Top 12 Countdown to Daytona: Kasey Kahne

     Kasey Kahne had a quiet season in 2010, he just was hanging around, going with the flow. He not a part of any drama, or a main story line. We all know, absolutely nothing happened with Kasey Kahne in the 2010 season. Oh wait...something little happened didn't it?
     Kasey Kahne made the biggest headline of the 2010 season, when he announced his departure from Richard Petty Motorsports, (formally Gillette Evernham Motorsports...) (formally Evernham Motorsports...hummm and they wonder why he left?). Kasey had no intentions in announcing the departure so early in the season, but on of NASCARs more popular media members found out about the situation, and leaked it to the rest of NASCAR nation. Kahne stepped up, and announced not only his departure, but what he will be doing in the 2012 season. Kahne will be stepping into the #5 Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports, displacing Mark Martin. But wait...what about 2011? At the time of the Hendrick announcement, no one knew. Rick Hendrick told Sirius radio that he was "working on it" at the time that Kasey signed on. Kasey put all of his marbles in Rick's basket, and Rick was going to have to decide which team to send him off to in 2011 season.
    Months went by, and Kasey would be up one week, and down the next with RPM. In the late summer, Rick and Kasey finally announced that Kasey would be heading to Red Bull Racing for the 2011 season, and would be teammates, with Brian Vickers, who at the time was on a medical leave of absence. Kasey was pleased with this placing for the 2011 season, and so was Red Bull Racing. But neither group expected what would happen next.
    The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stayed at home for week five of the Chase to the Championship, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Kasey went into this race with excitement, since Charlotte is one of his best tracks. This race wouldn't have any happy memories though. Kasey had a horrific car all day, and was given no brakes at all. He eventually wreaked, due to the lack of brakes. Kasey was disgusted with how bad the car was, not to mention, on top of that, he had the stomach flu. Kasey refused to get back in the car, not only because he was sick, but he wasn't going to drive that bad of a car. Then, an undisclosed crew member insulted Kasey, questioning his commitment to the team. That was the last straw for Kasey. Kasey left the track and went home.
     That Wednesday, RPM announced that Kasey was leaving the team. Kasey was ecstatic. Kasey moved on to Red Bull Racing five races earlier, pulling off better results better than he had done all season in the #9 Budweiser Ford.
     This season, I think with Kasey's boosted confidence, and the lack of pressure on his shoulders will allow him to do well. I think Kasey will pull off 7th in points, and win 4 or 5 races, just like his Red Bull Racing teammate Brian Vickers. Again, just like Brian, Kasey doesn't have the best luck, so I think that a few crashes will take away his chance at the Cup, but I think for being at the team for one season, Kasey will be very successful at Red Bull Racing.

NASCAR Lugnut Laughs : Kasey Kahne

Remember, It's all in good fun :) And he is my favorite driver, so I made it fair! LOL

Top 12 Countdown to Daytona: Jeff Burton

Jeff Burton? He made the chase? Yes, he did race fans. We have another Matt Kenseth on our hands. Jeff Burton is one of the few drivers in the garage that are respected by every other driver they race against. Jeff has always thrived off consistency, and even though he may not pull off 5 or 6 wins in the race to the chase, he not only captures the hearts of fans in those first 26 races, but he also takes his fair share of the points offered, and makes it into the Chase for the championship. Jeff picked up four top fives, and fourteen top tens in the 2010 season, and made the chase regardless of not winning. You can see Jeff's impeccable consistency through his almost 20 seasons of stats, that average him out to almost an 11th place finish throughout his whole career. After a hard 2009 season, where he finished a disappointing 17th in the standings, he moved up 10 positions in 2010, when he claimed 7th place in Las Vegas. I think Jeff will still be running on a high this season, looking to keep up RCR's momentum from the 2010 season going. Jeff will claim 8th in the season ending standings, and, unlike last season, I believe a few wins will also come along with that strong points performance.

Top 12 Countdown to Daytona: Brian Vickers

Brian Vickers has had a lot to be thankful for over the past year. Brian faced adversity, and got the love of life taken away from him for three quarters of the 2010 season. Racing. Brian wasn't feeling good one night earlier in the 2010 season, and was rushed to the emergency room. The doctors found blood clots all over his body, which was slowing him down. Brian was not only worried about his life, but about his racing career. The doctors also found a whole in his heart, that was going to have to be repaired, which worried him more, knowing he would have to go through heart surgery. But Brian has pulled through. Due to Brian being on blood thinners, his doctors found it safer for him to stay out of the car, which broke the young drivers heart. He was doing well at the beginning of the season, and was looking forward to fighting for his spot in the chase again. Brian took time to step away from racing during his medical leave, and spent more time with his family, and realized he needed to do that more often. Brian put his priorities in order, and not only did he make more time for family and enjoying life, but he realized what he really wanted to be when it came to racing. Regardless of being pulled out of his car at Red Bull Racing for most of the 2010 season, Brian has kept a smile on his face. Brian has a new view on life unlike other drivers, where he is just grateful that he has the ability to race. Brian Said, "The new perspective of love and appreciation and renewed energy that I have of and for what I do for a living, the love I have for racing, and the love I have for NASCAR, is now something in my life I need, and want to maintain." (NASCAR Media Day, NASCAR Now, February 2011) I believe Brian will come back strong this year. He has a motivation unlike any other driver in NASCAR, which will take him a long way. I believe luck might bite him as it has in past years, and cause him to get involved in a few bad wreaks that will mess with his points position. Regardless, I think he will easily slide into one of the wild card slots, with a good 4 or 5 wins this season. And, I'm sure I can speak for most of NASCAR nation in saying, we WANT Brian to get those 4 or 5 wins.

