Throughout history, innovators have pushed the boundaries to the limit. Whether it was Martin Luther and his thesis that revolutionized the church, or the Wright Brothers who pushed the boundaries of gravity to attain flight, some of the great historical figures have attained their fame and brought about changes to our world. I suspect that the overturning of the Knaus penalty will bring about some more changes in our little world of racing.

From an outsider’s perspective, I was surprised some of the penalty was not overturned last week in the initial appeal. It sounded like Rick Hendrick and Chad Knaus had a solid case when they let it be known that the same car with the same C-posts had passed inspection 16 times previously. The fact that the templates were not used in handing out the penalties this go-around did not seem to help NASCAR’s case in my eyes, either. But that car passed inspection SIXTEEN times previously? Come on, man.

Nevertheless, I would think that NASCAR will be making some modifications to the rulebook to bring these areas of the car into their specifications through a template or some form of firm measurement. The fact that this area was not covered by a template before is what started this whole conundrum. Knaus could be the determining factor in some coming changes to the rules – and he should take pride in that.

There’s an old saying in NASCAR that if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying. I honestly do not think that Knaus is a cheat. I don’t think he is trying to cheat. There is no doubt that he is a brilliant crew chief – arguably one of, if not the best ever. I tend to give him the benefit of the doubt in that I believe he is trying to get every advantage he possibly can to win and pushing every envelope as far as he can get away with. I would think Jimmie Johnson fans would love to see that kind of determination. You can see it in every sit-down interview he’s ever done and his work ethic is legendary – the man wants to win. You cannot fault him for that.

There is a difference between blatant cheating and being innovative in a gray area. In another incident in 2005, NASCAR found Knaus’s carefully engineered shock absorbers so ingenious that they cited his brilliance before penalizing him and declaring the shock illegal. Once again, Knaus was in a gray area and got busted there.

Do I think we should let guys get away with stuff just because they are making brilliant strides to get any advantage they can in a world micro-managed to the 16th of an inch? Absolutely not. But in this case, the right decision was made and if it brings about changes in NASCAR rules and policies, so be it. Sounds like they were areas that needed to be addressed in the first place and weren’t. Maybe NASCAR should thank Knaus for pointing out their shortcomings.

I had a friend last year during the Chase that said that Tony Stewart would never win the championship if not for Darian Grubb being on the pitbox. Although I believe that Grubb is a top-tier crew chief, I don’t believe for a second that a race team is made by just one person – whether the driver or the crew chief. Grubb has shown he is brilliant making the calls. Everyone got a good look at what he could do in 2006 when his mentor and teacher, Chad Knaus, was suspended for three races from the 48 team of Jimmie Johnson. He kept up the good work all the way to the top by winning the championship in 2001 with Stewart. There’s no doubt he’s one of the best in the business, but Tony Stewart is showing everyone that he’s just fine without Grubb around.

Don’t get me wrong. Steve Addington is no slouch. Just the fact that he has endured the rantings and antics of the Brothers Busch shows that he has nerves of steel. And he has had success as a crew chief. But Tony Stewart didn’t win three championships by being a mediocre driver. Even though Grubb gave him a great car in Homestead last year and Addington in Las Vegas this week, it was Stewart that got up on the wheel and put the car where it needed to be to take the win. It was Stewart that left five-time champion Johnson in the dust on two restarts this week.

Darian Grubb has moved on to more success, as well. He guided the #11 Fed Ex car of Denny Hamlin – his new team – to a victory in Phoenix the week before. Going back to the start of the 2011 Chase, Grubb and Stewart have been a factor in winning 7 of the last 13 races. That’s a pretty impressive stat in this day of parity and considering who the competition is at this level.

The point is that both guys are doing just fine without one another and both guys are continuing the success separately that they began together last year. I don’t think either man is done with winning championships, either. They are among the elite at the top level in NASCAR. And this year they are both singing a new song. The classic Journey song says it best – “I’ll Be Alright Without You.”

James Taylor sang it best when he said, “I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain.” And although it was not a sunny day, it was a day I thought would never end. By the time the race that spanned three days was over, drivers and fans alike were ready to get out of dodge after the craziness that took place in Daytona.

