Autism Speaks 400

Dale Earnhardt Jr. got a new crew chief yesterday. Just thought I’d update you in case you decided to hide out under a rock yesterday, waiting for the imminent end of the motorsports world as we knew it. In fact, I’m teetering on not even tuning into any pre-race coverage this weekend (including my favorite pre-race show, NASCAR RaceDay on Speed Channel, and any of the practices or even qualifying) for that very reason.

I understand the “Jr. Mania” and the throng of media coverage that he gets, but that’s all he’s getting here (kind of). Ready to hear about the race without hearing about Jr.? Good, I’m glad I can count on my readers to look for an encapsulating preview of the final edition of NASCAR on Fox.

1. David Reutimann won last week, carries very little momentum to this week

I guarantee Darrell Waltrip will have something to say about his driver “Reutty Fruity” (or whatever he refers to him as). I’m also willing to bet that DW will have Reutimann as the in car audio interview on the pace laps and we’ll hear nothing but praise for the driver of the Aaron’s Dream Machine.

Ricky Craven, former driver turned Yahoo! Sports analyst wrote this on the Yahoo! What to Watch For yesterday: “Can David Reutimann carry the momentum from winning his first career Sprint Cup series race to Dover this weekend?” Really Ricky, did you say momentum? Even his crew chief Rodney Childers admitted that the Aarons Toyota was not any better than about a twentieth place car, so they needed to take a gamble to win.

Lucky for them that gamble paid off. Mark my words, David Reutimann carries luck into this weekend, but very little momentum. (It would be different if he ran well last weekend)

2. Finally, Fox coverage is over!

Digger will be “put to sleep” for at least a few more months, DW’s last “Boogity, Boogity, Boogity” will be uttered, perhaps screamed, and there will be no more check-ins at the Hollywood Hotel with NASCAR on Fox’s Chris Meyers.

I used to like Fox coverage of NASCAR. I felt they did a decent job of covering the sport, and had good points to make throughout the races. DW and Larry Mac were a good team, acting as driver and crew chief. Now, the act is getting old and too much emphasis is placed on Digger—a NASCAR fan’s biggest public enemy next to Kyle Busch.

I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll say it again, Fox coverage has declined over the past two seasons. At Richmond the glaring misses of on track wrecks (even as one of the three talking heads said, “There’s trouble”) and incidents left me irate. If you check out Yahoo’s “Your Turn” with Jay Busbee, you’ll find a man from Orange County, California who agrees with me.

Needless to say, we’ll all be happy when NASCAR on TNT returns. Kyle Petty, Wally Dallenbach and Bill Weber will be back calling the shots, and if you want my opinion, it doesn’t get much better than this crew.

3. Can Mark (insert favorite nickname here) Martin win at Dover again?

The aforementioned Ricky Craven and Jay Busbee feel that Mark Martin is the man to beat this weekend. After all, it’s tough to argue with Mark’s track record at Dover. He’ll be a guest on “Trackside” this weekend with his brain trust crew chief, Alan Gustafson.

He used to be called the “Ol’ Man” and recently had, “The Kid” pasted on his car. I’ve also “Mr. Consistency” and “Ice Man”. I’m not really sure what Ice Man refers to, but I do remember growing up and hearing “The Man” referred to as Mr. Consistency.

With 45 starts, four wins and 20 plus top fives and top tens, there’s no argument that Mark (insert your favorite nickname here) Martin knows how to get around the one-mile concrete ring. Last season he was in a heated battle with three former Roush Racing teammates for the win, but came up short, finishing fourth.

Maybe even better news for fans of Mark Martin is that his track record at Pocono and Michigan is pretty good as well, and the series heads to those two tracks next. Look for the #5 car up front for the next few weeks, as if he hasn’t been there in the past few weeks.

4. Or will it be Greg Biffle, who has been hot at Dover in recent runs?

Greg Biffle has outscored all other NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers in the past two seasons at Dover and Roush Fenway Racing has won five of the last ten Dover races (one every year from 2004-2008). Can Biffle or one of his RFR teammates get the ball rolling again this weekend?

Roush Fenway has been struggling this season (minus Matt Kenseth’s hot start to ’09) and Dover might be the place to get the season another jump start. Three RFR cars—Biffle, Kenseth and Carl Edwards—mixed it up with Mark Martin last fall in the closing laps of race two in the Chase. Edwards has been slightly “off” this season and if he wants to win nine races like he did a year ago, he might want to start this weekend.

My prediction is that at least two RFR cars finish in the top ten, and one of them will contend for the win. If I had to put money on it, my dollars would go to the #16 team, and Greg Biffle.

----------------------------------------------------------

The past few races I tried to pick a winner and I came up flat, so that prediction is the best you’ll get from me. I’ve got one busy and exciting day planned so I’ll make one short plug and get out of your way…Check out the “Friday Sports Fever” on Ch. 9 WCPO in Cincinnati at 11:20 this evening. You might see (or hear) from me directly. We’ll see though, but you still should tune in, just to see a great sportscast. Have a great Friday everyone!