Luke 2:11 (King [...]]]> For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11 (King James Version)

“I turned to Jack after that (Pastor Nelm’s prayer) and said if anything happens tonight, I’d like him to be at my funeral.” – Carl Edwards, Federated Auto Parts 300 winner, on Joe Nelms’ unique invocation (courtesy of www.Frontstretch.com)

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Pastor Joe Nelm’s “unique” invocation from [...]]]>

“I turned to Jack after that (Pastor Nelm’s prayer) and said if anything happens tonight, I’d like him to be at my funeral.” – Carl Edwards, Federated Auto Parts 300 winner, on Joe Nelms’ unique invocation (courtesy of www.Frontstretch.com)

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to Pastor Joe Nelm’s “unique” invocation from before the start of the NASCAR Nationwide race at Nashville this past weekend, here it is from YouTube.

Funny? Sacrilegious? Too much schilling? Offended? What are your thoughts? Leave ‘em below in the commments…

It’s a brand new year, with a brand new race car nose (no braces). The question on everyone’s mind is… will the Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus combination continue to dominate the championship scene?

What about Denny Hamlin? Will a strong [...]]]> Everyone is already anticipating the start of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. And why not?

It’s a brand new year, with a brand new race car nose (no braces). The question on everyone’s mind is… will the Jimmie Johnson/Chad Knaus combination continue to dominate the championship scene?

What about Denny Hamlin? Will a strong 2010 season lead into a stronger 2011 and a title?

Will Kyle Busch be able to keep his racing focus as sharp now that he’s a married man? Will he finally be able to gather enough consistency throughout the season to take his first Cup championship?

Can RCR’s outspoken driver Kevin Harvick put together a championship effort for 2011, after three wins in 2010?

What about the Roushkateers… Carl, Matt, Greg, and David? They were somewhat successful in 2010, and all finished in the Chase except for Ragan. Can any of Jack’s drivers mount a challenge to the Chevy dominance of the Sprint Cup?

Then there’s also Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman. After a significant freshman season for Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, both teams had lackluster 2010 seasons. Can they put together a stellar effort for the 2011 Sprint Cup?

Jeff Gordon didn’t have the 2010 season he had hoped for, finishing 9th in the 2010 standings. He’s not really had the success in recent years that he had in the early part of his career. With a new crew chief for 2011, will this be his year to regain the Sprint Cup championship?

Richard Childress drivers Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton had mixed success in 2010. Bowyer won two races and ran fairly well. Will one of these two drivers have a Sprint Cup winning season?

A. J. Allmendinger had a stellar season with Petty even during the turmoil of not knowing if the team would survive the 2010 season. Will he be able to continue this success into 2011?

OK, now it’s your turn. Who do you think will take the 2011 Sprint Cup championship? Why do you think that? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.

I don’t think it’s an understatement at all to say that there is a lot of anticipation from teams, fans, and media alike going into the last Sprint Cup race of the 2010 season.

Only 46 points separate Kevin Harvick from current points leader Denny Hamlin, with Jimmie Johnson only 15 back from Hamlin.

Only one can be [...]]]>

Only 46 points separate Kevin Harvick from current points leader Denny Hamlin, with Jimmie Johnson only 15 back from Hamlin.

Only one can be crowned the Sprint Cup champion. Jimmie, Denny, or Kevinie… who’s it gonna be?

All three drivers have the desire and motivation to make this happen.

For Jimmie, it’s the “Drive for Five”… the chance to become the first person ever in NASCAR’s main series to win 5 championships in a row. Jimmie has his detractors… they say, “He’s too vanilla”, or “He’s too this or that”. Like him or not, you can not deny that the #48 team is a potent combination. Can they close the deal for the 5th time?

Kevin Harvick will always be known as the guy who took over Dale Earnhardt’s ride after his untimely death at Daytona in 2001. I read a column where it was said that any time anything good happens to Harvick and the #29 team, that Dale was watching out for them, or something like that. I don’t know about that. What I do know is that you won’t find a fiercer competitor than Kevin Harvick. He is passionate about racing. This looks like his best chance in his career so far to be able to win a championship. Can he do it?

Denny Hamlin could almost be called the “comeback kid”. Early season knee surgery had the nay-sayers writing Denny off as a non-entity in the Sprint Cup championship chase for 2010. Boy, did he prove them wrong. And in the past three races at Homestead-Miami, Denny Hamlin has two top-fives including a win. Denny’s the defending champion of this race from 2009. Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson each have two top-10s. Watching Denny after an unexpectedly poor finish at Phoenix, no one can say that Denny is not totally focused (aside from some birthday carrying-on detailed on Twitter recently) on the goal of a Sprint Cup championship in 2010. Can he make it happen?

So… 1 out of 3… who’s it gonna be? Who’s YOUR pick? (and why) Leave it below in the comments!

I’ve been far too quiet as of late.  It’s not like it’s been a year or so since I actually wrote a column.

What’s that?  It HAS been a year since I wrote a column?!?

You’re kidding.  Hmmm, I guess you’re NOT kidding. Anyway, here’s some random NASCAR potshots [...]]]> Aflac!  Psssst.. Jim… there’s a duck!  (cocks shotgun)  Ker-pow! Afl-ouch!  Medic!

I’ve been far too quiet as of late.  It’s not like it’s been a year or so since I actually wrote a column.

What’s that?  It HAS been a year since I wrote a column?!?

You’re kidding.  Hmmm, I guess you’re NOT kidding.

