NCAA Top 25 - Week 4

The SEC continues to be more unimpressive than impressive. Numbers 4, 5, and 6 all fall and 7 should have too. Boise State is smelling their chance. Who deserves to be ranked anymore?

1. Florida - Tebow looked good with his flu-like symptoms until the concussion. Lucky for Gators they get an extra week for his recovery.
2. Texas - Trying to prove a point after the struggle with Tech last week.
3. Alabama - They finally proved to me they deserve this ranking.
4. LSU - Watch these guys make it 5 weeks in a row a top-5 team falls.
5. Boise State - They really need to increase the difficulty of their schedule. When the BCS rankings come out in a few weeks, watch Boise be 3-5 spots lower than their AP & Coaches poll rankings.
6. VaTech - I predicted they'd be trashed by Miami. They were a completely different team than the one that almost lost to Nebraska...or is Nebraska that good?
7. Ohio State - So the defense is good...I could go for some more offense.
8. TCU - Clemson on the road was a real test, and these guys are for real.
9. USC - I didn't see this game, but the box score tells me they shut it down after the 1st.
10. Oklahoma - Bye weeks mean you don't get to move up THAT much.
11. Georgia
12. Kansas
13. Cincinnati
14. Houston
15. Iowa
16. Missouri
17. Michigan
18. Oregon
19. Oklahoma State
20. Penn State
21. Miami
22. South Florida
23. Nebraska
24. Georgia Tech
25. South Carolina

NCAA Top 25 - Week 3

Sad to see Nerbaska lose...even worse was how it happened. Lots of teams near the top go down, and Florida State bounces back?

1. Florida - Gators can't claim they destroyed everyone this year...nice try Vols.
2. Texas - Survived the scare of repeating last year's loss to Crabtree, er, Texas Tech.
3. Alabama - Fine, you can have 3rd place.
4. Penn State - I wanted to jump them to 3, but they haven't played anyone yet.
5. Cal - Got a little dicey vs. the Gophers, but Best was best and got it done.
6. Ole Miss - [snore] I guess Sneed played well...I wasn't watching.
7. LSU - Almost every SEC team on here is worse than their ranking, but I stick to my rules.
8. Boise State - Friday night shootout and the Broncos keep rolling.
9. Virginia Tech - F&%$-ing Hokies
10. Ohio State - I know you're thinking, "but USC already beat them"....but OSU's loss is to a legitimate team and USC's isn't.
11. Oklahoma
12. TCU
13. USC
14. North Carolina
15. Georgia
16. Kansas
17. Cincinnati
18. Miami
19. Houston
20. Oklahoma State
21. Missouri
22. Michigan
23. Oregon
24. Florida State
25. Nebraska

NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup - 2009

Last week's regular season finale at Richmond provided plenty of action. The stage is set for what I expect will be the most hotly contested Chase for the Cup in years.

The race began with only 4 drivers locked into the Chase by points earned in the first 25 races. Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, and Denny Hamlin had performed well enough to guarantee a chance at the title, no matter how they finished. The other 8 playoff spots were up for grabs with 11 drivers vying for those roles. Actually, David Reutimann was practically eliminated by the race's start anyway. He basically would have needed a win and with the next 3 drivers ahead of him all finishing near the back to qualify - very unlikely. I'll save you the drama...he didn't win and the guys in front all raced better than him anyway. The real drama centered around 3 drivers tyring to lock up the final spot.

Matt Kenseth - Kenseth has qualified for the Chase every year since it's inception in 2004 (Jimmie Johnson is the only other driver to do this). He started the year with back to back wins at Daytona and California and saw reasonable success over the first half of the year. In the most recent weeks leading up to Richmond, Kenseth and his team were really struggling and falling each week in the overall points race. Before the race, Kenseth was even quoted as saying, "If we don't make the Chase, I'll be disappointed...but I won't be surprised" seemingly foreshadowing his own fate. He entered the race with a 20-point lead over 13th place Brian Vickers.

Brian Vickers - Prior to the 2009 season, Vickers's only win came in controversial fashion at Talladega Superspeedway in 2006. (If you read my article about this season's Spring Talladega race, you will see that it basically takes patience and luck to win there.) Vickers had a consistent season, often running in the top 5 and finishing an average of 15th. He's also been the fastest in qualifying 6 times, leading all drivers this year. He won just his second career race at the Sprint Cup level this year by appropriately beating the rest of the field in a fuel-mileage race at Michigan International Speedway (Vickers drives a Toyota and Michigan is often referred to as the big 3 auto-makers backyard). Hopes were high, but cautious, at Richmond because Vickers is not necessarily known for his short-track skills, and Richmond measure only .75 miles around.

