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY SYMPATHY FOR DALE JR. AND THIS DROUGHT HE’S GOING THROUGH? “I don’t know how to answer that. I don’t have sympathy for Dale Jr. for who he is and how popular he is and how successful he’s been. He’s won a couple Nationwide championships and he’s won I don’t know how many race, 20 races or something. He’s won a lot of Cup races and he’s had a lot of success. I don’t think there’s anything to feel bad about. Certainly as a friend and as a competitor and stuff I feel good when he does do good and when he wins and runs good, I’m always happy for him, but, to be honest, for us it’s about us trying to win and we focus all of our energy and effort and time in trying to make the 17 competitive and try to win and don’t really worry about the competition that much. Certainly when a friend wins and you don’t win you feel good for them, but I don’t really spend a lot of time really thinking about his program to be honest with you.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON POCONO? THAT TRACK SEEMS TO BE MALIGNED A LOT. “I don’t know who ridicules it. I don’t know that I have in public, so I don’t know. If you pick out all the facilities that we go to, it’s not one of the nicer places we go and it’s a long race and it’s got a straightaway that’s really long. It’s unique. I enjoy racing at the track and going there and competing, but it’s just kind of an older facility and kind of a big, long race. I think if it was a little shorter it would be a little more exciting, but it’s all right.”

DO YOU LIKE THE ACTUAL RACE AT POCONO? “It’s a little bit like anywhere, if you run good there, you probably really enjoy it and I’ve never really run that great there, so I haven’t probably enjoyed it as much as some other guys have that have run good there and won races and been really competitive, so it’s not up on the top of my list as one of my favorite places, but there are certainly places that I probably look forward to less than Pocono.”

DO YOU THINK THE NASCAR DRUG POLICY NEEDS A BANNED SUBSTANCES LIST? “I don’t know. I’m not uncomfortable not having a list. I’m not uncomfortable with that in the least. When we had the meeting in the beginning of the year Dr. Black gave every single driver and owner and everybody there his personal cell phone number and said if you have any questions about any medication, about any vitamin or supplement you can call me and we’ll talk about it and make sure that’s OK – or have your doctor call. If I got to the point where I had the flu earlier in the year and there was some medicine I had to take and I had any question about it, I would probably call and ask him. So I’m not worried about a list. After we were in the meeting I was under the impression that he was gonna work with us as much as we could if there was any chance at all of it being legit, so I felt pretty comfortable with that when we got done with him.”

HAVE YOU CALLED HIM A LOT? “I’ve never called him. Unless my multivitamins are on the list, I’m good.”

DOES THIS RACE HELP FOR THE 600 SINCE THERE’S NO TESTING? “I kind of always look at the All-Star Race as a test. It’s kind of a fun weekend, but it’s sort of test too. Now these days it’s not quite what it used to be because there are so many rules and regulations on these cars, but it used to be that you’d build kind of maybe a more wild car like Jeff Gordon did that one time – that car that got outlawed – or you try something different on the body or whatever, but these cars are pretty well set. There’s not a lot you can do to them, but certainly the few little things we can change or try different that we think might be better or different than we would normally try, we’d try that this weekend and hopefully it would work and you could go on and run it again in the 600. So, in a way, it’s kind of a fun, relaxing race. The pit crew had their competition last night to have fun qualifying tonight and do a live pit stop and stuff, which is really unique and fun to do in the middle of qualifying, so it’s a fun night tomorrow night.”

WHAT WOULD YOU DO TO MAKE THIS ALL-STAR RACE MORE EXCITING OR DEVELOP SOME CONTINUITY? “I don’t really know what you could do to make it more exciting. The way they try to set it up, the double-file restarts and the short run at the end and the break and the one live pit stop – all that stuff – qualifying with a pit stop – I think they do everything they can to try to make it a show and make it as exciting as they possibly can. I really have never honestly sat and thought about, ‘Boy, how can we make it more thrilling,’ because that’s not really my job. I try to look at the rules they come up with and say, ‘OK, how can we figure out how to try to take advantage of that and try to win the race?’ I haven’t really thought about that. I think they do a good job every year of trying to make it as entertaining as they possibly can.”

