Should Carl Edwards be expecting a NASCAR 'secret' fine?

   Carl Edwards had plenty to say about the upcoming Sprint Cup Series race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and although it was said in a much different environment - a formal media availability rather than outside the infield care center - it became obvious the message is one we've heard before.

   Back in the spring, after taking another wild wide in a bad-looking crash in a race at Talladega, Ryan Newman emerged from the infield care center and unloaded on the racing there.

   He said restrictor-plate races shouldn’t be points races, and that racing at Talladega "was something different besides racing.” He claimed Talladega and races like it were more marketing tools than competitions.

   On Thursday at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Edwards was asked pointedly, "Should there be races like Talladega?"

   This was Edwards complete answer: "Points should not be awarded at Talladega. In a fair competition they shouldn’t be because it’s so random. It’s just a treacherous race. Now, since there are points awarded, it adds a whole other level of stress to the race. You drive around and if you’re doing really well in the points, every lap your heart is pounding and you’re just trying to predict any wrecks that might happen and the best way to avoid them. I guess in a guy’s position like myself, the reasons that I don’t like it when I’m running well in the points are the same reasons that I look forward to it now.”

   There is one significant difference in the two responses: Newman received an unpublicized, hefty fine from NASCAR for making comments that "materially damage the sport." As of this morning, Edwards - as far as we know - has not.

   I look forward to learning how NASCAR officials plan to make the distinction between the two.

How come the disconnect in the NASCAR Hall of Fame voting?

   One thing was evident in Wednesday's results of the voting for NASCAR's Hall of Fame Class of 2011, and it was this: There was a significant disconnect between the published voting intentions of members of the NASCAR media (whether "official" voters or not) and the rest of the Voting Panel.

   Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd that 90 percent of the media members who made their personal preference choices known ahead of time or right after the vote all basically agreed with four of the five inductees?

   David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip were selected by virtually anyone in the media who offered an opinion of what the second Hall class should look like.

   Yet when the actual vote of the entire panel was compiled Yarborough and Waltrip appeared on less than 45 percent of all voters' ballots.

   Even the fan vote, compiled by NASCAR.com, revealed virtually the same thing: Pearson, Allison, Yarborough and Waltrip all found common support.

   For some reason, the remainder of the voting panel had a different thought process than most media members and NASCAR fans as a group.  I mean generally it's hard to get media and race fans to agree on a lot, but this seemed pretty straight forward.

   Yet one large segment of the voting panel thought differently. What did the media and the fans miss?

   Some component of recognizing NASCAR's history? Certainly, Yarborough and Waltrip and their respective careers encompass most if not all that has contributed to NASCAR's history.

   Is it, as Waltrip suggested, some idea of wanting to recognize people while they are still with us to enjoy it? That's certainly possible. Yet, it seems to me if that were the case, Raymond Parks would have been a shoo-in for the first class.

   In any case, no one should be willing to throw the word "lock" around when it comes to any Hall of Fame class for a long time to come.

NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2011 unveiled

   NASCAR announced on Wednesday the second class of inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. That class consists of: David Pearson, who was named on 94 percent of ballots; Bobby Allison - 62%; Lee Petty - 62%; Ned Jarrett - 58%; and Bud Moore - 45%.

    The NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel, consisting of members of the Nominating Committee along with 31 others representing all facets of the NASCAR industry, met in a closed session in Charlotte, N.C., to vote on the induction class of 2011. The announcement was made in the Great Hall inside the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

   The class was determined by 53 votes cast by the panel and the nationwide fan vote conducted through NASCAR.com. The accounting firm of Ernst & Young presided over the tabulation of the votes.

   The Class of 2011 will be officially inducted in a ceremony in May 2011 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Also receiving votes were Dale Inman, Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip.

LIVE chat with Scott Fowler noon-1

Chat live with Observer sports columnist Scott Fowler from noon to 1 p.m. today. We'll launch about 11:45 and start taking your questions. Click here for the link. Can't join us? You can replay the chat later today at the same address.

Tony Stewart talks about Shane Hmiel

   Sunday's Sprint Cup race winner, Tony Stewart, is a former USAC champion and very familiar with the series and former NASCAR driver Shane Hmiel, who was critically injured in a crash Saturday during a Silver Crown series qualifying run.