Kyle Busch - Trailing Brian Vickers by 17 points and Matt Kenseth by 37, Kyle would need to beat Vickers by 4 or more spots and Kenseth by about 13 spots to earn his place in NASCAR's playoff. If everything fell into place, Busch would then get a boosted to a tie for 1st place with Mark Martin, as each has won 4 races this season (regular season victories counts as 10 bonus points to start the Chase). Something else working in Kyle's favor was the memory of the Spring Richmond race 4 months ago which he won.

No need for specifics, so here's a fast rundown of the 400 laps last Saturday night. Kenseth started near the back of the pack after a poor qualifying effort. He spent most of the race around 25th-30th, all but sealing his fate. His last-ditch effort was to stay on the track when caution flew with 25 laps to go. He was one lap down, and visiting pit road would guarantee him no better than 28 place...he finished 25th instead. The door was wide open for Kyle and Brian, and they provided some great action.

At various points throughout the night, Busch and Vickers swapped spots for the final place in the playoffs. During that last caution, Kyle left pit road a few spots ahead of Brian. But as the final laps ticked away, Busch crossed 6th and Vickers 8th, allowing Brian to hold onto an 8 point lead and a shot at the title.

The other big story of the night was hometown hero Denny Hamlin. Hamlin is from Chesterfield, Virginia which is about 30 minutes Southwest of Richmond. In a half-dozen previous races at Richmond International Raceway, Denny had seen successful runs falter in the final laps. This weekend he was able to put together a complete performance, earning his 2nd win of the season and an additional 10 bonus points to his Chase effort.

What's to come:
Tomorrow (probably "today" by the time I finalize this post) is race 1 of the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup. The race will be run at the flat, 1-mile oval known as New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson looks to continue his amazing playoff performance by going for a record-breaking 4th straight Sprint Cup Championship. The most impressive drivers during the regular season in '09 all drive Hendrik Motorsports (think New York Yankees) engines in their Chevrolets...a recurring theme for a sport that is supposed to have an even playing field. One of these 4 contenders (Stewart, Gordon, Johnson, and Martin) probably accounts for 99% of experts' picks to win it all. Though I can't disagree, I'm hoping for more parity than is expected.

So if you are a sometimes watcher of NASCAR, Sunday is a good time to tune in. I know the football season is young and exciting, but for the local Bears fans that might be reading this, I promise you will find more surprises and entertainment here than the Steelers blowout looming on the horizon. In the past few seasons, a driver that quietly made the playoffs usually asserts himself early in the Chase.

Last year Greg Biffle immediately moved from 8th to 2nd (and only 10 points out of first) by winning the first 2 Chase races at New Hampshire and Dover. These were Biffle's first two wins of the year. Tomorrow, Juan Pablo Montoya looks to follow suit as he won no races during the regular season and currently sits tied for 9th in Chase points. Montoya won the poll in qualifying Friday afternoon and also had the fastest lap in final practice today.

Current Standings:
1 - Mark Martin - 5040 (4 wins)
2 - Tony Stewart & Jimmie Johnson - 5030 (3 wins each)
4 - Denny Hamlin & Kasey Kahne - 5020 (2 wins each)
6 - Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers - 5010 (1 win each)
9 - Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Newman - 5000

Though it's far too early to make any quality guesses, I will still throw out mine below. I swear NASCAR is a sport you can really get behind, and I hope some of you skeptics will give it a chance.

Likely Winner Based on Recent History - Jimmie Johnson - #48 Lowes Chevrolet
Likely Winner Based on Season Performance - Tony Stewart - #14 Office Depot Chevrolet
Fan-Favorite (and my pick) - Mark Martin - #5 Kellogs Chevrolet
Sleeper Pick to Watch Out For - Carl Edwards - #99 Aflac Ford

Gentlemen, start your engines!

NCAA Top 25 - Week 2

This week, the Big XII took some shots, and other than Florida, the SEC looked soft again too. Perhaps USC or a Big Ten team makes it to the title?

