This is also a race that the teams show off some of their special paint schemes and have different sponsors jump on board due its high visibility.  No matter what happens it should be a good event.

This Week’s Recommendations:

Chaser: Jimmie Johnson
No one has more wins in Charlotte than Jimmie Johnson with 6.  In 21 races Johnson has 10 top five and 14 top ten finishes to go with those wins.  His average finish of 11.9 at the track is also one of the best.  Johnson has also been getting hot lately averaging a 9.4 place finish over the last 5 races of the season and winning the last race in Darlington.  It will be a tough week to go against Johnson and not have him on your team.

Alternate Chaser: Matt Kenseth
Kenseth has top ten finishes in 5 of the last 6 races in Charlotte with one win included.  For his career Kenseth has 2 wins, 7 top five and 13 top ten finishes.  He is second in points by only 2 points for a reason; he’s really good.  Kenseth has been extra good over the last five races averaging a 5.8 place finish.  Kenseth was on less than 4% of your teams last week. He has been a huge points guy and you are missing out.  Don’t miss on him this week.

Joey Logano
Logano has 6 races at Charlotte and finished in the top ten 4 times, with 2 of those being in the top five.  The only times he finished outside of the top ten were 12^th and 13^th place finishes, so still pretty good.  Last week Logano was on less than 10% of the teams in Chad’s Fantasy Racing.  Picking him up this week could be a wise decision.

Kasey Kahne
Kahne has battled over the past several weeks to get up to 16^th in points.  In that five week span he has averaged a 6.4 place finish.  Now Kahne is coming to a track where he has won three times already and collected 8 top ten finishes in 16 races.  Kahne only has one top ten finish in the last four at the track, so he’s due to start cranking out more good finishes.  It appears you have noticed Kahne’s rise as well; more than 62% of the teams had Kane on their roster last week.

Dark Horse: David Reutimann
Believe it or not Reutimann has the 10^th best average finish at the Charlotte Motor Speedway among active drivers.  He has finished in the top ten in 3 of the last 4 races here.  If you still aren’t a believer, then maybe his win in this race in 2009 can help make you believe.  For his career Reutimann has the one win, 2 top five and 5 top ten finishes in Charlotte.  Absolutely no one had Reutimann on their team last week.  Pick him up and maybe you can make up some ground on everyone else.

So, how did NASCAR get to the point of having 36 races on 23 different tracks with a schedule that spans 39 weeks?  At lot of it had to do with the sport’s booming popularity in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s and some of it had to do with over-expansion.  Like most industries and businesses NASCAR didn’t think the good times of the late 90’s would end, but boy did they, and it left a lot of teams and track owners scrambling.

To help explain better let’s first take a look at NASCAR’s definition of each track style:

Short – An oval racetrack that is less than 1 mile in length.
Intermediate – An oval that is greater than 1 mile in length, but less than 2 miles in length.
Superspeedway – A racetrack that is greater than 2 miles in length.
Road Course – A racing circuit comprised of left- and right-hand turns, as opposed to an oval which is comprised exclusively of left-hand turns.

Expansion of the 1990’s and 2000’s

In 1992 NASCAR had a 29 race schedule; 11 (38%) on short tracks, 8 (28%) on intermediates, 8 (28%) on superspeedways, and 2 (7%) on road courses.  By this time NASCAR was getting more main stream and needed to expand to new markets and introduce new tracks and races to the schedule.  They were still considered a southern or south eastern sport, but gaining popularity in major markets and needed to get their product to those fans.

Between 1992 and 1997 NASCAR added 4 tracks (Texas Motor Speedway, Auto Cub Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and New Hampshire Motor Speedway) and 3 more races to the schedule, as well as dropping a short track, the North Wilksboro Speedway.  The tracks NASCAR added were very diverse with two superspeedways, and two intermediates.  All of the tracks were different shapes and lengths ranging from the 2.5 mile squared oval in Indy to the 1 mile oval in New Hampshire.  The balance of the schedule between the different track types was still pretty good; 9 races (28%) on short tracks, 11 (34%) on intermediates, 10 (31%) on superspeedways, and 2 (6%) on short tracks.  Things were going great for NASCAR and people were flocking to go to the races.