For the first time ever, the Daytona 500 – our premiere race – was postponed due to rain. The end of the race was very exciting, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. making a valiant effort to get around the RoushFenway Racing teammates of Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle for the win that came up just short. But what happened between Sunday at noon and Tuesday morning just after midnight will go down in the history books as one of the weirdest NASCAR weekends ever.

I was pretty excited to see NASCAR getting a shot at a primetime race after the rain delay. Many fans have been begging for a race in primetime for years. It will be interesting to see how the ratings play out for Monday’s broadcast, but one thing is certain – with the onset of social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook and NASCAR fans posting live updates, there are no telling how many millions of fans tuned in once the drama took hold of Daytona International Speedway. I know that I personally had a few folks ask me where they could tune their TV to see what I was talking about when I posted on Facebook about the biggest drama of the evening. That drama was exacted upon us by none other than Fireball Montoya.

During a late caution, Montoya had a problem with his car and had just left the pits when something on his car broke and he lost control, slamming into the back of a truck with a jet engine attached that was  blowing debris off the track. To be fair, there was nothing Montoya could do. His car obviously had a major malfunction as you could see sparks coming from underneath the car moments before he lost control. But still, what are the odds that out of 2.5 miles of track he hits a jet dryer? It was just odd.

Another big story of the night were that the Daytona 500 followed the pattern that had been set for all of Speedweeks of total destruction and carnage on the track of the cars. The most notable of the evening was that there was a huge wreck that took out several contenders, including last year’s winner Trevor Bayne, and 5-time champ Jimmie Johnson. Oh, and in case you didn’t know it, there was a female driving in the race. She was damaged on that lap 2 incident, as well.Thought you might want to know that in case you didn’t see all the shots of her car in the garage while there was actually action on the racetrack.

So here is where I move from crazy race to just plain pathetic in my rantings as I wrap this up. The first thing we heard from the FOX broadcasters after the first wreck of the night – specifically Darryl Waltrip – was that Johnson got loose and just lost it. He even repeated that assertion after watching a replay. Even my 8 year old son could see from the replay that he was hit from behind by Elliott Sadler (who later noted that he owed the 48 team an apology). I know many people are happy that 5-time got demolished and will likely have a negative point total after penalties this week, but bad commentary is bad commentary no matter who the driver is. To further criticize the poor performance that FOX did, they proceeded later in the race to focus their cameras for several minutes on a car running 60+ laps down. Focusing on a car so far out of competition for as long as they did makes NASCAR look ridiculous to even casual NASCAR observers. But we all know why they did it. It’s because of who it was. Fortunately for us, when she was walking towards the john to go “potty” (this is NASCAR, you don’t go “potty in NASCAR!) they cut away from the shot before she actually went in. I think FOX also forgot what percentage of fans pull for Junior. Right after Mike Joy said that Junior was pushing for the lead, they cut away to commercial. Brilliant move there, FOX.

The final straw that broke the back of bad programming was the fact that FOX had promised earlier in the week to have side-by-side commercials for the final hour of the race so that we would not miss any action. We were down to 40 laps left when the red flag came out for the fire, but do you know what the first action we saw on the side-by-side coverage was? The crowd doing the WAVE. Yeah. Just what I had waited all off-season to see – a shot of the crowd when we should have been seeing racing action previous to that. And making that insult even worse was that we had hardly any commercials during the red flag, but when it finally got back to green, we got a commercial 2.5 laps later – and side-by-side was gone! It was a horriible broadcast from FOX. We are used to hearing DW go on and on about himself, and now we have it even worse with his brother on the broadcast talking about himself as well. But the way they failed on commercials at the end was totally unacceptable. You would think that after doing it for 11 years. “Boogity” has run its course. Adding “and Danica” to the end was just laughable. Digger should have been gone years ago. FOX could be doing better than that. We as NASCAR fans expect better, too, so please step it up.

Please remember our troops that are still overseas fighting for us. Follow us on Twitter @racefanonline. God bless and thanks for reading!

Darrell Waltrip can try to talk about how awesome it was all he wants, but relying on another car to team up with you to run together is not racing. I love ol’ DW, but he his cheese has slid off the cracker in this case. According to Robin Pemberton, NASCAR Vice President of Competition, more than 80% of fans objected to the spectacle of two-car tandems.