1. Florida - Tebow must continue his college legacy, cuz he won't have a pro legacy.
2. Texas - Trailed Wyoming long enough for Colt McCoy to pull his head out.
3. USC - Happy to see Ohio State played well, but this team is loaded with talent.
4. Alabama - Struggled for a bit vs. FIU...FIU? Come on Tide, man up.
5. Penn State - JoePa jumps into the top 5.
6. Cal - Big win over nobody. Stay healthy for the USC game.
7. Ole Miss - Don't like to bump teams on the bye week, but Okie State gave a gift.
8. LSU - Another sloppy win...please lose already.
9. Boise State - Looked much better on offense this week.
10. Virginia Tech - A win vs. Nebraska next week will justify this ranking.
11. Ohio State
12. BYU
13. Oklahoma
14. TCU
15. Georgia Tech
16. Utah
17. North Carolina
18. Georgia
19. Nebraska
20. Kansas
21. Cincinnati
22. Houston
23. Oklahoma State
24. Missouri
25. Oregon

NCAA Top 25 - Week 1

I will weekly post my Top 25 for College Football. The "rules" for my top 25 don't follow the standard format. I didn't do a preseason poll because, simply, I don't know enough about the teams until later in the season. For the first few weeks you will see my similarly mimic the major polls, but at the end of the season, I show no bias for "quality teams with quality wins in quality conferences." If you are Boise State and you are 12-0, chances are you will be in my top 3 and possibly in my BCS Title Game. Without further delay, here they are:

1. Florida - Defending champs won't lose this spot unless they lose.
2. Texas - With or without Oklahoma's loss, they'll play Florida in Pasedena.
3. USC - Always worthy of a top 5 this early.
4. Ohio State - Makes this weekend's matchup more interesting I'd say.
5. Alabama - Not sold on them. I like Saban, but these guys find a way to lose.
6. Penn State - PSU returns to glory...soon to be Top 5!
7. Oklahoma State - This year's Texas Tech?
8. Ole Miss - Make me think the SEC might be overrated.
9. Cal - Soft schedule may bite them in polls...may equal Rose Bowl in mine.
10. LSU - Sloppy win, but recent success and talent on the team justifies this spot.
(The rest are based off pre-season rankings and week 1 results...not subjectivity)
11. Boise State
12. Virginia Tech
13. BYU
14. Oklahoma
15. Georgian Tech
16. TCU
17. Utah
18. North Carolina
19. Georgia
20. Notre Dame
21. Nebraska
22. Kansas
23. Missouri
24. Oregon
25. Miami (FL)

NFL 2009 Season Predictions

'tis the season to be blogging...

For many months, we have neglected the blog. True, our dear Anderson "Cooper" Adams did just post something 2 weeks ago, but that was the first in 3 months. Right now is a season of change: MLB has it's trade deadline; NASCAR is approaching the Chase (their version of the playoffs); Fantasy Football leagues are forming and drafts are being scheduled; for me and Coop, an address change is on the horizon as well.

I follow sports maybe 20% more than the average sports fan overall, but a big chunk of that is covered by sports that are not so gripping in the Chicago area, and in some cases, America as a whole. So today, you get a dose of sports you might otherwise not know or care about.

Tour de Lance - Despite his best effort and the hopes of a Cinderella story across the pond, Lance will finish up bicycle's #1 event in not-first for the first time in his last 8 tries. Since Lance's last win in 2005, we had an American win (Floyd Landis) who appeared to be ready to carry on the Lance tradition for a few more years. Instead he became the first winner to ever be stripped of his yellow jersey. This awarded the win to 2nd place finisher Oscar Pereiro, and set of a run of Spaniards claiming the title...a streak that will continue this year, just a few hours after I finish posting this blog. Pereiro is not now, and was not then considered a top contender for the win. He was involved in a breakaway that stretched too far one day, and the main field gave up too much time to recover in the final days...enough to retain what would have been a 2nd-place finish. Pereiro got the win, but not the respect of a winner.

In 2007, Alberto Contador raced for American sponsored Team Discovery. In cycling, specifically stage-racing like the Tour de France, teams are composed of 9 riders, each playing varying roles. (Come to think of it, the similarities to baseball go beyond the 9-man team, but I'll talk more about that later.) Typically each team has a sprinter racing for the green jersey, a climber racing for the polka-dot jersey, a young rider chasing the white jersey, a general classification rider vying for the yellow jersey as best overall time, and the remaining racers playing varying support roles. Contador was Discovery's young rider competing for the white jersey; American Levi Leipheimer was the team's yellow jersey hopeful. However, once they hit the big mountains, Contador proved he could not only stay with the leaders, but accelerate away from them at any moment. Although more riders were probably dismissed and suspended for illegal activities in 2007 than all other years combined, Contador showed me he would be a contender for years to come...not just a fluke winner like Pereiro the year before. He won convincingly, and he had the respect of the other riders.