In the 5 year span from 1998 to 2002 NASCAR again added 4 more tracks, but did not remove any from the schedule, increasing the number of races to the 36 we have today.  Of the 4 new tracks (Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Chicagoland Speedway, Kansas Speedway, and Homestead Miami Speedway) every single one of them was 1.5 miles in length, and 3 of the 4 are D-Shaped ovals.  Homestead is a “standard” oval shape.  These new tracks brought an imbalance to the schedule.  With 36 races only 9 of them (25%) were on a short track and a whopping 15 (42%) were on intermediates.  That left 10 (28%) on superspeedways and 2 (6%) on road courses.

From the 2003 to 2007 season no new tracks were added, but NASCAR did stop racing at Rockingham, an intermediate track, freeing up a couple of dates on the schedule.  With that NASCAR did get more balance giving one of the Rockingham dates to Phoenix (a short track) and one to California and their relatively new superspeedway.  The 2007 season had  a pretty good balance with 10 races (28%) on short tracks, 13 (36%) on intermediates, 11 (31%) on superspeedways, and 2 (6%) on road courses.

Since 2007 to today the only new track is the Kentucky Speedway which once again is a 1.5 mile D-Shaped oval like most of the other newer tracks.  Can NASCAR not put out a notice to people that want to build a track saying they’re sick of the boring cookie cutter 1.5 mile ovals and they won’t race at them anymore? Is the creativity gone when new tracks are designed?  Now in 2012 the schedule is again more heavily loaded to the intermediate tracks with 14 races (39%) on them.  There are still 10 races (28%) on short tracks, and only 10 on superspeedways (California decided they didn’t really like NASCAR and not enough people went to watch two races per season out there.), and of course the 2 road course races.

Fans love the short tracks for the action, tight racing, and potential for wrecks they bring on every lap.  Fans also love superspeedways to see the cars at their top speed and making daring and dangerous passes.   Intermediate tracks can be good, and there is definitely some good racing in Atlanta, Charlotte, etc., but when every new track added looks the same some flags should have been raised.

What Does The Future Hold?

Will any more tracks be added to the schedule?  There aren’t many new tracks left that aren’t already on in.  Iowa has a 7/8 mile tri-oval that the Truck series races on, and you can bet that they are asking NASCAR when the Cup series can make its way there.  At least this track isn’t 1.5 miles, and would add a short track race to the schedule, assuming they don’t take a date away from an existing short track.

So, what will the future NASCAR schedule look like?  They can’t really add another superspeedway race without a new track.  They already race twice at Daytona, Talladega, Pocono, and Michigan.  Indianapolis is a special and prestigious place, and is perfect for one race.  California proved they aren’t interested enough in NASCAR to make two races profitable.  NASCAR doesn’t have many options in this regard.

Road races are more of a novelty item for NASCAR fans, so adding another one to the schedule is probably out of the question.

Each of the 5 short tracks already host 2 races per season, so to add another race would mean a new track would have to be in the mix.  Iowa could be an option if NASCAR would be willing to take a race away from one of the intermediate tracks.

Of the intermediate tracks only Charlotte, Kansas City, New Hampshire, and Texas host two races each year.  You know NASCAR would never take a date away from Charlotte.  Texas can hold close to 160,000 people, so there is a lot of revenue potential there, and New Hampshire is only a 1.06 mile oval, so it’s not like the other intermediates.  Kansas would be the most likely candidate since they were rewarded with a 2^nd race just a couple years ago and are a 1.5 mile D-shaped oval like a lot of the others.

Should NASCAR worry about the balance of the schedule and try to get another race on a short track or superspeedway, or is the schedule fine as it is now?  If they took away a race from Kansas and gave it to the Iowa Speedway, it would be a step in the right direction.  What do you think?

