NASCAR BRAG BLOG…(and maybe a tidbit about Fontana)

First, let me just say, I am a guest blogger, this week….hence, MY choice of topic!!! Cocoa has had a lot going on, and told me to jump in, and get one posted.

The #2 car RULES!!!



Let’s start out with the Fantasy League, that we all participate in…..it’s been fun, but a bit confusing, with all the new point values……for instance, this year, each team is assigned “league points” after the conclusion of a race. It is more in line, with the way points are awarded the drivers, in the “real” race.

So….it makes no difference how many points you tally up, from week to week, during the race, as you will be awarded league points, based upon your final position, in the race, only ( as best I can tell)….. For example….last week at Bristol, we had another great race, with “EXPECTED” final standings…. .....)…….Here is what the Bristol results looked like, in fantasy……





Notice the "league points?" I could beat y'all by 200 points, every week, and it wouldn't make a difference, I'd still only get 47 points, for winning!!!!! Which leads me, to the current league standings.....


(I won't discuss the position, of any one team, as it would be uncouth!!)



SOOOO....the next beat down, ya'll are gonna get........ FONTANA !!!







(couldn't figure out the code, for the timer, so ya just have to settle for an image)

Lat week, we saw a little "tiff" between Logano and Hamlin....actually, more than a tiff....probably a good thing Hamlin stayed in his car, at the end.......

LOGANO’S BEST ROAD TO REVENGE THROUGH RESULTS



Performing well is the best way Logano can pay back Hamlin

Watching the replay, it’s difficult to judge intent. Did Denny Hamlin mean to nudge Joey Logano just enough to move him out of the way in the kind of racing fans have clamored for at Bristol Motor Speedway? Or, given recent history between the two drivers, was there a little more involved? Things happen fast in the close quarters of the half-mile track, never more so than now thanks to a record-setting new Sprint Cup car, and the end result Sunday was the yellow No. 22 going around, its back end impacting the outside wall.

And afterward -- well, we all know what happened then. Logano climbed out of his vehicle, stormed over to the No. 11 car parked conveniently near the media center, and started shouting into the cockpit before crews intervened and shoving ensued. Just another memorable day at Bristol, where the fireworks above the track are often outshined by those popping off below. Sunday’s antics came seven months after Tony Stewart capped the previous Bristol race by tossing his helmet at Matt Kenseth’s car.

And yet, that earlier episode was provided a certain gravity by the fact the combatants shared four premier-series championships between them and were viewed more or less as antagonists on equal footing. Neither driver was in a position to simply dismiss the other, a common thread seen throughout so many Bristol feuds, be it Dale Earnhardt against Rusty Wallace or Kevin Harvick against Greg Biffle or Kenseth against Jeff Gordon. So often, those thrown water bottles or tossed helmets or pit-road shoves have been exchanged between competitors who viewed one another as peers.

Was that the case Sunday? It’s difficult to believe so, given Hamlin’s reaction. “He said he’s coming for me,” the Joe Gibbs Racing driver said of his former teammate. “I usually don’t see him, so it’s usually not a factor.” It was a cutting response that underscored the stark differences in on-track accomplishments between the two drivers -- one with 22 victories who’s made the Chase for the Sprint Cup every year, another who’s won twice and never qualified for the playoff. Fair or not, NASCAR is a performance-based sport, and performance matters even if only to solidify the ground on which a driver attempts to take a stand.

Granted, this doesn’t seem to have much to do with who was right and who was wrong Sunday at Bristol, which on the surface appeared to be one of those racing deals on a short track that punches them out with regularity. But even if he does feel like the victim here, there’s only one way for a driver like Logano to get even with a driver like Hamlin, and that’s to consistently outrun him -- or run even with him -- on the race track. Until he gets to that point, words alone simply can’t carry enough weight, particularly in a situation where it’s unclear who exactly is at fault.

"It’s frustrating when you’ve got a car that can possibly win it, and to get taken out from something like that is just frustrating."
-- Joey Logano

DRIVER REPORTS FOLLOWING BRISTOL RACE
0
No question Logano is trying to get there, and that effort clearly plays into all this, given that he was running among the leaders when the incident occurred. Understandably, he views the race as a missed opportunity. “It’s frustrating when you’ve got a car that can possibly win it, and to get taken out from something like that is just frustrating,” he said Sunday. “This team deserves better. We’ve run better than we’ve finished every week so far. We should have at least four top 10s in my eyes.” Instead, he has yet to finish better than 12th.

