By: Toby Christie

They say that all good things have to come to an end, well Sunday at Bristol it’s a bad thing that will be coming to an end. I am of course referencing the dreaded wing. The wing as we all know replaced the spoiler in NASCAR when they unveiled the “Car of Tomorrow”.

Fans never really took to the wing, even though NASCAR’s reasoning behind implementing it was to make the cars look more like cars that the kids on the streets have… but honestly nobody would be caught dead with one of those things.

The wing’s existence only lasted 59 races in the Sprint Cup Series, and I’m sure it won’t be missed by many drivers… but who has benefited most from the wing being in NASCAR?

It’s simple here’s a little stat you wont find anywhere else: Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards have combined to win a total of 45 of the 59 “winged” events… that is over 76-percent of the races won by just three drivers. I expect this to change a little bit starting with Martinsville.

In 2007 it was Bristol that hosted the wing’s first race, so there would be no more fitting place than Bristol this week to send the wing flying away. The wing has been attributed to the problem of cars flying into the stands here recently. When the cars spin backwards the wing actually causes the cars to lift off of the ground… not a good thing at all.

However in my opinion it is also the reason for the lack of parity in NASCAR for the past three seasons.

By: Toby Christie

Justin Allgaier captured his first Nationwide Series victory in his 43rd career start. Allgaier was able to work his way past Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski on the final restart, and hold him off down the stretch in a great battle for the win. The win is even more impressive because Allgaier had to fight from the 30th starting position.

“It was pretty unbelievable,” Allgaier said. “We had a great car in practice, and I screwed up qualifying and didn’t get the run we really needed and had to start 30th. But (crew chief) Chad (Walter) told me, ‘You’ll be there all day long, and if you push it really hard, you’ll be in victory lane.’

“I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to hold off Brad there for the last couple of laps, but Brad drove a heck of a race and ran us really clean. I’m just excited to get a 1-2 for Penske Racing.”

Kyle Busch came home third, followed by the two guys who have been the center of a new feud… Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick.

Things got started this week when both drivers exchanged unpleasant words through the media. Edwards was of course also involved at Atlanta in an accident in which he retaliated against Brad Keselowski. Harvick started his own on-track controversy at the finish of this event when he plowed through Joey Logano, knocking Logano back to the 14th finishing position.

This will be something to watch out for during tomorrow’s Food City 500 at Bristol.

Joey Logano, who paced the first practice session at Bristol this morning, has taken the Coors Light Pole award for this Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series event. Logano turned a lap of 124.630 mph which was just enough to get him the top spot. This is the first pole in Logano’s young career.

Kurt Busch who has won five times at Bristol in his career will begin the race in second. This will help him go a long way towards another great finish at Bristol.

Dave Blaney shocked everyone with a third place qualifying run Friday. Blaney who is running the no. 66 car for Prism Motorsports is usually a start and parker… so it will be interesting to see if their strategy is different this week with such a fast car.

Jimmie Johnson will start fourth at a track that he is not historically great at, and his teammate Jeff Gordon rounded out the top-five in qualifying.

Atlanta showed just how unpredictable a NASCAR race could be, as my predictions were basically thrown out the window. However this week I vow to bring sanity back to my predictions. Without further adieu here is what you can expect at Bristol:

It has looked like the Busch series at Bristol Motor Speedway lately, as the Busch brothers Kurt and Kyle have basically made everyone look bushleague. In the past 16 races at the world’s fastest half mile the Busch brothers have taken eight checkered flags, including Kurt’s three straight win reign between 2003 and 2004, and Kyle’s sweep of Bristol last season.

Kurt is also tied with Jeff Gordon with most wins among active drivers at Bristol with five victories. While his brother Kyle has the second highest career average finish (10.2) at Bristol.

Point leader Kevin Harvick somehow managed to survive and rally to a top-10 finish at Atlanta even when things looked terrible all day long, but don’t expect a struggle out of Harvick this weekend. This is one of Harvick’s best tracks. He has a win here and an average finish of 12.9. So expect Harvick to be happy this weekend.

Roush-Fenway teammates Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards each have two wins here in the past, but remember Edwards is coming off of a rough week at Atlanta where he sent Brad Keselowski flying. So Edwards may be watching his back more than looking for the checkers. Kenseth however has yet to finish outside the top-10 this season, and I fully expect him to be there again this week. Oh and speaking of Roush cars who have finished in the top-10 in every race thus far this year, Greg Biffle has also accomplished this feat, and he actually has been very solid at Bristol too. In fact Greg Biffle is my pick to win this weekend.