Thrilling. Amazing. Unbelievable.

There are many different ways to describe Sunday's race at Talladega (be sure to read all about it here).

How about these?

Insane. Ridiculous. Stupid. Dangerous.

I'm curious as to what NASCAR's reaction will be to what happened this weekend at Talladega, most notably the last-lap wreck on Sunday.

What ensued on the final lap all dates back to last October's penalty on Regan Smith, when he overtook Tony Stewart below the yellow line to beat him to the checkered flag at Talladega. NASCAR penalized him, giving Stewart the victory.

Almost every driver not named Stewart thought the ruling was bogus and basically predicted Sunday's events. With NASCAR ruling with such a heavy hand, many drivers said if they were put in that position they would stick to their ground and if it led to a wreck, so be it. NASCAR was forcing their hands.

And so it was Sunday.

Keselowski said there was no way he was going below the yellow line and so when Edwards tried to block his momentum, he didn't back off or swerve, he just continued with his head of steam and the rest was history. What's more, Edwards didn't blame him.

Imagine if Edwards' car had broken through the fencing and into the stands. Yes, the fence is built to withstand such a catastrophe, but there are no guarantees, and it's certainly nothing a track truly wants to see tested during a live event. As it was, there was debris that struck fans in the stands.

That's what restrictor plates and NASCAR iron fist has wrought. Not only is NASCAR putting the drivers' safety at risk, but now the fans.

Richard Childress met with the media Friday to discuss the changes made to Kevin Harvick's No. 29 team and Casey Mears' 07 team earlier this week ...

THIS SWAP ON YOUR CREWS, IS THIS MORE A SENSE OF URGENCY ON YOUR PART OR WAS IT PRESSURE MAYBE A LITTLE BIT BY THE SPONSORS? “I think it’s the whole sport itself. In today’s environment you can’t wait sometime half-way through the season. With the point structure like it is you’ve got to make changes to make the Chase. We only have so many races before the Chase. I originally started looking at Bristol where we were at with our race teams. Four of our best race tracks were Bristol, Texas, Martinsville and Phoenix. When I went to Montana I made up my mind out there that right after Texas I was coming back and making the changes and we started the motion right after Texas and it took some time. Mike Dillon and Will Lind both worked through this with me and we made a decision of what we were going to do. We owe it to our sponsors and our fans to run better than we are and I felt these were the two teams right now that were the weakest. They’re great race teams. Both of them are great race teams. The No. 07 with Gil Martin and those guys have finished in the top-five two years in a row in the points. Kevin (Harvick) finished fourth last year with his team in the points. Sometimes a little chemistry or sometimes a little change makes a big difference. I’m not only doing it for these two race teams, we’re doing it to help RCR (Richard Childress Racing) as a whole.”

KEVIN AND TODD (BERRIER) HAVE BEEN SO SUCCESSFUL TOGETHER WHEN DID IT STOP WORKING WITH THAT COMBINATION? “I don’t know. I don’t know that it has really. We just need to fix all of our race teams and this is the first step. I’m not above making more changes if that’s what it takes. I’m going to be looking hard at everything. We don’t have a choice. We have to be competitive.”

WHY DO YOU THINK THIS WILL WORK? “You know sometimes it’s kind of like a divorce, when a man and woman are getting a divorce and they think they’re both giving 100 percent then the first thing she wants to do is get in the tanning bed and lose 30 pounds. He goes and gets rid of his gut and a sports car. Maybe the change it’s always worked for us in the past and hopefully this will make it work.”

WHAT IF IT DOESN’T? “We don’t have an option. It has to work. There’s no option.”

WHAT’S THE BENEFIT OF CHANGING EVERYTHING RATHER THAN JUST THE CREW CHIEF? “Because of the relationship and the strength of both of these race teams is very strong, the engineering relationship and the pit crew relationship with the crew chiefs and everything. Each one of them has their own team and they’re both very successful race teams so you don’t need to break the racing teams up. We just needed to make the change and we’re
not doing it just to make a change, we have a lot of other things. This isn’t the only change at RCR we’re making right now. We’re making a lot of other changes as well.”

