Though Dale Earnhardt Jr. won’t be battling for a spot in the Chase Saturday night at Richmond, there is reason for optimism heading to the 0.75-mile short track.

Earnhardt Jr. has three wins at Richmond, which ties him with Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart for most wins there among active full-time drivers.

In 22 career starts at Richmond, Earnhardt Jr. has eight top-five finishes, matching his personal best at a track. And his average finish of 13.2 at Richmond is third-best among all tracks for Earnhardt Jr.

And he typically runs better at Richmond in September than he does in May. He led 90 laps and finished fourth there in September 2008.

Though he has slumped to 19th in points and is out of Chase contention – 219 behind 12th-place Clint Bowyer – Earnhardt Jr. is poised for a good run this weekend.

"Richmond fits my driving style,” he said. “I grew up racing at Myrtle Beach [S.C.], and it's got the same characteristics of that track. It's got multiple grooves and multiple ways of racing around there.

“The car changes quite a bit over the night, and you've got to be able to move around and find different grooves. We've struggled there the past couple of times but we've been doing a lot of testing to get ready for this weekend."

Crew chief Lance McGrew says his Hendrick Motorsports crew tried some new setups recently in preparation for the Richmond race.

"We went testing at a track that is comparable to Richmond,” said McGrew, whose team recently tested at Gresham (Ga.) Motorsports Park. “It was more of an effort to try some new things. It's not a race that we prepare any different for other than the fact that you can't go to a place that compares to say, Atlanta and test. You've got to learn some lessons at a smaller track and hope they carry over to some of the larger tracks."

A big challenge at Richmond is practicing and qualifying during the day, and then racing under the lights.

"It's difficult because you have to look back at the history and changes you've made at the race the last time you went there,” McGrew said. “It does throw a big wrinkle in it because the grip level is so different from day to night that sometimes your car will do something completely different.

“Ultimately, you try to build some adjustability into your car for the night time."

Despite the challenge, both McGrew and Earnhardt Jr. like racing on a Saturday night.

“I've always liked Saturday night racing because it is more the way you grew up racing,” McGrew said. “For those of us that grew up racing, you were racing Friday and Saturday nights. The way the lights reflect off the cars, usually the crowd's a lot more excited because they've done some tailgating and are in a pretty good mood.

“I like it. It reminds me of simpler times." - www.fanfeedr.com

Post race engine inspection from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Emory Healthcare 500 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway has been completed and all is clear. - John 'Captain Thunder' Nevins www.CaptainThunderRacing.com

Mark Martin is toast.

You know it. I know it. He knows it. The kid driving the go-kart down the street knows it.

Martin is currently the 15th man in a 12-man race to qualify for NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup entering Saturday's final run at Richmond.

"I haven't done the math," he said Tuesday, "but I don't think (the odds are) very good."

You are correct, sir. Martin is 147 points away from qualifying. Anyone within 161 points of 12th place is still eligible to make the Chase, but it virtually would take a bunch of cars wrecking in the first few laps Saturday night for Martin to roll into NASCAR's 10-race playoff.

Greg Biffle is in 11th place but looks solid. He has a 161-point lead over 13th-place Ryan Newman. All Biffle has to do is finish 42nd or better to clinch. Clint Bowyer, currently 12th, has a 117-point lead over Newman. All he has to do is finish 28th or better to clinch.

Jamie McMurray (128 points out) and Martin are extreme bubble boys.

We measure greatness in different ways, not just by points and championships. Few people would have the nerve to rip Martin for becoming a career underachiever, despite finishing second in the points chase five times since his first career start April 15, 1981 in North Wilkesboro.

One of those times was last year, when he came out of "semi-retirement" to run a full schedule.

"It would have destroyed the season for us to miss the Chase last year, because we knew if we could get in it, we could win it," he said.

This year, not as much.

Martin's No 5. Chevrolet has yet to win in 25 starts this season and has an average finish of 19.6 in the last five races. He does the math and knows he would belong by the flimsiest of margins.

There is no looking back. There was a time back in his young and wilder days Martin would have been furious at the circumstances. But now, at 51, he can take an introspective look at his career and missed opportunities at championships.

"It wouldn't have changed my life," Martin said "… I don't think I'd be a different person. I don't think I'd have a different ride. I don't think I'd have more sponsors or anything else.

