By Kenny Bruce
SceneDaily.com

INDIANAPOLIS - With three of his last five starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ending with him in the garage before the finish, it wouldn't be surprising if Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he wasn't looking forward to Sunday's Brickyard 400.

But as is often the case with drivers competing in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series, the final numbers often don't tell the whole story.

Last year, Earnhardt Jr. ran in the top 10 for the majority of the race before an engine issue sidelined his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet and resulted in a 36th-place finish.

In 2007, he led 33 laps and survived an early altercation that collected several cars before engine problems again forced him out of the race, this time after 136 of 160 laps.

"Hopefully, we've learned something since [last year] that will help us improve and have a good race weekend," Earnhardt Jr. said Friday. "I really like the race track and have fun racing here.

"The banked tracks are a lot more fun as a driver, I think. But the history of this track and the unique shape of it compared to what we usually race on makes it a bit of an interesting change of pace."

So is he due for a good finish at the 2.5-mile track?
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By Bass Masters
Rowdy.com

1. In penalizing Carl Edwards for taking out Brad Keselowski at Gateway last Saturday, NASCAR did the right thing--they just did it one race too late.

For the second time this season Edwards deliberately and dangerously wrecked Keselowski. After letting the first one go with a laughable three-week stint on probation, the sanctioning body stepped in this time to cool the feud down, taking 60 points from Edwards and putting both men on NASCAR-wide probation for the rest of the year.

I understand why NASCAR put Keselowski on probation along with Edwards: he bumped Edwards to start the encounter, and they wanted to bring this little saga to an end. But they also did Carl a huge favor.

After Atlanta, where Keselowski found himself on his roof thanks to Edwards, Brad seemed content to forego payback. Maybe he figured the two were even from last year’s Talladega incident. Maybe he was told to do so by NASCAR. Maybe he just decided that as a young guy this was one of those lumps he just had to take.

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By Buzz Cutler
Rowdy.com

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

At least that was the immediate reaction among some when NASCAR announced the penalties being meted out to Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski.  (Both were placed on NASCAR-wide probation for the remainder of the season.  Additionally, Edwards was fined $25,000 and 60 points.)  There were cries of inconsistency and the death of ‘have at it, boys.’

For instance, NASCAR journalist Jeff Gluck took to Twitter to signal his displeasure:

“#NASCAR just killed "Have at it, boys." W/the threat of losing points -- more precious than money to racers -- no one will want to risk it.”

And…
 
“EVERY TIME there's an incident now, people will call for a points penalty.”

In my opinion, the reports of ‘have at it, boys’ death have been greatly exaggerated.

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By Bill Marx
Sporting News

Here’s a look at the top five drivers in the Sprint Cup Series standings and five drivers to watch in Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. All statistical references are for Sprint Cup races at Indianapolis unless otherwise indicated. Driver rating is based on the past 5 races at the track.
 
1. Kevin Harvick, 91.9 driver rating. Harvick has a win and six top 10s in nine starts. There are seven races before the Chase field is set. To Harvick, that’s seven opportunities for victories. If he is in the hunt for a win, he’ll go for it. Otherwise, he’ll preserve his top spot as insurance, should qualifying be rained out before the Chase begins and the starting field—and pit stalls—be awarded on points.

2. Jeff Gordon, 96.2. Gordon is solidly in the Chase. Passing Harvick means little. But Gordon is winless, so it’s about wins. Like Harvick, he knows what to do when he doesn’t have the car for a win. In fact, Gordon has finished in the top five in each of the past five races. Gordon has the track record for wins (four), top fives (nine) and top 10s (13).

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Brooke Gordon kept Jeff Gordon's last name when the famous driver/Miss Winston couple divorced in 2003. And she gave that surname to her son, born in 2009. The boy's father, James Dixon II, wants the boy's name changed and wants Brooke to pay child support, according to court records, SceneDaily.com reports in an exclusive story.

The court records indicate that Brooke has agreed to change the child's name from Gordon to Dixon.

