It's the media beating a dead horse since the only other 2 "stories" (things they tried to make big deals Danica and JJ's 6th) have fallen flat. Danica can barely finish a race, and JJ an have a 2000 point lead going into Richmond, and then finish 43 at Chicago the next weekend and totally tank his chance at the championship.

Also I think the media is trying to turn this into the next big rivalry, like Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton cause you know after Texas a couple years ago those guys are still at each others throats.

Of course JJ wants to move on because this incident makes him look bad, like the "blown tire" at Phoenix last year. Sorry JJ ive never seen someone hit the wall halfway down the front stretch causing them to hit the wall. That one's on you. And your broken whatever at Homestead the next week? We all know that was you throwing a temper tantrum after getting caught with a bad pit stop. You overreved the engine and broke something, the only bad part what sitting in the seat!

In this day and age sponsors are key, and if a driver can bring their own sponsor that's a package deal few owners can afford to refuse, especially when you are running multiple cars with many races of blank spaces for each car. Few owners have the resources or clout to have a sponsor funnel money into a Cup program even though they aren't/can't be on the car (think Penske and Verison). John Wes Townley and Paul Menard are both drivers who will probably always have a ride because they will always have a sponsor behind them. Townley's biggest claim to Cup fame is stepping out of the car after qualifying at Pocono because he wasn't ready to race there, and Menard has a single win in his 10 year career.

I would take Newman along with everyone else.

While I agree Danica has been overhyped since day one, I present this question to everyone: Removing the media hype if Danica Patrick were a typical rookie driver would you be disappointed with her career since joining NASCAR? Heck you can even include her Indy career.

Part of pulling stunts like that is the prerogative of being the leader. Maybe JJ was so used restarts on the inside as leader he had a "senior" moment and forgot he wasn't!

My suggestion: Have the race on the TV, muted, and listen to the MRN/PRN broadcast either on the radio or through the internet. I have been doing this since about halfway through last year and it is great. I am spared the stupidity of the announcers, and the radio broadcast actually talks about the racing going on in the field not just the leader clicking off laps. And the fun thing is on the internet MRN's broadcast is about 5-10 seconds ahead of the TV, so you can hear about the wreck, blown engine, etc., then look up and watch it on TV. Plus the announcers on radio are unbiased so there is little talk of Danica, how Toyodas are superior cars, or one of the men in the booth openly rooting for certain drivers in the field.

I used to think Fox had the superior announce crew when Fox first got the NASCAR contract, but now its just laughable with DW sounding like an idiot half the time, Hammond wondering the track, the Hollywood Hotel segments being mostly pointless, and the overall broadcast not covering what is happening on the track, like not interrupting the Oh-So-Important Mid-Race Report to cover the wreck they are showing on the split screen.

How many times has JJ pulled the same thing on other drivers?

Looking at the replay he took off right as the cars crossed into the restart box. It could be argued that he took off just before the line, but I am giving him the benefit of the doubt because he was on the inside lane. The leader has until exiting the box to restart the race, otherwise it is up to the flagman to do it. JJ jumped the start, and as Montoya I would have hung back hoping NASCAR would call the 48 on it as well. But that is the benefit of being the leader of the race.

JJ has done this moved to many a driver and gotten a good jump because those drivers tend to give the position back before the line.

When was the last time the "Regular Season" points leader has won the Championship?

NASCAR is still one of the few (and possibly only) major sports group in the country who doesn't post their rulebook online. NFL, NBA, MLB, you can find all their rulebooks online, it might take a little digging but they are there, and for being known as a "fan accessible" and "if you bring a car you can race it" NASCAR used to be known for this to me is a travesty. Sure you can sit there and quote the rules drivers, teams, and whomever break, but to fans it's all numbers and letters.

Sure a violation of 12-A is Actions Detrimental to Stock Car Racing, but what in the rulebook does that mean? Of course it's just NASCAR playing by NASCAR's rules and with no solid rulebook, at least for the fans to see and complain about, they can do whatever they want.

Sadly as fans there is very little we can do to change the course of the sport. Not watching the race either at the track or on TV apparently isn't working because Brian seems to think every track is having "Dress as You Favorite Bleacher Day" at the races. And while he might not be happy NASCAR isn't putting up NFL ratings anymore there seems to be very little on NASCAR's part to change the status quo, going so far at to change the rules back to status quo when the drivers figured out how to go faster, and make the racing more exciting, at the plate races! All while blaming the change on the the fans. Thanks Brian you're "#1"!

Come on UBP, you know how transparent NASCAR is with everything. They are as transparent as coal (and no I don't mean those little expensive coal pieces either)! It's right there in the rulebook I found online, once you get past all the crayon colored pictures, coffee stains, and dollar signs it is very complete and concise....all 2 lines of it.

I would argue there were times Jeff did run aggressively and was a menace, mainly at restrictor plate tracks. I would even call it hypocritical of him praising NASCAR for instituting the double yellow lines at those track because o the idiots (my term not his) who would drive guys down into the grass to make a pass. I seem to recall he did that a lot to drivers in his early career. But now that he has "matured" as a driver, or isn't willing to take those risks the move is dangerous and wrong.

When someone brings up a consecutive record like this whether it be for attendance for a job, school, or sporting event (that might go under jobs) I have to wonder how many times was that person there when he or she shouldn't have been.

Last year Dale Jr ran a couple of races with a concussion, before a second one put him out of the car a couple of weeks. Ricky Rudd ran the Daytona 500 with his eyes taped open. Davey Allison ran most of the 1992 season with something or another broke or injured. Denny Hamlin is racing with a broken back that may or may not need surgery. Yeah consecutive starts sound nice, but how much danger are those driver putting themselves and other in because they just want to race?