How will this impact you?
You should start using chadsfantasyracing.com to get to the site.  If you use the old address you will still be able to get to the site for the rest of the season, but for the 2013 season you will have to use chadsfantasyracing.com.   This name change should not impact how the site works.  Picking your teams, reading the blog entries, etc. will stay the same.

All of our other sites (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc.) will be updated with the new name as well.

Why are we making the changes?
After exchanging some emails with the NASCAR legal team it became clear that the name of Chad’s Fantasy NASCAR was in violation of exclusive licensing arrangements NASCAR has with third parties.  The term “NASCAR” is not allowed in a website’s name or URL.  Because of this we are changing the site’s name to Chad’s Fantasy Racing and the web address to http://chadsfantasyracing.com.   Here is how NASCAR explained it to me.

“Please understand that NASCAR enters into exclusive licensing arrangements with third parties which allows those third parties the right to use the NASCAR trademarks.  Therefore, NASCAR cannot authorize the use of its trademark as part of your domain name, and we would be obligated to take action to ensure it is shut down.”

What Other Licensing Rules Need to be Followed?
Using the NASCAR trademark as a word to describe the fantasy game, as long as there is no use of the colored bar logo design, should not present any problems.  However, any use of the trademark should be as minimal as possible to avoid confusion and potential infringements.

The spelled-out version of NASCAR is still NASCAR’s intellectual property, and, just like the acronym “NASCAR,” it has associated values and rights.

Regardless of whether items in print (Newspaper or Blog) provide NASCAR with publicity, if that print does not fall within specific guidelines, it may be infringing upon NASCAR’s trademark rights.  That being said, the use of the NASCAR word mark in a news worthy article would fall within your First Amendment rights.

Adding a disclaimer to your website and/or blogs to ensure people know it is not affiliated with NASCAR at all may be appreciated by NASCAR, but it is a settled legal principle that a disclaimer alone does not prevent or resolve consumer confusion.

So, what’s the point?
I have often wondered about the legality of using the term NASCAR since it is trademarked.  I emailed NASCAR a couple months ago to figure it out and to make sure I was compliant with their rules.  After a few exchanges I received answers to all of my questions, and have posted what I learned in this post.  If you see other fantasy games with NASCAR anywhere in their title or web address you can be sure they’re not compliant with the NASCAR licensing policy.  Unless of course they paid a lot of money to be an official partner of NASCAR and were given permission to use their trademark.

The third Saturday night race in five weeks is up next for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series.  This week they take on the Darlington Raceway, aka the track “Too Tough to Tame” and “The Lady in Black”.  We’ll see who can tame it and come home with the victory.  Only four of last year’s chasers have won at Darlington with Jeff Gordon’s 7 victories leading the way over Jimmie Johnson’s two.  On top of that, only 6 chasers are in the top ten of best average finish at the track, with Denny Hamlin and his 6.5 average finish on top.  So, who should be on your Fantasy NASCAR team this week?

This Week’s Recommendations:

Chaser:  Denny Hamlin
Hamlin has an amazing record at Darlington in his 6 career races at the track.  His worst finish is 13^th, with a win, 2 top five, and 5 top ten finishes.  I mentioned earlier that no one can top his 6.5 place average finishing position here.  After a disappointing 23^rd place finish in Talladega Hamlin will be looking to dominate and get back the spot he lost in the standings.

Alternate Chaser: Brad Keselowski
Keselowski was my alternate chaser last week and he won the race.  Still less than 2.5% of you had him on your fantasy team.  Keselowski has never won at Darlington, but in only three races he has proven that he can handle the tough track with finishes of 7^th, 12^th, and 3^rd.  Keselowski is starting to heat up, averaging a 7^th place finish over the last 3 races of the season.  Don’t miss out on the streak and lose points to other players.