Looking for a sleeper this week? Look no further than Marcos Ambrose. Ambrose has the highest career average finish at Bristol among all active drivers (6.5). I know he has only had two career starts there, but he has performed very solid, and he should continue that this weekend. Remember this is a track very tough on rookies, yet Ambrose was able to score two top-10 finishes here last year in his rookie campaign. Look out for the Aussie this weekend.

As I mentioned earlier Jeff Gordon is tied with the most victories among active drivers with five at Bristol… expect him to compete this weekend. In fact expect every Hendrick car to recover from Atlanta’s tire debacle except Jimmie Johnson. I know I know it sounds crazy not to have Jimmie as a favorite, but the truth of the matter is Bristol that may just be his worst race track. Johnson has finished off the lead lap in half of the events he has started at Bristol, and has an average finish of 15.9 here. I expect Johnson to continue his Bristol woes this weekend.

Other than Johnson who else should you stay away from this week? Paul Menard, Brian Vickers, Martin Truex Jr. and Sam Hornish Jr. are all drivers you should keep away from if you have a fantasy team. None of these drivers have ever posted a top-10 in a Sprint Cup Series race at Bristol.

By: Toby Christie

One thing has stolen the headlines for nearly a week… Brad Keselowski and Carl Edwards. Well I think it is time we move past the feud of the century, and take a look at all of the things that were lost in the controversy of Atlanta.

First things first Kurt Busch won the dang race, and nobody is talking about it. He’s gotta be feeling like Rodney Dangerfield with all of this lack of respect. The win marked the 21st of Busch’s Sprint Cup Series career, and it was his second straight win in the spring event at Atlanta. The win came at a great time because going into this event Busch was way back in 19th in the point standings. Now after this victory the 2004 Sprint Cup Series champion sits tenth in the points and is now on a roll.

We also had a great run by the guy piloting the #98 Menards Ford… yea that’s right Paul Menard. Menard came home fifth and has climbed to ninth in the point standings after four events. This is Menard’s second career top-five finish, and his first since a second place finish at Talladega in 2008. Menard is an intriguing story to follow this season as he is driving for a rejuvenated Richard Petty Motorsports team.

Speaking of RPM, A.J. Allmendinger, who drives their no. 43 car had a heck of a run this week too. He came home sixth, but what’s impressive is how he got there. He was competitively fighting inside the top-ten nearly the entire race, so it was no fluke. This was Allmendinger’s ninth career top-ten finish.

Oh and by the way Kasey Kahne led the most laps during the Kobalt Tools 500. Kahne was out front for 144 laps Sunday, in a Richard Petty Motorsports Ford, en route to a fourth place finish… So whatever they are doing over there in that shop, they are doing it right.

Now let’s look at who benefited the most and the least from the Brad Keselowski / Carl Edwards incident taking place.

Goodyear by far benefited the most by the action on lap 323 occurring. Because of this incident just about everyone has just about forgotten about that little tire issue we had Sunday. In all there were at least eight tire issues from the 43 cars in the field… not a good deal for any tire supplier, but luckily for Goodyear Carl Edwards saved their day by ruining Keselowski’s.

Now the person who lost the most because of the lap 323 incident was Juan Pablo Montoya. I know you’re thinking: wasn’t it Keselowski who went from sixth to 36th in the blink of an eye? Yes, but it was Montoya who was the innocent bystander who was the biggest loser in the end.

Montoya had just closed to within half a second of the lead with two to go, and he was turning laps over two tenths of a second faster than Busch, due to a car that was awesome on the long runs. If the race would’ve stayed green we may have seen the first victory for JPM on an oval, and maybe the closest finish of the entire season… but we will never know now.

By: Lisa DeSpain

I’d like to introduce you to a really extraordinary young man, and his family. For those of you who might not have heard of him, his name is Ryan Rust. He is like many other teen-aged guys in Florida. He works hard at school, participates in sports, and enjoys video games. He will graduate from high school this year with a GPA of 5.3+. Before that, in May, he will graduate from Indian River State College with an AA in Engineering. He will be attending the University of Central Florida as a 3^rd year college student after that.

A schedule like that makes me tired just typing it! That’s pretty great, and an amazing accomplishment for a 17-year-old, but what makes Ryan truly remarkable is the organization he and his family founded in 2005 to help our men and women who are deployed serving their country.

What began as a program called “Adopt a Marine”  to support some friends who joined the Marine Corps, has turned into “Adopt a Hero”, which currently serves over 100,000 service people in all five branches of the Armed Forces.  I first became aware of the program when a Delta flight attendant named Robin Schmidt was profiled on the ABC World News Tonight and in People Magazine. She takes blank books on flights, and invites passengers to write messages to her adopted heroes. I thought it was a wonderful idea, and decided to check out the adoption service.