I think the series would survive. They ran for years with few Cup drivers involved. You might get 1 or 2 but they weren't there for every race. I think NW should go back to its roots, the short tracks. Bring back South Boston, North Wilksboro, and Hickory. Give the series its own identity and not just Cup-lite.

And do the same with the Trucks. Put them on more short tracks and bring back the halfway break. That break is what made the series exciting and economical. It leveled the playing field and many a dominant truck before the break would not be so dominnt after the break because it let everyone catch up.

I look at it this way, Khane has a reason to complain because if the roles were reversed and he had put KyB in the wall in the same way you know the #18 driver would be crying a river. Most drivers with a car as dominate as the 18 would have let the 5 make the pass wait a couple laps then pass him back. But it's all water under the bridge now.

I'm not sure if he would bring his own sponsor with him or not. His entire Cup career he has had 1 major sponsor - Target - which is more a Ganassi sponsor than a Montoya sponsor. Granted I don't know what other endorsements he has backing him up, but as a new sponsor coming into the sport looking at Montoya's accomplishments in the past couple of years there is not much there to justify a big investment I think. Yes his overall career has great accomplishments, but in this ADHD world who cares what happened 10+ years ago. in professional sports that might as well have been the Dark Ages.

Ok I know he is young for retirement, but if he enters free agency with no one interested, which could be a possibility considering how few seats there are, he might be forced to do it. But I will add that I did not think of Le Mans or other racing series beyond Cup, NW, and Indy when I made the retirement being the best option comment.

I have to wonder if he would do well on another team. Like you said "two out of three ain't bad", which we have seen a lot of from the big teams, there is always the odd man out. The past 2 seasons it has been Jeff Gordon at Hendrick, it was Lagano at Gibbs, it has been Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle at Roush recently, a couple years ago it was Jr at Hendrick. All big teams have that one team every year that just spins its wheels it seems. And at this point in his career I have a feeling Montoya would be "That Guy" on any team he joins.

Unless Ganassi is happy loosing money. I am no business expert, but I know losses for a business mean a tax break. So while Ganassi is winning championships in Indy, and making big profit there, he might need a way to "hide" that money, or at least soften the tax blow.

I have to also think the Target sponsorship is base more from the extra decals Ganassi has from his Indy teams rather than anything his Cup teams have been doing. He must have them locked up in a pretty tight long term contract, because I'm surprised at Target's loyalty to Chip in the Cup series otherwise.

But I guess it is no different from Penske's deal with Verison, Verison's name was on Penske's Indy and NW cars, but there was money from them being funneled into the Cup team. Although that was mostly NASCAR/Sprint's doing with their "exclusive sponsor" deal.

Different model cars, yes, but the Cup Gen 6 car is based off some of the lessons learned from the NW cars. This is similar to how the NW car is based off lessons learned from the CoT, like make the cars look more like their street based counter parts. Beyond that the cars are pretty much identical, which is why they tend to race the same. And since in theory the fans who watch Cup also watch NW then those fans should be complaining about the quality of the 2-car draft in NW as they did for Cup, yet there is nothing. I guess it is just that consistency NASCAR is famous for.

While I have no problem with Regan Smith winning the race, it wasn't quite the perfect move. He was beaten to the line by Khane in the 5, but that was negated by the field being frozen for the caution. Splitting hairs I know, but he got lucky with the win.

On a side note: What was NASCAR thinking with that final caution in the NW race? They either should have thrown it when the 20 got sideways or let the race finish under green all the way to the line. More fun inconstancy from NASCAR....

I only caught the final hour or so of the NW race, but it was great racing. Funny how the two car draft make such horrible racing that it's not "what the fans expect at restrictor plate races" that it is eliminated from Cup yet allowed to continue in NW. If it isn't good enough for Cup then why should it be good enough for NW?

Good to see one of the Little Guys in Cup pull off an impressive finish, too bad we can't get that at a real track. Some may feel bad for Kenseth, but it happens, especially at the plate tracks. If anything this whole move to JGR has completely flip-flopped Keneth's attitude, running well at the start of the race but end up fading at the end.

The engine problems after a rain delay is a semi-regular occurrence. While JPM had more issues that most other drivers it is a concern for the engine builders.

The other thing you missed is that he needs NASCAR on his side like they are with a certain team in the series. You know like when you come down pit road 3 wide, pull ahead of those 2 competitors, but only they are caught speeding...

We know Ganassi is capable of creating championship level teams, look at what he has accomplished in Indy Car. I agree with LittleE that if they want to win races and championships EGR has to make some major changes to their system.

I think Montoya's best option is to walk away from the #42 when his contract is up. If/when he does I don't think he will be able to get a Cup ride right away, and may need to drop down to the Nationwide series to rehabilitate his career (that seems to be working for guys like Elliott Sadler, Sam Hornish, and Regan Smith) before coming back to Cup. His other options as I see them are to try the open-wheel circuit again which might not be feasible either with Indy's sponsor issues, or to just retire.

Personally I think retirement might be his best option. I have said before, and just now, Cup has made him damaged goods, and with his age there are few teams who would be interested in him. Bow out now with dignity before he ends up a Start and Park joke.

I have a feeling Toyoda will cover the financial penalties, especially since they have taken full responsibility for the issue, but there is nothing they can do about the point losses or the suspension as far as we know. I look for across the board appeals (Kenseth's CC Jason Radcliff has already started his) and then it is up in the air what happens from there.