Greg Biffle
Biffle is clinging to a 7 point lead in the standings over Matt Kenseth, and 9 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Darlington could be a track that he gains a couple points on them.  In 11 career races Biffle has 5 top ten finishes with two wins.  He only has two top ten finishes in the last five races here, so he’s due for another.  It’s no surprise that Biffle is the most owned driver in Chad’s Fantasy NASCAR being on over 71% of the teams.  Take him off your team and you may lose ground on everyone else.

Martin Truex Jr.
Truex has had a couple of off weeks finishing 25^th and 28^th in the last two races, but should get back on track this weekend in Darlington.  Truex is averaging a 12.3 place finish here and although he only has two top ten finishes he has only finished outside of the top 15 once (19^th in 2010).  He may not be a contender to win the race, but Truex can handle the track and get a solid finish and collect points for your team.

Dark Horse: Mark Martin
Martin is scheduled to race at Darington this weekend, although if recent performances are any indicator, he’s not a lock for a top ten finish.  Although his career numbers are impressive here (2 wins, 26 top ten finishes in 45 races) he hasn’t performed well in the last five races here.  In those races Martin only has one top ten finish, which was a win in 2009.  You can look at that two ways; 1. His top ten caliber performances are over with at the track, or 2. He’s due for another good run and will be fine this weekend.  I like to think he’s due for a good run.

The series moves from the ¾-mile track in Richmond to the 2.66 mile superspeedway that is Talladega.  We can expect to see all of the side-by-side racing that NASCAR fans have grown to love, and of course the always talked about “big one”.  If the drivers on your fantasy NASCAR team can avoid the big wreck, you should have a good week.  If not, you and your drivers are in for a long day.  There are 16 active drivers that have won at Talladega and only seven of them were in the chase last year.  You should have plenty of good drivers to choose from for your fantasy NASCAR team this week.

This Week’s Recommendations:

Chaser: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
If a driver can finish in the top ten at Talladeage 50% of the time, they’re doing really good.  If they can manage to win 5 races there, then they’re one of the best drivers at the track, which is exactly the case for Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Earnhardt has 12 top ten finishes in 24 career races as well as 9 top five finishes and 5 wins.  Superspeedways are the track style that fit him best, and the winless streak could come to an end this weekend.  The fact that Earnhardt is averaging a 5^th place finish over the past five races of the season should also be motivation to put him on your fantasy team.  Earnhardt is heating up, and going to a track that he can dominate.  Who knows, maybe after this race he will be the points leader.

Alternate Chaser: Brad Keselowski
It’s true, Keselowski has only had 6 Cup races at Talladega, but he has finished in the top ten 4 times and won once.  Not too shabby!  Keselowski has been performing better lately, moving up to 13^th in points from the 15^th position he has been in for a couple of weeks.  No one, not a single person in Chad’s Fantasy NASCAR had Brad Keselowski on their fantasy team last week.  This could be a chance to cash in on a chaser no one else will have.

Clint Bowyer
Four consecutive top ten finishes at Talladega and only one finish worse than 12^th in the last nine races here is a pretty good run for Bowyer.  That one finish worse than 12^th was a 39^th back in 2009.  In that span Bowyer has won twice with four top five finishes.  Bowyer is a popular pick for the fantasy teams (on 50% of teams) for obvious reasons.  He is a solid driver that can always seems to get top ten or fifteen finishes and collects points.

Joey Logano
Logano’s career at Talladega is similar to Keselowski’s although with no victories yet.  Logano has four top ten finishes in six races with two of those being in the top five.  Logano finishes have been 9^th, 3^rd, 36^th, 5^th, 10^th, 24^th.  If that pattern holds true, then Logano is set to finish in the top ten in both races at Talladega this season, so you might as well put him on your fantasy team now.

Dark Horse: Kasey Kahne
To be honest there are not many drivers 20^th or worse in points that stand much of a chance at Talladega.  A lot of them have never had a top ten finish at the track yet, so why would that change this week?  Kahne has been hot lately, getting 7^th, 8^th, and 5^th place finishes in the last three races.  Hopefully he can keep that momentum going and score another top ten or even fifteen finish.  Kahne is a popular pick, being on 38% of the fantasy teams, and he is finally performing.  Hopefully the good runs keep coming.

