This Week in Auto Racing April 10 - April 12

NASCAR

If the Chase for the Sprint Cup started today, there would be some very big names left without a "ticket to the dance." NASCAR invites just 12 drivers to compete in the "Chase." Currently outside the top-12 are: Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon and Kurt Busch - all former series champions. Others who would be left off the list include: Martin Truex Jr., who made last year's Chase, Juan Pablo Montoya, Jamie McMurray and Casey Mears.

Kenseth, the 2003 Sprint Cup Champion, is the closest to qualifying for the "Chase," just 54 points behind both Kasey Kahne and Clint Bowyer. (Note: this is being written before any penalty against Ryan Newman for failing post-race inspection at TMS last Sunday.)

The No.17 team has gone through changes this season with a new crew chief (Chip Bolin) which might explain his start. Kenseth, one of the most consistent drivers in the series has four top-10s, but twice has finished 30th or worse (Daytona, Martinsville).

Gordon, part of the Hendrick Motorsports team of drivers which dominated in 2007 winning 18 of 36 events, has struggled all season to find the right setup. He has also been beset by mechanical problems which don't usually effect HMS cars. In Daytona, Gordon had a suspension failure and didn't finish the race. He also failed to complete all the laps in Las Vegas after taking a horrific hit against the inside retaining wall on lap 262. Last Sunday he was credited with a third DNF (did not finish) after an accident on lap 110. He already has two more DNFs than in all 36 races last year.

"I can't remember the last time we struggled this bad," said the four-time series champion.

In 2008 a Kurt Busch sighting in the top-10 has been a rare event. After pushing Penske teammate Ryan Newman to the victory at Daytona in February, Busch, the 2004 Sprint Cup Champion, has failed to earn a top-10. He has led just nine laps - all in that first race. The last two weeks Busch has finished 33rd at Martinsville and 23rd at TMS to drop from 10th in the standings to 15th overall.

"We missed the setup again and it's really frustrating," said Busch after Sunday's race. "All we can do is keep plugging away."

Truex Jr., now the lead driver at Dale Earnhardt Inc. with the defection of Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Hendrick Motorsports, has earned just one top-10 all year - a sixth-place result in California. He has led just two laps all season and his 36th-place finish in Texas dropped him to 16th overall.

After a great rookie campaign which included a win and six top-10s, much was expected of Montoya this season. So far the Colombian has been seem more on commercials than in the top-10. His best finish is a 13th-place at Martinsville. Meanwhile, McMurray (Roush Fenway Racing) and Mears (Hendrick Motorsports) have done little despite being on teams that are supposed to finish near the top because they have the best available equipment and crew.

But the good news for these guys and the rest of the drivers outside the top-12 is that there is plenty of time left to get it together and make the "Chase." There are still 19 races remaining before the Sprint Cup "regular" season ends in Richmond on September 6th.

Gordon, for instance, is the defending champion both at PIR and the next race in Talladega. Busch has one win and five top-10s in 10 starts at PIR and Kenseth has a win and six top-10s in 11 PIR starts.

It is time for those who started slow to step up their game if they want to have any fun this fall.

Nationwide

Bashas' Supermarket 200 - Phoenix International Raceway - Phoenix, AZ

Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer enters this week's Nationwide Series race in Phoenix with everything going right. He is the series points leader - by 57 points over defending champion Carl Edwards. Bowyer is also the defending champion for this week's race at PIR. And his team has overtaken the No.33 Kevin Harvick Inc. team to lead the owner's points championship.

In the 2007 race, Bowyer was in the lead with seven laps to go. On the final restart he pulled away from Matt Kenseth. Jeff Burton, in third place, began to challenge Kenseth for second and while the two fought it out for the runner-up spot, Bowyer cruised to the victory.

In the last three years (six races at PIR) 13 RCR cars have been entered and they have come away with 11 top-fives. Besides Bowyer (No.2) and Burton (No.29), youngster Stephen Leicht will drive the No.21 RCR Chevrolet.

Leicht finished seventh in the 2007 Nationwide Series standings for Robert Yates Racing, but was left without a ride when the team decided to focus on its Sprint Cup teams. Leicht has made two starts for RCR - finishing 10th in California and 12th at Nashville.

Behind Bowyer and Edwards in the standings are David Reutimann, David Ragan and Kyle Busch.

The speedy Busch has won at least one race in the Craftsman Truck Series, Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup Series for the fourth consecutive year.

"To win in all three series four years in a row or something like that - I just want to race," Busch said. "I just go out there and drive what I can. To win is the ultimate goal, and to go after points is second."

"Rowdy" could easily have notched four Nationwide wins in 2008. Busch and Tony Stewart were the two fastest cars in the season opener at Daytona and the veteran Stewart edged his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate. At Atlanta, Busch led 153 laps and was the best on the track but with 25 laps to go Busch's right-front tire went flat causing him to crash into the first-turn wall to ruin another great performance. In Nashville, Busch led 125 laps when he spun his Toyota.

"Just a stupid mistake on the driver's part," said Busch after the race.

Then last Saturday Busch started deep in the field, yet still led 126 of 200 laps en route to his first win of the season. He has led a series-high 471 laps this year in the first seven events.

Unless something very strange happens, expect this week to be a battle between the RCR cars and Busch.