   After his win, Stewart was asked to talk about Hmiel, who was banned from NASCAR after three failed drug tests, and his quest to start fresh in another racing series.

   Q. If anybody knows USAC talent, you've seen them all.  You know, where did you feel like Shane Hmiel is? Where do you feel like he is and what's your response to his actions?
  
   Stewart: I'll be honest, when Shane started running sprint cars and midgets and silver crown cars, it was like, oh, man, this could be very interesting because he had never really ran those types of cars, he had never raced on dirt.  Be he just never was scared of it, he never backed down from it, he said I've got to learn at this, and he has given 110 percent ever since day one.  He's really turned into a great open‑wheel driver.

   So that's actually part of the reason I had called Irish last night was to check on Shane, and he was going to the hospital to see him.  But you know, just ‑‑ it's something that doesn't happen a lot in open‑wheel racing.  It was just a freak accident that happened, and the way that he crashed was ‑‑ the way he hit the concrete wall was not too many guys hit like that.  But it was a devastating hit, and obviously his injuries reflected that.

   But to get an update from those guys at Indianapolis this morning and hear how well he made it through the night and hearing the optimistic thoughts from the doctors, you know, it made us all, I think, breathe a sigh of relief today knowing that he made it through that first night, and that's a big step.  To hear the doctors say they don't think there's going to be any paralysis with a broken neck and broken back, we just went through that a month and a half ago with a close friend, and with Shane we didn't want to see that happen again.

   That's why we mentioned it in victory lane.  Definitely our thoughts are with him right now for sure.

   More info on Hmiel's wreck can be found here.

Pot, Kettle, Black ????

   So I was reading over the transcript of what Kyle Busch had to say Friday at Auto Club Speedway and it's clear he is still mad over his run-in with David Reutimann last weekend at Sunday.

   But one answer struck me as particularly self-serving.

   When asked if he would like to see a change to the "have at it, boys" philosophy from NASCAR, Busch said, "I think in the instance in which everybody knew payback was coming, I think that's kind of dumb to let it happen."

   Huh?

   You mean at Atlanta when everyone knew what Carl Edwards was doing, getting in a wrecked car dozens of laps down to get back out and mess with Brad Keselowski?

   Or when Kyle Busch himself got pushed aside by Keselowski in the Nationwide race in August at Bristol, Tenn., and he returned the favor by punting Keselowski to help gain the win.

   Who didn't see those coming?

   Has Busch been paying attention all season? He may want to review his own laundry list of actions before he begins calling on NASCAR changes to how it polices driver conduct on the track.
  

Where has NASCAR's TV audience gone?

   What’s going on with NASCAR’s TV audience?

   Over the past three weeks, according to weekly Nielsen Media Research numbers, NASCAR has lost an average of a fourth of its viewing audience from one year ago at the start of the Chase.

   Ratings for the Chase for the Sprint Cup opener at New Hampshire were off 28 percent. Dover was off 23 percent and figures from Sunday’s race at Kansas show a 28 percent drop from one year ago.

   Folks, those are huge numbers. Even worse is the fact it’s developing into a very disturbing pattern.

   Don’t get me wrong, it’s no secret TV ratings have been flat or down slightly most of this season, but there’s something more going on here when such a precipitous drop coincides with what is supposed to be the biggest part of your season – the crowning of the Cup series champion.

   I don’t for one minute believe the big drops beginning with the Chase is mere coincidence. So what is it?

   Everyone has theories. Here are the most common:

   -It’s because the races are on ESPN this year instead of ABC. That seems plausible to me except that an ESPN executive dismissed that reason in an interview last week discussing the ratings drop.

   -It’s because the races are running up against the NFL. Well, maybe if that was new. But races and football have run side-by-side for nearly 60 years now.

   -It’s the new 1 p.m. start time for most races. Well, that might make sense, except that NASCAR and its networks made the change to the earlier start times because “fans asked for it.” Did they all suddenly change their mind?

   Or could it be the elephant in the room – the Chase. Perhaps fans who took a look at it when it debuted in 2004 have soured on it. Perhaps those who didn’t like it to begin with, simply aren’t watching or not caring.

   I don’t know the answer.

   But I can tell you this: Everyone in NASCAR – not just executives – but everyone who has a stake in the sport best hope someone can find out why this is going on and attempt to fix it fast.

   It’s not a trend that is going to help the sport and especially if it gets any worse.