Leave it to Texas Motor Speedway to seize upon NASCAR’s latest development and capitalize on a golden marketing opportunity.
Shortly after Tony Stewart’s key victory at Martinsville last week, which allowed him to close in on Carl Edwards in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, track officials were already touting this weekend’s race as an “Epic Showdown” between the drivers.
The clash between Edwards and Stewart will take center stage this week, for sure, especially after Stewart’s braggadocio (“He better be worried …”).
But their battle for the championship isn’t likely to be the only big story to come out of Texas, a place where big drama tends to unfold — especially during NASCAR’s fall trek to the Lone Star State.
As Texas sports fans continue to reel over the collapse of their Rangers in the World Series and wallow in the misery of another disappointing Cowboys team, what can they expect from NASCAR this weekend?
Here are some possibilities:
The Throwdown
It’s not a real NASCAR race these days without someone “having at it.”
Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton did at Texas last year, with Gordon climbing from his mangled car, marching down onto the apron of Turn 2 and doing the Texas Two-Step with Burton.
Gordon shoved Burton in the chest and was in the process of giving him a Texas roundhouse when NASCAR officials stepped in, breaking it up like a saloon barfight.
Who might have at it this year?
Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth after their wreck last week? Brian Vickers and a host of enemies from Martinsville?
With the pressure of the Chase and the season winding down, there is always the potential for someone to “have at it,” Texas-style.
Retaliation? Hell, Let’s Fight
According to Stewart, Gordon had the right idea last year when he went after Burton.
Stewart called out all NASCAR drivers last week, saying they need to quit retaliating on the track and wrecking each other when they’re mad.
“NASCAR is going to have to at some point make these drivers be responsible for their actions amongst each other and not baby-sit and not protect these guys,” Stewart said after winning the crash-marred race at Martinsville. “Let them get their butt kicked. That's what used to happen in the old days.”
Stewart, in fact, has a novel idea.
“They ought to get a portable boxing ring,” Stewart said. “If you want to boost the attendance, have a boxing match with each of the guys that had a beef with each other.”
TMS president Eddie Gossage would love that idea, and probably be the first to jump on it.
Who will be his first contenders for a postrace fight?
Crew Swap
A year ago, crew chief Chad Knaus stunned everybody when he benched Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 team’s pit crew — in the middle of the race at Texas.
Not happy with his crew’s performance on pit road, and with Johnson desperately trying to catch Denny Hamlin in the championship race, Knaus replaced Johnson’s pit crew with Gordon’s.
Knaus then enlisted the Gordon crew to pit Johnson’s car in the final two races, and it worked, helping Johnson rally to win the title.
Who will make such a desperate move this year?
Kevin Harvick, maybe? He has fallen 21 points behind Edwards and desperately needs a spark. And Harvick also swapped pit crews during the Chase last year.
Stay tuned.
Cowboy Up
TMS takes great pride in its Texas-style Victory Lane celebrations, giving the winner a cowboy hat to wear and six-shooters to fire during the celebration.
The trouble with that is, not all NASCAR drivers look that good in a cowboy hat.
Carl Edwards might be able to pull it off. Tony Stewart — the five o’clock shadow Tony — maybe.
Matt Kenseth, not so much. Kurt Busch, uh-uh. Kasey Kahne, not quite. Jimmie Johnson, nah.
Who will get to do a Clint Eastwood imitation this weekend? And will that driver look like a cowboy, or a dork?
Salute
With the stakes high and the pressure intense, it’s not unusual to see drivers lose their cool in the final three races. And some lose it in front of NASCAR officials.
Kyle Busch, upset over a mid-race speeding penalty last year, expressed his displeasure with a one-finger salute directed at an official on pit road. That cost him another two laps.
“That’s freedom of speech,” Busch said on his radio when informed of the penalty. “They’re going against the constitutional rights for everybody.”
Whose constitutional rights will NASCAR violate this week?
No Limits
Thanks to Gossage’s unique brand of marketing, there’s no telling what kind of fun fans might have in store for them at Texas.
A year ago, TMS unveiled its new “No Limits” campaign, which featured its “No Limits Garage,” a place with hot cars, hot women and all sorts of bizarre entertainment.
Last year’s spectacle featured a wakeboard team performing in the garage, and the Chainsaw Chix, an all-female chainsaw sculpting team.
But the biggest hit was Gossage’s monkeys. That’s right, organ-grinder-type monkeys selling souvenir programs outside the track. One of them spent part of the weekend sitting on Gossage’s shoulder as he wandered around the track and the media center.
“We’ve always been a little edgy,” Gossage said. “When you come to Texas, you never know what you’re going to see.”
What will he have in store this year?
The Other Championship Race
While Edwards and Stewart battle for the Sprint Cup title, there’s another championship race to be settled.
Ricky Stenhouse and Elliott Sadler are locked in a two-way battle for the Nationwide Series title, with Stenhouse leading by 15 points heading to Texas.
When NASCAR changed its eligibility rules prior to the season — allowing drivers to run for only one championship — it paved the way for non-Cup drivers to battle for the Nationwide crown.
What had been a relatively close race has now come down to Stenhouse, a young rising star at Roush Fenway Racing, and Sadler, a former Cup driver now driving for Kevin Harvick Inc.
Can Sadler gain ground with just three races remaining?
While Sadler has won a Cup race at Texas before, Stenhouse may have the advantage driving for Roush Fenway Racing, one of the sport’s top teams on 1.5-mile tracks.
Still Truckin’
The Camping World Truck Series features an even closer championship race — a closer one than the Cup series, in fact.
With just two races remaining, there’s a four-way battle for the Truck Series title.
Austin Dillon, the grandson of team owner Richard Childress, leads James Buescher by 11 points, but veterans Ron Hornaday and Johnny Sauter are both only 15 points back.
Can Dillon and Buescher, both young drivers, withstand the pressure from the two wily veterans?
Hamlin’s Revenge
A year ago, Denny Hamlin was one of those drivers desperately trying to look good in a cowboy hat.
He got plenty of practice, sweeping the two races at Texas. His win in the fall race gave him the points lead with two races remaining.
Hamlin was soon bucked off his high horse, of course, his championship hopes fizzling like a wet campfire.
Still reeling from his epic choke, Hamlin has struggled much of the season, winning just one race and barely making the Chase.
He has come on strong of late, however, scoring three straight top-10s and leading 58 laps last week at Martinsville.
Hamlin just might get to play spoiler this year at Texas — and try on a new cowboy hat.
What about Jimmie?
We’ve gone through nine things to look for at Texas this weekend, and none of them featured five-time champion Jimmie Johnson.
How strange is that?
Johnson trails Edwards by 43 points with just three races remaining and is presumably out of the championship hunt.
This, of course, doesn’t sit well with Johnson, so don’t expect Five-Time to roll over and go away quietly.
His goal now is to fight his way back into the top five in points — he’s never finished outside the top five — and if the championship contenders have trouble, then here he comes.
Johnson is a long way out, but it’s not totally over yet.
Look for him to have revenge and vengeance on his mind at Texas.