For the first time in a long time, I actually enjoyed a race on a superspeedway. Actually, I enjoyed it so much that I have gotten tickets to go to Talladega in May. The racing on Saturday night in the Bud Shootout and in the Gatorade Duels today was actually entertaining.

This year’s Daytona 500 is poised to return to its glory years as an edge-of-your-seat event, whether you’re at the track or in your living room. Will there be another young gun that gets vaulted to stardom like Trevor Bayne was last year? Michael McDowell is starting near the front. How about Stenhouse or Cassill? Will this be Tony Stewart’s year to get that elusive Daytona 500 win, reminiscent of Dale, Sr.? Speaking of Earnhardt’s, will Junior return to former glory as the King of Plate Racing? Who knows? But I will definitely be tuned in for all 200 laps to see it all, and not sleeping through most of it as I did last year.

What a difference a year makes. Yes, it is a worn out cliche’, but what else fits? This has been a miserable year for RFR compared to last, and they are going to have to make up some serious ground to gain on the likes of Hendrick Motorsports.

This year, the best that they could muster was a 7th place finish in the final standings by Greg Biffle. Before the season started, many so-called experts were saying that Carl Edwards was going to walk away with the Championship this year. This article isn’t about me, but I did say otherwise before the season started. I did not see Edwards having the same magic this year that he did last year. In no way am I saying that last year was a fluke because those guys are very talented. Its just that when the pressure was on, the 99 team choked. And there was a lot of pressure this year for them to step up and use that success as a springboard. The result was more like a bear trap that kept them down all year without a single win.

There are some changes that could be beneficial for 2010 for RFR. Because of the changes to NASCAR’s rules, they can only field four teams from now on. Jamie McMurray’s departure means that there are no heads on the chopping block nor big personnel decisions to make regarding drivers, but something has to change, regardless. Keep doing what you’re doing, keep getting what you’re getting.

Maybe the drop to four teams is just what they need this year to focus and get back tot he top of the speed charts. We fans can only speculate as to what effect it has to have to spread the wealth of information among five teams. Only three of those teams have shown the potential to win races over the last couple of years. Other than McMurray’s fluke win in Talladega, the 26 team has been winless since it moved over from being the 97 team. David Ragan has had a less-than-stellar career so far. Focusing the attention on one less team could be beneficial. Only time will tell.

The information sharing and teamwork that goes on at Hendrick Motorsports is well-documented and renowned. Are the Roush teams that open to each other? A couple of years ago, there was tension that spilled out to national TV when Carl Edwards acted like he wanted to punch Matt Kenseth. You don’t see that kind of activity among HMS drivers – even in jest.

One thing is certain – even apart from off-track drama, there is some serious catching up to do if Roush wants to return to having a shot at more than two drivers in the Chase and especially for a shot at a Championship. And Hendrick Motorsports has shown that they are a moving target. Four straight championships and finishing one-two-three in the season standings is no small feat – we may never see it again. You would also have to think that having Dale Earnhardt, Jr. way down in the standings is driving them crazy and they are going to focus attention on getting him better this off-season.

Roush Fenway Racing has their work cut out for them if they are going to return to the top of the racing world. Maybe some of the changes they have made will help. It will be interesting to see if “Cat In The Hat” – or anyone else, for that matter -  has what it takes to dethrone the Hendrick empire.

As always, please remember to pray for our troops fighting for our freedoms – especially this week. We have so much to be thankful for. God bless.

Even with three consecutive Cup Championships, Jimmie Johnson does not get the respect he is due. This weeks a NASCAR.com poll asked which driver had the nest chance to win the Cup of those that had multiple wins. Of the five choices, Johnson came in 4th in the voting. He was even behind Kasey Kahne in the voting.  That was a poll that people voted on out of emotion and wishes and not out of logic. I know that it is because most people despise him, but you cannot take away his accomplishments. And now he sits alone in the record books in an impressive category – the only driver to be in every Chase since its inception.

When Matt Kenseth failed to make the Chase field in Richmond last week, it set Johnson as the lone driver with that distinction. One would think that at this level and only six seasons into the Chase format, there would be three or four of the ‘top-tier’ drivers occupying that category with Johnson, but that is not the case. And it is yet another indication of just how strong that team is.