One team in particular that was ravaged by cheating in the 2007 TDF was Team Astana. Following their expulsion halfway through the '07 Tour, nearly all the riders and trainers were fired in the offseason. Astana then went out and signed both Contador and Leipheimer since Discovery opted not to sponsor a team for '08. Despite the Astana facelift, Tour organizers prohibited them from entering the race in 2008. Therefore, Contador didn't have the opportunity to defend his title. While being kept out of last year's race, Contador instead went on to win the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, cycling's other two Grand Tours. He became only the 6th rider to win all 3, and the youngest to do so by far. Carlos Sastre went on to win the 2008 Tour de France as the 3rd different Spaniard in a row...then Lance came out of retirement, and that pretty much brings us to the start of the '09 Tour de France.

Contador was the major favorite headed into this year's July race in France, and Lance was the ultimate wild card, racing for the same team (Astana) as Contador and Leipheimer. Rather than take you stage by stage, all you need to know is Lance kept it close until the final week or so of the race, even being tied for the lead for a few days early in the Tour. Contador finally claimed yellow one week ago after winning a major mountain stage by a significant margin, and then proceeding to win the individual time trial a few days later. He now holds a 4+ minute advantage over 2nd place, and about 5 and a half minutes over 3rd-place Lance with only tomorrow's "parade" stage to go. Unless Contador falls and breaks something, he will have won his 2nd TDF in as many tries, and he's only 26. Maybe he won't win 5 or 6 more in a row like Armstrong accomplished, but he will probably finish with at least as many wins as Lance, if not more.

The best thing to look forward to in next year's race is that Lance has already announced his return (unlike some star athletes that drag the retirement decision out over months and months of speculation), and he'll be riding for an America sponsor again. Will he beat Contador? Almost certainly not, but his odds a 9th straight podium finish look pretty good.

I could go on about Lance's near-death battle with cancer which became a global campaign known as LiveStrong, and Lance's dual purpose for this year's race, but that story is old. If you want to know more, there are probably a dozen best-selling books on Lance's fight with cancer.

I could write about Armstong's recent womanizing ways, but that is better suited for gossip magazines. Besides, it would diminish the pride and glory he brings to Americans watching his nearly impossible feat this year.

I used to think that Lance was another performance enhancer. For all those that have been caught, how could he have possibly won seven years in a row without cheating somewhere along the way? This is probably the first 100% clean Tour in years and year, and after the show he put on at 37, suddenly I'm not so sure he ever did cheat. Go Lance, go!

(Come back tomorrow for a NASCAR update)

-ODB

GMs compete for Title

Yesterday two trades occurred in an apparent attempt for the respective General Managers to claim the title "Worst GM in Major League Baseball."

The first trade took place mid-afternoon. The Royals, realizing they have been playing the majority of the season without a shortstop, traded their 2008 Minor League Pitcher of the year (Daniel Cortes) and a 21 year old left-handed reliever in A ball. Now, neither of these guys looks to be much more than a situational relief pitcher in the bigs, but considering what they got in return makes this seem like a coup for Seattle.

In return, Seattle gladly gives them Yuniesky Betancourt who is not only the worst defensive shortstop in baseball but has a career OBP of .302 and a career slugging of .393. The fact that he's 27 and has continually gotten worse makes this trade stink even more. I hope Dayton Moore realizes he still needs a shortstop.

Not to be outdone, a few hours later Omar Minaya and Frank Wren agreed on a challenge trade that probably caused Frank Wren to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Jeff Francouer and cash go to the Mets for Ryan Church (can you believe Francoeur actually makes MORE than Church?). What makes this trade especially sweet from the Braves perspective is that not only to the Braves get an improvement but they make the Mets worse at the same time! If the deal itself isn't enough to fire Minaya, here's a quote, "One thing I really liked about Jeff Francoeur is the amount of games he plays." Wow.

Although these guys think it's an easy win for the Mets, these guys are left with their mouths open.

So who gets the crown?

5 Winners

The NFL draft is finally over!  I don't believe in giving grades because it takes three years to evaluate a team's draft but I do think there were some clear winners and losers.  Here's a few teams whose drafts stood out above the others in a good way. Click on the team links to see who they selected.