Now, none of this should be seen as an indictment of Logano, whom no less than Roger Penske and Brad Keselowski thought enough of make him a teammate to the reigning Sprint Cup champion. The 22-year-old broke in at such at early age, and has been around NASCAR so long already that it’s easy to forget how young he is and how much potential he still has ahead of him. He already seems more comfortable and confident in his current ride than he did during his days with Gibbs. True to his word, he’s more of a threat to win races now than he’s ever been.

But that doesn’t change the fact that with actions like Sunday’s, he’s only setting himself up. His remark three years ago about Harvick’s wife wearing the firesuit in the family -- great line at the time, no question -- got turned around on him when DeLana Harvick started using it on T-shirts. Now Bristol, and Hamlin dismissing him in so many words. Even compliments can come out backhanded: “He’s a good little racer,” Kyle Busch said of Logano, in what was intended as a term of affection. It all paints a scenario akin to a younger brother who the big kids won’t take seriously until he starts beating them.

Toward that end, an opportunity presents itself every week. Sure, some folks will clamor for Logano to seek revenge. But Auto Club Speedway, a lightning-fast layout where the Generation-6 car promises to smash another track record, is not the place to look for it. Martinsville looms two weeks later, but taking out Hamlin on a track where he’s a favorite to win is a sure way to lose the moral high ground. Besides, which would make more of a statement -- Logano dumping Hamlin, or outrunning him at a facility where he’s won four times?

Easy answer. The former entrenches a reputation of a young driver impatient to break through, the latter shows a more seasoned competitor in the midst of doing just that. And the next time Joey Logano leans into someone else’s car to voice displeasure, his adversary will have no choice but to listen. Because in NASCAR, nothing speaks louder than performance.

Video of skirmish at....

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2013/03/20/Loganos-best-road-to-revenge-through-results.html




What else do we have to look forward to???? How about the fella, that most peeps want on their team, sporting a new paint scheme.....





JJ's is not the only car, that will be different, this week....see the others at.... http://www.nascar.com/en_us/news-media/articles/2013/03/19/paint-scheme-preview-auto-club.html



FINALLY.......what do the standings in Nascar look like, now??? Thought you'd never ask!!!!!



Do I REALLY need to tell you???? Don't you KNOW who is ranked #1?????









That is about all I have, for the moment......No technical jargon, about the race....that is Cocoa's arena....I'll just leave y'all with a parting present...


one for each of ya, in the league...... and an extra one, for Manwhore, just cuz, I can....

What a POS blog. Bring back cocoa!

Just kidding san. Nice job. Oh, and BB

Bwaaahahaha!!!......guess what, Manwhore? You are now the proud recipient of multiple

Thanks for doing the blog this week San.

No problem, Cocoa.....was fun, albeit, not very informative, about the upcoming race........so y'all just post away......

sangria wrote:Bwaaahahaha!!!......guess what, Manwhore? You are now the proud recipient of multiple

Back at ya.

Updated standings.

Ya think those work, as well???

FANTASY PREVIEW: AUTO CLUB 400

Compare notes with Michigan to make your lineup a California dream

While it can be grouped with the other similarly-configured 1.5- and two-mile tracks, both Auto Club and Michigan International Speedway require a blend of horsepower and handling. The task is made either simpler or more complicated by the configuration of the track, depending on a driver’s preference and crew chief’s skill.

With wide, sweeping corners, there is an opportunity to set up a car to run in the high, low, or one of several middle grooves. Because of the multitude of options, the competition is fierce and the corners all funnel into a high line exiting turn two.

With 14 degrees of banking, the only tracks that are flatter on the NASCAR schedule are a few short courses and the uniquely shaped tracks in Indianapolis and Pocono. This limits the thickness of a crew chief’s notebook, but fantasy players will find inspiration by comparing a driver’s record in California with that of the sister two-mile course in Michigan, which is banked slightly higher at 18 degrees.

