Busch said after the race, “To beat your arch nemesis, that’s just icing on the cake.  It’s pretty sweet.”  He moved up five positions in standings, to fourth position.  Busch is just nine points behind leader Kevin Harvick, currently tied with Tony Stewart.

I think critics overlook Busch as a championship contender because of his recent erratic behavior and rivalry with Jimmie Johnson; however he has finished in the Top-10 in four of the last five races and has been consistent all season long.  If he can control his temper and keep his head in the game, I believe he will be a top contender for the Sprint Cup title.

Rough Day For Chase Contenders

Tony Stewart told media that Dover would be a tough race for his team, and he predicted it correctly.  Stewart started the race in 28th position and finished the race in 25th, two laps down.  If you look at statistics for Stewart at Dover, he has finished 21st or worse in the past three races, so his struggles at the Monster Mile in this race weren’t a shock.  His bad day cost him the points lead, dropping him to third place in standings.

Luck was not on Dale Earnhardt Jr’s side at Dover.  He started the race in 21st position and looked as if he had a competitive racecar.  Shortly after the first caution of the race, Earnhardt realized on the restart that something wasn’t right with the car.  He was forced to pit with a broken sway bar.  This put him back in 41st position, racing three other drivers for the Lucky Dog.  On the competition caution on Lap 40, Earnhardt received the Lucky Dog and rallied back to 15th position by Lap 190.

Unfortunately, his bad luck didn’t stop there.   Dale Jr was forced to pit on Lap 271 for a loose wheel, putting him two laps down.  This relegated Earnhardt to a 24th place finish, two laps down.  He is now 10th place in standings, 34 points behind the leader.  Does this eliminate Junior for the championship?  I wouldn’t count him out just yet.  He has good statistics at many of the races left in the season, and has plenty of time to make it up. But, it certainly doesn’t bode well for him.

Brad Keselowski and his Penske Racing team struggled throughout the race, leaving them with a 20th place finish.  Just after Lap 250, Keselowski came down pit road after running over debris, forcing the team to replace the power steering belt.  Keselowski eventually fell two laps down behind the leaders, leaving him racing for the Lucky Dog position.

With 48 laps to go, Mike Bliss crashed down the backstretch, bringing out the caution.  Keselowski was in the Lucky Dog position, gaining one of his laps back.  Shortly after that, caution came out again with 40 to go, getting him back on the lead lap.  Keselowski doesn’t have good statistics at Dover, with an average finish of 17th position.  I think the No. 2 team can shake this off and will be back at the top of the standings before we know it.

Points Standings Leaving Dover

With Stewart’s misfortune and Harvick’s Top-10 finish, Harvick is now tied with Carl Edwards for the points lead.  Stewart dropped two spots to third position, tied with Kurt Busch.  Johnson, finishing the race in second position, gained five positions in points to fifth place.  After a rough day for Keselowski, he has fallen three positions to sixth place, 14 points behind the leader.  Matt Kenseth is tied with Keselowski in seventh position.  Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon both dropped positions, leaving them in eighth and ninth position, respectively.  Dale Earnhardt Jr, Ryan Newman, and Denny Hamlin round out the Top 12.

There are just seven races left in the season with many opportunities for the point’s standings to be shaken up once again.  We head to Kansas Speedway next weekend for the Hollywood Casino 400.  Tune into ESPN on Sunday to watch the action unfold.

“We believe the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule will once again provide fans with what they’ve come to expect every season – the world’s most exciting and competitive form of motorsports,” said Brian France, NASCAR chairman and CEO. “Next year’s schedule has a few adjustments that we think will be good for the fans and good for the overall flow of the season. One thing will remain constant, however, and that’s the intense competition we see week in and week out from our drivers and race teams.”

One of those adjustments takes place during NASCAR’s playoffs – the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup – and could affect the strategy during the championship run. Talladega Superspeedway’s Chase event moves up two weeks to Oct. 7, becoming the fourth race in the Chase. Often labeled as the wild-card track in the Chase, Talladega’s grueling test is now staged during the first half of the Chase.