DID THE DRIVERS HAVE ANY INPUT IN THE DECISION? “I told them what we were basically going to do.”

DID IT JUST COME DOWN TO THE CREW AND THE DRIVER AS TO WHAT YOU WERE LOOKING AT TO JUST CHANGE THE CREW? “That and communication. I think that could be a lot of it. A lot of the communication between the driver and the crew chief and sometime if they get a little bit off you want to make a change.”

ITS ONLY EIGHT RACES INTO THE SEASON AND YOU’RE MAKING THIS CHANGE, CAN YOU TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHY YOU CAN’T WAIT? “Like I said earlier a lot of it is driven by our points system. To make the Chase, we’re not that far away if you really get to looking at how many more races, we’re a third of the way there. It will probably take two or three races to get this thing really working and you can’t afford to lose 50, 75, 100 points each race. So that’s the biggest reason we’re doing it when we’re doing it.”

WHAT WAS THE REACTION OF THE DRIVER’S AND THE CREW CHIEFS? “Like I say when I was in Montana sitting on the mountain out there I just decided this was the best for our organization and all of them wants what’s best for RCR. That was the comments I got back from the crew chiefs, the drivers and everything. Whatever is going to be best for RCR we’re willing to do it. And we’ve got Jeff Burton’s and Clint Bowyer’s support of this too.”

SEVERAL YEARS AGO YOU SWAPPED THE TEAMS AND CREW CHIEF’S WITH THE NO. 31 AND NO. 3, HOW DID THAT HELP THAT SITUATION AND DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING TO SEE THAT AGAIN? “Well if history repeats itself it should help both of these race teams. Like I said it may take two or three races before it will work but we can’t wait eight or ten races and see if it works. When you see it doesn’t then you’re out of time to make the Chase.”

HOW DID THAT HELP? “We’ve made a crew chief change in the past and each time it’s always seemed to be successful. You just can’t sit here and accept running like we’ve ran in the last four races. I’m just making the statement that we’re not going to do it.”

WHY THE NO. 29 AND NOT THE NO. 31? “The No. 31 has been performing well. He’s been one of our better cars these last few weeks and that deal is working well. The No. 33 is working well. These two teams right here, looking back and looking at what’s happened at the race tracks that a lot of people may not see that I’m on the radios, I’m watching and watching what’s happening and listening, I felt these were the two that needed the changes.”

YOU TALK ABOUT THE RADIO, OBVIOUSLY KEVIN CAN BE ANIMATED ON THE RADIO, DID THAT PLAY A PART WHEN YOU HEAR HIS FRUSTRATION THAT MAYBE IT WAS TIME FOR NEW CHEMISTRY THERE? “If you were listening I said I started this right after Bristol and he was fine on the radio up there. Sometimes you hear me and I get a little excited on the radio as well. That doesn’t have anything to do with it.”

WHAT ABOUT THE FACT THAT GIL MARTIN HAD WORKED WITH KEVIN BEFORE, DID THAT HAVE ANY IMPACT IN THIS DECISION? “Yeah, that was one other reason. Those guys already had a relationship and I felt that was going to be our best opportunity to do better. Gil and Todd both will be working close together on making sure both of these teams get better.”

HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS WITH THIS BECAUSE A LOT OF TIMES WITH CREW CHIEF CHANGES THERE’S A SPIKE IN PERFORMANCE THE NEXT FOUR OR FIVE RACES THEN A LOT OF TIMES AFTER THAT IT JUST GOES BACK TO WHERE IT WAS, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO LOOK AT THAT ESPECIALLY IN THIS TIME TABLE TRYING TO GET INTO THE CHASE? “Well what I did is I had a meeting with our whole organization. Everybody that works on the four race teams and explained to them that we would make more changes if we had to and we were going to do what it took to make these cars competitive. I’ll be watching it and I’ll be monitoring it. I was supposed to have been turkey hunting for the last three days and I’ve been working. I came back with an attitude that we knew we had to make changes.”