For years, Roush Fenway Racing was prohibitively dominant on the two-mile tracks. With three and four teams, the Cat in the Hat regularly swept the top 10 or narrowly missed and placed one of his drivers in the top 15. In recent seasons, that dominance has diminished slightly, but his organization remains one of the best values overall.

Last year, only two drivers swept the top 10 in three events at Auto Club and Michigan. Greg Biffle was one of the perfect racers with a sixth in the rain-shortened Auto Club 400, a fourth in the Quicken Loans 400 on the repaved Michigan track, and a victory in the Pure Michigan 400. He got off to a slow start this season with only one top-10 in four races, but last week’s 11th at Bristol will focus his resolve and make him an even bigger threat.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. not only swept the top-10 on this track type last year, his worst result on a two-mile track was fourth in the second Michigan race. His victory in the Quicken Loans 400 was emotional for his fans, but it also broke a psychological dam for the driver and reminded him that he can win. After that race, he was one of the most consistent drivers in the field with solid top-15 and top-20 performances. In 2013, he has improved even more and currently has the longest top-10 streak going. There should be a little doubt in players’ minds, however; last year’s third-place effort in this race was his first Auto Club top-10 since 2007.

Carl Edwards’ prowess on the two-mile tracks when he first joined the Cup series was legendary. He scored 20 top-10s in his first 22 attempts at Auto Club and Michigan and finished off the lead lap only once in that span of races. His last 10 attempts have been less impressive with only five top-10s, but he has come close on three other occasions with top-15 finishes. A victory and a top-five in back-to-back races at Phoenix and Vegas respectively gave him confidence. And he might have capitalized on that at Bristol if he had not sustained damage in an early-race accident.

Wish I was here!

Auto Club Speedway includes plan for slide into lounge that offers unlimited beer, wine.


The lounge was built in converted suites at the Turn 4 end of an infield building that runs the length of pit road. There's also roof access for ticket-holders, but the alcohol included in the admission price is available in a ground-level area that formerly operated as Victory Lane.

Officials at the 2-mile Fontana track toyed with the idea of a special staircase or elevator from the lounge to the bar, but then someone suggested a slide.

Why not?

"And down they go!" Zucker said with a laugh.

You wouldn't think a slide would mix very well with alcohol, but Zucker said she doesn't encourage fans to reach the level of intoxication to where it would be a problem. Bartenders at the track already stop serving guests if they've had too much.

"Slides are safe for even little kids," Zucker said. "This won't be some high speed roller coaster. It's a fun option to get between levels."

Fans will have to take the boring way back up to the lounge -- the stairs -- but can use the slide as often as they please.

As for the increased chance of a drunk fan getting hurt on the slide? Zucker said there's always a risk of injury at events with many people in attendance, slide or not.

"Anything you do at a large venue has liability associated with it," she said. "I don't feel like it'll be heightened with the slide."

Zucker said she knew the slide would get the most attention, but noted several other special amenities that come with the Pit Box Lounge tickets. Among them: Access to Victory Lane to celebrate with the winner and guided pit tours during the race in which fans can stand near their favorite driver's pit stop.

"We think that could be a really magical thing for passionate fans," she said.

Wow great article E. Thanks. That would be so cool to have. Think we have room on the arc for one??

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Danica Patrick’s popularity knows no boundaries -- or age limits for that matter. For the third time Patrick won for favorite female athlete at Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards.

Patrick beat out the Williams sisters -- Serena and Venus of tennis fame -- and Olympic gold-medal gymnast Gabby Douglas.

After hearing she had won, Patrick ran up to the stage and playfully slapped kids’ hands on the way by to accepting the honor.

“It felt like I got slimed there,” Patrick said jokingly, a reference to Nickelodeon’s popular show "You Can’t Do That on Television."

“This is a huge award. It means so much when I see you at the race track, and you cheer for me.”

This is the second straight year Patrick has won the award. She also won in 2008. Other winners include Candace Parker (2009), Misty May-Treanor (2010) and Lindsey Vonn (2011).

