FH NASCAR Grades: Midseason Report

Saturday night's Coke Zero 400 at Daytona will mark the official midway point of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup season. Naturally, it's a great time to review what we've seen so far from the Cup boys, their teams, the series and the tracks. First, we'll start with the not-so-hot performers:

Motorsports FanHouse Grade: F

Dale Earnhardt Jr. - It's been easy to see why the season for driver No. 88 has earned a failing grade. He's been slowly -- very slowly -- improving of late, but still has no chance for the Chase in 2009 and has one track left with a great chance to win at -- Daytona.

NASCAR's handling of Carl Long - NASCAR claims that their $200K fine and suspension of part-time driver Long for an engine that was too big in practice of the All-Star qualifying race was just and fair. But tell me, should a guy's livelihood be irreparably harmed for bringing an engine that didn't race, much less, wasn't tainted with an additive like, oh, jet fuel?

Danica Patrick Rumors - There's been plenty of snooping and scooping on the front of IndyCar driver Danica Patrick coming to NASCAR, but she's yet to sign a deal. Until then, the erroneous reports are getting very old quite fast, just like Danica's insistence that she should compete in the Sprint Cup Series right away. Perhaps she should ask a guy named Montoya about that.

Motorsports FanHouse Grade: D

Richard Childress Racing - With nary a win or a driver inside the top-12 of the Sprint Cup point standings, 2009 has just been a miserable year for the RCR outfit. New Hampshire saw improvements, but for at least half of the drivers (Casey Mears and Kevin Harvick) the Chase is a foregone conclusion -- meaning it ain't gonna happen. Jeff Burton blamed it on a lack of offseason preparation, and you can imagine the testing ban hasn't helped.

Kyle Busch's post-race celebrations/tantrums - He's broken a guitar, stashed a Nationwide Series car on the opposite side of the track for his team and avoided the only communication tool he has with fans like the plague when things haven't gone right. Yet, he's done some freakin' awesome burnouts and apologizing for the wreck at New Hampshire was the right step to take. Baby steps.

Race Start Times - NASCAR standardized most start times to an estimated 2:15pm/ET reading on the clock in 2009, but the starting time of races has burned the sanctioning body many times because of rain. Take Daytona and Charlotte as the main examples (started too late, of course). It's supposed to help the west coast viewers, but come on, fans will watch when their sport is on. Just ask anybody who digest a season of F1 racing.

Motorsports FanHouse Grade: C

Roush-Fenway Racing - Carl Edwards who? The rise of David Ragan? Jamie McMurray finally coming into his own? This whole team has backfired in 2009's first half, and it's been quite surprising. Don't expect it to continue for the top drivers at the organization, though.

Catch-fencing improvements - To me, Carl Edwards flying into the Talladega catchfence was simply too close for comfort. I've listened to NASCAR and track folks talk about how the wreck required the right circumstances that are highly unusual, but that's foolish. It happened once, it'll happen again, and who's to say the cars won't fly above the catchfence next time? Can we then blame a calamity on circumstances, too?

Joe Gibbs Racing - I can't help but think if there's any connection to the reduced dominance of this team (namely, Kyle Busch) since the Nationwide Series inspection scandal at Michigan at the end of last summer. Not that the team was cheating, but would it surprise you if Joe or J.D. Gibbs ordered the team to retreat from gray areas that were helping with competition? I don't think so.

Regardless, this team was expected and expected a lot more so far in 2009, and it hasn't happened to the full extent.

Motorsports FanHouse Grade: B

Hendrick Motorsports - It's hard to fault a team that is holding down a combined win total of 6 in 2009 with three drivers qualified at the moment for the Chase. But then, of course, one turns to the No. 88 side of things and you see why an 'A' isn't in the cards. The economic figures in the sport, though, hope he is triumphant in his comeback.

Fuel Mileage - Already a handful of races have been won by fuel mileage in 2009, and to me that's a very cool thing. It doesn't translate as well onto the television broadcast, but when you're at the track, listening to the in-car audio of the stretching drivers, fuel mileage races become high-speed dramas. Look no further than Michigan for how exciting a last lap can get with drivers on fumes.

Motorsports FanHouse Grade: A

Ambrose/Reutimann side of JTG/MWR - Some will cry foul about David Reutimann's Coca-Cola 600 win, but the dude and his team simply deserved it. They've been noticeably more competitive than his likely-retiring owner Michael Waltrip, and another race win isn't out of the spectrum.

As for Marcos Ambrose, the Australian's driving talent is really starting to show through on many tracks, which is doubly awesome for NASCAR because of his infectiously humorous and happy-go-lucky lifestyle. Face it: It's fun to watch Marcos Ambrose finish well.

Tony Stewart's cunning moves - Yes, Stewart-Haas Racing gets an 'A' for two race wins in 2009, but more importantly, a big pat on the back to Tony Stewart is owed. Not only did he start a new, successful team, but he also roped in the best equipment in the business to supply it, Hendrick Motorsports.

The partnership will probably bite Hendrick down the road, but in the meantime, Stewart's a competitive guy when no one thought he'd be. Talk about icing on his self-proving cake.

NASCAR's ears - Let's give some credit to NASCAR for actually opening up for once, and also for making a needed rule change. The town hall meeting? A nice gesture for everyone involved in the sport, and to see the double-file restarts implemented so quickly thereafter? You've got to like the new face of NASCAR we're seeing as fans.

Agree or Disagree? Make your grades in the comments below!