Talladega swaps its Chase date with Kansas Speedway (Oct. 21) to accommodate Kansas’ repave, scheduled for after the track’s spring event. As such, Kansas’ spring date has also been moved. Kansas now will be the eighth race of the season on April 22. Talladega’s spring event moves to May 6, and Dover International Speedway’s spring event returns to its traditional spot on June 3.

As previously announced, the season-opening Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway will start one week later with the running of the preseason “non-points” Shootout at Daytona on Feb. 18. The 54th annual Daytona 500 will run on Feb. 26.

The race dates for Phoenix International Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway have likewise been moved a week later, to March 4 and March 11, respectively.

Two other featured adjustments to the 2012 schedule:

Texas Motor Speedway’s spring date will be moved to April 14, to accommodate the traditional open week for the Easter holiday.

Daytona’s summer event and Kentucky Speedway’s race will swap weekends in 2012, as the July 4th holiday falls mid-week next year. Kentucky’s race will be June 30; Daytona will run on July 7.

As in past years, FOX will broadcast the first 13 races of next year’s schedule. TNT will follow, broadcasting the next six. ESPN/ABC will broadcast the final 17 events. Race start times will be announced at a later date.

NASCAR will also release the 2012 schedules for the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at a later date.

2012 NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES SCHEDULE

Dover Motorsports owns two other tracks, Nashville Speedway and Dover International Speedway, but those tracks are not expected to pick up the extra dates. Nashville currently has two Nationwide races and two truck series races on the schedule, while Dover has two N’wide and one truck series race.

Grubb was discovered at Alpine Hotel, just outside of Richmond, at 11:30 a.m. The cause of death has not been released, but foul play was not suspected.

Grubb, the younger brother of NASCAR driver Wayne Grubb,made one attempt to qualify for a Sprint Cup race. In 2002, he attempted to make the Pontiac Excitement 400 at Richmond International Raceway in a car fielded by Team Bristol Motorsports. He failed ot make the race after crashing during qualifying. Plans to run the entire 2003 season fell through.

In 1998, he posted a second place finish at Dover International Speedway driving for his father’s team Grubb Motorsports in the Nationwide Series.
From 1999 – 2001, he raced for Brewco Motorsports, posting 18 top tens. By 2004, he was slated to race for Team Rensi Motorsports, but he failed a substance abuse test in March.

He was reinstated in June of 2006, on the condition that he submit to random drug tests. He agreed and was reinstated.

In September of 2006, he refused to take a drug test following a crash at Richmond, and was suspended. Refusal to take a test results in an automatic failure. Grubb said that a concussion caused him to refuse the test, and said he had no memory of the refusal.

He was under suspension at the time of his death.

Kerry is the son of the seven-time Sprint Cup champion, and half-brother of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jeffrey is the grandson of Dale Sr.

RWR fields that No. 31 and No. 41 Chevys in the series. The No. 31 will be the focus of the team, with the No. 41 running on a part time basis.

Jeffrey was, and still is, a developmental driver for Dale Earnhardt Inc. DEI and RWR formed an alliance, and DEI will provide some Chevys to RWR.

Jeffrey is slated to drive  at Dover International Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Watkins Glen International, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Michigan International Speedway, Atlanta Motor Speedway and Lowe’s Motor Speedway.  Jeffrey may also race at Iowa Speedway and Auto Club Speedway, but those would have to be switched for other races to keep Jeffrey eligible for Rookie of the Year in 2010.

Kerry Earnhardt will run “several” races for the team, making his debut with the team at Texas Motor Speedway. He is also expected to run at Talladega Superspeedway and Atlanta.

In addition to the Earnhardts, Stanton Barrett, Derrike Cope, Travis Kittleson, Tim Brown and Tim Andrews drive for RWR.

The No. 5 Chevy will be split among team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr, all-time series wins leader Mark Martin, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, and Scott Wimmer.

Jr will drive at Texas Motor Speedway in April, Talladega Superspeedway in April, Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May, Daytona International Speedway in July and Atlanta Motor Speedway in Sept. in Chevys that will be sponsored by Fastenal, Godaddy.com, and Unilever.