WHY HAS THE NO. 33 WORKED SO WELL SO QUICKLY? “I think the key there again is what I’m looking at here. Something else I’ve looked at real hard is that’s a race team, most of those guys came up with Clint that ran the Nationwide Series and Shane’s (Wilson) is a great crew chief and he had worked with Clint a couple of other times so I thought that would work. I think that’s been one of the successful reasons for that race team.”

GIL (MARTIN) WORKED WITH KEVIN BEFORE, WHY IS IT GOING TO WORK THIS TIME BECAUSE DIDN’T (TODD) BERRIER REPLACE HIM BECAUSE THINGS DIDN’T WORK OUT BETWEEN THEM? “It wasn’t clicking at that time. It did, it did for a while. If you look back through the history, Kevin had a pretty hard wreck at Darlington when Kyle Petty blew that engine and I think he was a little bit off at the time and with the frustration and everything it was time for a change. This sport isn’t no different than football or baseball. When things aren’t working tough decisions sometimes have to come from the coach or the owner’s or whatever and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to make those work. If you sit there and let things stay still too long it will hurt your whole organization.”

ANYBODY TRY TO TALK YOU OUT OF IT? “I think after Bristol we had some conversations and we were going to look at it and after Martinsville I wasn’t happy with the performance there.
I walked right out of the race track at Texas after our performance there and knew I was going to make the change I just needed to know what change I was going to make and sitting over there in the mountains I had time to clear my head and say this is what I think is going to be good for all of our sponsors involved, for our drivers and crews.”

WHAT ABOUT CASEY MEARS AND HIS POTENTIAL WITH YOUR ORGANIZATION? “Casey has really ran good. We seem like we get a lap down, once we get up there he’s a top-five, top-10 car so I’ve still got a lot of confidence in what Casey can do.”

SO YOU’RE MAKING OTHER CHANGES? “Made a lot of engineering changes and a lot of stuff inside our company that just goes really deep. I’ve decided that some things we needed to make changes in so we made several of those changes as well. It may take a couple of weeks to show but I think you’re going to see a difference. Hopefully we’re going to be real competitive here and with the changes that we’re working on by Richmond.”   
 

Is it panic time at Richard Childress Racing?

With Kevin Harvick and Casey Mears struggling with just two tops 10s (both by Harvick) through the season's first eight races, team owner Richard Childress is making wholesale changes.

Following this weekend's race at Talladega, Mear's crew chief Gil Martin and his crew will move to the No. 29 team with Harvick while Todd Berrier and his crew shift over the No. 07 team with Mears. In addition to the crew chiefs, the transition will include car chiefs, engineers, shock specialists, engine tuners, tire specialists, mechanics, transporter drivers and over-the-wall pit crews.

“The decision to interchange the 29 and 07 teams was made to make both programs stronger and more successful,” said Childress. “Our main objective has always been to have all four of RCR’s teams qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Neither team has had the success this season that we know they’re capable of, so we decided it was time to make a change to improve the two teams and the overall strength of RCR. We feel this change positions us to achieve that goal.

“Todd and Gil are proven winners who have strong and successful teams behind them. Chemistry is an important part of any successful organization and I felt it was time to change the makeup of these two teams. We’ve done this before with positive results.”

I'm not sold this move will make either team all that much better.

Martin and Harvick have actually worked together before and the results weren't all that great. Martin served as Harvick's crew chief in 2002, Harvick's second full-time season, and though they did capture one win together, he finished 21st in points (the worst points finish of his career) with five top fives and eight top 10s (the fewest top 10s of his career).

As for the new Berrier-Mears tandem, while I like Berrier as a crew chief, the bigger problem with the 07 team is the driver. I thought Mears' addition to RCR was a mistake from the get-go. He has had plenty of opportunities to succeed in quality equipment, most recently with Hendrick Motorsports, and has never lived up to the potential so many in the industry seem to believe he has.