Have NASCAR drivers had enough of "havin' at it"?

   Have NASCAR drivers had enough of “Boys, have at it”?

   In the hours after Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway, there was a lot of discussion among NASCAR fans and media members about the fact that 900 miles of racing had been completed in back-to-back weekends without a single wreck.

   There were lots of reasons offered, such as the high winds at Texas and Kansas; hard tires; aerodynamic issues; and so on. Many have been stated before. One – proffered by driver Brad Keselowski – was new.

   On Twitter, Keselowski noted that drivers may be less inclined to put themselves in position to accidently run into someone because those drivers now have a “free pass” at intentional retaliation.

   At first it sounds iffy. If a driver accidently gets into another one, why would that driver then want to intentionally wreck him back?

   For one, whether an action on the track is intentional or not is in the eye of the beholder. Just because the driver who commits the act didn’t intend it to happen doesn’t mean the driver who was hit has to believe that.

   And Keselowski is right. The “boys, have at it” mantra gives drivers an open invitation to settle things among themselves.

   Has the ability and willingness of drivers to take retaliatory action now dissuaded others to not put themselves in position for it to happen in the first place?

   Think about this. If only one on-track incident has been avoided in the first eight races of the season because of that reason, the entire premise of “loosening the reigns” of NASCAR’s regulatory powers has been lost.

   Instead of “opening things up,” an even larger clamp will have been placed on the participants.

   That’s certainly not what anyone intended.  

Drive-in movie night at Charlotte Motor Speedway

   Charlotte Motor Speedway will kick off a month of racing in May with "One Hot Fan Night," a free event featuring appearances by NASCAR celebrities and a showing of the historic 1992 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race on the world’s largest HDTV.

   On Tuesday, May 1, the speedway will open the infield at 5:30 p.m. to fans for a drive-in-movie style night of entertainment. Scheduled to appear are Matt Kenseth, the 2004 NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race winner, NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton and NASCAR on Fox broadcasters Larry McReynolds and Mike Joy. The NASCAR personalities will participate in a fan forum at 7 p.m. before the showing of the 1992 All-Star Race known as “One Hot Night” at approximately 7:30 p.m.

   CMS made motorsports history in 1992 when the All-Star Race became the first modern superspeedway race run under the lights in prime-time. The race produced one of NASCAR’s most memorable moments when Dale Earnhardt spun out of the lead on the last lap and Davey Allison crashed past Kyle Petty at the finish line to take the victory.

   “We want to celebrate that historic race with the fans and some of the men who took part in it,” speedway president Marcus Smith said. “And I’m looking forward to hearing what Matt has to say about the upcoming May races. As a past winner of both the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600, he’s got a great perspective on what it takes to win at Charlotte.”

   Fans can take advantage of special offers on May race tickets in the speedway ticket office or by calling (800) 455-FANS.

Winless streaks for 2011 Chase drivers

Winless streaks among 2011 Chase drivers

Driver, races without a win

Dale Earnhardt Jr., 136

Carl Edwards, 40

Kyle Busch, 20

Jeff Gordon, 18

Kevin Harvick, 17

Kurt Busch, 14

Jimmie Johnson, 13

Matt Kenseth, 6

Denny Hamlin, 5

Brad Keselowski, 3

Tony Stewart, 2

Ryan Newman, 1

Are there any secrets in Dale Junior's family tree?

   What secrets lie in the Earnhardt family tree?
  
   Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been spending time over the last six months trying to find out. And they may not be secrets, but perhaps just things he and his closest relatives may not have been aware of.

   Earnhardt was one of 12 drivers to make a visit last week to the White House, honoring drivers who made last season's Chase. He said he had a new appreciation for some of the old artwork in the White House in light of time he's spent researching his family tree.

   "I didn’t really appreciate how old some of the artwork and stuff is in that house until I did some work on my family tree this last six months and I’ve started to understand what 200 years really means or what 150 years truly means in the grand scope of things," he said.
  
   Asked if he has discovered anything new or interesting about his family tree so far, Earnhardt said:

   "We don’t have time today to talk about how much fun I’ve had with working on my family tree. I was fortunate enough to find someone in the field of genealogy that helped me out and I’m trying to put together some kind of a well-organized document to sort of be able to show to family members and what have you and just keep so Kelley’s (Earnhardt, his sister) kids and if I have any one day, they won’t have to do the work.

