After reading an article over on Frontstretch.com, I’ve decided to make the move from XM to SIRIUS satellite radio. Go read it for the details.

Sure you’d expect a NASCAR channel to broadcast the races, but they’ve sweetened the deal for theStewartFan (or anyStewartFan for that matter) by having Tony on a live show for 2 hours a week. In fact, the first installment just ended. Add to that live scanner feeds for 10 cars during the race. I’ve wanted to be able to get Tony’s scanner feed at home while watching the race, but most venues for this don’t include #20. I’d think if Tony’s doing a show for them, that they’d include him in the line up. I’m wondering how, if any, this broadcast will be edited for content. To have the race on TV with the scanner feed coming over the satellite sounds pretty cool if I can get Tony and Zippy yackin’ back and forth.

I’ll have to look at the rest of the SIRIUS lineup, as there are quite a few of XM’s channels I like. I will still get quite a few of the XM channels at home over my DirecTV. I would never consider buying it for the sole purpose of the NASCAR channel, but I'm sure they've got all the music and news I've come to love on XM. I’d like to get a portable receiver, also. That way I could go from car, to house, to work, and even to the Dover race with it. I’d been looking into the XM versions, but now that it’s time to switch, I’ll put that plan in motion right from the start. I was one of the original XM customers, and still have the first Delphi receiver they came out with. But change is good (COT?, not!), and it might be time for some of that “good”.

I will watch the banquet. Not because it’s a good piece of television, but I’m too big a fan to just ignore it. And it’s a Friday night, what else is on? I think this whole thing is torture for viewer and driver alike. I gotta ask; whose idea was it to dress up NASCAR drivers in tuxedos and parade them around NYC for a week? Why have the banquets at the Waldorf Astoria? Why make these guys read speeches off a Teleprompter? They look like marionettes dangling from strings while they’re trying to deliver the prepared dialogue. This is in direct conflict to why we watch these drivers in the first place.

I for one would move the festivities to some place a little more tepid weather-wise. Someplace that could have a live audience in a city that actually supported NASCAR. Atlanta and Charlotte come to mind. Someplace closer to the team’s homes would make it more commuter friendly for them and their families. Even 'Vegas would be a better choice than NYC. Imagine the party they’d put on for them.

I’d bet there isn’t one person out there that wouldn’t rather see (insert your driver’s nickname here) in jeans, boots, and a sports coat; no tie. Any thing's better than a monkey suit and a bow tie. These guys give unprepared interviews in fire suits after 500 mile races all year. It’s part of being a driver in racings highest division. The people we see on stage at this thing are not the drivers we know and love, but a cardboard cutout shoved on stage. Remember Rusty; he looked like he was in The Hall of Presidents at Disney World, and most drivers share that look up there.

How’s ‘bout we do the whole thing commercial free and unedited on Pay-per-view. Let the drivers say what they’ve wanted to say all season without apprehension. Let’s face it, if you’re a 3 year old in a house where the race is shown on TV, you’ve heard a few expletives. That’s the (insert name from above) I want to see.

We’ll have it in the Georgia dome. We’ll invite the top 35 teams to sit on the field surface in order of finish, and sell out (hear that Brian France $$$!) the stands to screaming fans. The chase teams will sit at one end next to the stage. It’ll be just like a race. Sponsors and souvenir trailers ($$$), track food and beer ($$$), lines for tickets and parking ($$$), the whole shebang. Color Guard, Benediction, The National Anthem, and even a flyover if the roof is open. We’ll have a green flag at the start, and everyone will pile out when the checkered flag waves. Now that’s NASCAR, and I’d pay to see that.

Congratulations on his winning Rookie of the Year. It was a great field of rookie's this year. He also broke Tony Stewart’s record for highest finish by a rookie in the point’s standings. I can't wait to see what Denny's got for us next year. The combo of he, Mike Ford, FedEx, and JGR is awesome! I'm not predicting a sophomore slump for him, that's for sure.

That said, let's compare his last 10 races in his rookie year to Tony’s last 10 races in 1999 (Tony’s rookie year). With 10 races to go, Denny was 30 points behind the leader compared to Tony’s 377 point deficit. Tony scored 1578 vs. Denny’s 1377. Tony had 3 wins and an average finish of 10th place. Denny’s average finish was 12.1 and his highest finish was one 2nd. In fact, Tony’s “chase” stats in his rookie year were better than all the chasers this year; including Jimmie. It's pretty obvious that Tony had much more to overcome to get higher in the rankings in '99 than Denny did this year.

