HAMPTON, Ga. – Any chance we can go ahead and start the Chase next weekend at Richmond? 

Seriously, with the field this evenly matched, with the race for the Sprint Cup this wide-open, who’s going to complain? Let’s go ahead and get this thing started. We’ve got some major questions to answer:

• Is Jimmie Johnson as vulnerable as he’s appeared to be the last few months?

• Can Kevin Harvick sustain the momentum he’s built during the regular season?

• Will Kyle Busch hold together better than he did in 2008, or Tony Stewart better than he did in 2009?

• Could Carl Edwards or Jeff Gordon sneak up and steal a Cup going into the Chase without a regular-season victory?

• Can Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin – both of whom briefly held the unofficial ‘most likely to dethrone Jimmie’ tag this season – regain any of their lost mojo?

If the answer to even one of the above questions is "yes," we’re less than two weeks away from one of the best sprints – no pun intended – for the finish in NASCAR history. Rarely have you had so many exceptionally talented drivers hitting their season stride at exactly the right moment. And while Vegas odds may favor Johnson, let’s be realistic – this is still anyone’s Cup.

Sunday night’s Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway – part of the track’s 50^th anniversary celebration and the final "second race" at the track – was a perfect encapsulation of NASCAR as it stands right now. You had big names taking their turns up front – five Chase drivers had at least a taste of the lead. But you had many of those same names falling victim to those kinds of demonic race-killing problems – blown engines, blown tires, misread track positions – that age crew chiefs in dog years and keep drivers up at night.

Nobody illustrates the wide-open nature of the Chase better than the winner and runner-up of the Atlanta race. After Darlington, the 11th race of the season, Tony Stewart was in 18th place, looking for all the world like his four-win season of 2009 was nothing more than rookie-owner luck. And Carl Edwards waited even longer to get going; as of Loudon at the end of late June, he was in 12th place by only a smidgen over Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Since then, Stewart and Edwards have been the two hottest drivers in the sport. Stewart has notched 11 top-10s in his last 14 races, capped by a dominating win in Atlanta. Edwards has posted seven top-7 finishes in his last eight races. They now sit fourth and fifth in the Chase standings, respectively.

"I never really believed in momentum," Edwards said. "But for as long as we’ve gone without running well" – Edwards hasn’t won since the final race of 2008, and only led six laps all season prior to Sunday –  "and to be running as well as we are now, I believe in this momentum, and I believe it will apply to future races."

Good for him, bad for the rest of the field. Early in the season, conventional thinking held that the three lead dogs for the Cup were Johnson, Hamlin and Kyle Busch. Each one of those guys, the thinking went, could take over a race – or, potentially, a Chase – and hold off the field all by themselves.

But, as with Justin Bieber and "Two and a Half Men," what’s popular isn’t necessarily what’s good, and this too-easy take on NASCAR’s upper echelon began springing leaks in early summer. Kurt Busch posted wins and reliable top-10 finishes. Harvick put the regular-season "championship" in a hammerlock. And Jeff Gordon hung around like an annoying younger brother, never winning but never going away either.

So here we are, with Atlanta demonstrating beyond all doubt that while there may be favorites in this Chase, there are no sure things. Hamlin snagged the pole and ran the show for the first 140 or so laps. His lap chart looks like a profile view of the South Rim of the Grand Canyon – way high (74 laps led, the remainder in second place) until a blown engine sent him on a sudden plunge to a last-place finish.

Stewart, meanwhile, had what he called "by far the best car I’ve ever had here" and, in fact, the best car he’s run all season, a beauty that kept him edging into first place even as Hamlin, Edwards and Johnson all took shots at him.

"We had an awesome race car tonight," Stewart said. "It was balanced right from the start of the race. I knew the first run, when we were a little off and the leaders didn’t get away from us, I knew we had a shot at this thing."

Stewart’s pit crew was spot-on all evening; he credited them over the radio as soon as the checkered flag flew. In fact, the only problem he had all night was in restarting; time after time, he spun his tires and watched as Johnson or Edwards overtook him and shuffled him back in the pack. Stewart was so frustrated he was one more restart from using an old Sprint car trick to combine brakes and acceleration.

"I struggled on restarts all night, and finally the last two I hit it a lot closer and kept from spinning [the tires] that bad," he said. "The pit crew is who we have to give all the credit to. That final stop, they got back all the spots I lost on the restart."