MARTIN TOPS FINAL SPRINT CUP PRACTICE

Mark Martin showed he learned something from running 39 laps in the early Saturday practice, taking the top time in the final run before Sunday's Auto Club 400. Halfway through practice Martin held the fastest individual lap, as well as best five and 10 consecutive laps. After running 30 laps, Martin finished with a best lap time of 39.269 seconds and a best speed of 183.351 mph.

Clint Bowyer took the second-fastest lap of 39.356 seconds and a best speed of 182.945 mph, with his best lap coming on Lap 1. Bowyer ran 34 laps. AJ Allmendinger ran the most laps with 37.
Toyotas took the top three spots on the leaderboard with Matt Kenseth in third, .110 seconds behind Martin with a best lap time of 39.379. Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski followed with best laps of 39.470 and 39.479 seconds, respectively.

Greg Biffle, who sat at the top of the chart in the earlier practice, battled a tight car to finish in eighth, .261 seconds off from Martin's time. His best speed was 182.140 mph, compared to his earlier 186.253.

Last week's race winner, Kasey Kahne, finished with the sixth-fastet lap, .257 seconds behind Martin. Polesitter Denny Hamlin fell just short of the top 10, finishing in 11th, while Nationwide polesitter Kyle Busch ran 19th. Danica Patrick ran 22 laps and finished 36th.


Early practice results:

Greg Biffle ran his first practice lap in 38.657 seconds in the early Sprint Cup Series practice for the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. on Saturday, a measure that stood throughout the entire session.

Biffle’s best speed of 186.253 mph topped the leaderboard, while the driver of the No. 16 Ford turned 37 total laps. AJ Allmendinger, third in Friday’s practice, finished just behind Biffle at 186.191.

Kyle Busch, pole-winner Denny Hamlin, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five, with speeds of 185.342, 185.276, and 185.261, respectively.

Clint Bowyer, tops in Friday’s practice, finished right outside the top five in sixth place with a time of 38.878. Last year’s race-winner Tony Stewart was 14th with a time of 39.223.

Reigning Sprint Cup champion and current points leader Brad Keselowsi, who, despite finishing third in qualifying, will be starting at the back of the pack on Sunday after an engine change, was 18th with a best speed of 182.992.

California native Jimmie Johnson missed the top 10, placing 13th. He turned his second lap in 39.211 with a best speed of 183.622.

Mark Martin ran the most laps -- 39.

Thanks for the blog San. Oh.....you might want to keep an eye behind you, cause I'm about to pass you.

I love that slide !!!! That is a very cool idea!!!!!


Qualifying info.......and btw, BB and the Biff may be having engine problems......looks like I'll have a tough job, today..... as BB has to start from the rear....

NASCAR Fontana 2013 qualifying results: Hamlin wins pole, apologizes to Logano


Denny Hamlin won the pole for Sunday's NASCAR race and issued an apology afterward for questioning the driving ability of Joey Logano last week at Bristol.

It's been an eventful few weeks for Denny Hamlin. Two weeks ago, he was fined by NASCAR for remarks he made about the Gen-6 car, and last week, he was involved in a war of words with Joey Logano that resulted in a tussle in the garage between their respective teams.

At Auto Club Speedway Friday, Hamlin again found himself in the news as he put his No. 11 Toyota on the pole for Sunday's running of the Auto Club 400 with a lap of 187.451 mph.

When speaking with the meeting following his first pole-winning run of the season, Hamlin took the time to apologize for the comments he made last week about Logano's driving ability.

"I probably shouldn't have gave that last little jab at the end," Hamlin said. "Probably should have just left it alone after the question was asked about what he said.

"It's not up to me to determine where he stands among the elite of NASCAR. I think that it's the fans and the teams who decide that. I didn't need to give my opinion on that. I think that was kind of a low blow."

Hamlin also said he has no further issue with Logano going forward, though the two have yet to talk.

Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski posted the second- and third-fastest times, respectively. However, both will have to forfeit their starting positions and go to the back of the grid after making engine changes prior to qualifying.

Biffle and Keselowski both use Ford Roush Yates engines and Biffle admitted afterward that their motor problems may be similar in nature.

"We feel like the issues could be common between the 2 (Keselowski) car and my car," he said. "I think they are thinking it is the same issue and something mechanical, something parts wise inside the engine at the bottom of the engine, I think. We will know here after we take it apart but right now we are sort of guessing."

