Feud: Making Chase comes down to Richmond; more Danica to NASCAR news - NASCAR

Pete Pistone	Brian De Los Santos
When the checkered flag waves at Richmond, will Brian Vickers, Kyle Busch and/or David Reutimann be in the Chase? If so, who do they knock out of the top 12?
It's going to be a nervous night for the drivers not locked into the Chase as well as the two drivers just outside trying to get in -- Vickers and Busch. Reutimann has had a terrific season but he's just too far out of the top 12 to make up that much ground in one race so he'll miss the cutoff. Vickers is the closest to the last transfer position, trailing Matt Kenseth in 12th by a mere 20 points. But Richmond is not one of his better tracks. It is however Kyle Busch's best track with a 6.1 average finish in his career. I predict Busch storms his way into the field with a solid run Saturday night and Matt Kenseth, who also hasn't been great at Richmond, slips out.	The trends are definitely in Busch's favor. I remarked in this week's Power Rankings that there couldn't be a more perfect track for Kyle Busch in a race of such significance. In nine starts at the track, he has one win and seven top fives, including three runner-up finishes. Matt Kenseth, just 37 points ahead of Busch in the final Chase transfer spot, has an average finish of 16.7 in 19 starts at Richmond, while Brian Vickers, who Busch will also have to leapfrog, has an abysmal 27.8 average finish in 10 visits to the track. Of course past history is merely a gauge. It can't tell the future and can't account for Busch's psyche, Kenseth's perseverance or Vickers' determination. However, I'm going to side with the trends. I say Busch not only makes the Chase, but he's going to get his fifth win and therefore be the points leader for the start of the Chase. Kenseth gets the boot out of the top 12 -- though I think he'll have a solid run Saturday night, just not good enough to stay ahead of Busch in the standings. Vickers comes close, maybe even capturing a top 10, but with a Busch win it won't be good enough to make the Chase.
COMMUNITY GUEST 'Section_725': I think one of them will get in, and it will be at the expense of Matt Kenseth. I don't think the drivers in the top 11 will have a bad enough finish to fall out, while Matt only has a 20-point lead over Brian Vickers and only 37 points over Kyle Busch. Reutimann is too far back to get in and Vickers has an average finish of 31.6 in the last five years in this race without a single top 10 finish, so he isn't going to leap over Kenseth. I think Busch is going to go all out, which is bad for the competition, and will earn enough points to get past Kenseth and into the Chase.

If Danica Patrick is willing to work her way up through the Truck and Nationwide series as has been reported, does it change your opinion of whether she should attempt to make a transition to NASCAR?
Following the template set forth by Tony Stewart when he made the transition from open wheel to stock car racing is the only way Patrick has a chance to succeed as a NASCAR driver. If she jumps directly into the Sprint Cup Series she will fail miserably. It's just impossible for any driver at any talent level to make the leap and expect to run competitively in NASCAR's top division. The best plan for Patrick is to stay in the IRL and mix in a slate of ARCA, Truck and Nationwide races to learn the craft before moving up to the Cup level. If she stays that course, I do believe she has an opportunity to be a competitive NASCAR driver in the future.	Whether she can actually have success in NASCAR will be a Feud for another day. We'll argue that if/when she makes an official announcement. I still think this could just be another ploy to get the IRL powers to open their pocketbooks a little wider. After all, it would be a huge marketing loss if she disappears from that series. However, my opinion on whether she should attempt to make the switch to NASCAR is: Sure, why not? You'll never really know how good you might be at something unless you try. And if the reports prove true, she isn't just looking for a free ride in a Cup car. It sounds as if she wants to do it the right way, learning the ropes in the lower tier series. I'm all for it. What's the harm? It's her life, her career. If she fails, so what? She wouldn't be the first and won't be the last. But if she succeeds, what a great story that would be.
COMMUNITY GUEST 'Section_725': This rumor has been circulating for quite some time now. I don't think I have ever really commented on whether she should make the move or not because I really don't care one way or another if she goes to NASCAR or stays in IRL. I think the best way for her to make the transition would be to race some ARCA events and move up to the Truck and Nationwide Series prior to attempting a race at the CUP level. She doesn't have experience in stock cars, so she will need to learn how to drive one. Even after she does this though, I don't think she will find huge success at the Cup level, unless you count selling merchandise. In close to 80 starts in an IRL car she has managed a whopping one win thanks to her competitors running out of fuel, and the best she has been able to do in IRL is sixth place in the final point standings. I'm glad to see that she wants to do it the right way, but couldn't really care less if she drives for NASCAR or stays in the IRL.

Did Bobby Labonte get a raw deal losing his Hall of Fame Racing ride to rookie Erik Darnell for seven of the final 12 races of the Cup season?
Bobby Labonte has had a terrific career but let's face it, the results just haven't been there in his last two addresses in the Cup Series. Granted the old Petty Enterprises team and the Hall of Fame Racing operation can't be considered powerhouses, but Labonte's record while driving for both those teams was mediocre at best. New blood in Erik Darnell with additional sponsorship opportunities was a business decision HOF could not pass up and I'm glad to see young Darnell get a chance at the Cup level. Labonte hasn't forgotten how to drive and in competitive equipment I think he still has more in the tank. His run last week in Atlanta for TRG was impressive and rumors are that's where he'll be in 2010.	While I'd be upset if I were Labonte, it is his livelihood after all, I wouldn't say he got a raw deal. If Labonte could have brought in another sponsor for those seven races, I'm sure he wouldn't have been given the boot. Sponsorship is the driving force behind NASCAR, and sponsors stepped up for Darnell and wanted to see him in the car. It's pretty cut and dry. Was I surprised sponsors would rather have an untested rookie like Darnell behind the wheel rather than an experienced former champion like Labonte? Perhaps a little bit. But at some point the old guard is going to have to step aside for some new blood. It's not as if Labonte was exactly tearing it up in the 96 car with an average finish of 25th. Labonte was once a young up-and-comer himself looking for his big break. So I can't begrudge Darnell his opportunity.
COMMUNITY GUEST 'Section_725': No doubt Bobby got a raw deal. He is a former Cup champion for crying out loud. Having said that, you also have to look at it from the owner's perspective. You need a sponsor, and the guys you are courting don't want to sign with Bobby as the driver. This leaves the owner in the bad position of pitching the deal using an up-and-coming driver with more potential than Bobby Labonte. This tactic worked, and you got a sponsor for your car. This is a business, and if you don't have someone giving you money, you can't field a car, putting you further behind the eight ball when it comes to getting a sponsor. Luckily for Bobby, another team could use him so he will still get to race. Unfortunately for Bobby, it looks like his best years are behind him, and he will be forced to retire sooner than he would have liked.
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