This Week’s Fantasy NASCAR Recommendations:

Chaser: Kyle Busch
No driver in NASCAR is as dominant as Kyle Busch at Richmond.  Smoke averages a 5^th place finish at the track in 12 career races.  The only times he didn’t finish in the top ten he finished 15^th and 20^th.  Busch currently has a string of 6 consecutive top ten finishes here.  For his career he has 3 wins, 11 top five and 12 top ten finishes.  Kyle Busch was on less than 5% of your fantasy NASCAR teams last week.  This may be the week to pick him up and gain some ground on the competition.

Alternate Chaser: Denny Hamlin
Hamlin isn’t quite as impressive as Kyle Busch, but he is close.  Hamlin averages a 7.6 place finish here in 12 career races.  In those races he has won 2, finished in the top five 6 times and top ten 8 times.  His four finishes outside of the top ten were 11^th, 14^th, 24^th and 15^th.  Still respectable finishes and point days.  With the win last week Hamlin has to be riding a high, and having won in Richmond before Hamlin has to be considered a front runner for the win.

Greg Biffle
How can you go against the point leader?  Biffle is in the middle of what could be a very special year for him with one win and 6 top ten finishes in the first 8 races of the season.  His record at Richmond isn’t the greatest with a 16.6 average finish in 19 races, but it looks like records can be thrown out the window this year.  Biffle is on a roll, and there is no reason to believe it will stop.

Martin Truex Jr.
Like Biffle, Truex Jr. is having the year of his life.  Sure, in 2007 he made the chase, but he was never doing as well as he is now.  Who in the world would have though Truex Jr. would be 2^nd in points after 8 races?  He doesn’t have a win yet this season, but five consecutive top ten finishes are impressive.  In fact, Truex Jr. is the hottest driver in NASCAR over the last five races, averaging a 4.8 place finish.  Truex Jr. was the 3^rd most owned driver last week at just over 52%, but that number will probably get a bump up this week with his great performances.

Dark Horse: A.J. Allmendinger
Allmendinger  has started off the season pretty rough.  He has only managed one top ten finish (2^nd at Martinsville) in the first 8 races and finds himself 23^rd in points.  Probably not the performance Penske was hoping for.  Many thought (including myself) Allmendinger would contend for a spot in the chase this season after finishing 15^th in points in 2011.  That simply has not been the case.  There is a lot of work to be done before the No. 22 car is thinking about the chase.  The good news is that the first step could be in Richmond.  Allmendinger has finished 11^th, 7^th, & 8^th in the last three races at the track.  If you want to take a chance with someone on your fantasy NASCAR team, Allmendinger may be your guy.

This Week’s Recommendations:

Chaser: Jimmie Johnson
Johnson is averaging a 7^th place finish over the last five races and has moved up to 8^th in the point standings.  Old 5-Time, as D.W. calls him, is starting to get hot.  Johnson has also been hot at the Kansas Speedway in his career averaging an 8.4 place finish at the track with 2 wins, 4 top five and 9 top ten finishes in 11 races.  Six of those top ten finishes have been in the past six consecutive races, and he won the last race here in 2011.  Almost 21% of you had Johnson on your fantasy NASCAR team last week.  There could be more picking him up soon.

Alternate Chaser: Jeff Gordon
Gordon is no slouch at Kansas either.  In 12 races at the track he has finished in the top ten 9 times, top five 8 times and won 2 races.  In the last race here in 2011 Gordon finished 34^th, but before that he had a streak of 5 consecutive top five finishes going.  It may be safe to say that Gordon will be due for another top five finish, and to continue his charge to the top twelve and making the chase.  Gordon was on less than 5% of your fantasy NASCAR teams last week.  It’s time for him to be on more teams and to pick you up some big points.