Am I looking to put an asterisk on Denny’s record? No, but there’s 88 more days until Daytona, and I’d like to occupy this space with something in the interim. The record book is full of asterisks labeling stats from before and during the modern era of NASCAR, as there were very drastic changes in the early ‘70s. The Chase format was a huge change in how we crown our champion, and will inevitably bring on a few asterisks.

The season comes to a close with a new NEXTEL Cup champion in Jimmie Johnson. Congratulations on a season where being able to rebound from bad things seemed to be the theme. Those who could rebound did really well, and those who couldn't watched the chasers from the outside. True championship teams are constantly using their talent and attitude to look past the bad, and see the finish line despite events where others just pack it up.

Tony finished the year whooping up on all the non-chasers for 11th place (said with much sarcasm). Even though it was the worst finish in his NASCAR career, I believe it has matured him quite a bit. Maybe I'm just looking on the bright side, but I believe he's got a better picture and respect of what it takes, day in and day out, to get the championship back. His addition of a workout program is just one sign that he's realized what kind of crowd he's in and just how competitive he plans to be next year. And now he's in love? Rebounding, as mentioned above, is one thing we didn't see enough out of Tony and the HD Racing team this year. When they fell into a hole, they couldn't seem to dig out of it. Homestead showed it, but I think Richmond was the biggest example of not being able to dig down for that extra something. Tony wasn't a threat to lead this race even once. They did get a 15th place finish out of it, but I think we all expected more out of him here at Homestead.

For those of you flying your Robby Gordon flags after his Baja victory, you can put them away after he finishes another stock car race on the trailer for a total of 9 DNFs this year. If this guy is so good at racing in the desert, then maybe he should stay out there. He has a co-driver in the truck; maybe he needs one in his car, too. He could borrow one of those Wally's World cars.

I'm sure there will be a few more interesting things to blog about before next year. Wonder who Ray will wear to the banquet? How many crew chiefs will be waking up to pink slips in the morning, only to be scooped up by Toyota. Will they announce at the banquet that the COT was just a big joke? All good questions. Be sure to tune in to check the count down timer at the top of the page, and to see if I typed anymore nonsense on this page.

I’ll list the chasers by % Top 5 finishes, because anything else isn’t going to count if Jimmie has a half way decent showing. Homestead isn’t our chasers favorite place, as none of them have a win here, and other than Mark, their top 5’s aren’t looking very good either.

Mark Martin has started all 7 of the races here, not a surprise. He has 4 top 5 finishes, the most of any driver to race here, not just the chasers. The rest have been 10th or worse with 1 DNF. That brings his average finish to 11.6.

Jeff Gordon has 6 top 10s in 7 starts, 3 of them top 5s. His average finish is 9.6, only one of four drivers sporting an average lower than 10.

Jeff Burton; 7 starts with 3 top 5s; that’s about it. I’m glad he made the chase, I’m a Virginia boy, but he’s way too far out to make a difference.

Jimmie Johnson as 2 top 5s and 3 top 10’s in 5 starts. His average finish is 15.6, and he does have 1 DNF. With only needing a 13th to clinch, the people in line to dethrone him don’t have the numbers to do it. Jimmie’s stats look like a stock ticker with all of its ups and downs. We’ll have to see which way it goes on Sunday.

Kevin Harvick is the only chaser who’s finished on the lead lap every race here. He also sports the lowest average finish at 9.4. If there’s an outside chance someone competes for Jimmie’s quest for the cup, it might come from here.

Matt Kenseth is the only driver with a great shot at unseating Jimmie, but his Homestead stats predict it won’t happen. Only one top 5 in 6 starts with an average finish of 25.5.

Kasey Kahne has raced here twice, qualifying 4th and 3rd, but finishing 38th and 16th Kyle Bush started his only race here in 4th, but finished 41st.

Denny Hamlin has one start here from the 42nd position, and improved on it to finish 33rd.

Dale Jr.’s stats here are just terrible. 0 top 10s in 6 starts, and only 3 finishes on the lead lap. The only bright star on him is he’s finished all 6.

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Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards are the only other drivers to complete every race they’ve run here on the lead lap with Kevin.

Tony Stewart and Greg Biffle are the only drivers to have multiple wins here (2 each). Bobby Labonte, Kurt Bush, and Bill Elliot have one a piece to account for all 7 races.

Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards join Jeff G. and Kevin with average finishes lower than 10.

My prediction for the winner comes with one number; 120. Chassis #120 is the same car that won at Kansas, Atlanta, and Texas. If confidence in your equipment counts for anything, look for Tony to get to the front and stay there.