Still, he never stayed down for long, and the way that he dominated even given adverse conditions, he and Edwards now enter the championship conversation. Momentum is huge at this point, and both Stewart and Edwards are carrying confidence in every element of their game – driving skills, strategy, pit crew – into the Chase.

"At this stage last year, we were pointing downhill," Stewart said, "and now we’re pointing uphill."

About all that remains to be settled before the Chase begins is the matter of the 12th spot in the Chase. Ryan Newman, Mark Martin and Jamie McMurray all took shots at 12th-place Clint Bowyer, but in the end, Bowyer’s seventh-place finish kept him ahead of all three pursuers and extended his lead to 117 points. Barring catastrophe, Bowyer’s in.

But he’s about the only one who won’t enter the Chase at full speed. The top 10 drivers are now locked in –  all Greg Biffle needs to do is start at Richmond and he’s in, too – and in six days, 12 slates will get wiped clean.

"You look around … we’re going to have a really exciting Chase," Johnson said. "There are a lot of teams coming together right now."

Said Stewart: "We have a motto: When we get down, we don’t give up, we get up."

He’s not the only one, and that’s going to make for a fine Chase.

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Just eight days after the death of 13-year-old Peter Lenz at Indianapolis, 19-year-old Shoya Tomizawa died in a MotoGP crash at San Marino on Sunday.

Tomizawa was killed in the Moto2 Series race — the Moto2 is a feeder series for the top series — after hitting his head on the track after his bike flipped. He was then hit at full speed by two other drivers.

From the AP:

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Maybe Saturday night will be the boost that Jamie McMurray needs to catch Clint Bowyer.

McMurray won Saturday night’s Nationwide race at Atlanta, pulling away from Kyle Busch after a late race restart. It was the first Nationwide win since 2004 for McMurray, who was in the No. 88 for JR Motorsports.

McMurray enters Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race 100 points behind Bowyer in the chase for the final Chase spot.

Kevin Harvick looked like he had the car to beat in the midpoint of the race after pitting off sequence from the rest of the field. The fresh tires gave Harvick a 12 second lead at one point, but once the rest of the leaders started pitting, Harvick stayed out too long on older tires. He exited the pits eight seconds back in fourth and never regained the lead.

Series points leader Brad Keselowski stayed out to try to catch another quick caution on the last restart, and the decision to start on old tires proved costly as Keselowski ended up 12th.

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For those of you in Junior Nation who think Lance McGrew is the problem, get ready for this: He ain’t going anywhere.

Rick Hendrick said as much Saturday when he backed the pairing of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and crew chief Lance McGrew.

"Actually, I’m pretty happy with the chemistry there now," Hendrick said. "Maybe some of you guys don’t agree, but I’m around them and I’m in the shop during the week and the Tuesday meetings and I talk to Dale and I talk to Lance. … Right now we’ve got a game plan and we’re sticking to it. Next week and going into the Chase and during the Chase, our plans are for those two guys to be together."

In the 48 races since McGrew joined Earnhardt’s crew, Junior has scored just three top-5 finishes and just eight top 10s. None of those have come in the last six races, which is a big reason why, barring a miracle, Earnhardt will miss the Chase for the second straight season and fourth time in six years.

"If you miss the Chase and you just decide that you’re going to change something to be changing it, I think that’s a mistake. I’ve never tried to do that," Hendrick said. "I keep my options open, but at the same time if the driver and the crew chief are getting along and they’re working together and they’re trying, that’s all I can ask for."

So there you have it, McGrew is staying, for now. Is that the right move? Let’s hear what you think.

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Boy, Kyle Busch isn’t making many friends these days, is he?

During the mid-portion of Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Kentucky, Todd Bodine and Busch were racing for the lead when Bodine — who was on the inside of Busch — spun as the two were side by side exiting turn four. The spin dropped Bodine from second to the back of the pack but turned into the move of the race, given that it looked improbable that Bodine was going to beat Busch heads up.

"The first person I’ve got to thank is Kyle Busch for driving dirty and
sucking me down and getting me spun out and giving us the gas," Bodine
told SPEED in victory lane.

Busch must have heard those comments, as he stormed into victory lane after Bodine’s interview. The two had an animated discussion — Busch pointed his finger at Bodine’s chest — before Busch left about a minute later.

Because of the spin, Bodine’s last pit stop came on lap 96 of the 150 lap race, and his crew chief, Mike Hillman, Jr., made the decision to try to stretch it on fuel. That worked out in Bodine’s favor as the leaders, including Busch, pitted under green to make sure to make it to the finish while Bodine was successfully able to gamble on fuel.