Greg Biffle
Greg Biffle has been the man in 2012.  He has been amazing, and made a great pass at Texas to take home the victory.  Don’t look for Biffle to slow down in Kansas either.  He averages an 8.3 place finish here and has won twice already in 11 career races.  Along with that Biffle has 8 top ten and 6 top five finishes in Kansas.  It should be no surprised that Biffle is the most owned driver on Chad’s Fantasy NASCAR, being on close to 86% of your teams.  If you don’t have him on your team, you better pick him up because you’re just losing points to everyone else!

Clint Bowyer
Bowyer is having a solid year and is sitting 10^th in points.  Although he hasn’t managed a win at Kansas yet, he does have a 2^nd place and 3 top ten finishes in 7 career races.  His 12^th place average finish at the track is good enough to be 6^th best among active drivers.  Bowyer has also been pretty hot over the last five races, averaging a 10.2 place finish.  Bowyer is a popular driver to have on your fantasy team, and for good reason.  There is no reason to drop him yet.

Dark Horse: Mark Martin
Yes, Mark Martin will be racing again in Kanas.  He has won here, and is averaging a 13.1 place finish in the 12 races at the track.  Martin is sitting 20^th in points, but it seems pretty obvious he would be contending for a chase spot had he wanted to run a full schedule in 2012.  Kudos to him for sticking to his guns and being able to enjoy the season and take some time off when needed.  Not many drivers would be able to do that.

Well, on to Texas we go.  9 of the 12 chasers from last year have won at the Texas Motor Speedway, and of the drivers with the best average finish here, 8 of the top 10 are chasers.  Even though the chasers have fared well, there are still a few other drivers with good records in Texas over recent seasons.  There should not be any issues fielding a good fantasy NASCAR team this week.

This Week’s Recommendations

Chaser: Matt Kenseth
My pick to win the championship should do well in Texas.  He owns the best average finish at the track (8.7), two wins, and has top ten finishes in 9 of last 10 races here.  Kenseth is a championship caliber driver and is currently tied for 3^rd in points, only 12 out of the lead.   Less than 0.5% of you had him on your fantasy NASCAR team last week.  Put him on this week and you should collect points that everyone else is missing.

Alternate Chaser: Jimmie Johnson
It’s always tough to go against the five time champ.  Johnson is good at almost every track on the circuit, and Texas is no exception.  He has won here once and finished in the top five 7 times and top ten 12 times in 17 career races.  Johnson is also the hottest driver in NASCAR right now, averaging a 7.4 place finish over the last five races.  With those great runs, Johnson has climbed out of the hole that was Daytona, and is up to 13^th in points.

Greg Biffle
Who would have thought Biffle would be leading the points chase after 6 races?  It doesn’t look like that will change after the Texas race either.  Biffle has 7 consecutive top ten finishes at the track.  Before that he had a bad stretch finishing 33^rd or worse in 4 out of 5 races here.  With the momentum he’s carrying this season, and the consecutive top ten finishes at the track, it won’t be a week to take Biffle off your team.  He should have another top ten finish, and possibly his first win of the season.

Clint Bowyer
No driver was on more of your fantasy NASCAR teams than Cling Bowyer.  Almost 80% of the Chad’s Fantasy NASCAR teams had him, and for good reason.  Bowyer is 9^th in points and having a very solid start to the season.  He is also averaging a 12.6 place finish over the last 5 races this season.  Bowyer has done well in Texas too with top ten finishes in 4 of last 5 races at the track.

Dark Horse: A.J. Allmendinger
Allmendinger isn’t having the start to the season that he had hoped, although his 2^nd place finish at Martinsville moved hip up six spots to 20^th in the standings.  Allmendinger does have some success in Texas averaging a 13.2 place finish over last five races with two top ten finishes included.  Allmendinger was owned by less than 4% of the fantasy NASCAR teams last week, so there are some points to be gained on everyone else if you pick him up.