"It is absolutely inappropriate for [the child] to be legally named after Jeff Gordon, who is neither his father nor a blood relative," Dixon’s attorney wrote in a March 19 letter to Brooke Gordon’s attorney, which is part of the case file.

Check out the complete SceneDaily report here.

Racetrack feuds never end. Jeff Gordon made that very clear during a press conference on Tuesday. Let’s just hope the most heated feud in Sprint Cup takes a couple of weeks off.

The feud in question would be the one between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski. It’s a feud that, for practical purposes, began at Talladega in the spring of 2009. It began when Keselowski hammered a blocking Edwards from behind on the final lap and sent him into the frontstretch catchfence after a short stop at Ryan Newman’s windshield.

It’s a feud that has marched on this year – first at Atlanta in the spring, when Edwards punted Keselowski onto his roof, and then Saturday night in the Nationwide race at Gateway where the two exchanged bumps on the final lap with the end result being Keselowski’s car being whacked to bits near the finish line.

So, all’s square? Even Stephen? Each have had their day and their say and they will both get back to racing for victories and championships in orderly, civilized fashion?

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So far, NASCAR has been silent about the latest round of Carl Edwards vs. Brad Keselowski. That could change today as Tuesday is usually the day when series officials announced any penalties levied because of incidents the weekend before.

But whatever NASCAR does or does not do today, it will be the wrong thing.

The incident is the one which happened during the Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday night.

On the first turn of the final lap of the event, Keselowski nudged Edwards out of his way and took the lead. Edwards’ care wiggled, but he caught it, straightened it and continued on.

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By Buzz Cutler
Rowdy.com

Remember back to the end of the 2009 season when Denny Hamlin intentionally spun Brad Keselowski at Homestead-Miami’s Nationwide race?  Denny said he was going to do it, did it, and willingly accepted the one-lap penalty NASCAR hung around his neck.  It’s also safe to say that Denny had the full support of the garage.

At the time, Hamlin said, “I thought when I went down pit road that I'd won the race.  I've never seen so many crews applauding and giving the thumbs-up. It just shows you [how many] cars he's torn up. To me, it's a victory for the guys he's taken out over the last 10 weeks. I feel great right now. It was well worth it.”

Jeff Burton, one of the Cup Series’ most respected elder statesman, even chimed in with a voice of support for Denny Hamlin, “When you constantly get spun by the same car, there comes a time when you've got to put your foot down and not take it.”

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By Bass Masters
Rowdy.com

There was Brad Keselowski again, climbing from a wrecked racecar after a scary wreck, yet another “Carnage” Carl Edwards production.

Earlier this season at Atlanta, Brad flipped into the air at about 190 and landed on his roof. Saturday night at Gateway International Speedway outside St. Louis, Brad was T-boned by Shelby Howard in the middle of the front stretch.

Both times Keselowski looked to be in serious danger. Both times Edwards admitted he had wrecked Keselowski on purpose.

Edwards has his reasons, of course, for taking liberties with Keselowski on the track. Carl, after all, was the first of the two to go airborne when Keselowski got his one and only Cup win last year at Talladega. In Atlanta, the wreck followed contact instigated by Keselowski, and the same was true in St. Louis.

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It seems that about everybody is picking sides in the wake of the Carl Edwards vs. Brad Keselowski incident at Gateway International Raceway on Saturday night. I am opting not to line up on the side of one driver or the other.

I will, however, take a shot at hypocrisy today. It can be almost as dangerous as a flying race car in the long run.

If the feud between Edwards and Keselowski didn’t start at Talladega in 2009, it certainly moved to the front page that April afternoon.

Remember? Edwards led the race on the final lap. Keselowski was tucked in behind him as they headed up the front stretch. Edwards, no doubt, blocked. Keselowski reacted by clipping Edwards at 200 mph and sent him flying into the catch fence.

A couple fans were injured by debris.

In the hours, and then days and weeks, afterward, Keselowski remained unrepentant about the bump and launch.

He defended it on the grounds of going for the victory and giving the public want it wants.

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