And Bodine got a chance to extend his already seemingly insurmountable points lead even further. He leaves Kentucky with a 261 point lead over second place Aric Almirola, who finished third. That’s the largest points lead in Trucks Series history.

Busch ended up seventh.

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There’s so much southern gothic in this story that we’re not even sure where to begin, but let’s start here: Michael Lynn Sherer was nabbed in Hampton, Georgia near Atlanta Motor Speedway after trading a gun for tickets to Sunday’s Emory Healthcare 500 NASCAR race.

Oh, but it doesn’t end there. Turns out Sherer is an escaped fugitive, on the run from a murder charge. And when he was nabbed by Hampton police, he used the murder victim’s name as his own alias. That, friends, is cold-blooded. 

The story, in more detail: Sherer had apparently escaped from the Winston County (Ala.) jail, where he’d been held on charges of killing Thomas Lynn Smith of Jasper, Ala. in Smith’s home following a break-in.

Sherer apparently made it from Winston County to Hampton, a distance of more than 250 miles, in a van he’d allegedly stolen prior to the murder. At the Atlanta Motor Speedway, he drew attention from vendors setting up for this weekend’s race as he tried to pawn off a .22 caliber pistol — one which allegedly belonged to the victim.

When police approached him, he initially used his victim’s name, but difficulty answering questions like "when were you born?" led police to take a little more interest. Not long afterward, he gave up his real name, and that was that. He’s currently awaiting extradition to Alabama.

About all this story needs now is a Johnny Cash-esque ballad to be written about it. It’s all right there for the taking.

(Photo via WSB-TV 2 and Henry County Sheriff’s Office.) 

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ARCA driver Leilani Munter, pictured above left with the Atlanta Falcons‘ Ovie Mughelli and former NFL’er Mike Alstott at the Gulf Coast, is hard at work trying to bring attention to environmentalism. It’s a tough road — NASCAR, with its vehicles driving hundreds of miles in a circle, is the lazy thinker’s whipping boy for anti-environmentalism — but Munter is doing her part to open a few eyes, as a current CNN profile of her efforts reveals.

Still, sponsorship has been difficult to come by. "It used to be that a woman with everything going on that Leilani has going on could get a bunch of sponsors," said ARCA team owner Mark Gibson, who wants to run Munter in several races next season. "But right now, there’s a lot of uncertainty with the economy."

Another problem: Munter is, at present, a race-car driver in only the most generous sense of the term. She ran a few laps at Daytona this year before getting caught up in a wreck, and that’s been that so far. 

Munter’s goal is to raise awareness by putting a message on her hood. But she got a taste of what it will be like when her Daytona sponsor, Native Energy, dealt with consumer criticism for its choice to sponsor a NASCAR ride. Thomas H. Rawls met criticism head-on, writing on the company’s blog, "Ultimately … I asked myself: How does Native Energy reach people who are not already converts on the issue of climate change? Anyone who is engaged in any broad effort to speak to the public faces this question: Do I talk only to friendly audiences, or do I face the doubters and the hostiles?" To his credit, Rawls — and, of course, Munter — doesn’t simply preach to the choir.

Munter is taking several proactive steps — she gives 10 to 15 speeches a year at environmental conferences, and purchases an acre of rainforest for each race she runs. She hopes to return to the track in late September in Kansas, but before then, she’s got plenty of environmental preaching to do. 

Good for her for bucking the tide; regardless of political affiliation, NASCAR fans have to at least admire someone who doesn’t go along to get along. And if nothing else, this ought to show that NASCAR isn’t a monolithic conservative bloc. That makes for easy stereotyping, but it’s got little relevance to the truth.

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Juan Pablo Montoya will be sponsored by Huggies this weekend at Atlanta, and quite honestly, this may be the most appropriate new sponsor entry into the Sprint Cup Series in a long time. JPM and his wife Connie just welcomed their third child amidst the continuing Sprint Cup baby boom. No word if expectant father Jamie McMurray will get free diapers for being Montoya’s teammate.

– After the separation of John Wes Townley from Richard Childress’ Nationwide team, veteran Morgan Shepherd has been driving the No. 21 in the remaining unsponsored races and Childress and Shepherd struck a deal Tuesday that keeps Shepherd in the car for more races this season. It also allows Shepherd to potentially have the owner’s points — a valuable commodity given that the car would be locked into the first five races of 2011 — next year.