Neither driver, however, is worried about starting in the back due to the wide track surface, which gives drivers multiple grooves to complete passes. Biffle said he could be up front in 100 laps, and Keselowski countered, saying it would only take him 99 laps to do so.

Tony Stewart, who won this race a year ago, qualified eighth.

Complete Auto Club 400 Starting Lineup:

1) Denny Hamlin

2) Greg Biffle

3) Brad Keselowski

4) Kyle Busch

5) Matt Kenseth

6) Joey Logano

7) Martin Truex Jr.

8 ) Tony Stewart

9 ) Mark Martin

10) Kurt Busch

11) Casey Mears

12) Juan Pablo Montoya

13) Clint Bowyer

14) Kevin Harvick

15) Dale Earnhardt Jr.

16) Kasey Kahne

17) Jamie McMurray

18) Jimmie Johnson

19) Jeff Gordon

20) Ryan Newman

21) Marcos Ambrose

22) Jeff Burton

23) Aric Almirola

24) Carl Edwards

25) Bobby Labonte

26) AJ Allmendinger

27) Paul Menard

28) David Reutimann

29) Dave Blaney

30) Josh Wise

31) Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

32) David Stremme

33) Travis Kvapil

34) David Gilliland

35) Michael McDowell

36) Landon Cassill

37) JJ Yeley

38) Scott Riggs

39) Timmy Hill

40) Danica Patrick

41) Mike Bliss

42) David Ragan

43) Joe Nemechek

Don't forget to make your PIT and Car Make selections!!!

And e.....ya might wanna take a look at your roster, today.....just sayin........

That won't help YOU!!!!

Woot!!! Nice win, Alex.......enjoy it today, as it might be your only one, if I have anything to say, about it!!!!

Update on Denny Hamlin's condition after an accident that occurred during yesterday's race:

"Denny Hamlin suffered a L1 Compression Fracture following an accident on the final lap of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

Hamlin hopes to be released today to fly to his home in North Carolina where he will be evaluated by Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates later this week.

No word at this time if he'll need surgery or miss any time on the track."

NASCAR on SPEED ‏@NASCARonSPEED 3m
While you get ready for #NASCAR @RaceHub, we want to know, which side are you on: #TeamJoey or #TeamTony?

Driver uncertain for Martinsville race; will meet with specialist later this week

Joe Gibbs Racing officials announced that driver Denny Hamlin suffered a L1 compression fracture during Sunday’s last-lap crash in the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

According to a release from the NASCAR Sprint Cup organization, Hamlin, 32, is expected to be cleared to return home to North Carolina on Monday.

Following contact with Joey Logano’s Penske Racing Ford, Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota struck the inside wall near the entrance to pit road with such force that the impact lifted Hamlin’s car completely off the ground.

Although he was able to climb from his car without assistance, Hamlin quickly went to the pavement. Rescue workers placed him on a stretcher and, after being evaluated in the track’s infield medical center, Hamlin was flown to a local hospital and held overnight.

Logano had the lead on the final restart of the race, which came with 11 laps remaining. With less than three laps left, Hamlin had caught Logano; heading across the start/finish line for the final lap the two were side-by-side.

The two cars remained door to door down the backstretch. As they raced into Turn 4, Logano’s car went high, made contact and eventually came across the nose of Hamlin’s Toyota. Logano struck the outside wall while Hamlin spun and slid straight toward the inside barrier.
“He probably shouldn’t have done what he did last week,” Logano said afterward, “so that’s what he gets.” Logano was reportedly unaware that Hamlin had been injured and was to be transported to a local hospital when asked about the last-lap incident.

It was the second consecutive week that Logano and Hamlin had been involved in late-race contact. A week earlier at Bristol Motor Speedway, Logano was running second to Jeff Gordon when Hamlin, who was third, nudged the 22-year-old driver, sending Logano's car into the wall.

Moments after the race, Logano approached Hamlin to express his displeasure, leading to a shoving match between the crews of the two drivers.
“That’s a freaking genius behind the wheel of the 11 car,” Logano said later. “Probably the worst teammate I ever had, so I learned that now. He decided to run himself into the back of me, so, whatever. I have a scorecard and I’m not putting up with that.”

