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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Talkin’ Smack With Pedley & Jensen
NASCAR will race at short tracks in each of the next three Sprint Cup races...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted March 18, 2010   Charlotte, NC
After the short track of Bristol comes another short track, Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Racin’ Today founder Jim Pedley and I have been Talking Smack all season long about the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. It appears, with short-track season on the immediate horizon, that the drivers are about to do likewise.

This week, the Cup boys begin their first of three consecutive short-track races with the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. Following Bristol, it’s on to Martinsville Speedway, followed by an off week and then a race at the tricky one-mile Phoenix International Raceway oval.

Three races, three chances for drivers to talk smack or put an adversary — or themselves, for that matter — into the wall and a world of hurt. Rest assured, there will be plenty of beating and banging over the next few races, and SPEEDtv.com will be there to cover it all.

So with that in mind, let’s get to this week’s edition of Talking Smack.

Who gets in trouble with NASCAR first, Carl Edwards or Brad Keselowski?

PEDLEY: If there is an incident at Bristol between the two this week, it will be Keselowski who starts it. Edwards is the one on probation, Edwards is the one who is taking heat from his sponsor, Edwards is the veteran driver with less to prove. Keselowski is a young driver who has made his rep on being aggressive.

JENSEN: Despite the Norman Rockwell good looks, Edwards has a furious temper. Remember at Martinsville a couple of years back, when he raised his fist to his own teammate, Matt Kenseth after the race? Edwards is an established star in the sport and will not kindly to an upstart with an attitude. That said, Edwards appears to have the ability to engage his brain occasionally before engaging his bumper.

True or false: The new rear spoilers will be a big hit.

JENSEN: True. The mystery isn’t why NASCAR is putting the spoilers back on, it’s why they ever got rid of them in the first place. It’s like Martin Truex Jr. told me Wednesday at Charlotte Motor Speedway: “Every other race car I ever drove had a spoiler, not a wing.” I think the spoiler will be hugely popular with race fans and drivers alike.

PEDLEY: False. Not in the long run, at least. They will get a lot of attention at Martinsville, fans will love the look, drivers will say the right things but when the racing starts getting even more boring than it is now, fans who like close racing will miss the wings.

As a team, Richard Childress Racing usually runs well at Bristol. Which RCR driver has the best finish this weekend?

PEDLEY: Clint Bowyer. Despite Kevin Harvick’s early season success and ascent to points leadership, RCR is now Bowyer’s team. Harvick’s refusal to commit to his future with the team, his obvious desire to become an owner/driver has hurt his standing on the team. Bowyer will be the highest finishing driver in points this year at RCR.

JENSEN: You are a shameless Kansas fanboi, Pedley. And in this instance, you are also woefully misguided. Harvick’s average finish at Bristol is 12.278, compared with Bowyer at 15.250 and Jeff Burton at 18.188. And, oh yeah, where is Harvick in the Sprint Cup standings these days? At the top! So, yeah, I think “Happy” is going to open up a big ole can of Whupass and give RCR its first points race victory since Burton won at Charlotte in Oct. 2008.

Who has a better race at Bristol, Paul Menard or Scott Speed?

JENSEN: I’m picking the man with best pedicure ... err, pedigree at Bristol, and that’s Scott Speed, who earlier this week dyed his hair blue for no apparent reason. Speed finished third at Bristol in his first race here, in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race in 2008. Last year, he finished eighth in his only NASCAR Nationwide Series start at BMS, and qualified third in the late summer Cup race. He finished 15th in that race, while Menard was 24th.

PEDLEY: Menard will have the better race. It’s as simple as this: Right now the Yates Fords are faster than the Red Bull Toyotas. Menard and Speed are on equal footing as far as driving skills, so, it will come down to equipment.

True or false: Jeff Gordon will finish in the top five on Sunday.

PEDLEY: False. Gordon has five victories at Bristol, but he also has five DNFs. The horrible luck which has beset Gordon the last couple seasons continues to dog him this year. Gordon seems to find trouble a lot these days and Bristol is a track at which no driver has to look too hard to find major trouble.

JENSEN: True. Gordon’s finished in the top five in two of the last three Bristol Cup races and three of the last six. He’s also 11th in points now despite some early season ups and downs. And let’s not overlook one salient point: In his career at Bristol, Gordon is tops among active drivers with 2,438 laps led. His next closest competitor is Tony Stewart with 1,352. I say, “Game On,” for a good Gordon finish.

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

Jim Pedley is a veteran, award-winning sports journalist who has worked at, among other places, the Boston Globe, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Kansas City Star. Pedley spent more than 10 years covering auto racing for the Kansas City Star. Pedley can be reached at jpedley@racintoday.com

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

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