A NASCAR Bits & Pieces opinion piece:
Classic fans of the latest NASCAR policy of letting the “Boys have at it” echoes back to the classic days when drivers policed themselves. It’s a practice I completely approve of, but when handled properly. Of course, in between the spats, we have new races each weekend to make more spats!
But all joking aside, emotions run high in any sport and this isn’t isolated to onl NASCAR .
Of late, boys having at it involves sheet metal and I mean lots of sheet metal. I’m going to try not to pull up my favorite examples of that, because if you’re a regular around these parts, you know my premise comes from how Carl dumped on Brad for an entire season, for whatever the reason.
But in the old days, having it it meant that when a driver did stupid things out on the track, other drivers would have a “conversation” with “that” driver in the garage, and more than likely, the stupid driver would not be so stupid in future events.
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Going into Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, the battle for the NASCAR 2011 championship is getting interesting. At least it looks like it is.
First up, the schedule for Texas:
NSCS
- Next Race: AAA Texas 500
- The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
- The Date: Sunday, Nov. 6
- The Time: 3 p.m. (ET)
- TV: ESPN, 2 p.m. (ET)
- Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
- Distance: 501 miles (334 laps)
NNS
- The Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge
- The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
- The Date: Saturday, Nov. 5
- The Time: 12:55 p.m. (ET)
- TV: ESPN2, 12 p.m. (ET)
- Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
- Distance: 300 miles (200 laps)
NCWTS
- The Race: WinStar World Casino 350K
- The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
- Date: Friday, Nov. 4
- The Time: 8 p.m. (ET)
- TV: SPEED, 7:30 p.m. (ET)
- Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90
- Distance: 220.5 miles (147 laps)
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The top five drivers in the standings have curiously interesting stats. Though Matt Kenseth is 36 points behind Carl Edwards with only three races to go, all it would take is a fluke of a flat tire or even some from of karma from all the fender carnage that Edwards dished out last year and suddenly, Kenseth wouldn’t be that far back!
Looking at driver ratings, here’s how the top 6 spots shake out statistically…
| Driver |
[Driver Ratings Rank] |
| Matt Kenseth |
1st |
| Tony Stewart |
2nd |
| Jimmie Johnson |
4th |
| Carl Edwards |
5th |
| Kevin Harvick |
14th |
| Brad Keselowski |
32nd |
But those are driver ratings that also score various factors like laps led, quality passes and a few other things that to me, don’t rate. To me, looking at the average finish of these drivers and see what’s going on there….
| Driver |
Average Texas Finish |
| Matt Kenseth |
9th |
| Jimmie Johnson |
10th |
| Tony Stewart |
13th |
| Kevin Harvick |
13th |
| Carl Edwards |
16th |
| Brad Keselowski |
24th |
Depending on weather, how the car unloads, and various other unknown factors, these stats could mean absolutely nothing. The above average finishing spots are only a few points apart. Nothing huge and nothing that statistically threatens Edwards.
What I’d like to see is combining these stats with practice speeds and qualifying that that may very well be quite telling.
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