Who do NASCAR fans support in the presidential election?

   Mixing politics and sports generally produces a toxic combination and it's certainly true among NASCAR fans as well.

   In recent years, however, there has been considerable discussion in politics among the NASCAR fan as a voting demographic. After all, there is a reason Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has made two appearances at NASCAR races this season (although because of bad weather he has yet to see a green-flag lap of racing).

   This week is the first time I've come across any stories about this year's presidential election that include polling results of the two main candidates specifically broken down among self-described "NASCAR fans."

   The results were surprising.

   A new JZ Analytics national poll of likely voters released Thursday showed President Obama leading Romney 47.7 percent to 42 percent. It also indicated Romney is not polling well as expected among some conservative demographic groups: NASCAR fans, evangelicals, and the so-called “Walmart voters.”

   According to JZ Analytics pollster John Zogby, Romney leads Obama 48.4 to 44.6 percent among voters who shop weekly at Walmart. He narrowly trails Obama among self-identified "NASCAR fans," 44 percent to 43 percent.

   “That’s a number you would never expect to see,” Zogby said.

   For more on the JZ Analytics poll released Thursday, go here.

  

10 Most Popular Driver finalists named

    The National Motorsports Press Association announced the 10 finalists for the NASCAR Most Popular Driver Award. With more than a half-million votes cast, the top 10 drivers that earned the most votes will now be reset to zero with voting continuing over the next 10 weeks, coinciding with the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

   The 10 finalists are, in alphabetical order: Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Matt Kenseth, Bobby Labonte and Tony Stewart.

   Fans now have 10 race weeks to cast their vote once a day at www.mostpopulardriver.com to determine the winner from the final 10 drivers. Voting will conclude Nov. 18 at 11:59 PM ET and the winner will be announced at the NASCAR NMPA Myers Brothers Luncheon in November.

   Dale Earnhardt Jr. collected his ninth consecutive Most Popular Driver award at the end of the 2011 campaign, joining Bill Elliott as the only drivers to win the award eight years straight. Elliott holds the record for most consecutive Most Popular Driver wins with 10, and he also holds the record for total wins with 16.

We interupt the NASCAR Chase to bring you a race

   We interrupt this year’s Chase by pausing to reflect on the race.

   Once again 12 drivers this weekend will begin their quest for the Sprint Cup Series championship with Sunday’s kickoff of the 10-race sprint to the title.

   And once again, the other 31 drivers in the field will take a back seat for the rest of the season to the media attention, whether it’s TV, radio or print.

   There is an argument to be made that those who don’t perform well enough to make the Chase haven’t earned the right to such exposure.

   In general there is merit to that argument, but it assumes a fact not in evidence: Race fans are fans of their particular driver all season – all 38 points and non-points races – not just the first 26 races of the season.

   In other words, fans of Carl Edwards and are still looking to follow Edwards the same way in the final 10 races as they did in the first 26 points races, regardless of whether he made the Chase.

   This has always been struggle of the Chase format.

   Indeed, it creates multiple new storylines at the end of the season, but those new storylines overshadow many of the ones that typically covered when the Chase is not underway.

   NASCAR veteran Mark Martin has been outspoken in his career about how winning individual races was once held in far more reference than it is today.

   In large part that is because winning the Chase – and the issues affecting its participants – become the focus of attention in the final 10 races.

   Martin, who is running a partial schedule and not in the Chase, reiterated his stance again this week.

   “We race for the same reasons that we raced before the Chase started and that’s to win. The Chase does a lot of wonderful things, but it isn't the only thing going on. The event is about winning,” Martin said.

   “Clint Bowyer won Richmond. That to me is more important than points. The championship, the points and the Chase all do add to what we do. I am not degrading it. But I also think in today’s age that winning a race is underrated.”

   You can’t say it better than that.

Team swap at Richard Petty Motorsports

    Richard Petty Motorsports  announced on Monday it had swapped the crew chiefs and team members between its Nos. 9 and 43 Sprint Cup Series teams, effective this weekend.

   Mike Ford will serve as crew chief for driver Marcos Ambrose on the No. 9 Ford team while crew chief Todd Parrott has been assigned to driver Aric Almirola's No. 43 Ford team. In addition, team members from both teams will also make the switch.

   RPM currently has one win, three poles, 10 top-10 and three top-five finishes this season in the Cup series between the two teams. The team was also in position to make the Chase for the second consecutive season with Ambrose.

   "We're continuing to make improvements at Richard Petty Motorsports and we've added talented people to our organization this season," said Sammy Johns, director of competition. "This move is to make sure that we are using that talent to the fullest to get the best results for our teams each weekend. We feel this adjustment will strengthen the organization, allow us to continue to compete for wins and ultimately challenge for championships."

   Ford and Parrott are both veteran, winning crew chiefs. Parrott has one Cup championship, a Daytona 500 victory and 31 Cup wins to his credit. Ford has six Chase berths and 25 Cup wins on his resume.

   "Aric has really shown the desire and dedication to get his first Sprint Cup Series win," Parrott said. "It was great our team helped lead Marcos to his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win and poles. We are now ready to help direct Almirola and the No. 43 team to the same results and better."
  

   Ford is also ready to work with Ambrose and the No. 9 race team. "Marcos is a racer who has proven to win poles and races," Ford said. "Our goal is to take my experiences and make sure we can consistently run up front and continue to win races."

 

Carl Edwards talks about missing the NASCAR Chase

   This year's Chase for the Sprint Cup will be missing one half of the tandem that battled down to the wire for last season's championship.

