NASCAR roundup

News:

• Report: Petty, GEM in merger talks
• France: 2nd Kansas date "possible"
• Evernham buys racetrack

Analysis:

• Hammond: No love for crew chiefs

NASCAR on FOX Awards:

• Driver of the year
• Story of the year
• Race of the year
• Feud of the year
• Crew chief of the year
• Owner of the year
• Surprise of the year
• Biggest disappointment
• Most improved driver
• Rookie of the year

Blog:

• Check out the NASCAR community

If you remember, there were concerns after that first race a year ago that racing at Bristol would never be exciting again on the new surface. With there now being two grooves, you didn't have to run over a guy to pass him. The bump-and-run wasn't needed anymore.

But you have to remember this. Those teams had volumes of notes and data from racing on the old surface. So throw that out. On top of that, you have to factor in this new car that you don't know a whole lot about yet. Basically, the car is evolving every time you run it. Additionally they are always conservative on the tires because they just aren't sure on the wear-factor with a new surface.

So the first time on a newly repaved race track is never usually that exciting and not all that great to watch. A racetrack is like a bottle of fine wine, it gets better with age. I could say like a retired racetrack driver, but I guess I better let you decide that.

That's what we saw Saturday night. Yes, there were long periods of green flag racing and folks that is good. You don't want to ride around Bristol all night long under a bunch of cautions. We saw some crazy wrecks. Most were caused by one guy running high and one guy running low.

I know Clint Bowyer was upset with my brother. You heard his radio comment during the broadcast. When my brother does something wrong, I am the first to admit it. When he doesn't do something wrong, I am the first to point it out. What happened Saturday night had nothing to do with my brother.

Casey Mears just came up into Michael and that started a chain reaction. Once Clint sees the replay and once Clint hears Casey's TV interview, he will change his opinion. Casey said in that interview that his spotter told him he was clear, but he really wasn't.

Overall it was a fun race. Like I mentioned, Hammond and I covered the No. 29 car. They had a great race, finishing fourth. Man did they have some incredible pit stops. They were in the 12 second bracket for pit stops almost every time in. Kevin was giving Todd great feedback.

I couldn't watch the race for the lead a lot because with these DirecTV broadcasts, your focus is on the one car you are slotted to cover. I was able to watch enough to know that Kyle Busch had the car to beat. That No. 99 crew just kept working on Carl Edwards' car to where he could beat Kyle. It seemed like Carl might have followed him all night and analyzed where Kyle might have a weakness. There at the end, Carl knew that he would have to jump on Kyle early because Kyle was normally able to get away and leave folks after a few laps.

So you saw the return of the bump and run. It came back. It was classic Bristol. It's classic short track racing really. I have said before, I am not a fan of the bump-and-run but I understand it. Going into Turn 1 there, Carl nerfed Kyle a tad. He didn't wreck him. He just gave him a little tap and shot him up the hill and Carl went on. I really thought it was going to be a non-incident, because you saw Kyle come hard down the backstretch and give Carl a little shove. They raced hard in Turns 3 and 4. Carl finally got away and then here came Denny Hamlin and kind of held Kyle up a little while and then Carl went on to win the race.

I was really kind of shocked after the race to see Kyle go up there and get into the side of Carl's car. Carl did what any driver would do, he retaliated lightly, slightly and politely. Sort of like the Las Vegas slogan, what happens in Bristol should stay in Bristol. It always has.

If you remember, back in February during the Media Tour, NASCAR said they wanted to get back to our roots. They said they were going to let the drivers get back to being drivers, within reason and not micro-manage things. This is a golden opportunity. Those two guys, well it's just no harm, no foul. It's just two highly strung athletes venting some frustration after the race.

I am just hoping there aren't any fines or penalties. I am going to be very disappointed if there are. Please hear me, I am not condoning what happened after the race, but I understand it. They didn't hurt anybody or anything. They just vented on each other. NASCAR has to let our drivers be drivers. It's just part of what our sport has always been and what our sport should always be.

They need to let it slide. Folks it is building so much drama and so much suspense and so much interest as we head off into the Chase. Let me ask you, that's what we all want, right? We want the good guy and the bad guy. Kyle has no problem wearing the black hat and Carl is the perfect guy to wear the white hat.

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So like Carl said in Victory Lane, maybe we have a real rivalry. We don't want to manipulate anything but let these guys have at it. Really those are the only two guys we have fighting it out for the championship.

Oh By The Way

I was really impressed with a couple cars Saturday night. Earlier on, the No. 17 car was junk. He got lapped and it looked like it was going to be a long night. But like always, that crew chief got out his magic wand and did a bippity-boppity-boo on that race car and it came alive and he got himself a top-10 finish. That was pretty impressive.

Probably the most impressive thing from the entire weekend was that No. 6 car and David Ragan. He wrecked in qualifying. So he had to go to a backup car and started in the rear of the field. That young man kept his nose clean all night long and finished in the top 10. That shows a lot of maturity on that young man's part. David has a really good shot of making the Chase. Every year it seems like we have a Cinderella story and we wonder "where did he come from", well this year it could be that #6 car. I think he has developed the consistency to be a contender.

Oh By The Way II

I sure don't know where Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought he was going when they dropped the green flag Saturday night. Evidently he forgot you can't pass to the right at the start of a race until you cross the start/finish line. You can do that on a restart, just not at the start of the race. I think it shows you pretty clearly how jacked up he was. That was an unfortunate thing to happen to him.

Oh By The Way III

I have been on the spotter's stand before. That spotter is not driving that race car. That spotter is helping you drive that race car. Most drivers will tell you that in close quarters like Bristol, even if the spotter clears you, they are hesitant to make the move until they are sure as they need to be to make the move. I know the spotter told Casey he was clear. Folks have already asked me if the Casey thing with Michael was a carry over from Richmond earlier this year, but it wasn't. It wasn't. It was just a close call that turned into a disaster. My brother sure didn't do anything wrong even though it did cause a big wreck. I don't know if I would be blaming my spotter 100 percent though, because he sure isn't driving that car.