   "I had one interesting experience. Ralph’s (Earnhardt) father, I didn’t know who he was and never really cared who he was, never thought about who he was or what his family would be like. Never thought past Ralph all these years and I started getting into his father and Ralph’s grandfather and I found their burial plots and so me and my grandmother Martha and my sister and my mom Brenda and my girlfriend rode up there one day, just in Kannapolis or Concord and visited their burial plots and a lot of relatives that were born in like 1809 and 1822 and stuff like that. 

   "It’s really cool to stand there over somebody that is responsible for you being there and that was pretty neat. I had done that before and I had people tell me to work on my family tree before, but I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Once I got into it and started realizing the importance of it so it’s been a lot of fun.”

NASCAR visitors at the AutoFair

   This weekend's Food Lion Auto Fair at Charlotte Motor Speedway will have a NASCAR touch.

   NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Bobby Allison will be on hand Saturday. He’ll be signing autographs from 2 to 3 p.m. alongside a Buick he once drove on in the Cup series. The Buick will be part of a display paying tribute to one of America’s oldest auto manufacturers.

   Additionally, Chocolate Myers, a longtime member of the Richard Childress pit crew for the late Dale Earnhardt and current curator of Childress’ museum, will be on hand. He will sign autographs from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday next to the RCR display at the AutoFair, which will include two iconic No. 3 Chevrolets driven in the Cup series by Earnhardt.

   The AutoFair runs Thursday through Sunday. Single-day adult tickets are $10. Kids 13 and under get in free. For more information, visit www.charlottemotorspeedway.com.

Is it possible Kurt Busch may not run full Cup season?

   In an interview Sunday night on "Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain," Sprint Cup Series team owner James Finch said "there's a question" whether he will be able to run the full Cup season with driver Kurt Busch.

   Asked by Despain if there was a question whether his team could do all the races, Finch answered:

   “Well, we’re trying. There’s a question. We’re off and running and trying. We’re talking to some people and going from there. We’re headed to Kansas this weekend and hopefully get in the top 10 there and then come back to Talladega and have a really good run. We’re optimistic about it. Kurt has put a lot of effort in it. It’s kind of like a small team getting a big-time quarterback," Finch said.

   "Last night (at Texas), it was 480 miles before we got a lap down. The pit crew did a real good job with all the green-flag stops. We’re just trying to catch up with Kurt. Kurt’s got the speed. We’re trying to get the crew chief up. We’re trying to get the pit crew up to be able to handle what Kurt can do. Hopefully, we’re getting there.”

   Busch moved to Finch's team in the offseason after parting ways with Penske Racing. Busch has said repeatedly he has a "handshake deal" with Finch for the season but no signed contract.

   Finch said he and Busch were still in their "honeymoon" period but admits it's been a rough start to the season.

   "We had a rough start in Daytona. We crashed four cars. Then we crashed again in Las Vegas. We’ve had a pretty tough time, but all in all, Kurt is doing his part. He’s probably the hardest driver I’ve ever had, and I’ve had a lot of drivers. I’ve had multiple drivers," Finch said.

   "Everybody says, ‘How is Kurt doing?’ I say, ‘Kurt is doing fine. I’m not doing so well. I’ve wrecked a lot of cars and hadn’t been able to secure some sponsorship yet that we desperately need. Other than that, Kurt is doing a great job and I thought he did a good job last night (at Texas).”


  

The Rock is filling up for NASCAR's return

   Rockingham Speedway owner Andy Hillenburg said Saturday that the speedway's inaugural NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race is approaching a sellout.

   The backstretch grandstands were removed after Bruton Smith bought the track in 2007, leaving approximately 31,000 seats, which cover the area from the exit of Turn 4, through the frontstretch and into Turns 1 and 2.

   "Two weeks ago I would have told you there was no chance that we could sell out for NASCAR's return," Hillenburg said. "We were doing well two weeks ago but we are doing even better today.

   "Sitting here 24 hours before the race, I'm going to say we have a 30 to 40 percent chance of selling out. I already expect a crowd of over 25,000-plus. We are definitely going to rock the house, whether it be 25,000 or 31,000. I'm very excited."

   Already this week, NASCAR's return has brought out big crowds for a parade of the NASCAR haulers on Thursday night and an autograph signing and "Thunderfest" festival on Friday night.

   "From the hauler parade, we had 'Welcome back NASCAR' signs, I bet I saw over a 100 of them. It was phenomenal," Hillenburg said. "It's all anyone has been talking about - NASCAR's return.

   "If I bumped into a pin, I'd probably bust."