"When I look back on it, I've been very, very fortunate to have been incredibly successful at doing what I have passion for and love. And I'm no champion. I'm just lucky I got to win a pile of races."

Martin has 40 of those in his career.

It's a nice pile to have on your resume. - by george diaz -  www.nw32.com
 

Jimmie Johnson is currently in 7th with five wins, and 13 top 10 finishes this season.

Johnson’s team is ranked number one on the Forbes list of the Most Valuable Teams In Nascar.

The average team generated $92 million in revenue last year, a drop of 4% as teams were hurt by a 19% decline in Nascar licensing revenue. Despite the revenue drop, the average operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) for the top teams was flat at $7 million. Teams have trimmed budgets by reducing head count, tracking inventory more closely and cutting travel budgets.

Stewart’s team, Stewart-Haas Racing, is ranked 8th.

For more on Stewart-Haas Racing, check out:

Forbes magazine article: Is Tony Stewart Nascar’s Smartest Owner?

Forbes.com videos: Tony Stewart’s Racing To Profitability

Recently, the video above was posted on Tony Stewart’s Facebook wall. More than 600 fans ‘like’ it, and 89 fans commented. A few of the comments are below:

Tammy Couch congrats smoke on making the Forbes 8th place is a great accomplishment for you..keep up good work rooting for u sun like always.

Shelby Marchand The hottest honcho doesn’t quite cover it. What would nascar be if Tony hadn’t chosen to do this for a living!!!!!

Johanna E Matias Smart and sucessful businessman, damn good driver, sexy in his own way, with a good heart…what else can we ask? NOTHING!

Alex Chambers TONY STEWART keep the commercials coming keep making money and most importantly keep racing.

The second race at Richmond International Raceway – always the “money” event in the hunt for Chase spots because of its positioning as the last run of the regular season – has had its own special aura since the Chase began in 2004.

In fact, Richmond has been more of a red-letter stop on the tour than some of the Chase races, largely because high drama has been attached to its Saturday night 400-lapper. Drivers have come into the race on the ragged edge, their Chase future – or lack of it – to be determined by an evening of tight racing on one of America’s best short tracks.

Typically, there are several drivers hovering around the cutoff mark for the Chase, with Richmond results to determine which ones get in and which ones spend the rest of the season in the relative ignominy of “everybody else”.

As teams approach this year’s Air Guard 400, scheduled Saturday night at the .75-mile track, the sense of drama is blunted. Ten spots in the 12-driver Chase have been clinched. And the final two seem virtually in the hands of 11th-place Greg Biffle and 12th-place Clint Bowyer.

Ryan Newman, who gained two spots by finishing eighth in Atlanta, is 13th, but he’s 117 points behind Bowyer. Behind Newman are Jamie McMurray, 128 behind Bowyer, and Mark Martin, 147 back.

The pressures of being in the group trying to land the final Chase spots can be intense.

“Oh man, I’ll tell you, being in that position it is not a fun position to be in,” said Jeff Gordon. “Every week you are just focusing on each position, each point. There is just a tremendous amount of stress. To me, there is as much stress right now for the guy that is trying to make the Chase as there is at the end of the season when it comes down to a couple of guys trying to win the championship.

“It is really that intense. It’s that important to be in the Chase. When you are that close to it, especially if you have been in it before or if the expectations are that you should be in it, that intensity and that kind of pressure is hard to deal with because it is the intensity of what’s going on within the team. You are already putting a lot of pressure on yourself, but then it is the added pressure of the media and the fans and all the expectations from outside.”

Saturday would have to be the best and worst of times – the worst for Bowyer and the best for one of his pursuers – for any of his challengers to beat him for the 12th Chase position. Early wreck? Blown engine? Anything is possible, but the smart money already has Biffle and Bowyer penciled into the Chase.

Does the relative lack of Chase theatrics make Richmond less compelling? Somewhat, yes. There is not likely to be any late-race jousting among Chase contenders for critical positions, and the post-race garage area won’t be bubbling with the emotions of drivers who barely made it or barely missed it.

Still, Richmond is Richmond, and it typically showcases some of the best racing on the circuit.

“It’s a really difficult race track,” said Jeff Burton, who, like Gordon, is locked into the Chase. “It’s a fun race track. It’s a blast to run on.