Top 12 Countdown to Daytona: Clint Bowyer

Last season was a year of major highs, and significant lows for racer Clint Bowyer. Clint was on his game all season long, with most analysts pointing out his outstanding consistency, and almost always coming to the finish line. Clint spend post of the season in the top 12 in points, except for a few rare occasions. Once chase time rolled around, he was in and ready to fight for the Tiffany Trophy given away at Homestead. He started off the chase the right way, with a fantastic win at New Hampshire, after Tony Stewart ran out of gas at the end of the race. Clint was almost on top of the standings, and was planning on knocking Jimmie Johnson off the stage in Las Vegas, when it all came to a sudden halt. The #33 Chevy didn't pass post race inspection. NASCAR brought the car back to the R&D center, where it was assured that yes, the car did fail inspection. The past week in Richmond, the #33 car almost didn't pass inspection, and NASCAR gave the team a stern warning. Clint lost 150 points in the chase, and he lost his crew chief. This ended his championship run completely. Clint wasn't done winning yet though. Clint came back to win at Talledega, just edging out teammate Kevin Harvick for the win. Clint has major potential, but I think he will finish 10th this year. He will finish better than he did in 2010, but he will have to let this penalty go. Clint has been holding this chip on his shoulder, and won't forget about what happened. What happened, happened. You can't do anything now, and its time to move on. Personally, I don't think he will be able to let it go, so I believe he will finish 10th in the points, making it in on points, not on the wild card. I also believe he will win multiple races, just hopefully not in Tony Stewart's detriment this time, or lose more points than he gains out of these wins.

OPINION:My top 12 of 2011 (Will Dale Jr make my list?)

The 2011 season is upon us. Now its time for predictions. Starting Tuesday, I will be doing my Top Twelve Countdown to Daytona, putting the spotlight on each guy i think will make the chase, down to my 2011 Champion. Check it out and comment!
1.) Kevin Harvick
2.) Denny Hamlin
3.) Tony Stewart
4.) Mark Martin
5.) Jeff Gordon
6.) Jimmie Johnson
7.) Kasey Kahne
8.) Jeff Burton
9.) Brian Vickers
10.) Clint Bowyer
11.) Matt Kenseth
12.) Carl Edwards

Sorry Jr. Nation, he doesn't make my list. Personally, I don't think this year will be much different than years past. He still seems to have no motivation what so ever. Bob Dillner said it best himself. "At one point, Dale Jr. needs to look in the mirror and see that everything on that team has been changed except for him. He needs to make the change in himself, it can no longer be done by flipping in and out crew chiefs every year."

NOTE*** This isn't bashing Dale Jr. I bet most Dale Jr. fans feel the same way. I just think he needs to make a change within himself, and stop expecting everyone else to make a change, if hes not even willing to make one. But if he steps it up, starts to have some intrinsic motivation, and believe in himself and his team, it will shoot him up a few spots in points purely on moral.

NASCAR gets handed a 6.2 million dollar lawsuit

     As many NASCAR fans know, NASCAR has the "NASCAR Performance" line of products, ranging from cleaning supplies for you car, to the internal workings of it. Many companies pay NASCAR millions upon millions of dollars for the "NASCAR Performance" logo to be placed on their products. This week though, one partnership that practically ended before it started has been dealt another hand to the sticky situation.

     In October of 2009, NASCAR and Advanced Fluids Solutions, which wanted to market its new EXP4 fuel and oil performance additive in NASCAR's performance line, signed on to pay over 6.2 million dollars over the next seven years to sport NASCAR's logo. This arrangement was suppose to start in 2010, but was terminated in December of 2009. NASCAR says that the company failed to pay the first $500,000.00 dollar payment of the deal by the due date they agreed upon. Due to the breach of contract, NASCAR terminated the contract.
     Advanced Fluids claims that NASCAR did not give them adequate notice of the payment being past due, and had no right to terminate the contract. The company said that they were securing funding when NASCAR decided to terminate the contract, and that they planned to pay NASCAR. The company is fighting to get the sponsorship reinstated with NASCAR.
     NASCAR has publicly said that they were in full terms of the contract to terminate it. The NASCAR organization issued a motion to have the courts dismiss the case before going to trial.
     Advanced Fluids claims that NASCAR waived its rights to have payment constraints, which NASCAR clearly defines as a lie, due to the fact that they have it in their policy not to ever wave any payment options in contracts.
     No dates have been set to determine the status of the case, but NASCAR and Advanced Fluids want to settle the case out of court and as quickly as possible.