Johnson and crew chief, Chad Knaus, now have the longest driver/crew chief relationship in NASCAR. They have been together since they both moved up to Cup with a newly-formed 48 team in 2002. That first year together they finished 5th in the standings and followed that with finishes of second, second, and fifth before winning it three years in a row. Johnson has never finished worse than 5th in the standings.

Most NASCAR fans know these facts already and hate them. But love him or hate him, you can’t take away what he has done on the track. Regardless of what happens from this point forward, he will go down in history as one of the all-time greats of the sport.

As I wrote earlier this year, I was amazed at how many of the so-called experts were picking someone other than Johnson to win it all this year. One of their top choices – Kyle Busch – did not even make the Chase. The 48 team has remained mostly intact and has continued to overcome obstacles this year enroute to the record as the only team to make all the Chase fields. These last ten tracks are some of Johnson’s best on the circuit, and unless they stumble along the way, the Chase is his to lose again this year. Like I said in that earlier article, someone is going to have to pull a Jimmie Johnson to dethrone Johnson this year.

Regardless of whether he can pull off the unbelievable feat of four consecutive titles, it is still quite the accomplishment and a testimony of the resilience of that team to maintain the consistency that they have over the last seven years. And I believe that after the checkered flag falls at Homestead, Johnson will occupy another category all his own – that of winning four consecutive Cup titles.

Please remember to pray for our servicemen and women fighting around the world for us to have the right to enjoy our sport and the other many freedoms we enjoy. God bless you and thanks for reading.

Rumors have been circulating that there is an imminent crew chief swap coming at Hendrick Motorsports. Mark Martin’s win may have only delayed the inevitable; or perhaps there are other plans in the works that don’t include the 5 team.

We have heard Dale Earnhardt, Jr. tell the NASCAR world for years that Tony Eury, Jr. is his crew chief and that he is family and that comes first. We all understand the importance of family, but there comes a point when you are on one of the largest sports stages in the world when you have to decide if you want to be a champion or continue on the path you’re on. My daddy had an old saying that was a play on Einstein’s quote – “Keep doin’ what’cher doin’, keep gettin’ what’cher gettin’.”

I don’t mean to sound harsh, but here is a little fact on NASCAR history. Junior’s dad won 7 championships and not once during those championship years did he have a close relative on the pit box making the calls every week. I know, I know. Junior has been with the Eury’s for a long time, and they are close friends and relatives. But there was a little stat that I uncovered when researching the history of these guys that paints the whole picture and puts it all in perspective – Dale Earnhardt, Jr. has 18 career victories, and only two of those came with Tony Eury, Jr. on the pit box.

Listen, Tony Eury, Jr. is one of the most likeable guys you’ll ever see in an interview. I have never met him, so I cannot vouch for how he is personally, but he has a reputation as being just a good ol’ boy that knows a heck of a lot about cars and racing. I also think that the problem here is not with his abilities, but that the chemistry is just not there between those guys. Yes, they fuss at each other and try to motivate one another, but the stats don’t lie. It’s just not a successful racing relationship regardless of what it is off the track.

One also has to wonder how much more patience Rick Hendrick will have with the situation. He has known to be extremely patient while teams work out their nuances and problems. He was patient with Steve Letart and that has worked out after showing steady improvement the last couple of years. He even had to sit down and work out the differences with the two guys in the longest running driver/crew chief relationship in NASCAR – Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus. We have all heard heard of what a great manager and leader Rick Hendrick is, and he did not build his empire – in racing and in the business world – by not knowing how to deal with people and personalities. He knows what he’s doing and has the fat wallet to prove it. And you best believe that he will do what needs to be done. He wants 4 teams capable of winning week in and week out on the track, and that is just not the case right now.

So it all comes down to this – if Junior wants to take it to the next level and start contending for championships, something is going to have to give one way or another. Both of those guys can be successful in this sport and be among the best on the track in their perspective roles, I believe, but up to this point they have not been successful together. It is just as simple as them making a choice of whether to keep doin’ what they’ve been doin’, because we all know what that will get them.

Once again, please remember to pray for our troops around the world in harm’s way. And pray for our country in this tough time we are in. My stepdad just got laid off last week after 30 years with same company and numerous awards including 2006 company-wide Employee of the Year for a very large, nationally-known company, so that hit close to home for me. And most of all – bring on Talladega! Thanks for reading and God bless!