The two were teammates until JGR replaced Logano during the offseason with 2003 Sprint Cup Series champion Matt Kenseth. Logano moved to Penske, where he is now paired with defending series champion Brad Keselowski.

“He pinched me up against the wall twice and really, had I not checked up, he would have been in the garage anyway with no radiator,” Hamlin previously said of the Bristol incident. “It’s just one of those things. It’s Bristol racing.”
Hamlin is scheduled to be evaluated by Dr. Jerry Petty later this week. The Cup series is off until April 5-7 when the series heads to Martinsville Speedway.

Hamlin, who has 22 career wins in the Cup series, was credited with a 25th-place finish Sunday. He is 10th in the series’ points standings.

Logano, who finished third Sunday, currently is ninth in the standings.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Swiss Miss wrote:NASCAR on SPEED ‏@NASCARonSPEED 3m
While you get ready for #NASCAR @RaceHub, we want to know, which side are you on: #TeamJoey or #TeamTony?

They must have made a little mistake in there.....should have said TeamJoey or TeamCryBaby.........

He'll need a case of these, based on his whining!!!

...

As Denny Hamlin recovered in the hospital from Sunday's horrific crash in the Auto Club 400, he received an outpouring of support from the NASCAR community.

But one person was noticeably absent from the roll call of those checking in on the driver, the one who was also in the wreck – Joey Logano.

Asked specifically Monday night if Logano had tried to call him, Hamlin said, “No.”

“I’ve heard from pretty much all my peers – which has been humbling to say the least. It makes me really happy and keeps your spirits up when you hear from all your peers and everything,” he added. “That part of it has been very encouraging.”

Hamlin walked gingerly out of the California hospital Monday evening, more than 29 hours after a crash during the NASCAR Sprint Cup race with Logano at nearby Auto Club Speedway that left him with a compressed fracture in his lower back.

The Joe Gibbs Racing driver was ready to fly home to North Carolina, saying that he was feeling “as good as I can be at the moment — definitely better than I was yesterday for sure.”

Hamlin will meet with a specialist later this week, and cannot even begin to consider when he will return to racing yet, but Monday night he was thinking about getting home.

Still, Hamlin was visibly hurting from his wreck. He held his ribs and adjusted his brace admitting that this injury and the pain associated with it was a new sensation.

“I never felt this before,” he said after being released from Loma Linda University Medical Center, which is about 15 miles east of the track. “Really, my first reaction is I felt something pop in my back and that’s why I was really trying to get out of the car as soon as I could because the position I was in . . . I couldn’t breathe at all. Still having a hard time breathing. When I felt it pop, I couldn’t move at all and I knew I had to get flat to my back to be able to breathe again — so that’s why I rushed out and then just lay flat on the ground to try to start breathing at that point.”

Hamlin’s accident started when he was racing Logano for the lead on the final lap on Sunday. The two made contact and Hamlin’s car slammed into the wall.

Hamlin was airlifted to the hospital where he spent the night.

After previously having issues with a bulging disc in his back, Hamlin knew right away that something was wrong.

“I knew it wasn’t good because I’d been through so much back stuff before that I know when something is really, really wrong,” he said. “And that was a moment that took two seconds and I knew I was in big trouble.”

Hamlin was holding his ribs as he talked, explaining it was because of the difficulty he was having breathing.

He explained that he needs to keep his body 100 percent straight, with no bending or anything like that, to help.

Yet he still maintained a sense of humor.

“I run out of breath and I’m just on medication a lot,” he said with a laugh.

Thanks for posting that vid, Cocoa.........was a good interview

Gonna try to repost Cocoa's vid.......

Thanks San. It liked yours.

San's gonna have a field day with this one.


Tony Stewart not fined for spat with Joey Logano, wants hockey-style fights

Tony Stewart will not be penalized for a brief scuffle with Joey Logano following the Sprint Cup Series race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.

The three-time Cup champion, angry over Logano blocking him on a restart with 11 laps remaining in the Auto Club 400, went up to Logano following the race. As a crew member tried to intervene, it appeared that Stewart tried to punch Logano. A shoving match ensued among the crews and Logano threw a water bottle at Stewart.