Winners

Cincinnati Bengals- The Bengals first four players should start right away.  Charles Johnson reminds me of Julius Peppers and could be a steal if he decides to play hard on more than 50% of the downs.  Chase Coffman is a viable offensive threat which hopefully will be utilized by Carson Palmer (considering he's never had a TE who could catch, I hope he is not confused).  The only pick I question is 6th round pick Bernard Scott who has been arrested 5 times in four years.  He should fit right in.

Buffalo Bills - Buffalo decided not to reach for a tackle with the #11 pick instead choosing the best pure pass rusher available in Aaron Maybin.  They also selected two interior linemen who should step in right away to improve one of the league's worst lines at run blocking.  Fourth round pick Shawn Nelson is being declared the steal of the draft and 6th round pick Corey Harris could end up being a solid starter.  Any time you get a starter in the 6th round you had a good draft.  Their last pick of the day made little sense to me though.

Seattle Seahawks - Seattle passed on taking Matt Hasselbeck's replacement.  Normally  a decision like this should be questioned but Seattle probably took the best player in the draft in LB Aaron Curry.  Second round pick Max Unger will step in and start a center right away also.  Deon Butler is the new Bobby Engram and Courtney Greene will be a stud on special teams as a worst case scenario.  Taking QB Mike Teel in the 6th was just silly.  Seattle will make the playoffs this year.

Houston Texans - Brian Cushing will be the team's main pass rusher off the end beginning on day 1.  This move should should help EVERYONE on the defense.  Connor Barwin is a DE who can also line up at TE.  James Casey is already better than Owen Daniels in my mind and could be an immediate offensive threat.  I think Houston had a great draft.

Green Bay Packers - I'm not sold on Clay Matthews being a solid NFL linebacker but with GB moving from a 4-3 to a 3-4 he can play next to AJ Hawk which should help hide each of their weaknesses.  BJ Raji was an absolute steal at #9.  TJ Lang was a nice pick for a team with an aging O-line and John Meredith could develop into a solid guard.  I think Green Bay's overall draft hinges on the success of Matthews but right now it looks like one of the best.

Talladega Afternoons, where cars take flight...

IF YOU DIDN'T SEE ANY RACE HI-LIGHTS OR DON'T CARE ABOUT NASCAR, THIS HEADLINE MIGHT GET YOU TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE: Carl Edwards was leading the race, got spun out and caught air at 200 mph with 100 yards to the finish. He climbed out of his flaming, destroyed Claritin Ford Fusion and jogged to the finish line, a la Ricky Bobby.

(photo courtesy of usatoday.com)

This being my first post on SportsTemps...I better act like I know what I'm talking about. If you only watch one NASCAR race in your entire life, this was the race to watch.



A few things you need to know first:

• The NASCAR race season is comprised of 36 points-races, plus a few other races that don't count in the overall standings.


• This weekend's race at Talladega Superspeedway was the 9th of the season.


• Talladega is a restrictor-plate track, meaning a special plate is put over the engine's carburetor to restrict the air/fuel intake and limit overall horsepower and speed of the cars.

Talladega and Daytona are the only restrictor-plate tracks in the NASCAR circuit. These tracks are huge (2.66 and 2.5 miles per lap, respectively) with extremely steep banking through the turns, and allowing a car to run without a restricted engine would result in speeds of well over 210 miles per hour. Since the tragic death of Dale Earnhardt at Daytona Superspeedway in the 2001 Daytona 500, NASCAR has come up with many safety innovations to help protect the fans and drivers. However, the restrictor-plate was made mandatory at these two tracks a few years earlier in 1998.

The fastest official qualifying lap at Talladega had an average speed of just over 212 miles per hour by Bill Elliot in 1987. The fastest speed ever recorded on that track was a test-run without a restrictor-plate by retired NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace in 2004. He reached 228 at one point on the back straightaway and ran an average of 221 mph for the full lap.

The restrictor-plate now allows cars to top out around 190 in their qualifying laps. Once multiple cars get together in a group, they can push or "bump-draft" each other to get up to speeds in the 199-201 range. Though still dangerous, this apparently keeps the engineers and physicists happy as cars shouldn't be able to catch any real air when crashing at these speeds.