I was not alone. The publicity has helped get 2000 Marines, Airmen, Soldiers, and Sailors adopted. To date, Ryan, with the help and generosity of over 100,000 volunteers from all over the world, has helped get 62,000 care packages to deployed men and women in Afghanistan and Iraq. These care packages include toys, games, clothes, school supplies, and candy for the children these service people interact with on a daily basis, and have helped to generate a lot of goodwill on the ground in these war-torn countries.

You’re probably thinking that this is all wonderful, but what does it have to do with racing and NASCAR? Well, you see, Ryan Rust is no ordinary teenage superhero. He is a racer. I don’t mean just a kid who races go-karts and Limited Late Models, and likes to go fast. He is a true racer. Like most true racers, he’s been doing this since he was 8 years old. He’s worked his way through go-karts, Bandoleros, Pro-Challenge, Sportsman, and NASCAR Limited Late Models.

He now has his ARCA license, and is hoping to secure his super speedway license by the end of this year.  He’s ready to move up and I hope the boys in the Cup series are paying attention. With this young man’s diligence and determination, his dream of attaining a Cup Championship by age 30 to add to his other titles and championships has a very good chance of coming true. Jimmie Johnson better watch his back.

Ryan’s race team is looking for sponsorship so he can enter a few ARCA races near his home track in Florida. They live 30 minutes from the track in Jupiter, FL, but are having trouble securing the money to race. Every car he drives carries the “Adopt a Hero” logo.

Come on sponsors, if you want a great name and face for your product, here’s your man. If you are interested, I’m sure his race team manager (and Dad) would really love to talk with you. You can contact him through Ryan’s website at www.ryanrust.com or www.adoptahero.us.  You can also adopt a service person to support through either of those websites. They also can be found  on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace, so check them out!

By the way, I adopted a marine, Alex Ramos, and his whole platoon. They deployed to Afghanistan in late February. Be safe, guys, and come home soon. Thanks to Ryan, Marcel, all the Rust family, and race team . Semper Fi!

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By: Toby Christie

NASCAR has come out today and announced Carl Edwards’ fate after his blatant crashing of Brad Keselowski in Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 500. NASCAR has placed Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 car in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, on probation for the next three series events for a rule violation he committed during the race at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 7. Edwards’ probation will run until April 14 of this year.

Edwards was found to have violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing – aggressive driving) of the 2010 NASCAR rule book.

This is good and all, but does this punishment really fit the crime? Other drivers such as Kevin Harvick and Robby Gordon have been suspended for a race by NASCAR in the past for similar infractions, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was even docked points after slipping an S-Bomb in victory lane once…

In the end it is NASCAR’s decision and I understand they are kind of in a box, considering they told the drivers to “have at it” in the offseason, but I was expecting at least a wrist slap… this penalty hardly even constitutes as a wrist slap. It will be interesting to see what happens next in this fued now considering NASCAR has proven that they are for the drivers taking care of these issues themselves.

Copyright 2010 RubbingsRacing.com. Photo Credit: DJ DeSpain.

By: Cameron Watson

Nothing like a good ol “payback” love tap to get the NASCAR fans all up in their high horses! No need to rehash the lap 323 incident that took place at the Kobalt 500 at Atlanta. Seems obvious enough. Carl Edwards retaliated against Brad Keselowski for early lap 40 contact that effectively ended the day for Edwards and Joey Lagano. Or, maybe the ride Carl took at Talladega off Keselowski’s bumper last year was still fresh in his mind. Either way… that’s racing.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it was completely stupid to be 150 laps down and and take out the 12 car in front the world. But to say Edwards was guilty of assault, or worse, as some fans are stating is equally as stupid. The crash was severe and if you want to pin the blame for the severity… blame the wing. It appears to be the culprit that’s landed a number of drivers on their head… Edwards included. Had the Penske Dodge simply spun in the infield grass would the uproar be rattling the walls? Probably not.

Carl Edwards is a racer. Right or wrong, he obviously felt the scales had tipped too far and he owed Keselowski a payback. Guilty of aggressive driving, well yes. Guilty of stupidity for when and where he acted, I think so. Guilty of bad sportsmanship, sure, OK. Guilty of attempting to injure Brad or destroy the Penske Dodge, no way. I do not believe for a second the intent was anything more than to deliver a message by costing the 12 a top ten finish. Still not cool mind you but certainly not evil.