NASCAR announced through its Twitter feed Tuesday morning that there would be no penalties.

“Dumb little son-of-a-(expletive) runs us clear down to the infield,” Stewart said afterward. “He wants to (expletive) about everybody else and he's the one who drives like a little (expletive). I'm going to bust his ass.”

Logano was surprised when Stewart came up to him after the race because he didn’t even consider the move an issue.

"I had no clue what he was mad about,” Logano said. “I watched the replay. I can understand being a little irritated, but in my eyes, that’s racing. In his eyes, it isn’t.

“I’m going to have to talk to him about that. We’ve always got along really well. I’m going to see if we can work this one out.”

Logano, whose wreck with Denny Hamlin while battling for the lead resulted in a lower back compression fracture for Hamlin, was not penalized for the Stewart confrontation. He was not penalized for the incident with Hamlin—any initial penalties for that would have been done by placing him at the tail end of the lead lap rather than allowing him to keep a third-place finish.

While Logano was not penalized, he will have to deal with the consequences.

“If he ever turns down across in front of me again, I don’t care what lap it is, he won’t make it through the other end of it,” Stewart said after his 22nd-place finish.

“If I didn’t hit the chip (on my rev limiter), he wouldn’t have made it through Turn 1 to begin with. I’m tired of these guys doing that stuff, especially out of a kid that has been griping about everybody else and then he does that the next week.”

And Stewart wishes the fight could have continued.

“If NASCAR wants to let the guys have at it, it shouldn’t be any different than hockey—let us have at it and when one guy goes to the ground, it’s over,” Stewart said.

HAMLIN OUT UP TO 6 WEEKS WITH INJURY

Sidelined driver won't need surgery on ailing back

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin will likely be sidelined for up to six weeks as a result of an injury suffered on the final lap of Sunday’s Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway.

Hamlin, driver of the No. 11 Toyota fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing, suffered an L1 compression fracture when his car struck the inside wall after contact with Joey Logano as the two exited the fourth turn of the 2-mile speedway.

According to a statement from team officials, upon his return to North Carolina on March 26, Hamlin was evaluated by Dr. Jerry Petty of Carolina Neurosurgery & Spine Associates. Dr. Petty determined that Hamlin, 32, would not require surgery, but for the injury to properly heal, the driver would need to remain out of the car for up to a month and a half.

Dr. Petty will make the determination when Hamlin will be able to return to racing this season, the statement said.

JGR officials said no decision had been made on a replacement driver during Hamlin’s absence. The Cup Series is off this week, but returns to action April 7 at Martinsville, Va. If Hamlin is sidelined for the full six weeks, his return likely would not be until early May when the series visits Darlington, S.C.

Hamlin, who was airlifted out of Auto Club Speedway and spent the night in a local hospital before returning home, posted the following tweet Monday night: "I wish I got good news today.. I didn't." Tuesday night, he followed up via Twitter: "If me getting back in a car was based on pain tolerance then I would be in the car next week. There's just more to it that I can't control."

Being forced to miss up to five races would likely eliminate Hamlin from championship contention. He is currently 10th in the standings after the season’s first five races. Drivers are required to complete at least one lap in an event to earn points.

However, Hamlin could still qualify for the season-ending Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup should he win enough races upon his return to qualify for one of the two wild-card positions available. The Chase field consists of the top 10 in points after 26 races, as well as the two drivers between 11th and 20th with the most wins. Hamlin has never missed the Chase in his previous seven full-time seasons.
Elliott Sadler, a former Sprint Cup driver who now competes for JGR in the Nationwide Series, said earlier Monday on SiriusXM Radio’s NASCAR channel that he had not spoken to JGR officials about possibly serving in a relief role should Hamlin be sidelined.

The Nationwide series is off two of the next six racing weekends (Martinsville and Kansas), but will run companion events at Texas, Richmond and Talladega.

Hamlin and Logano tangled a week before the Auto Club event, in Bristol, leading to an altercation afterward in the garage area. In the waning laps of Sunday’s race, the two were battling for the lead when they again made contact. Logano’s Penske Racing Ford slid across the nose of Hamlin’s Toyota before striking the wall. Hamlin’s car spun, then drove straight into the inside wall near the entrance to pit road. The impact lifted the car completely off the ground.