Restrictor plates also have a huge down-side. Cars grouped together drive faster than a lone car on a breakaway. Much like the peloton in the Tour de France, breakaways are quickly caught as the group cuts through the wind resistance better and sucks the leaders back in. Drivers never touch the brake pedal and spend more time looking in the rear view mirror than out the windshield. Just letting off the gas for a split-second will get you slammed from behind. With 30+ cars grouped together, one small mistake can result in dozens of cars wrecking because there's no room to stop or swerve at 190 miles per hour when you're surrounded. Talladega is even more notorious for this than Daytona, and therefore, every Talladega race brings the threat of the "Big One"...a wreck wiping out a huge chunk of the field. This happens at least once in nearly every race on NASCAR's biggest track. No amount of skill can save you when everyone around you is wrecking. You can try to stay towards the front of the pack, but you run the risk of being the one who starts the wreck. Or you can hang around at the back of the pack to give yourself stopping room if a wreck does occur, but you run the risk of losing the draft and falling waaaaay back in the race, and even possibly getting lapped.

Usually, races at Talladega are exciting at the begging, then the drivers settle down during the middle, then wild at the end again. This year's Aaron's 499 at Talladega was really no different. Just 7 laps into the 188-lap race, Jeff Gordon, one of the best drivers in the sport, and maybe the best active driver in restrictor-plate races, got bumped in the middle of a turn by this year's Daytona 500 winner, Matt Kenseth. At the time, Gordon was running about 10th and near the front of a 40-car pack. Gordon wobbled up the track a little, then down into Kenseth again, then back up into David Gilliland, and the subsequent smashup left about 20 cars with damage. 5 cars never returned to the race, and another 4 had to make serious repairs before returning just to limp around and salvage a few extra points.

The next 165 laps were mostly uneventful. A few cautions for debris on the track, the occasional single-car spin, but no real casualties. Then, with 8 laps to go, someone let off the gas, and when the trickle-down effect reached Juan Pablo Montoya, he took a shot to the rear from Denny Hamlin's FedEx Toyota Camry that sent ten cars near the back of the pack crashing into the walls and each other.

After the cleanup, 24 cars restarted on the lead lap for a shot at the win. Carl Edwards has become a championship threat over the last 2 seasons, but he has always had a black cloud over his head at restrictor-plate tracks. He's never finished in the top 5 and wrecks without finishing the race about half the time. Today he spent most of the race near the back, trying to avoid getting caught up in another big wreck.

When the green flag dropped with 4 laps to go, Edwards was running in 9th. Ryan Newman was leading, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was in 2nd. Newman and Junior immediately hooked up, and pulled out to a big lead over the pack. With a little over 1 lap to go, Brad Keselowski got behind Edwards and started pushing him toward the leading duo. The trick with Talladega is to make the final pass early enough to have a run on the leader and get by him to win, but not so early that you get hung out alone and someone else comes blazing by you just before the finish. Earnhardt Jr. couldn't get around Newman coming off the final turn while the Edwards/Keselowski train was steaming by them both on the outside. Keselowski ducked below Edwards, and Edwards tried to slide down in front of him to block, but Keselowski had already cleared Carl's rear bumper. The result was Edwards's car spun hard left and the rear wheels lifted off the track as Brad drove high for the win. Meanwhile, Newman and Earnhardt were still fighting for 3rd, and Carl's driver-side rear wheels came down right on Ryan Newman's hood. The shock lifted Carl's car completely off the track and into an upside down helicopter spin which slammed the outside wall and safety fence in what is a top 3 most ferocious wreck I've seen watching NASCAR live (all at Talladega, and 2nd involving Carl...).

Keselowski went on to win, Earnhardt Junior 2nd, and Newman skidded mostly sideways across the finish line for 3rd. Carl's car came to a rest about a football field short of the finish line while the rest of the field safely drove by. I thought he was surely unconscious and probably hurt, but he unhooked his window-net and climbed out of his still burning wreck. He then jogged past the rescue crew to the finish line, helmet and all.

Carl is not one of my favorite drivers, but he has the best TV personality of all NASCAR drivers by far, and I'm certain he's seen the Will Farrell movie named for this track. Of course, none of Carl's post-race antics mattered as his car has to cross the line to technically finish the race, but he earned the same finishing position as he would have if his car had crawled across last on the lead lap. In the post race interview, Carl simply said, "...I want my wife and mom to know I'm okay...its pretty scary when you're upside down...I've never hit the wall with anything other than the side of my car before...I guess we'll just keep doing this for NASCAR until somebody gets killed [in a restrictor-plate race]."