Observations from the Camping World RV 400 at Dover International Speedway

By Mike Smith (contact)

Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 | 7:21 p.m.

A friend of mine, who is a NASCAR fanatic, often pressures me to make predictions about the racing season. I always refuse because I think it’s impossible to predict what will happen in a sport where a driver can hit the wall on the last lap or have a mechanical failure that can put his season into a tailspin. Racing is a fluid situation and we’re getting a glimpse of that in the Chase.

Greg Biffle is the first driver to win the first two races in a Chase. But more surprising than Biffle’s pedal to the metal rise in the points standings is Kyle Busch’s decent, in just two races, to the 12th position. Like I said, things are fluid.

Roush Fenway Racing finished in the top three positions at Dover. How long will it be before conspiratorial fans start claiming that Ford is getting preferential treatment from NASCAR?

Does Robby Gordon have to compete with every car on the track no mater how many laps he may be down? The guy is a moving chicane. I can’t blame Jamie McMurray for showing his displeasure with Robby’s stubbornness.

Kyle avoided the media after last week’s race and he was criticized for that. But this Sunday he made the effort to briefly talk to the media after his engine blew. I know it can’t be easy to face the music after a frustrating day, but sometimes you have to make the decision to man up.

What this series needs is more tracks with personality. Dover’s high banks, tricky transitions, small pit stalls and narrow straightaways produce exciting racing that often packs the feel of Talladega into a one-mile package. We need a track or two like this west of the Rocky Mountains.

Carl Edwards was gracious in his post-race interview, but you can bet he wasn’t too happy about the late-race decision to take two tires when everyone else took four. Carl indicated during his radio traffic that he wanted four tires and that he could make up any lost positions on the track. Next time the crew chief should listen to the driver. He’s the one who has been driving the car all day and is obviously in the best position to know what the car is capable of.

Speaking of radio traffic, one of the commentators on the show “Race Day” mentioned that Kyle Busch had made the comment that radio conversations between a driver and a crew chief are “private” and that anyone who doesn’t like what they are hearing shouldn’t listen. Is he serious? Private conversations? Radio conversations at the track are about as private as a Playboy centerfold.

ESPN briefly showed a camera angle of Martin Truex’s footwork in the car as he left the pits. Why was this only shown once during the broadcast? Let’s have more of those unusual camera angles.

I wonder if Office Depot is having any second thoughts about moving from the No.99 team to Tony Stewart’s new and unproven team in 2009.

Finally, as you know, Jack Roush is no fan of Toyota. But I did notice during a pit stop that a sponsorship sticker for Denso was affixed to the fender of the No. 26 car. Denso is an auto parts manufacturer headquartered in Japan that is partially owned by Toyota.

Now it’s on to Kansas where Biffle won a year ago.

Read the winning caption in the Carl Edwards caption contest.