Tag Archives: Casey Mears

The September 25th publication of the Frontstretch newsletter broke a story of race "fixing" that occurred September 23rd at Dover International Speedway. The publication provided incontrovertible evidence that Hendrick Motorsports driver Casey Mears, along with crew chief Darian Grubb and spotter Chuck Joyce, conspired to alter the finishing order of the race to allow fellow teammate Kyle Busch to gain valuable driver's points in his quest for the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup championship title. Frontstretch obtained radio transmissions from the Hendrick teams race frequency that clearly indicated that Mears, who is not eligible for the Chase for the Nextel Cup, was instructed to relinquish his position on the track to Busch.

With the spotlight on the top 12 drivers in the standings each week, it's sometimes easy to forget that 31 others take to the track each weekend in pursuit of a long-sought after victory... but that's what the purpose of this column is for. With another Chase race under our belts, it's time to take a look at how some of the non-Chasers performed in Kansas this past weekend. Now, to say Sunday's race was crazy would be a bit of an understatement; weather, accidents, and plain bad luck ruined the days of many participants. As a result, seven of the Chasers experienced trouble, leaving many of those not in the NASCAR playoffs available to steal the headlines. With that in mind, let's take a look at Who's Hot, and Who's Not, Non-Chase style...

Jeff Gordon - Gordon won the first two Cup races at Kansas and finished fifth in his third start at the track. He hasn't had a top five here since then, though, and last year suffered a mechanical DNF.

1) Tony Stewart (Four First-Place Votes) (Last Week: #1) - Home Depot wants us to smell the Smoke. Bet they won't put THAT slogan in Tony's armpits!

Kyle Petty and Denny Hamlin got into it at Dover recently, after Petty confronted Hamlin in his car following a nasty incident that sent both drivers to the garage for repairs. Who should be apologizing to who - if anyone - and should NASCAR take action for this incident?

Jimmie Johnson - Johnson won both Cup races at Dover in 2002, as well as this event in 2005. He has top-10 finishes in seven of 11 Cup starts here - but has missed the mark the last two times out.

Jimmie Johnson - The top seed in the Chase with six wins, Johnson won both NHIS Cup races in 2003 and is averaging an 11th-place finish here after 11 starts.

And then... there were 12. Now that the field for the Chase has been decided, all the questions of who will make it in and who will fall out have been answered. But plenty of questions still remain ahead, especially for fantasy team owners. Normally, there are a few drivers who make the Chase that fall on hard times early, while other drivers left behind realize they have nothing to lose... laying it all on the line. Well, to take your Fantasy team to the next level in the next 10 races, you need to be able to separate the contenders from the pretenders... luckily for you, that's what we're here for!

I get how stupid the Chase is, and it's at least as bad as the Top-35 rule. I even sort of get the rulebook. Well, I can read and understand what some of it is talking about, so that should put me on par with some of the teams. How it's applied is a different story. I don't think even NASCAR gets that one. But there is one thing I just don't understand in the garage these days (not counting the groupies, but they're another story). What is the big deal over Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s number?

Three things easily sum up this weekend's race at California Speedway: hot, hot and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Countless Earnhardt fans were on the edge of their seats just waiting to see if one of the drivers at the bottom of the top 12 would slip up, giving their man a chance at making the Chase and the rest of us were forced to go along for the ride as the entire race seemed to be a case of "Where in the World is Dale Jr. Now?" At the end of the night, Earnhardt finished a solid fifth, but still is a long shot to make it into the post season Chase. But as the summer sun baked the drivers, crew members and the scarce number of fans in the stands; Jimmie Johnson came out on top to score his fifth win of the season and looking like he barely broke a sweat. So what other drivers thrived in the sweltering heat and which ones shriveled up under the pressure? Read this week's Who's Hot and Who's Not to find out.