NASCAR heads to Richmond

NASCAR returns to the Commonwealth and Richmond International Raceway this weekend after racing at Martinsville on April 7. I thought I would discuss a few of my thoughts on the season so far.

Here are the current point standings (top 20) in Sprint Cup:

1. Jimmie Johnson: 311 points - 2 wins

2. Kasey Kahne: 37 points behind - 1 win

3. Brad Keselowski: -38 

4. Greg Biffle: -47

5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: -48

6. Carl Edwards: -49 - 1 win

7. Kyle Busch: -54 - 2 wins

8. Clint Bowyer: -64

9. Paul Menard: -71

10. Jamie McMurray: -84

11. Kevin Harvick: -87

12. Aric Almirola: -89

13. Martin Truex Jr.: -107

14. Matt Kenseth: -109 - 2 wins

15. Jeff Gordon: -109

16. Mark Martin: -110

17. Ryan Newman: -111

18. Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: -115

19. Marcos Ambrose: -118

20. Joey Logano: -124

Storylines so far:

-NASCAR not playing around with punishment.

The last two weeks, NASCAR has handed down major sanctions for illegal car parts. Last week, it was the Penske cars of Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski losing 25 points each while their crew chiefs were

Matt Kenseth and crew chief Jason Ratcliff.

docked $100,000 and suspended six races. The teams are appealing the penalties and will be heard by a panel May 1. Wednesday, the car of Matt Kenseth, who won Sunday at Kansas, was found to have a connecting rod in the engine that was too light. I know next to nothing about car parts, especially racecar parts, but the car was in violation of the rules nevertheless, and Kenseth paid for it. He lost 50 points, essentially losing the win he just gained, dropping from eighth to 14th in points. The victory still stands in the record books but not the points for it and it also can't count toward a possible total for a wild card spot later in the year. His crew chief, Jason Ratcliff, was fined $200,000 and suspended six races. According to an ESPN.com article, the engine was made by Toyota Racing Development, not Joe Gibbs Racing, which owns the car, so it is possible the team was not trying to gain an advantage, but it will pay the price for the screwup either way. JGR and Kenseth plan on appealing. Other more minor violations have also drawn penalties from NASCAR this year. Those in the garage must be really watching their p's and q's at this point with all the sanctions flying around.

-On the other hand, fights seem to be allowed.

Joey Logano and former teammate Denny Hamlin don't like each other. It came to a breaking point when Logano crashed Hamlin at California in late March on the final lap in Turn 4. The cars were running 1-2 and the crash took them out of it and Kyle Busch ended up winning. Hamlin's car hit the inside wall hard.

Here is a video of the action on the last couple laps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=YuaxlqV9RvU

The driver broke part of his back and is still healing and missing races. He won't race at Richmond, his home track, on Saturday and would probably only start the race but not finish the next week at Talladega. After that same race, Tony Stewart got mad at Logano (Logano seems to be disliked by multiple drivers) for blocking him and went on a profanity-laced tirade after the race and physically confronted Logano. No penalties were handed down for the scuffle between the pit crews, who got in between the two drivers. In the last decade or so, NASCAR seemed to want to control drivers' behaviors and penalize them for stepping out of bounds and not modeling good behavior for their sponsors. NASCAR took the opposite approach here, though, perhaps signaling a change in the way the organization is going to police the drivers. It sounds like illegal cars are a no-no, but drivers themselves might be able to push the envelope somewhat on what is illegal when it comes to altercations.

Tony Stewart

-Speaking of Tony Stewart, he is not racing well.

The three-time champ has only one top-10 finish this year, at Phoenix, and is 21st in points. There are 18
races to go before the Chase starts, but Stewart needs to start racking up some good finishes to get back into the conversation. The top 10 in points is a long way off, but don't forget, any two drivers that finish in the 11-20 range in points could make the Chase if they have the most wins out of that group.

Conversation turns away from Danica.

Danica Patrick was the story surrounding the Daytona 500, and rightly so, because she started on the pole and finished a respectable eighth. She has yet to duplicate those efforts, however, and is currently 25th in points. She finished 12th at Martinsville, but has had no other finish higher than 25th. Her sub-par performance, paired with the other stories above, especially the first two, have calmed the media storm around Danica. Unless she steps up and starts getting more consistent with good finishes, I imagine she won't be in the spotlight much more this season. At Daytona, she was able to run

Danica Patrick

the car wide open and also had the benefit of the draft. With her struggling, it has me wondering if these other tracks require more technical skill or car control, something Patrick has yet to master.

"Five-time" is quietly pulling away.

Jimmie Johnson has won a pair of races and is out in front of second-place Kasey Kahne by 37 points. With all this other commotion, you barely notice Johnson. He is unlike any five-time champion you can imagine. He is has lots of adorers, like Michael Jordan (six NBA titles) did, but he is hard to hate, at least I think. Lots of people call MJ a butthole and he known for having a bit of a rough, holier-than-thou personality. Johnson is too nice to be a five-time champion. But other drivers need to realize, even if Johnson is an unmistakably nice guy, what is going on and get mad and motivated or Johnson will be running away with a sixth championship.