On Wednesday the NHRA announced it would be going to its version of a postseason in 2007. It’s a good move to help the popularity of drag racing.

The “casual fan” is the sports world’s version of the undecided voter — no one is sure what casual fans want but sports want them all on their side.

NASCAR has been able to attract the most in the American motorsports world over the past five years or so, but the No. 2 spot is up for grabs. The NHRA is trying to rise above the IRL and Champ Car series for national recognition.

Giving casual fans a playoff format that is familiar is a smart move by the NHRA, but there’s so much more it can do.
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Rusty Wallace may not be behind the wheel of a racecar any more, but he still knows how to move product, even in stressful situations.

On Monday night, Wallace and his wife were driving in their SUV when another driver ran a stop sign and collided with his truck. No one was injured and Rusty chalked it up to some fine engineering — in classic NASCAR style.

“You hear car companies talk about safety a lot,” the former driver of the No. 2 Dodge said in a statement Tuesday, “but I can tell you that (wife) Patti and I are both really thankful for the research and development that Dodge puts into the safety of their vehicles.”

He’d also like to thanks the guys back at the body shop for putting on a new door, the tire place for putting on four new Goodyears and the dude at Starbucks for remembering to put that little lid on his Mochachino so hot coffee wouldn’t spill all over his leather interior.

Kasey Kahne was at the Ronald McDonald House on Tuesday afternoon and he touched on several topics the stretch run of the Nextel Cup season.

On the recent removal of Jeremy Mayfield as driver for Evernham Motorsports: “It’s not effected us at all. That’s something going on on the 19 side. It looks like it’s getting closer to getting squared away and getting to where they are going to be next year. That’ll be good for them to be getting ready for next year. And start helping us again and we’ll have three cars working together.”
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It may have happened at the negotiating table rather than the racetrack, but Danica Patrick scored her first first IRL win.

Patrick announced she will join the dominant Andretti Green Racing team in 2007 after using some brilliant negotiating strategy. The league’s biggest name used her clout and a threat to jump to NASCAR to land one of the top rides in the IRL. Patrick now has her best opportunity to win on the IRL circuit, most importantly the Indianapolis 500.

If she fulfills her potential in open wheel with AGR, she’ll have racing credibility, an army of sponsors and the ability to dictate her terms to any racing series she wants to join. The tricky part will be to get those wins.

The first practice on Friday night was relatively drama-free. The caution flag flew twice. Once by a spin from Bill Lester, the second was by former major leaguer Mike Greenwell.

Mike Bliss had the fastest lap of the session with an average lap of 115.612 mph. Dennis Setzer was second fastest at 115.366. Tinothy Peters was third at 115.266.

Expect those lap times to drop in the last session when the sun goes down for the second practice.

All’s quiet at the Memnphis Motorsports Park, but not for very long. Craftsman Truck Series teams are unpacking, Goodyear is putting rubber on rims, TV crews are setting up and track officials are bracing for fans to arrive when the gates open in a couple of hours.

It won’t be long before engines roar to life and teams head out to practice.

Denny Hamlin is living proof that it pays to play video games.

Before arriving at Pocono this weekend, the only time Hamlin had seen the 2.5-mile layout was through his computer.

“The tracks that (rookies) aren’t supposed to do well on are driver’s racetracks,” Hamlin said on Saturday at the Busch Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. “To me if you’re a driver you can adapt to just about anything. I’m not doing anything that any good driver isn’t capable of doing himself.

“I liked racing Pocono on the computer. And once I did it in real life it took about two laps on the racetrack before I said, ‘This is a really good racetrack.’”

All that computer work paid dividends as Hamlin dramatically guided the FedEx Chevy to victory lane at the Pocono 500 on Sunday, the first win for him and the No. 11 FedEx team.
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