What Do Two 19-Year-Olds, Tony Stewart, Hendrick and ‘Crash Gate’ Have In Common?

…nothing other than they’re all in my weekend notes (lame I know).

Saturday was a good day to be 19. Well a good day to be 19 if you happened to drive in the Nationwide Series.

In his first career NASCAR appearance on Saturday, 19-year-old Parker Kligerman scored his first career pole. Then 19-year-old Joey Logano went on to win the race, battling his teammate Kyle Busch down to the wire.

Back to Kligerman though. The kid looked impressive. Starting next to veteran Kyle Busch, Kligerman was able to keep the lead for seven laps and even bested Busch on the start. The team battled some handling issues throughout the race, but Kligerman was able to finish a respectable 16th.

While I know Kligerman wasn’t happy with the finish, a pole and 16th place finish in his first ever major NASCAR event is not anything to sneeze at. Look for Kligerman back in the car at Homestead.

Oh and don’t forget Kligerman’s locked in a championship battle in the ARCA series with Justin Lofton. That wraps up this weekend at Rockingham.

Tony Stewart Back In Victory Lane

There were some that thought Jimmie Johnson would take his momentum from last week and begin his championship charge at Kansas. I thought there was a good chance.

In the interest of a compelling championship race though it was good to see Tony Stewart pull out the win.

There is now just more than 100 points separating first from seventh.

The Hendrick cars definitely look good as they have in years past but don’t count out the Penske, EGR or Gibbs cars. They’ve all been running very consistently and one win from any of them could change the tide.

I know a lot of you are critics of the Chase, but it makes the racing more exciting and the mistakes more devastating.

I’m looking very much forward to the coming weeks.

Nelson Piquet Jr.? In the Truck Series?

He wouldn’t be our first F1 convert; but he would be the first with a cloud over his head.

Soon after being released from his Renault team earlier this year, it came to light Piquet wrecked himself at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix so his teammate Fernando Alonso could win.

The scandal, better known as ‘crash-gate,’ has brought a ban and a suspension for two Renault F1 officials. Piquet won’t face any sanctions, but likely won’t be able to live down the stigma associated with the scandal.

I suppose he figures NASCAR fans haven’t caught wind of the firestorm. He may or may not be right.

Whatever the case SPEED is reporting Piquet will test in a Red Horse Racing truck on October 12th with “an eye towards a future in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series with in two years.”

It’ll be interesting to see how he performs.

Hendrick’s (Almost) Failed Inspection

Talk about a bad deal. Hendrick got busted for not breaking the rules?

While they passed post race inspection, the bodies on both the #5 and #48 were so close to being outside the tolerance they were warned by the sanctioning body not to cut it so close.

With the black helicopters circling above and the scent of the Carl Long affair still hanging in the air (remember this was a body not the motor), many loyal conspiracy theorists are coming out of the woodwork. Hendrick paid off NASCAR (I’m sure, I said sarcastically).

The fact is they didn’t break the rules, NASCAR sent it’s message and the crew chiefs were doing what they were supposed to. Working in those gray areas is what those guys get paid to do and if you’re not pushing it, you’re not doing your job.

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