Anyway, here’s some random NASCAR potshots from the warped brain of Mike.  Apologies to the Aflac duck for those shot-off feathers.

The Chase: I’m really not a big fan of the Chase. I don’t think it adds anything to the end of the season drama at all. The already-slim coverage of anyone not running in the top 10 or so in points (or top 5) disappears for all intents and purposes… unless they happen to wreck spectacularly, or run into one of the Chasers. It ought not to be this way.

Jimmie Johnson: There’s no doubt that the Johnson/Knaus combination is a potent one. Four championships in a row is nothing to sneeze at. But there seems to be something lacking there… personality. Jimmie has grown a beard this season. I suppose that’s supposed to toughen up his appearance and make him appeal to the common man. Looks like the same Jimmie with a beard to me. Personally, I’d like to see Jimmie get ticked off at Kyle Busch and absolutely punt him out of his way just once. Now that’s personality!

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: He’s not his dad. He won’t ever be his dad. He won’t ever win as much as his dad. Get over it. Lighten up on the guy. Let him be his own man, recognized for his own accomplishments instead of being always measured by that impossible Intimidator yardstick.

Petty Blue: After watching “Petty Blue” on CMT the other night, it sure seems like there’s a lot of bitterness and hurt feelings from certain members of the Petty family.

COT: I guess that’s “car of today” now. Despite all the blather about it ruining the sport of NASCAR, it’s been a good thing. Ask Elliott Sadler, Jeff Gordon, and a bunch of others who walked away from absolutely frightening crashes. “Walked away.” Amazing.

TV coverage: Who on earth made the decision to put Marty Reid on lead commentary? If there was local radio coveage of NASCAR, I would mute the TV and listen to the radio instead of him. Please put Allen Bestwick back where he belongs.

A. J. Allmendinger: I don’t know a great deal about this kid (he’s about the same age as my older daughter, so he’s a kid to me), but boy, can he drive or what! There have been a succession of different drivers in the famous #43 since Richard stepped down, from Rick Wilson to Bobby Hamilton Jr. to Bobby Labonte to Reed Sorenson, and more. None have had the consistent success in running well in the #43 until A. J. stepped in. He may not always finish in the top 10, but he’s up there running in the top 10 to 15 most of the time every week. It would thrill the legions of Petty fans to see the #43 in victory lane again. I think it’s going to be very soon.

Miscellaneous: You’d think when a driver tips his sponsor’s beverage up to his lips for a gratuitous camera appearance (they ALL do it) that he would at least make sure that the label of said beverage is visible to the camera, wouldn’t you? The ones that really tickle me are the ones who tip up the bottle and very obviously don’t drink a drop of it. Watch the next time.

Penske? When Stewart-Haas Racing announced the MOBIL 1 sponsorship, I was amused to see a picture from the press conference which contained a large yellow “Penske” truck visible out the window. To fill in some background, Penske Racing was the team who had the MOBIL 1 sponsorship prior to it moving to Stewart-Haas. I can’t make this up.

Shrub / Root: I’ve had some time to think about this. From Kyle’s perspective, he didn’t do anything wrong, and “in this case”, I have to agree with him. I don’t think the contact with David Reutimann was intentional. But, given the past history between these two, I can see where David thought it might be intentional, and worthy of a payback. You gotta love the guy for taking “have at it, boys” to heart. I also gotta love him for his quote during a recent interview. “I love M&Ms. I’ve got an extra pack here, too, if you need some.” It’s been speculated that David felt guilty for denying Kyle’s sponsor some TV time, and decided to try to make it up to them. If this is true, it goes along with all that I’ve read about Reutimann being a “man of character”. By comparison, generally Kyle, his companion in this little brou-ha-ha, might be described as a “character of a man”. Ooo, let the flames begin.

Clint Bowyer: A friend of mine speculated that the points penalty by NASCAR on the #33 car was a deliberate attempt to basically hand Jimmie Johnson his fifth championship in a row. Would NASCAR be so bold? I don’t really think so, but it did seem rather strange how the whole thing was handled. If the car met specs AT THE TRACK the morning of the race, what’s the point of taking it back to a tech center after the race? The #33 team says it was the wrecker that knocked the car less than a quarter’s width out of spec. Denny Hamlin says the #33 team has been pushing the boundaries of creativity for a long time, and finally got what they deserved. What do you think?

Aflac duck: Doesn’t Gilbert Gottfried (the voice of the Aflac duck since 2000) have the most annoying voice you ever heard? He was also the voice of the parrot Iago in the animiated Aladdin cartoon by Disney. Almost makes me want to take a potshot or two. I wonder if there’s Aflac coverage for the Aflac duck?

Didn’t really see this coming for the 5 car … Things change, the target is a moving target and we were hitting the bull’s eye last year. And we haven’t [...]]]> Perennial fan favorite Mark Martin had some insight into his career, and into the slump his #5 team has been in during the 2010 Sprint Cup Series.

Didn’t really see this coming for the 5 car … Things change, the target is a moving target and we were hitting the bull’s eye last year. And we haven’t found the bull’s eye this year.

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.

I’m no champion and I haven’t earned the right to be in that category or to stand beside those guys. But at the same time, I’m proud that I made them work for it and I saw them finish behind me many a time. And that I can be proud of.

I think that there’s a measure to every human being. There’s different ways you measure success. If you’re a race car driver, points is one of those measurements. But it is not the only measuring stick.

- Mark Martin