iNSIDE SCOOP: Rested?

Now that the Easter weekend is behind us, are you rested and ready for the upcoming schedule?

Hope so, because it’s coming at you hot and heavy.

This weekend, we’ll be in Richmond for the spring race on the racy .75-mile oval that Paul Sawyer built. First race I was there was the first race on the new layout, and I’ve rarely seen better racing all the way around.

This is going to be a hum-dinger, as they say. The week off gave everyone a chance to reset and relax, but it also gave drivers and teams the chance to take a look at where they are and what needs to happen so they make the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Some of them didn’t get much rest at all, I’m sure.

Start with Kasey Kahne. His three Hendrick teammates are in the top five in points. He’s 23rd. The guy he’s tied with in points, Kevin Harvick, has two victories. He’s punched his ticket.

Kahne has the same equipment as point leader Jeff Gordon, fourth-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. and fifth-place Jimmie Johnson.  He’s got one of the best crew chiefs in the business in Kenny Francis. What he doesn’t have is a scintilla of racing luck. 

Kurt Busch is worse off than Kahne, points-wise, sitting 26th in the points. But, he has a victory. That is going to be huge the next time the circus rolls into Henrico County in September.

The competition over the first eight races has been fantastic. Seven winners in eight races, eight straight pole winners, lots of passing and some hard, clean racing. There’s been some not-so-clean racing, too, and that’s all right. This is NASCAR, for heaven’s sake. 

Tony Stewart is 12th in points, thanks to top-10 finishes in six of eight races so far. He’s likely to heat up some as the weather gets hotter—if it ever does, global warming be darned. 

The biggest surprises are the drivers who haven’t won yet. Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin…the 900-pound gorilla, Jimmie Johnson, none of them has won yet. Greg Biffle is another guy who hasn’t touched Victory Lane.

I’d look at the Richard Petty Motorsports team if I was going to have a thought at picking the next winner who is outside the usual suspects. Aric Almirola has been stout at times, and Marcos Ambrose has too. Of course, they drive Fords, and Jack Roush Fords. Carl Edwards is the only Roush Ford to have tasted champagne this year; the others are owned by Roger Penske. 

There’s some news about Swan Racing, too, that’s not very good. Cole Whitt has no ride at Richmond, and he’s scrambling. Parker Kligerman seems to be set, as far as I know, but it’s worrisome nonetheless.

When we get to Richmond on Friday, we’ll have an idea what might happen in the world of getting into the Chase. Saturday night might see all the noise about Kahne’s troubles whisper away to nothing. Kahne won there for his first career victory…