The sport is racing. Since the days the moonshiners first hit the track, honor and respect has been defended with a bumper and timely nudge. And frankly, the sport needs this element. It’s no secret the NASCAR viewership has declined over the past few years. Some have mentioned rule changes reflecting the fan and driver input to reinstate some of the ol time competitive flavor opened the door for all of this. Well great! Now, take the door off the hinges!

Success at the highest level is extremely difficult ordinarily but almost impossible without the respect of the other guys behind the wheel. This feud, like the classic feuds of old will play out in the super speedways and short tracks… for all of us to see. This will make for a more compelling story and great TV. At the end of the day, the drivers will police themselves. While NASCAR most certainly will have to reign down some form of punishment on Edwards, let’s not knee jerk a flip back to prohibit or even discourage physical contact. I don’t believe that would not be good for the sport.

Maybe the next time Carl feels the need to defend his honor, he should just take a page from pro wrestling and smack em’ with a folding chair. Many fans seem to like that sort of stuff. Or, he could just check the schedule. Payback is why God created Bristol!

By: Toby Christie

NASCAR going into this season said that they were going to loosen the reigns, and let the drivers police themselves, and settle confrontations however they see fit… I don’t think they imagined this.

Sunday Carl Edwards went too far. He let his emotions get the best of him, and he put the safety of his fellow drivers and the race fans in jeopardy.

On lap 323 of the race Carl Edwards was on the track for the one reason you are not supposed to be on the track. He didn’t have any position to lose or gain, he plain and simple went out for revenge for an incident earlier in the race on lap 40.

On lap 40 Brad Keselowski made contact with the back of Edwards’ car, which sent Carl into Joey Logano which basically ended any shot at the win for Edwards. Being upset is understandable, but after further review of the incident it seems that Edwards may have been more at fault than anyone in that lap 40 skirmish.

It was the latest incident in a saga that dates back to last year’s Aarons 499 at Talladega where the two made contact which sent Edwards into the catchfence while Keselowski basked in the joys of victory lane.

Lets fast forward back to lap 323 of Sunday’s race. Edwards found himself 156 laps down, and all over the Fourth place car of Brad Keselowski. Rattling Keseloski would have been one thing, but Edwards took the fued to the next level. Coming down the front straightaway Edwards tapped the back quarterpanel of the No. 12 Dodge, which sent it around immediately. From there all hell basically broke loose.

Keselowski’s car flew through the air, flipped upside down and landed on the outside retaining wall. The accident was extremely scary because the part of the car that impacted the retaining wall was the Driver’s cockpit area… Keselowski walked away, and the fans in the stands luckily weren’t injured at all, but this could have very easily been much much different.

Love or hate Keselowski, you can’t deny that he could have easily been killed, and race fans could have been injured and for what reason? So Edwards could settle a score? It was utterly uncalled for and NASCAR had to take immediate action.

NASCAR would call the no. 99 car back to the garage to be parked for the remainder of the event, but the damage was done. Edwards on this day took it too far, and gave a great example of why NASCAR began throwing out rules upon rules upon rules years ago.

No word yet on any further penalties for Edwards, but this will be an intriguing story to watch during the week. However in my opinion forcing Edwards to come to the garage when he was too far behind to gain any positions, is not penalty enough…

By: DJ DeSpain

This weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, NASCAR Sprint Cup and Camping World Truck Series vehicles will carry a special commemorative decal honoring the late Wendell Scott’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start on March 4, 1961 in Spartanburg, SC. On Dec. 1, 1963 Scott became the first African-American to win a victory in Jacksonville, FL, in what was then called the NASCAR Grand National Series.

The design of the decal was shown at a press conference on Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In attendance during the unveiling were Sybil Scott, Wendell Scott’s daughter, four of Wendell Scott’s grandsons, NASCAR President Mike Helton, NASCAR Public Affairs Director Marcus Jadotte, and Darryl Wallace, driver for JR Revolution Racing and a NASCAR Drive for Diversity participant.

“This is enormous for our family in so many ways,” Sybil Scott said. “My father would want the young drivers coming up today to be inspired.

“Daddy’s legacy is through the diversity program. I can only look at these drivers and think how my dad would be their greatest fan. He would be out there encouraging them and would want others to be supportive. That’s how to keep Daddy’s legacy alive.”

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Be sure to follow DJ (@DJ_DeSpain) and Chris (@rubbings) on Twitter as they cover both the Camping World Truck Series and Sprint Cup Series races this weekend in Atlanta. In addition, be sure to check the Facebook page at facebook.rubbingsracing.com for continuous updates.