Three-Time-Tony

In August, Tony Stewart said the way they were running, they didn't deserve to be in the Chase.

Really? Really!

Make the Chase. Check. Win a race. Check. Check, check, check, check.

Win the title dead even in points, but because of the wins and bonus points, get the trophy. Big check there. Not to mention the $5.6 million check from Sprint.

"Did I make it exciting enough?" TStew asked after the race.

Duh. Ya think?

Like the photo? Not from the Associate Press. From one of my race BFFs, Joni Baumgart who was in Victory Lane, texting me the whole race.

He was loose and relaxed all week long. Lots of jokes and jabs to Carl Edwards.

"We had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain," he told the media after the race.

Let's examine that point. Starts the race, gets damage to the grill, goes to the back. Then charges to the front. Fixing it a second time after getting in to another car, goes to the back, muscles his way to the front.

He passed 114 cars during the race. Worst to first, twice.

"I feel like I passed half of Florida," he said in the media conference after the race.

The last laps come down to the two points leaders, with the blue and yellow flag flying saying "move over and let 'em race it out!"

Props to Roush Fenway and the 99, though. So Cousin Carl comes in 2nd. His owner Jack Roush did ok for the weekend overall - Nationwide champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and snagging the manufacturer's trophy. And Ricky and Carl provided the coolest burnout ever - nose to nose. Carl got the short end on that one, all the smoke wafted into his car.

"So, I didn't too feel bad taking this one from Jack," Tony said after the race.

He also confessed to walking past the 99 pit box during the rain red flag with one more jab at the competition. Jack Roush was having a conversation with Robert Yates.

"I looked at Jack and said 'Tell you boy he better get up on the wheel, I'm coming,'" Tony said, adding Jack looked at him like he had three heads. Messing with the other driver is one thing, the ohter driver's senior citizen boss? Yeah, why not?

All the trash talk was fun over the past few weeks.

"It was like picking on a kid. (Carl's) too nice to fight back," Tony said.

When Carl got to the winning car and stuck his head inside to congratulate the winner, the comment from Carl was, "Promise me you'll have fun with this."

Not to rain on the Stewart parade in Colubus, Indiana before it starts, but he doesn't have a crew chief next season. Darian Grubb won't be on the pit box next year, that decision was made long ago.

Will Robbie Reiser step down at SHR and be his chief? He has the experience with SHR stablemate Ryan Newman. Or, another scenario here, will Greg Zipadelli leave Joe Gibbs and the 20 of Joey Logano and come back to his "brother" in racing, Tony? Or the other rumor for the box, Steve Addington, since he's leaving Penske and Kurt Busch.

I will admit, I had Tony's attitude at one point this season, too. Watching him start 42nd out of 43 at Bristol? Being multiple laps down the majority of the race? I said more than one time, “I need a new driver.” He seemed to have lost his zeal, his ferociousness. Then, as he said, dropped some “deadweight.” Darian Grubb still contends he has no idea what that was all about. Doesn't matter. He came out a different Tony.

OK, I was wrong. I didn't need a new driver. Just the faith, kind of like JR Nation's.

Three-Time-Tony. Has a nice ring to it.

The Sunday Championship Menu?

If you are having a Homestead-Let’s-Watch-Tony/Carl-Win party on Sunday, try making it a sponsor-only food bash. We do this when we go to a race, and it's a lot of fun.

It’s kind of slim pickin’ anymore. Used to include KFC, Arby's and Johnsonville. Now, it’s more junk food than anything else, but what the hey! Aren’t we supposed to be the fattest state in the country?

So, ground rule is sponsor presence on the car and/or firesuit of the driver.

But, do we include M&M/Mars? I say yes, we NEED M&Ms because they melt in your mouth, not in your hand and the tension for this race is high. You might be holding on to those little candy-covered chocolate treats for a lap or two and you want to keep those paws clean!