Martin will drive the Chevy at Richmond International Raceway in May with Lipton as a sponsor. Tony Stewart will drive at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Oct. with Delphi as a sponsor. Stewart already has one victory in the series this season, winning the Camping World 300 at Daytona in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevy.

Newman will drive the No. 5 Fastenal Chevy in four races: Dover International Speedway in May, Chicagoland Speedway in July, Michigan International Speedway in Aug., and Kansas Speedway in Oct.

Wimmer will also pilot the No. 5 Fastenal Chevy for six races: Darlington Raceway in May, The Milwaukee Mile in June, O’Reilly Raceway Park in July, Iowa Speedway in Aug., Bristol Motor Speedway in Aug., and Richmond International Raceway in Sept.

Wimmer said in a JR Motorsports press release:

I am really excited to be associated with JR Motorsports and a great sponsor like Fastenal. I will be running at tracks that have been good for me in the past and look forward to my first event with JR Motorsports at Darlington in May. Hopefully, we can get the Fastenal car in the Winners Circle.

The announcement leaves two races without a named driver — the road-course events at Watkins Glen and Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, both in Aug. Drivers for those races will be announced at a later date. Last season, Ron Fellows drove the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevy to victory in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, so he may be considered for that race.

Earnhardt Jr. drove at Watkins Glen last year, presumably to get more experience at road courses, so he may take one of those races.

Also, anytime you mention road courses, you have to mention Boris Said’s name. He could also be considered.

Earnhardt Jr said:

This No. 5 team carries a strong tradition and a lot of expectations, and we are fortunate to attract such quality talent to help carry on that tradition. We had a similar set-up with this team last year, and we were able to go to Victory Lane twice. Obviously with this driver line-up, there’s no reason we can’t exceed last year’s win total.

While most of us would stop short of saying that he’s out of it, his chances right now don’t look good. Regardless of what happened to that Joe Gibbs Racing team’s dominance, one thing is certain: Busch better win the Cup this year.

Why, you ask?

Busch started off this season with something to prove. After being booted from last year’s super-team in favor of NASCAR’s prodigal son, Busch had a chip on his shoulder. No one could argue that he wasn’t the weakest link (performance-wise) on Hendrick Motorsports, yet he still got the axe.

So, he set out to prove, “I’m better than Hendrick; I’m better than Junior; I’m better than everyone!” And, for the first 26 races, he did just that. He won eight of the first 26 Sprint Cup races, eight Nationwide races, and three Craftsman Truck Series races in a team that finished second once, and no better than 10th any other time with J.J. Yeley behind the wheel last season.

If he doesn’t turn it on and somehow pull of a comeback that would be nothing short of miraculous, do you think he won’t have any even bigger chip on his shoulder next season?

If he finishes anywhere in the points besides first, he’ll come back next season, more focused, driven, and bitter, which as we’ve all seen, doesn’t bode well for the other drivers.

So, unless you want to see Kyle Busch win 16+ races next season, he better win the championship this season.

Jimmie Johnson had a top 5 car all day, but he acknowledged that he didn’t have much for those Roush Fenway cars. He narrowly missed a spinning Patrick Carpentier in the early part of the race. He stayed out on lap 188 to become the leader, hoping that a caution would come out sometime after that to get him back on pit cycle. By lap 239, Johnson gave up the lead to pit under green. Johnson inherited the lead on lap 277, when green-flag stops cycled through. After a restart, Johnson is attacked on all sides by the Roush cars. He holds off Kenseth, but not Edwards or Biffle. He ran the rest of the race in the top 5 and managed to finish fifth.

Greg Biffle complained about his car early on in the race, telling his crew at one point that he “can’t even drive it!” After a restart on lap 16, Biffle drove from 27th up to 13th by lap 53. By lap 130, he was up to sixth and said that he liked his racecar. On lap 267, he took the lead when Carl Edwards pitted. The next lap, he gave up the lead to pit. By lap 301, Biffle took the lead by passing Jimmie Johnson. By lap 328, he thought he might have a tire going down. The car got loose and he started dropping back, losing a couple of positions. On lap 350, Juan Montoya hit the wall, bringing out the caution. On the restart, Biffle passed Mark Martin for third. As Matt Kenseth battled Carl Edwards for the lead, Biffle caught and passed Kenseth. He challenged Edwards for the lead. As they battled, Kenseth dove inside and passed both of them. When Edwards’ tires began to fade, Biffle pulled up to Kenseth’s back bumper. With nine laps to go, Biffle uses an outside pass to take the lead from Kenseth. The two bumped, but both held on, and Biffle pulled away to victory.

