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Nascar and Racing

FanHouse Warmup: Sharpie 500

Posted Aug 22, 2009 6:55AM By Geoffrey Miller (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Kyle Busch, Mark Martin, Bristol Motor Speedway

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The Essentials
Mark Martin Bristol NASCAR Sprint Cup Hendrick MotorsportsRace: Sharpie 500
Where: Bristol Motor Speedway
Time: Saturday night 7:00pm/EDT
TV/Radio: ESPN, Motor Racing Network
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mid-60s, 30% chance rain
Distance: 500 laps (266.5 miles)
Pole Winner: Mark Martin
2008 Winner: Carl Edwards

The Storylines

Brad Keselowski was the talk of the Bristol garage Friday evening after a few sources said that he's signed a deal with Penske Racing to be the driver of the No. 12 in 2010 -- uprooting a relationship with NASCAR's top team and another driver.

Keselowski at the moment is a full-time Nationwide Series driver who has dabbled in the research & development team with Hendrick Motorsports, in addition to racing a few events with Phoenix Racing's No. 09 car. He shocked the NASCAR world by winning in that No. 09 at Talladega in the spring.

He's been quite vocal about wanting to move up from his JR Motorsports (a partnership between Hendrick & Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Nationwide teams) to a Cup ride, but the success of Mark Martin in the No. 5 car seemed to slow that idea. Keselowski was once thought to be sharing that ride in the near future with Martin.

Instead, Martin was courted by Rick Hendrick to keep driving in 2010 and said just a few weeks back on Wind Tunnel that he doesn't really envision hanging it up for good -- ever.

So Keselowski was left as one of the most talented products of the Nationwide Series with nowhere to move up in the dominant Hendrick camp for 2010, and that appears to have landed him with Dodge at Penske Racing.

The big question, though, will be if Keselowski with his limited Car of Tomorrow experience can do better than David Stremme in that No. 12 seat -- if the reports are accurate, of course -- or if he's doing himself a disservice by wanting to jump up to the Cup ranks so quickly. In reality, Keselowski could stay with JR Motorsports in 2010 and probably challenge for that championship while expanding his brand.

The fork in Keselowski's road certainly has some big implications on the young Michigan driver's future.

On another Nationwide Series note, I'm still trying to figure out what NASCAR was thinking late in the going of Friday night's Bristol race by not red-flagging the event. They let a huge number of laps tick off during the late caution and left just a green-white-checkered.

Perhaps, though, that's just what they wanted -- especially with ESPN2's timeslot coming to an end.

Did you catch the opening of the Dallas Cowboys' new stadium during their preseason game? I couldn't help but imagine what Bristol would be like if they could manage to suspend 60-yard high definition screen above the track.

Bruton, are you listening?

We talked about it earlier in the week but it still rings true -- Kyle Busch is facing a do-or-die situation with this Chase thing starting tonight.

For a guy that's led 79 percent of the laps in the last two races at the track, he needs a similar performance tonight to even have a shot for the Chase in the last two races before the cutoff. Otherwise, he's going to be the one of the biggest stories of the year -- and for all the wrong reasons.

Lots of favorites for Saturday night's race had horrible qualifying efforts, which hopefully will turn up the excitement as they scramble for position during a race that has too often been bland thanks to a conservative approach by several teams.

Watch for Jeff Gordon (33rd) and Tony Stewart (29th) to scramble for the win because they have nothing to lose and bonus points in the Chase to gain. Last year's winner Carl Edwards starts between the two in 32nd, while Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson line up 15th and 21st, respectively.

Mark Martin, though, will have the best starting spot and one that I just don't think he'll give up too often after last week's fuel mileage mistake at Michigan.
The Prediction

Geoffrey: I'm taking the man who needs it -- Mark Martin.

Tags: Brad+Keselowski, Bristol, Carl+Edwards, Kyle+Busch, Mark+Martin

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