CBSSports.com's Brian De Los Santos and Pete Pistone provide analysis on three weekly racing topics.
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| Pete Pistone | Brian De Los Santos |
| Mark Martin is moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2009 for one last shot at winning a championship. Can he do it or is he too far past his prime? |
 He can definitely do it as a driver. Martin has a lot left in his tank and really, he doesn't hit age 50 until next year and we've seen others have success while near their Golden birthdays. However the question is whether the No. 5 team at Hendrick can challenge for a title. It always seems one of the four Hendrick teams suffers and the 5 team has been the candidate this year. I don't think Casey Mears was the only reason that team has been so disappointing this season and whether or not they can turn it around in 2009 and give Martin one last shot at a title is a big if in my book. | I wouldn't make him a championship favorite, but I could definitely see him in the mix in 2009. He's still more talented than 75% of the drivers circling the track each weekend. Martin has six top 10s in 13 starts this season. The remainder of his DEI teammates (Martin Truex Jr., Aric Almirola, Paul Menard and Regan Smith) have a combined six top 10s in 58 starts. Who can blame Martin for not passing up a shot to see what he can do in Hendrick equipment? I figure the 5 team will be very much improved with Martin behind the wheel -- and should, at the very least, challenge for a spot in the Chase. Consistency will be his forte, I can see him racking up a lot of top 10s next season. |
| Plaid asks: Randy Moss has bought into an existing Craftsman Truck Series team. I would like to think it's a good thing, but can he make a difference in the diversity of the sport, and can he bring in new sponsors? |
 NASCAR sure hopes so but given the list of former professional athletes who have tried their hand at owning a NASCAR race team and then succeeding, the odds of Moss bucking the trend are stacked against him. It would be great for the diversity of the sport to have more minority owners, crew members, drivers and officials and having a high-profile owner like Moss is a good thing for NASCAR. However, it's a tough road to attract sponsors in this economy -- especially in the Truck Series which doesn't get anywhere near the exposure of its big brothers over in the Nationwide and Cup Series. | Moss has a true love of racing that most of the other stick and ball sport athletes who entered NASCAR didn't, but I'm skeptical how long he'll keep his interest in ownership once the bills start coming in. These are trying economic times in NASCAR. He is doing the smart thing by starting small, buying into an already established Truck Series team rather than jumping into the deep end with a Sprint Cup team. Taking that direction, I'm hopeful that this is more than just a whim for him. His impact on diversity is less clear. Having Moss as an owner alone won't change the landscape. It's what he does in his role as an owner and whether he sticks it out and enjoys some success that will ultimately make a difference. But it'll be two or three years down the road before we see whether it bears fruit or not. |
| snake0968 asks: Why doesn't NASCAR enforce wreckless driving rules already on the books such as Carl Edwards' ridiculous takeout of Jeff Gordon this past week? Was that not a black flag violation? |
 I think NASCAR should have not only black-flagged Edwards for that what turned out to be last-lap bump and run, but also thrown the caution flag while Gordon sat there on the apron. Once again the inconsistency issue plagues NASCAR in situations like these and hurts the sport's credibility. I'm actually surprised Gordon was as calm as he was about the knockout blow delivered by Edwards, which in my mind was just cause for disqualifying the No. 99 from its second-place finish. | I didn't see any intent on Edwards' part to take out Gordon. There were two laps to go and he was racing to win. It looked to be just as much Gordon's fault as it was Edwards'. Could Edwards have hit his brakes? Sure, but he'd either have lost a ton of positions himself or caused a chain reaction crash behind him. NASCAR usually reserves the penalty for aggressive driving for when a driver has caused multiple accidents or for "payback" wrecks. In the situation at Daytona, I can't see any reason for penalizing Edwards considering everything that had happened in the previous 20 laps. The drivers were running into each other all night. It's just a product of restrictor-plate racing and a bumpy, slippery track. |
| BONUS. Tony Stewart is the defending event champion at Chicagoland. Is this the week he finally breaks back into the win column? |
| No. Kyle Busch has a stranglehold on all the luck at Joe Gibbs Racing this year and I expect the 18 car to once again rule in the Windy City. Smoke is now in a lame duck role with that No. 20 team because all indications are his new team and partnership with CNC-Haas will be announced at the race after Chicago in Indianapolis. With 18 races remaining this season, expect a very uncomfortable situation at JGR to grow. | I guess it depends whether he gets the good meds from his doctor this week. Chicagoland has been a great track for him over the years. In addition to last season's win, he also won at Chicagoland in 2004. He has five top fives in seven trips to the track. This could be a get-well track for Jimmie Johnson and Gordon as well. Johnson has five finishes of sixth or better in his six visits to Chicagoland, while Gordon has one win and four top fives in seven races. |
| Previous Feud of the Weeks: July 1 | June 24 | June 17 | June 10 | May 27 | May 13 | May 6 | April 29 | April 23 |
