| Upcoming Events in the World of NASCAR | | | | Tony, Tony, Tony. What's happened? In the last 9 |
| The Pocono mountains are a beautiful spectacle in | | | | races, Tony Stewart has finished in the top 12 only |
| the summer time. So beautiful in fact, that NASCAR's | | | | twice with a 3rd place finish at Pocono and a win at |
| top series chooses to visit it twice a year in the | | | | Daytona. Yesterday's crash with Ryan Newman |
| summer months. Next week, the Nextel Cup teams | | | | knocked Stewart back to 37th for the race, and |
| head to Pocono Raceway for the 2nd time in 7 | | | | shuffled him out of the top 10 in points. |
| weeks for the Pennsylvania 500. | | | | His latest 9 race backslide came off of a string of 5 |
| The first time around, Denny Hamlin earned his first | | | | top 6 finishes. However, since the All-Star race, Tony |
| official Nextel Cup victory by winning the Pocono 500. | | | | has suffered a broken shoulder blade, had various |
| The win helped catapult Denny into contention for | | | | mechanical problems, and ran out of gas at |
| the Chase for the Championship. Denny will need | | | | Chicagoland Speedway after running in the top 10 for |
| another strong finish to help his chances. | | | | much of the day. |
| Also expect the following drivers to do well next | | | | As bad as all of this sounds, Tony sits in 11th place in |
| week: | | | | points and is only 11 points out of the top 10. The |
| Other drivers to note: | | | | next two race tracks on the schedule are Pocono |
| Jimmie Johnson - Average Finish 8th | | | | Raceway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Tony |
| Brian Vickers - Average Finish 9th | | | | averages a top 15 finish at Pocono and finished 3rd |
| Carl Edwards - Average Finish 10th | | | | there earlier in the season and he is the driver to |
| Next Week's Schedule: | | | | beat at Indianapolis where his average finish is 7th. |
| Nextel Cup: @ Pocono Raceway | | | | Last Week's Headlines |
| 7/22/06 - 11:05pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Pennsylvania | | | | Who can argue with NASCAR's new championship |
| 500 Practice | | | | format now? Not only has the new Chase for the |
| 7/21/06 - 03:40pm NASCAR Nextel Cup Pennsylvania | | | | Championship created a playoff atmosphere for the |
| 500 Qualifying | | | | final 10 races of the season (where in previous years |
| 7/23/06 - 02:05pm NASCAR Nextel Pennsylvania 500 | | | | ratings and fan's interest waned), it's had the same |
| Busch Series: @ Martinsville Speedway | | | | effect on the races leading up to the 10 cut-off |
| 7/21/06 - 06:00pm NASCAR Busch Series Goody's | | | | point. |
| 250 Practice | | | | Why else would you spend several hours on a |
| 7/22/06 - 12:05pm NASCAR Busch Series Goody's | | | | summer Sunday afternoon watching Wally Dallenbach |
| 250 Qualifying | | | | stutter while watching a race at New Hampshire's flat |
| 7/22/06 - 03:00pm NASCAR Busch Series Goody's | | | | 1-mile oval? I must admit I'm partial to the Fox |
| 250 | | | | broadcasting personalities, and while I recognize the |
| Craftsman Truck Series off until August 4th at | | | | challenge of racing on a basically flat, sharp-turned |
| Indianapolis Raceway Park | | | | track it still makes for boring racing. |
| Who's Hot? | | | | Nonetheless, the drama is intensifying leading up to |
| The competition for Rookie of the year is heating up, | | | | cut-off race at Richmond International Raceway on |
| and Denny Hamlin is the frontrunner. The driver of | | | | September 9th. Some of the top driver's in NASCAR |
| the #11 FedEx Chevrolet has already scored a win in | | | | are sitting on the "bubble", and may not qualify for |
| NASCAR's top series, and nearly had a 2nd place | | | | the Chase for the Championship. This includes former |
| finish yesterday in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at | | | | champions Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and the fan |
| New Hampshire International Speedway before | | | | favorite Kurt Busch. Other talented and fan-favorite |
| running out of gas. In the end, Hamlin finished 6th and | | | | drivers at risk of not qualifying for the final 10 races |
| moved to within 18 points of 10th place and 465 | | | | are Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards. |
| points of the leader. | | | | Speaking of fan favorites, the ever popular (can you |
| Other rookies faired well in yesterdays Nextel Cup | | | | hear my sarcasm) yet talented Kyle Busch dominated |
| race including Reed Sorenson. Reed was running | | | | New Hampshire when it counted and took the |
| towards the front most of the day, and moved as | | | | checkered flag on lap 308 of the Lenox Industrial |
| high as 3rd place late in the race. However, Reed had | | | | Tools 300. With the win, Kyle took advantage of |
| to make a late race pit-stop for gas that moved in | | | | poor finishes from Dale Earnhardt Jr and Tony |
| to the back of the pack and ended up finishing in | | | | Stewart and jumped 4 spots in the points to 4th |
| 24th place. | | | | place. |
| Other rookies who performed well in yesterday's | | | | Dale Earnhardt Jr. suffered from engine problems and |
| Lenox Industrial Tools 300 included David Stremme | | | | dropped out of the race on lap 135. The poor finish |
| (11th) and J.J. Yeley (12th). This year's crop of | | | | dropped Jr. 4 positions in the standings to 7th place. |
| rookies could be the best class ever. They have | | | | Tony Stewart's run-in with Ryan Newman on lap 91 |
| certainly scored high in the first semester of their | | | | dropped him to 11th in points. |
| freshman year, and we can only expect them to | | | | In all there were 11 cautions and 11 lead changes in |
| make the dean's list in the 2nd half of the season. | | | | yesterday's Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New |
| Who's Not? | | | | Hampshire International Speedway. |