“The thing about Richmond is that you never know is it going to be a multiple-groove track, or is it not? It’s hard to figure out where to go. That’s the biggest challenge about Richmond is its corners are tight and it’s a small short track. Well, it’s a big short track, but for our cars it’s a small short track, and it’s really hard to get your car to turn there. It’s hard to make forward grip. It’s a challenging race track.”

Even in years when the Chase isn’t so challenging. - by mike hembree - speedtv

Only two spots remain in the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup field. Here are the scenarios with which Greg Biffle and Clint Bowyer can clinch a spot in the Championship run this weekend at the Richmond International Raceway:

Greg Biffle - currently 11th in the standings
Currently 161 points ahead of 13th place

Biffle will clinch if he finishes:
Finishes 42nd or better
Leads at least one lap

Clint Bowyer - currently 12th in the standings
Currently 117 points ahead of 13th place

Bowyer will clinch if he finishes:

Finishes 28th or better
Finishes 29th & leads at least one lap
Finishes 31st and leads the most laps  - by John 'Captain Thunder' Nevins www.CaptainThunderRacing.com

• Top-35 in Owner Points and guaranteed a starting spot at Richmond:
  No one moved in to or out of the top-35. The #7 team stays in 35th and the #26 team remains 36th with the points spread from 35th to 36th drops to 98.
  34) #71-Cassill/TRG: 1864, +151
  35) #7-Conway/RGM, 1811, 98 points ahead of 36th
  these teams/ drivers must qualify by speed:
  36) #26-Green/Latitude43: 1713, -98 points out of the top 35
  37) #38-Blaney/Front Row: 1706, -105
  The teams are NOT locked in past the next race as the owners points change after each race.
   

OK, NASCAR Nation, Saturday night's race is what you've been waiting years for:

 Saturday night is all about winning. Nothing else matters. So, no more hearing a driver say they're happy with an eighth-place finish or something along those lines after exiting the car.

 The top 10 in points are locked into the Chase. Greg Biffle, who is 11th in the points, needs only to finish 42nd or better -- even he admits he's essentially in the Chase -- to make it. That leaves one spot to fill and Clint Bowyer has a 117-point lead on Ryan Newman for the final transfer spot for the Chase. Unless Bowyer has major problems, he's in.

 Saturday night is NOT about the Chase. It's NOT about protecting positions, it's NOT about worrying about the Chase or the championship. It's back to what the sport was once about. Win or go home.

 Even the drivers are saying it:

 "We go hard,'' Jeff Burton said of the Richmond race after clinching a Chase spot last weekend at Atlanta. "We are going to kick it off next week and just bring everything we have got. We've been protecting a little bit the last four or five weeks. It is no more protecting now. It is go time and we have to lay it all on the line.''

 After clinching a Chase spot at Atlanta, Kurt Busch was asked about his approach this weekend at Richmond: "Go for the win.''

 Said points leader Kevin Harvick, who clinched a spot a couple of weeks ago: "You go out and try to win it.''

 After clinching a Chase spot at Bristol, Jeff Gordon said: "We are focused on wins.''

 That's what fans have wanted to hear from their drivers for years.

 Now, understand, it's not that the drivers aren't trying to win in the first 26 races -- the racing at Atlanta for the lead was exciting throughout the night -- but with consistency a key, drivers will take what they can get to earn a spot in the Chase. If that allows them to hang it out for a win and those bonus points, then fine, but they're going to calculate the risk/reward factor. Although, teams will likely try a few new wrinkles that could help them in the Chase, the point is that points don't matter Saturday night all but about four drivers trying to get into the Chase.

 Saturday is about the win. It is about risk-taking whether it's on pit road or on the track. It is about hanging it out there. It is about why these guys raced in the beginning -- for the thrill and for a trophy. After Satudray, the Chase begins and while wins are important and everyone will be gunning for them, they'll also be back to points racing and making decisions on how to score the most points possible (whether that is first or fifth).

 So Saturday night is your night NASCAR Nation. If the sport can't deliver a thrilling, or at least no-holds barred fight at the front, fans will be owed an explanation. - by dustin long - www.hamptonroads.com

HAMPTON, Ga. -- You can't see it, feel it or even predict how long it will stay but momentum, some drivers say, could play a role in who wins the championship.