Homestead doesn’t have much time to look back on, having only 7 Cup races here, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s no history to look back on here.

History comes with the first race here in 1999. Tony Stewart broke two rookie records here. Not only did he win this event in its inaugural event, but it was his third win in his rookie year. This was a record for number of wins for a rookie. It was also the first time the Cup series saw a rookie win back to back races. He finished 4th in the points in his rookie year, the highest in NASCAR’s modern era. Sounds sort of like Denny’s year.

Not much else to write that won’t be covered in my stats post. Hopefully I’ll get that up tomorrow.

I've decided to view most of my fellow NASCAR blogger's blog with the use of a RSS reader. I did have them all listed in a folder in favorites, and would open all 30 or so at the same time and scroll through them. The news reader (I use Google Reader) lets me keep up with all of them without bogging down my DSL connection or hogging up all of my computer's resources. I'm playing with the comment section also, so it might be off line until I'm done screwing that up. Of course you know, if you visit this page frequently, that I can't leave it alone for a whole day. I'm constantly changing something. It's sorta become my hobby for the time being.

It’s almost like they were trying to wear out the flagman today. This is only the fourth double digit caution Cup event in the 21 races at PIR. The last two times that happened, Dale Jr. won. We got to see every flag they got up there. The red flag came out for a long clean up at the end of the race, the 07 car got the black flag for damage sustained, and the 7 got the Blue/Yellow most of the race for just being him. Robby chose to ignore it, and most of the field had to move him out of the way.

Jimmie did a great job combining racing with protecting his lead. It looks like a lock for a championship, but we all know a 99 cent (insert name of insignificant car part here) could bring it all crashing down. The chase has done its job and made the last race a must see to the last lap.

Tony couldn’t seem to do the most important thing you have to be able to do in a NASCAR race; turn left. He seemed to be able to drive around between 13th and 20th, and ended up somewhere in the middle. If you didn’t turn over to CNBC after the race to see his post race interview about the contact between him and Jamie, then don’t bother to comment.

Kyle Petty finished 11 spots in front of Sterling Marlin in the 14 car to help him in the race to finish inside the top 35 in owners points.

We’re gonna go with the chasers listed by % Top 5’s this week, ‘cause I think that’s what it’s gonna take to either catch the leader, or pull away with a comfortable lead for the last race. I’ll list a few honorable mentions as I see fit after them.

--Dale Jr. has finished half of his eight races here inside the top 5 to include 2 wins. But his average finish (17th) and 25% DNFs tell a story of inconsistency at this track. He’s up front when he’s on the track though, as he has the highest % of laps lead among the chasers.
--Jeff Gordon gets home in the top 10 40% of the time, and he’s got the other stats to match. 8.9 for an average finish, 80% top 10s and 80% lead lap finishes. He doesn’t have a win here, and a new wife to dedicate it to. Look for Jeff up front at the end (right behind #20).
--Mark Martin is the only chaser to start all 20 races at PIR. An average finish of 9.4 is only beat by HMS drivers, and not by a whole position, and they only have one more start combined. And in all 20 races he only has 1 DNF. He’s also got 1 in the win column.
--Matt Kenseth has the highest DNF% with 37.5. 1 win and 50% Top 10s don’t go far enough to polish out the fact that he has finished this race early quite a few times. He won in 2002, and finished here 3rd last year, but he finished 36th, 42nd, and 32nd the 3 (where you at, 'Dawg) years before that bringing his average finish up to 20th.
--Jeff Burton is the only other chaser here with multiple (2) wins. He’s seen 14 races here, and finished every one. Average finish is 11.6, even with an average start of 23.5. He obviously knows how to pass cars here, a feat not too many drivers have figured out.
--Kyle Bush has one win in three starts, and that one win was the fall race last year. He was on the pole in the spring race, but finished 36th.
--Kevin Harvick has lead only .5% of the laps he’s turned here, but one of them was the last one as he won here in the spring. No DNFs here, but only one other top 10 to his credit.
--Kasey Kahne has yet to lead a lap at this track, but he’s finished every time. He’s got one top 5 in his 4 appearances.
--Jimmie Johnson has finished all 6 of his starts on the lead lap. He’s also got the best average finish of the chasers at 8.7. One top 5 and 4 top 10s.
--Denny Hamlin has started both of his races here inside the top 6 with one pole, but doesn’t have a top 10 to show for it. I’ve heard he likes his chances here. Hope he knows something the stats don’t show.

--As for non-chasers: Tony’s got the highest finishing average with 10.3, He, Kurt Bush, and Dale Jarrett have wins here. Elder Bush and Biffle get a lot of laps in clean air here with both over 20% laps lead.