Let’s start with the healthy stuff – Roush Fenway sponsors. How fortuitous, Carl Edwards happens to be on top of the points right now and he has the healthy sponsor, Subway! Roush also carries Coke, Ke-double l-o-double good Kellogg’s, and Gatorade.

What if you are a Stewart-Haas fan? Tony is focused on the prize at Homestead. And, oddly enough, has the serious junk food sponsors, which could explain a lot. Although, side-by-side, Tony is looking lean next to teammate Ryan Newman. From SHR, we give you Burger King (does Smoke still have a King Card? Anything he wants, as much as he wants, at any BK in the world? Again, explains a lot.). Plus, there’s O-r-e-o, Ritz crackers and Tornados.

I can hear the arteries clogging up now.


Other teams have food sponsors like NOS energy drink, Pepsi Max, Cheerios, Hamburger Helper, Hunt Brothers Pizza, Wheaties, Ruby Tuesday, Mountain Dew and Reese's, plus the adult beverages Coors, Miller and Budweiser. I’ll concede, Cheerios are heart healthy, so one point there. Thankfully, Earnhardt Ganassi has Tums as a sponsor.


Thanks once again to Alicia Kay Sunday for the great photos of Tony and Carl! She got the people shots, I got the horsepower ones!

Well, let’s look into the stockpile at home and see what kind of menu we can create.

Happy snacking and may the best driver Smoke win!

Just 2 words - Kyle Busch

We all saw this coming, didn't we?

Love him, hate him, Kyle Busch has talent behind the wheel. He’s just had some on-track incidents this year and, a few off-track.

And, Kyle Busch is certainly not the first aggressive driver in NASCAR. He surely won’t be the last. Do names like Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace in the last generation of drivers come to mind? Yes, yes they do.

He’s young, 26, hot-headed and no matter how you feel about him personally, he can drive the wheels off a car. I’ve defended him for a couple of years, touting his talent and take no prisoners attitude.

He puts personality back in a sport that has gotten politically correct, don’t ruffle anyone’s feathers, smile smile smile, sign every piece of paper, diecast and body part put in front of you, and don’t speak ill of any other driver.

He drives for Coach Joe Gibbs.

If anyone should have seen this coming, it’s Joe Gibbs. After all, he put up with Tony Stewart, didn’t he?

I think Rick Hendrick saw it coming years ago. I also think every other team owner in NASCAR was afraid to sign him because they could see anger and aggression in the young man’s future.

Quick 2011 recap: In May, Rowdy turned Kevin Harvick’s unmanned racecar into the wall on pit road after a race at Darlington; alleged fisticuffs in June at Kansas with car owner Richard Childress, whose truck piloted by rookie Joey Coulter, Busch hit during the cool-down laps post-race; also in June, he took out his Lexus LFA sports car (a toy, as he called it) at 128 mph in a 45 mph zone near the North Carolina town of Troutman with his bride in the passenger seat (what was she thinking?); and finally, in November, well, we’ve all heard the story of young Mr. Busch in Texas this weekend, ensuring Ron Hornaday had no chance at the Camping World Truck Series championship.

He’s jeopardized his ride and sponsorship.

Apparently M&M/Mars had enough and went so far as to post its displeasure on its Facebook page over the weekend.

When Kyle took to the pit box for the race, Coach Gibbs didn’t speak to him or even glance his way.

Does this sound like another Gibbs driver from the past?

Really? Yep, 2-time Cup winner and one of this season’s best bets to dethrone 5-Time, Tony Stewart. He shoved other drivers, thrown tantrums, slapped a tape recorder out of a reporter’s hand and honestly, who can remember how many angry things he’s done? His sponsor Home Depot allegedly told JGR the driver would have to go to anger management therapy or lose his sponsor.

Gee, KyBu is kind of like Tony at that age.

Public sentiment is mixed on should further sanctions come his way on Tuesday. He knows he screwed up big time. For me, seeing his dejected face on the box Sunday, shunned by his car owner, it’s enough.

Because, I know, deep down inside, he will grow up, he will mature and, he will win a Cup championship.

Just like that other Gibbs driver.