Two teams that started the season off hot and looking strong are the No. 16 of Greg Biffle and No. 56 of Martin Truex Jr.  Biffle is not a huge surprise since he has finished in the top 10 in points four times in his career, with a high of 2^nd in 2005.  Biffle did have a bad 2011 season finishing 16^th, and many thought he would come back strong in 2012, but I doubt people thought he would be leading in points.  Four top ten finishes and two 13^th place finishes have put Biffle atop the standings early.  He is more than a good driver, he is a championship level driver, so look for the good finishes and solid runs to continue for “The Biff”.  There is no reason to believe he will not make the chase and contend for the title.

One person Biffle may need to watch out for is Martin Truex Jr.  Had you predicted Truex Jr. to be in the top five of points most people probably would not have believed you.  Truex is a solid driver, but has never done this well in past seasons.  It seems like things are clicking with him and Michael Waltrip Racing and he has found his comfort zone.  Truex’s career best finish in the point standings was 11^th in 2007; the only year he made the chase.  If he keeps it up, Truex will be in good position to make the chase again this year.  His worst finish of the season was 17^th at Las Vegas, so if he can keep collecting top 10 and 15 finishes there is a good chance Truex will return to the chase.

If the teams of Greg Biffle and Martin Truex Jr. are ecstatic, then Rick Hendrick and the Kasey Kahne team have to be miserable.  Kanhe has been embarrassing, sitting way down in 31^st in points, averaging a 28.5 place finish in the first 6 races of the season.  Yes, people can say that Kahne has had bad luck in 2012, but at some point it stops being back luck and you have to look at the driver and wonder, is he any good?  Sure, Kahne made the chase in 2006 and 2009, but he missed the chase in all of the other years since 2004.  True championship caliber teams and drivers do not let “bad luck” ruin their season.  They get back up and win the next race, or finish in the top five.  I wish Kasey Kane the best of luck, but eventually you start to look at the body of work and realize that the potential is gone and the driver just is not performing.  Kahne has strong cars, but he must learn to bring them home in one piece and finish races.

Another driver that some people thought may never live up to his potential was Joey Logano.  Who knows if it is the fact that his contract is up with Joe Gibbs Racing at the end of the season, or if the light went off in Joey’s head, but he seems to be getting it this season.  Logano is only 12^th in points, but has been running a lot more consistent and is building his case to prove some doubters wrong.  We are a long way from the chase, but Logano is putting himself in good position to fight for one of the last chase spots when the time is here.

Someone else that is getting in good position to make the chase (again) is Brad Keselowski.  He is proving that last year’s hot streak to make the chase, and perform pretty well in the chase, was no fluke.  The young, Twitter expert, is holding his own at 11^th in points.  His two finishes of 32^nd are not good, but three top 10s have made up for that.  I’m not convinced that Keselowski is a top contender yet, but it looks like he will be in position again this year to fight for a spot in the chase.  Once you’re in, anything can happen.  Just ask Tony Stewart if you don’t think so.

Aside from the drivers covered above, it doesn’t seem like there are too many shake-ups in the standings, or people performing better or worse than expected.  Everyone knew Kurt Busch would have a tough time getting top ten finishes this season and contending to make the chase.  I don’t think anyone expected the horrible Daytona 500, fines, and penalties to hold Jimmie Johnson down and that was not the case.  Johnson has climbed out of the hole and is starting to show why he won 5 consecutive titles.  (Take note, Kasey Kahne.)  Jeff Gordon looks to have shaken off his bad start to the season and is trying to climb out of the early hole.  Gordon is 21^st in points, but has been running well, so right now there is no reason to believe he won’t come all the way back and make the chase.

What drivers did I miss that you feel are impressing in the early going this NASCAR season?  Who has been the big disappointment?

There are quite a few features with the new format that are still being learned, so it may be a week or two before it is cleaned up and looking even better.

What do you think of the new look?  Leave a comment and let us know if you like it, hate it, or of something is missing that used to be available to you.