Winner Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards have it. Jimmie Johnson is getting it, and Denny Hamlin needs it.

"I used to say it didn't matter,'' Edwards said.

After finishing second Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway for his seventh top-10 finish in the last eight races, Edwards has changed his mind about the value of momentum.

"Now, I'm seeing this turnaround and ... I think I understand the team more than I understand where we've been gaining,'' Edwards said. "So, for that reason, I believe in this momentum that we have, and I believe that it will apply to the future races.''

Edwards admits momentum won't prevent a cut tire or mechanical issue but that it lifts the team and that can matter for something. With the series heading to Richmond this weekend before the Chase begins, that could be critical.

It is for Johnson. Even though he's been fast lately, he's not had the results, leading many to believe he has been in a slump (his average finish was 23.2 for the seven races before Sunday).

So that made his third-place finish more valuable to his team and himself.

"It's a big confidence booster, and it might sound crazy, but for myself, for Chad [Knaus] to be in the heat of the race in the end when pit stops count, the adjustments count, strategy counts,'' Johnson said. "That's the stuff you need to be on your game with during the Chase.

"To get a good race here, to be in that moment and to feel the pressure is something we needed.''

Just as it helped Stewart, who earned his 10th top-10 finish in the last 12 races.

A fine night of racing came down, in part, to pit stops. Stewart's team was slow on its next-to-last pit stop and cost him a spot. The crew recovered on the final stop, helping him gain three positions and restart second. A fast restart put Stewart into the lead for good with 25 laps left and helped him to his first Cup victory since October.

Stewart's crew chief Darian Grubb, of Floyd, Va., said the fast pit stop was critical also to help the pit crew recover from its previous stop.

"You have to be able to [move on] because if you continue to get down, you're just going to go back in a hurry because everybody else is so close on the competition level,'' Grubb said. "You're talking about three-tenths of a second at most between the best and the worst guys [on pit road] and you've go to be at the top of that game in order to keep that up.''

One team falling is Hamlin's group. Even so, he'd start the Chase tied with Johnson for first once the points are reset since both have a series-best five wins this year.

Yet, a day after saying he hoped to build momentum for the Chase at Atlanta, Hamlin finished last when his engine blew while he ran near the front.

"I know if we had the reliability that we could win this championship,'' said Hamlin, who traded the lead with Stewart 10 times within 80 laps early in the race. "It's just been tough on us the last three years. When it gets down to the Chase, it seems like we have a lot of issues and problems with keeping our cars together and [Sunday] was just a small sign of that.''  - By Dustin Long - The Roanoke Times - www.roanoke.com

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -Tony Stewart raced to his first victory of the year, pulling away from Carl Edwards off the final restart Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Stewart beat Edwards by 1.316 seconds for his first victory since Oct. 4, 2009, at Kansas, leaving Edwards winless since the 2008 season finale.

Jimmie Johnson was third, followed by Jeff Burton and Kyle Busch.

Ten drivers have now clinched spots in the 12-man Chase for the Sprint Cup championship going into the final race before the playoff begins, led by points leader Kevin Harvick.

The final caution of the night came out after Ryan Newman made contact with Kasey Kahne, nearly causing a crash on the backstretch.

Stewart was out front when the green came back out with 19 laps to go, and he zoomed off the line to beat Edwards into the first corner. From there, the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy steadily pulled away.

''I didn't hit a restart all night until right there at the end,'' Stewart said. ''I've never been so happy with a win in my life.''

Edwards has not driven into Victory Lane since his nine-win season of 2008. But he led more laps in Atlanta than he has in the last 46 races combined, claiming a spot in the Chase and giving him plenty of confidence that he can contend for his first series title.

''Tony just has such a fast car at the end, but we're back,'' Edwards said. ''I know we don't look good as we did in 2008, but we're better prepared to race for the championship.''

''This is a huge relief for myself and this team,'' he said. ''that was so much fun. That was the way racing should be. Even at the end, we were trying to run (Edwards) down. We were racing hard with these guys. That says lot about (Johnson's) team going forward.''

It wasn't such a good night for pole winner Denny Hamlin, who had vowed to shake out of his midseason slump with a couple of strong performances going into the 10-race playoff.

