FanHouse Warmup: Pepsi 500

Race: Pepsi 500
Where: Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, Calif.
Time: Sunday 3 p.m./EST
TV/Radio: ABC, Motor Racing Network
Twitter: Updates @ FanHouseRacing
Forecast: Mid-70s, Clear
Distance: 250 laps (500 miles)
Pole Winner: Denny Hamlin
2008 Winner: Jimmie Johnson


A nice bout with the flu has Kyle Busch reeling this weekend at Auto Club Speedway. Busch was leading yesterday's Nationwide Series race when he came to pit road under caution to have Denny Hamlin relieve him of his driving duties.

Busch said after getting out that as the car was heating up, he was having difficulty concentrating. He did say that he felt like he could have finished the race if needed, but felt it was more in his interest to conserve energy for Sunday's race. According to SPEED's pre-race programming, though, Busch is still under the weather.

Not helping the issue was a blown engine during a Friday practice session. As a result, Busch will drop to the rear of the field for the start of Sunday's race. David Gilliland, slated to drive a fourth Joe Gibbs Racing car in a few Sprint Cup races this season, will be on standby in the No. 18 pit should Busch need to get out.

JGR's J.D. Gibbs said Sunday afternoon that its likely that Busch will be getting out of the car early in the race.

Tom Logano probably embarrassed his kid Joey quite a bit on Saturday at ACS.

Again.

Joey, of course, took home the checkered flag after snaking his way through a wreck between Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle and then making a heckuva restart on the ensuing green flag. But controversy from a lap 50 incident when it appeared that Biffle intentionally shoved Logano into the outside backstretch wall left his father seething after the race.

The older Logano apparently confronted Biffle on pit road after the race and NASCAR officials didn't seem to like it. Tom Logano had his hard card credential pulled by an official, meaning he'll have to apply each weekend for a credential until the hard card is restored.

It's not Tom Logano's first run-in with another driver, either. Back at Daytona in February, Logano wasn't happy with Robby Gordon after a wreck in the Budweiser Shootout that involved son Joey, and the pair had words.

Joey's just got to love the impression that his dad is the one that fights his battles, right?

It appears that Kevin Harvick's run with Richard Childress Racing is heading for an ending point in the near future -- though after the mismanagement of such rumors earlier this season, it's not exactly surprising.

In a story that's running on the Charlotte Observer's NASCAR site, NASCAR beat writer Jim Utter is reporting that Harvick is leaving quite a few doors open during an interview that will air during Sunday's pre-race show on ABC. The interview, by ESPN's Marty Smith, reportedly has Harvick talking about closing a book in reference to his time at RCR.

Harvick, who took over the team driven by the late Dale Earnhardt in 2001, has had a miserable 2009 season with 3 top-5's and just 5 top-10's. He's currently 21st in points.

The Bakersfield, Calif., driver has 11 wins in the Sprint Cup Series to his name -- including wins in the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 -- but went through a round of rumors this summer that he had asked for his release from Childress at the end of 2009. RCR categorically denied the claims, but it took weeks for Harvick and Childress to issue a press release that denied such a request had been made.

Needless to say, the future for Harvick at RCR looks a little rocky. It's a safe bet, though, that he'll be in the No. 29 for at least 2010.

NASCAR made a rule change involving the "wave-around" cars for this weekend's action.

During last week's Nationwide Series race at Kansas, Carl Edwards was penalized for going too fast on pit road during a green flag stop. The penalty under green flag conditions is making a pass-through of pit road, which generally means losing a lap.

A caution came out right after Edwards' penalty and it prevented him from coming to pit road to serve the penalty. Edwards, already with fresh tires and fuel, didn't need to pit. He then became eligible to pass the pace car due to being in between it and the race leader, giving Edwards a lap back. He then served the penalty as if it were issued under caution by starting at the end of the pack.

Well, NASCAR made a change this week that says any driver under penalty at the point of caution will not be eligible for the wave around, or getting a lap back by not pitting while the leaders do under caution.

Fair, if you ask me.

Enjoy the race.