--My pick for the win is Tony Stewart on his way to winning the last 4 in a row. He’s in a different car this weekend, but back in the Atlanta/Texas car for Homestead.

The 1988 Checker 500 was Phoenix International Raceway’s first Cup event. Alan Kulwicki started it in 21st. Ricky Rudd lead most of the race in the Quaker State Buick, but the motor wouldn’t last. Alan won the race, with Terry Labonte in 2nd, and Davey Allison in 3rd. It was Alan’s first Cup win in his first start here, and the birth of his famous Polish Victory Lap. He raced here a total of five times, and completed every lap. Davey would come back to win it twice (‘91/’92), and Terry once (’94).

The first race here also marked the last race that Benny Parsons finished. His last start would be two weeks later in Atlanta where he crashed 134 laps in. Indy car legend Johnny Rutherford would also make his last Cup start here. Dale Earnhardt won the race here in 1990 in a race that saw the lead change only once. Average number of lead changes over the 20 Cup races here is 13.65. Tony Stewart has the fastest average speed for the race winner at 188 MPH in a race that had only 2 cautions. Average cautions in the 20 races run here is 6.8, with 11 being the record.

Hope this helps you answer the trivia question on Sunday. I’ll get some stats out soon so you can get your office pool bids in.

I've been making it a weekly thing to go out onto Google Maps and look at the upcoming track and just see what it, and the surrounding area look like from above. I had been thinking about showing on the blog before, but figured anyone could do it. I'm making this one exception, because I found the shape of this track interesting. I didn't realize it was such a strange shape. Not quite an oval, but not quite a tri-oval. It's sorta got a turn 5 thing going on.

The surrounding area is interesting, too. There is a bit of life north of the track in the form of Avondale, AZ. But if one of those NASCAR fans gets drunk and picks a southern route, he’s got quite a walk through a mountain range before he hits another paved road.

I’m thinking I might make a link list for all of the track maps. You could use it to find stuff around the track if you’re headed there.

Texas has its 12^th different winner in as many races. Tony ran away with another one as Zippy and the guys put a great car under him. It was the same chassis as last week, and we expect to see it again in 7 days. Giving Tony credit comes in the outstanding restarts he was able to pull off all day. He was able to obtain a sizable lead every time the green flag dropped. It was an all around textbook run by the team. Much of the middle of the race wasn’t too exciting, but some great teams stepped it up to challenge for the win. Jimmie Johnson went against the grain by taking four tires when most took two, including Tony. It was the right call as he was the only one able to catch Tony after the green white checkered restart. Given Tony’s great car, and Jimmie being able to finish ahead in the points, I believe he made the decision to “point’s race” at the end to finish 2^nd. It’s only another 5 points, and this is a hot topic in NASCAR as they look into giving more points for a win.

Jimmie is your point’s leader with a 17 point lead on 2^nd place. Matt Kenseth came home 12^th after a rough weekend, and slips to 2^nd in the points. Dale took another not-so-pretty race and turned it into a 6^th place, enough to gain him a spot to 3^rd in the points. Denny Hamlin didn’t have the day he expected here, but was able to finish 10^th. He slips a spot in the points and is now 80 points out. It looks like these four are in the foot race for this years NEXTEL Cup.

Kyle Petty finishes 11^th, and gets into the top 35 in owner points. We’ll get to see what the team can do now that they don’t have to concentrate so much on a qualifying setup. Terry Labonte was in the spotlight for his last race at his home track. He didn’t have a car able to finish up front. Not a memorable race, but it almost immediately fades away in the many great memories Terry will always be known for.

Suffering from the same type of accident twice in three weeks has got to very frustrating. Going under a car pitting from the middle of the track isn’t something that’s common, and now the same team has a second car destroyed by it. Going to a back up car can’t be the fate Mark was expecting, but it looks like he’ll except it with the same grace he has all of the misfortune he’s experienced the last 6 races. I for one would have rather seen him get a little riled up about the second one, after everyone saw what happened one late night in Charlotte only two weeks ago.

NASCAR, where’s our brake light?

I'm guessing some of you are here to see my reaction to NASCARs decision. Am I happy NASCAR found Robby guilty? Yes. Do I think the punishment was severe enough? Didn't really care about that in the first place, and still don't. I do think it was important that this is now a punishable offense, and some precedence has been set. Some have rambled on about how this is the way it's always been. I for one am an advocate for righting wrongs, but enough about the Car of Tomorrow. Please consider this chapter closed for good, and read the stats below.