He had plenty of speed, leading 74 laps, but the engine didn't hold out on his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota. Coming to the start-finish line on the 143rd lap, Hamlin's car suddenly started billowing smoke, sending him spinning into the infield grass.

He wound up last in the 43-car field.

''It seems like we find all the bad luck in Joe Gibbs Racing,'' Hamlin said. ''It's frustrating, but I'm going to look at it as a 50-50 day. You can look at the negative, and reliability is still somewhat of an issue. But the positive is we brought our best race car to the track, pretended it was a Chase race and got to see where we stack up when we really had to go.''

Not long after workers cleaned up the mess from Hamlin's spin, the first big crash of the race took out Greg Biffle and Elliott Sadler.

Ryan Newman charged up to make it three-wide racing going into turn three and Biffle didn't realize the No. 39 car was there. Biffle went into a spin and slid down the banking, where he clipped Sadler trying to go low. That turned Sadler's car up into the outside wall for a hard lick, but the padded barrier ensured there were no injuries.

Luckily for Harvick, he barely missed the crash diving inside of Sadler.

Harvick's luck ran out when he messed up an attempt to dive down pit road. He wound up damaging his left front tire and had problems the rest of the night, winding up 33rd.

At least there were none of the shenanigans that plagued the last Atlanta race back in the spring. Edwards was more than 150 laps down when he returned to the track and intentionally wrecked Brad Keselowski, believing the driver of the No. 12 had caused a crash that put Edwards in such a big hole.

Keselowski's car flew up into the catch fencing in front of the main grandstands and flipped back onto the track. No one was hurt, but the incident raised a heated debate over NASCAR encouraging the drivers to get more aggressive and settle their disputes on the track.

This was the final year that Atlanta will have its traditional two Cup races, which began when the track opened in 1960. The spring event, which has been plagued by poor weather and attendance, will shift to Kentucky Motor Speedway, leaving only the Labor Day weekend race in one of NASCAR's largest markets. - AP

Earnhardt Childress Racing topped the annual NASCAR dyno contest. After the sanctioning body confiscated 16 engines after Michigan to run at the NASCAR R&D center, the Nos. 29 and 1 Chevrolets topped dynamometer charts. - by lee spencer - www.foxsports.com

HAMPTON, Ga. — Denny Hamlin started chasing the championship during qualifying Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Mired in a bit of a midseason slump, Hamlin showed signs of turning things around by claiming the pole for today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race with a speed of 187.380 mph. He edged traditionally strong qualifier Ryan Newman, who’ll start from the outside of the front row after a lap of 187.070.

The rest of the top five for the Emory Healthcare 500 was Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart.

“I’m a very bad qualifier,” Hamlin said, “so I’ll take it.”

He claimed the eighth pole of his career and the 50th for Joe Gibbs Racing, which won its first pole with Bobby Labonte at Martinsville in 1995.

Hamlin has five wins this season, but it’s been nearly three months since his last victory. He’s coming off a 34th-place finish at Bristol and is fifth in the point standings.

While that’s still safely within the 12-driver Chase for the Championship, which will be set at Richmond next week, Hamlin wants to recapture the dominance he showed over a 10-race stretch that included five wins and two other top-five finishes.

“I feel like the last 10 races have definitely been up and down for our team,” he said. “We were on such a hot streak there. We kind of got spoiled. The regular season was kind of irrelevant at that point because we knew we were going to get in the Chase.”

Hamlin said the team started racing for victories instead of points.

“We’re going to treat these next two weeks as if we’re Chase racing,” he said. “We found ourselves going for wins so much, going all-out for wins, that it probably hurt us in the long run. These next two weeks, we’re going back to points racing.”

Hamlin wanted to get that new attitude started with a strong qualifying run, and that’s just what he got from his No. 11 Toyota Camry.

“We brought our best stuff,” he said. “I’m trying to get cautiously optimistic, but that’s the fastest car I’ve ever had on the race track. It was very, very, very good.”

If all goes according to plan, Hamlin will have a couple of high finishes — maybe even another win or two — heading into the 10-race Chase.

“I’m trying to do the best I can to pretend the Chase starts here,” he said. “Hopefully, we can start some momentum now, so we’re really hitting our stride when the Chase starts.”

Failing to make the 43-car field were Jason Leffler, Landon Cassill, Scott Riggs and Todd Bodine. - by paul newberry - AP
 

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