 

   When the dust cleared at Richmond International Raceway, Carl Edwards - who lost last season's title to Tony Stewart in a tiebreaker - was left outside the Chase looking in.

 

   It was going to take a near-miracle for Edwards to get in the Chase at the Richmond race, but he had remained hopeful. Edwards talked about his season after the race.

 

   “Yeah, this isn’t about one race. It is 26 races and we just let too many points get away for a bunch of different reasons. There was a lot of luck involved and everyone tried really hard. This is the fastest we have been the last six weeks all year and I am proud of everyone for rallying around Chad (Norris) and Bob (Osborne) included for making the best effort we could," Edwards said. "We will just go try to build the best team we can for next year and try to make sure a Ford wins this championship.”

   Edwards was asked what he and his No. 99 Ford team will do in the final 10 races.

   "It makes it pretty simple for the last 10. We just go race as hard as we can. That has been kind of fun lately to do that but man, I don’t know, it is going to be wild to not be in the championship hunt. It won’t be as much fun at all," he said.

   "I'll be the best teammate I can be and to help (Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle) develop any set-ups they can and help them during practice. There isn’t much I can do on the race track once the race starts, but before the race starts I can help."

Seeding for 2012 NASCAR Chase

   How the 2012 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup will start next weekend at Chicagoland Speedway:

   1. Denny Hamlin, 2012  points
   2. Jimmie Johnson, 2009 points
   3. Tony Stewart, 2009 points
   4. Brad Keselowski, 2009 points
   5. Greg Biffle, 2006 points
   6. Clint Bowyer, 2006 points
   7. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2003 points
   8. Matt Kenseth, 2003 points
   9. Kevin Harvick, 2000 points
   10. Martin Truex Jr., 2000 points
   11. Kasey Kahne, 2000 points
   12. Jeff Gordon, 2000 points

JR Motorsports looking for new competition director

   JR Motorsports, a Nationwide Series team co-owned by Sprint Cup driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., is looking for a new director of competition after its current director, Tony "Pops" Eury Sr., had "amicably" parted ways with the organization.

   Eury, Earnhardt's uncle, is a winner of 55 NASCAR races in both the Nationwide and Cup Series as a crew chief. He has 28 years in the NASCAR industry, the last five of which were served as competition director and crew chief for JR Motorsports. The company has amassed all nine of its victories under Eury’s watch. JR Motorsports’ last victory came on Sept. 4, 2010, with driver Jamie McMurray.

   “The conversation Tony Sr. and I had was one of the most difficult I’ve ever been a part of,” said Kelley Earnhardt-Miller, general manager of JR Motorsports. “I believe Tony Sr.’s passion for the sport is exceeded only by his yearning to excel in it, and that itself became the issue that both he and I struggled with. 

   "At JR Motorsports we do this to win races and compete for championships, and lately we have not met that standard. Being the competitor that Tony Sr. is, I know that bothers him more than anyone.”

   Eury Sr.’s son, Tony Eury Jr., remains crew chief for JR Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet and co-owner of the company with Earnhardt Jr. and Earnhardt-Miller. Danica Patrick is running a fulltime schedule in the No. 7 this season.

 

   “I want what’s best for Dale Jr., Kelley, Tony Jr., and all those employees. I really do,” said Eury Sr. “We accomplished a lot in a short time, and nobody is prouder of that than I am. I’m not sure what’s next for me, and I’m not sure I’m in a hurry to find out.”

 

   Earnhardt said he didn't know anyone who had impacted his NASCAR career more than Eury Sr.

 

   “I know my dad ultimately put me in the Nationwide Series car back in the ’90s, but Tony Sr. was the one who convinced him to do it," Earnhardt said. "He was with me through two Nationwide Series championships and five full seasons as a Cup driver.

 

   "We won a lot of races together, and as much as he impacted my career as a race car driver, he means more to me on a personal level. He’s done a lot for this organization, and I thank him for it.”

   UPDATE

   After he won the pole for Saturday night's Cup race, Earnhardt Jr. offered some additional comments on Eury Sr.'s departure from JR Motorsports:

   "It was tough. It was a difficult decision we had to make. You know, as a company we felt like we wanted to make some changes. The environment for our Nationwide team and I'm sure for a lot of Nationwide teams, is so different that what we have in the Cup series. In the Cup series, you have commitments that stretch over years and you can map a future further ahead than 12 months. In the Nationwide series, a lot of our programs are structured over single years and you re-up each year. Every year you don't really don't know what February will look like sponsor-wise, whether you're going to have one fulltime sponsor for a team or you're going to have three or four to outfit a car. During this time we felt we wanted to make some changes and try to improve our company and our teams. We needed to do something directional that was different than what we were doing. This is one piece of that," he said.

   "I think there will be some more things we will do to try to be a better race team for next year and there's a lot of moving parts and missing pieces that have we've got to fill in like sponsorship and so forth to give us a better idea of the direction we want to go. You can't sit and say, 'Man we're going to run three cars next year' without three cars being fully funded. You can't just make that decision. You have to wait until all the things play themselves our and people make their commitments to you.

   "Even in the last three or four years that series has become more of a challenge. We want to be there and I believe in what we do in that series. I enjoy our efforts there. The change with Pops was really difficult because he's mean so much to me in my career and to me as a person. At the same time, we want to try to see if we can change our performance level and change a bit of the culture in the shop and see if that helps."