– In that same link, it’s noted that Paul Tracy will be making his return to ovals in the Izod IndyCar Series. Tracy has run some road courses this season and failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He’ll be in the No. 24, subbing for the injured Mike Conway who was hurt in that brutal crash in the final moments of the 500.

– Elliott Sadler told Sirius’ Dave Moody that he’d have an announcement on his future plans in two to three weeks. Sadler also said that he was talking to an existing Cup team that was looking to expand. That would be a mighty quick expansion.

– And in the news that everyone has been waiting for, Kevin Conway is back in the Sprint Cup Series for the rest of the season. Conway, who has locked up the Raybestos Rookie of the Year by virtue of being the only rookie on the circuit, will drive the No. 7 for Robby Gordon Motorsports. And yes, ExtenZe will continue to be his sponsor.

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This year’s race to the Chase has been a relative snoozer, but given that the Chase itself looks to be incredibly wide-open, isn’t that more than a fair trade-off?

Points leader Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon have already clinched their spots in the Chase, so if they were so inclined, they could skip Atlanta and Richmond and show up at New Hampshire refreshed and ready to go. And if all goes well for the nine drivers behind them in the standings, they could join Harvick and Gordon relaxing on Lake Norman for the Richmond race, no matter what the rest of the field does.*

Here are the scenarios for those nine drivers, and it’s safe to say that Kyle Busch will clinch by Lap 40.

Kyle Busch: Busch needs to finish 40th or better if he doesn’t lead a lap, 42nd if he leads one lap, or 43rd if he leads the most laps. Easy.

Carl Edwards: Here’s where it gets close. Edwards needs to finish 21st if he doesn’t lead a lap, 23rd if he leads one and 25th if he leads the most. Very doable given his Atlanta history.

Denny Hamlin: Hamlin needs to finish 20th with no laps led, 22nd with one lap led, or 23rd with the most of the laps led.

Tony Stewart: A 19th-place finish with no laps led clinches it for Smoke, while 21st with one lap led or 23rd with the most laps led gets the job done, too.

Jeff Burton: Burton needs to finish 17th if he doesn’t get to the front, 19th if he leads a single lap, or 21st if he leads the most.

Matt Kenseth: Kenseth needs a top 15 if he doesn’t lead a lap, 17th if he leads one, or 19th if he leads the most.

Jimmie Johnson: Vader’s got to get a top 10 without a lap led if he wants to clinch at Atlanta, 11th with a lap led, or 13th with the most laps led.

Kurt Busch: Busch’s scenario is nice and orderly: 9th if he doesn’t lead a lap, 10th with a lap led, and 11th with the most laps led.

Greg Biffle: Biffle’s is the most farfetched of any of the possible clinchers, but given the way that he’s been running on the bigger tracks lately, it’s feasible. Biffle needs to finish 4th with no laps led, 5th with a lap led and 7th with the most laps led.

There’s no scenario for Clint Bowyer to clinch by himself at Atlanta, but it’s also possible that Bowyer could lock into the field. Bowyer leads 13th place Jamie McMurray by 100 points, and if Bowyer can gain 96 points on McMurray and 95 points on Mark Martin, he’s in the 2010 Chase without having to worry at Richmond.

*No, no one will be even thinking of skipping the Richmond race.

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Sunday’s Nationwide race at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve was one of the best of the season, road-course grace combined with some good old-fashioned all-out racing.

And chances are, most NASCAR fans missed it. Which is a shame, because in addition to being a fine race, the Montreal track is a fine locale. And that, at least according to Racin’ Today’s Jim Pedley, is why Montreal needs a Sprint Cup-level race.

Hey, I’m for it. Why not, eh?

Anyway, here’s what it would mean: a third road course, a top-line NASCAR presence in Canada, and — not inconsequentially — the removal of one current race from the Sprint Cup slate. That there is the stumbling block: Since the track isn’t owned by either of the monolithic track organizations, that means somebody’s gotta lose a race with no tit-for-tat recompense.

So for the sake of argument, let’s kick this around. Who’s got two races and could realistically lose one? Phoenix and Michigan, but they’re International Speedway Corp. tracks, which means they’re inviolate. Loudon, but no way Speedway Motorsports is giving up one date without a tradeoff. (Maybe moving the season-ender from ISC’s Homestead to SMI’s Vegas?) Pocono is an easy candidate, but what’s the incentive for the Mattioli family to give up one of their two dates? I love the idea, but at the moment, given the intransigence of NASCAR track politics, I can’t find a way to make this work.

And so I turn it over to you. Put a Sprint Cup race in Montreal in 2012, folks. Figure a way. 

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