Although he was able to climb from his car, Hamlin quickly laid down as rescue workers arrived on the scene.

Kyle Busch shot past Logano and Hamlin as the two battled to score the win.

Joey Logano could have a target on his back at Martinsville Speedway next weekend...

Joey Logano had better bring a tank to Martinsville Speedway on April 7.

After the news that Denny Hamlin will be sidelined for about six weeks with injuries sustained from a last-lap wreck with Logano in Sunday’s Auto Club 400, there will be no shortage of drivers willing to hand out a little frontier justice – garage style.

On Tuesday, NASCAR Sprint Cup Series director John Darby ruled "no harm, no foul" after the incident between Logano and Hamlin that ultimately shot the No. 11 Toyota into the pit road wall.

“It was the last lap of the race and the last time they were both going to see Turns 3 and 4,” Darby said. “They were side by side. And everything that great competitors do; if somebody was of the mindset to retaliate, they probably would have been lined up nose to tail to start with and somebody would have drove into the other car and spun them around.

“But in this case, that is so far from the opposite that it never even crossed anybody's mind that I'm aware of that paid attention to the race, that that was part of it.”

But Logano’s actions and post-race words suggest otherwise.

And while one hopes that the 22-year-old’s comments would have been toned down considerably had he known the severity of Hamlin’s condition, it doesn’t erase the fact that following the race Logano said, “Denny Hamlin was not going to win that race, no,” and “he probably shouldn't have done what he did last week, so that's what he gets.”

It’s ironic that Hamlin's criticizing the Generation 6 car garnered a greater punitive response from NASCAR than Logano's putting a driver out of commission.

Although Hamlin got the worst of it on Sunday as well, that wasn’t the only incident on Logano’s expanding rap sheet. Logano ran Kurt Busch down onto the grass earlier in the race. And on the final restart, he did the same to Tony Stewart, sending the three-time champ and former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate over the edge and onto pit road to confront Logano after the race.

“Dumb little son-of-a-(expletive) runs us clear down to the infield,” Stewart said. “He wants to (expletive) about everybody else and he's the one who drives like a little (expletive). I'm going to bust his ass.”

Whether it’s the sense of entitlement on or off the track — as Smoke alluded to when he referred to Logano as “just a little rich kid that has never had to work in his life” — in the past five years the current Penske racer attracted the ire of NASCAR’s top bad asses from Stewart to Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick.

Arguably, Harvick dumped Logano in the 2010 June Pocono Cup race to teach him a lesson following an earlier dust-up in a Nationwide Series race at Bristol. His incident with Harvick was well-documented and resulted in Logano’s line “it’s probably not his fault. His wife wears the firesuit in the family and tells him what to do.”

Two months later at Michigan, Logano had a similar post-race run-in with Newman when the veteran told the then 20-year-old “learn how to drive” and “learn how to control your car.” But perhaps what was most prophetic from Newman was “you’ve got one coming."

It looks as if Newman will have to get in line.

Considering Hamlin’s skill level at Martinsville Speedway, where he’s won four of the past 10 Cup races, it’s criminal that he’ll be sitting out April 7. What’s even more difficult to fathom is that Hamlin, who has qualified for every Chase for the Sprint Cup since he’s been eligible in 2006 – the only racer other than Jimmie Johnson to make that claim – will not be a contender for the driver’s championship this season.

Sure, there’s a short list of candidates who can substitute in the interim whether it’s Elliott Sadler or Brian Vickers — both drivers already in the Toyota camp. But neither competitor can boast Hamlin’s resume or his talent quite frankly.

And neither can Logano.

In the "Boys have at it" era, the garage will indeed continue to police itself. If Logano expects to avoid trouble over the next few months, he’s going to need some mad skills to outrun the competition because right now the target on his car will be larger than the sponsor logo on the No. 42 Chevy.

A little humility could go a long way. As of Monday, Logano had not called on Hamlin to apologize. That might be a good place to start if he has any desire of joining the Sprint Cup fraternity. Otherwise, Logano will continue to find himself in the crosshairs – starting two weeks from now at Martinsville.