Jeff Burton had a very quiet day. By lap 95 he drove from his 21st starting position to 12th. He ran in the bottom half of the top 10 and the low teens for most of the day. He wound up finishing 9th.

Kevin Harvick also had a decent day. He ran near the front and had a fast racecar. On lap 268 he took the lead when others pitted. He gave up the lead to pit on the next lap. While he never contended for the win, he had a solid sixth-place finish.

Clint Bowyer, much like his two teammates had a quiet day, as well. He ran about the same as Burton and Harvick, flying under the radar for most of the day. He stayed out of trouble and wound up eighth.

Tony Stewart was pretty quiet as well. He managed to avoid a spinning Paul Menard early in the race. He started back in the field and was running in the 21st to 17th range in the early going. He, too, stayed out of trouble and finished 11th.

Jeff Gordon had a decent car early and led the early going of the race. He led the first 30 laps, before Jamie McMurray passed him on the outside for the lead. He ran well for most of the day, but never led after the early part of the race. He finished seventh.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggled with an ill-handling race car all day. He started 10th and ran ok for the early part of the race. By lap 60, he dropped back to 16th. By lap 79, he was 20th. By lap 103, he was 25th. He went a lap down around lap 140. Then, his right-rear tire blew, and he spun. He managed to avoid hitting anything, but his fender sustained heave damage from the tire. He ended up finishing 24th, three laps down.

Matt Kenseth ran well and up front for most of the race, challenging for the lead and the victory. As Biffle and Edwards battled, he dove to the inside to take the lead. But, with nine laps to go, Biffle passed him on the outside, bumping him and then pulling away to victory. Kenseth ended up second.

Denny Hamlin started the day decently. He was running second on lap 6. On lap 67, though, he was penalized for speeding on pit road. Around lap 173, Hamlin’s team was on pit road, dealing with a rear-end issue where old was leaking. On lap 220, he was running 10th, but cars around him were complaining of leaking oil on their windshields. On lap 242, things went from bad to worse, when Hamlin had to come down pit road, with a flat right tire. He headed to the garage area because his car had no power. The team replaced both axles and the driveshaft. He returned to the race on lap 287. He finished 38th, 38 laps down.

Kyle Busch, the one time favorite to win the Sprint Cup, had mechanical problems for the second week in a row. On lap 141, Busch’s car began to smoke, as he told the team on the radio that it was blowing up. On lap 146 under caution, Busch drops from 11th to the back of the pack to avoid causing problems on the restart. He runs in 22nd when his crew chief Steve Addington tells ABC that Busch will drive the car until it dies. They believe the problem is a broken valve. On lap 172, the engine finally gives way and Busch’s day his done. He finished 43rd.

Kenseth and Edwards finished second and third respectively to make it a Roush Fenway Racing 1-2-3.

Top 5: Biffle, Kenseth, Edwards, Mark Martin, and Jimmie Johnson.

Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, and Michael Waltrip rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Tony Stewart (11th), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (24th), Kasey Kahne (26th), Jamie McMurray (36th), Denny Hamlin (38th), and Kyle Busch (43rd).

Give a call to Michael Waltrip Racing. Waltrip finished 10th and ran in the top half of the field for much of the race. He was competitive and looked better than we’ve seen him look out there. David Reutimann also had a decent run going in the top 10 when he pit outside of his box with about 48 laps to go, ending his hopes for a good finish.

Still, both teams had strong cars and were running very well.

Also, give a call to Jamie McMurray who also had a very good car. His car was just as competitive as those of his Roush teammates and was capable of a top 5 finish. He ran up front until lap 161 when Robby Gordon got loose, forcing McMurray high into the outside wall. McMurray suffered heavy damage and was no longer a factor after that. He finished 36th.