Johanna Long Takes a moment to herself during practice for the Nationwide Series race in Bristol. Photo Credit: Rainier Ehrhardt/Getty Images for NASCAR.

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Chances are if you’re a NASCAR fan, you know who Johanna Long is by now. But just in case you’ve been living under a rock I’ll get you up to speed. The 19-year-old (soon to be 20) is quickly moving up the NASCAR ranks, and is currently in the middle of her rookie season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

Long drives for ML Motorsports, and was the first-ever female winner of the Snowball Derby, which is one of the most — if not the most — prestigious short track race in the country. Johanna will be out of action for the next two weeks as her No. 70 team is only set to run 21 of the 33 races this year, but she was kind enough to take time away from seeing family and friends in Florida to have an exclusive interview with Sicknissified.com.

TC: Where are you right now compared to where you expected yourself to be at this point in your rookie Nationwide Series season?

JL: It’s extremely hard. Everyone in the Nationwide Series, they’re really fast. The competition is really hard, but I feel we are progressing every race. That’s the best thing for us. I feel like We’ve had a lot of good runs, and I feel like we’re just going to get better and better, and I feel like we’ve done really good so far this year.

Each race you go to, you’re going to get better. It’s just working with a new team and I haven’t been in these cars often. So it’s just about learning it, and learning what I want in the car.

TC: You’ve done a great job at taking care of your equipment so far this season. To this point you have completed a lot of laps, and outside of Talladega you have been running at the finish of every race. Is this crucial to overcoming your learning curve?

JL: It was horrible, we were running so good at Talladega, and I felt like we could have had a really really strong run and I felt that good about it, and I never really say that. I was just bump drafting a guy, and the nose caved in a bit and it was overheating. You can’t really help those situations, because you’re going 200 miles per hour and you can’t do much about it. When you come up on a guy that fast, it’s hard to check up and not get hit from behind so you have to do what you have to do there. It really stinks, we’ve finished a lot of laps this year and gotten a lot of experience, but that cut short Talladega for sure.

TC: Do you ever get sick of the comparisons to Danica Patrick based on your gender?

JL: It’s gonna happen, we can’t help that. But I don’t really focus on that. I focus on my racecar and how good I can make it. All that other stuff is going to come with it, but I don’t really pay attention to it.

TC: We compare most male drivers to others that have similar driving styles, but you get tagged — fairly or un-farily — with Danica. What driver would you actually most compare your driving style to?

JL: That’s a hard one. Let me think about that (laughter). I don’t know if I would compare my driving style to anyone. That’s hard you caught me in a bind there.

TC: You’ve got three top-20 finishes in your first six Nationwide Series starts, realistically do you see yourself as a consistent top-10 to top-15 finisher later this season?

JL: I feel like getting more experience is going to make us better as a team. And we’re going to start getting those better finishes, but I feel it’s all about progression. I feel like if we progress each and every week, it’s going to be a good year. We just gotta keep on doing that. Yeah you want some top-15 finishes, and you wanna do better each weekend, but it’s gonna come.  You know you just got to keep on progressing, and you’ll get them.

TC: I noticed one of your hobbies is skiing. That being said what is a bigger adrenaline rush: Skiing down slopes or racing fender to fender in NASCAR?

JL: Racing fender to fender in NASCAR for sure, it’s definitely intense. Skiing – I’m not really good at it. I like going, but I’m kind of dangerous on those slopes. I haven’t been in a while because I need my license right now for sure.

TC: Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans, and everyone who has supported you along your journey to this level in racing?

JL: I just want to thank everyone for following me since I was a little girl, and even following me now. It just means so much to me that I have an awesome fanbase like I do, and hopefully we keep on growing that. It’s really fun, and if you’re not following me on Twitter you can follow me @JOHANNALONG, I like to tweet a lot and I love to tweet everybody so I’d like to tweet everyone.

TC: I also noticed that at you have a new blog at your website that is pretty cool.

JL: Yeah, I like to do that. It’s hard sometimes, but it’s a lot of fun to do that and I hope everyone enjoys it. Everyone should check out my website at JohannaLong.com, and we just redesigned it so I feel like we’ve done a really good job on that.

TC: Last time I interviewed you, I noticed you using your phone in the garage area so I asked you what your ringtone was. Back then you said since you were at the racetrack you didn’t need a ringtone, now that you’re on an offweek — what’s your ringtone?

JL: What is my ringtone? It just rang this is so bad. You know that song that sounds like that pop song? That’s my ringtone. It’s pretty old school, but I like it.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

Johanna Long drives the No. 70 Chevrolet for ML Motorsports in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and can be reached on Twitter @JohannaLong or you can visit her website JohannaLong.com.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. zooms past Casey Mears during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway on April 28, 2012 in Richmond, Virginia. Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR.

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

I know I sound like a broken record — scratched cd for those younger readers, or even a corrupted MP3 file for even younger readers – but Dale Earnhardt Jr. proved again at Richmond that he is indeed knocking on the door of victory lane. It has now been a grueling 138 races since Earnhardt last tasted the spoils of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but after nine races this season he already has four top-three finishes including a second-place effort this past weekend in Richmond.

Had it not been for a soft brake pedal Saturday night, Earnhardt may have tossed a 400-pound gorilla from his shoulders.

Is the timing right for Earnhardt to finally break through for the first time in nearly four years? Yes, but is there really a bad time for the sport’s most popular driver to reach victory lane? Not really, but it honestly seems like more of a question of when rather than if he will win this season, especially with the way he has ran this season.

We are a fourth of the way through the 2012 season, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. has yet to finish outside the top-15 in any race, he has also led more laps (75) than he did throughout the entire 2011 campaign, he has already matched his amount of top-five finishes from 2011 (four), oh and he is just one of two drivers — the other being Matt Kenseth — to complete all 2,926 laps that have been completed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, and he has been very vocal lately about his confidence in his own driving ability.

What’s more, his astonishing 7.3 average finish through the first nine races of the year is the best of any of his previous 12 Sprint Cup Series seasons. If he can keep that stat going all year long, he has a realistic chance at hoisting the Sprint Cup at season’s end — but he needs to win first.

There is no track that is more promising for Earnhardt during his long winless drought than Talladega. Earnhardt has captured the trophy at this racetrack five times including a run of four-straight victories at the 2.66-mile superspeedway from 2001 to 2003. He has an uncanny knack for drafting, and with pack racing back — at least until the closing laps — it seems to be a good bet that Earnhardt will be in the running for the win at the end of the Aaron’s 499.

“I feel like the style of racing we had in the Daytona 500 this year suits me better. I feel more confident in that style than I do the tandem. With the tandem, it is difficult to commit to someone all day long. The way we did it in the (2012 Daytona) 500 was nice, but the tandem is going to win the race, which is fine with me. I do like having more control of my destiny and making my own decisions for myself.  I want to look out for No. 1 and my team all day long and try to do whatever I can to put myself in position to win the race.  That is really what I feel like I have been doing all my life,” Earnhardt said last week.

What’s really odd is that despite his bad luck over the last four years, Earnhardt has always had some great luck at Talladega. Through 24 career starts at Talladega, Earnhardt’s day has only ended early twice due to a crash. Think about how many cars that have been crashed out at Talladega since his first start there back in 2000 — that is a very impressive stat.

Add it all up. The timing is right for Earnhardt to finally end all of his frustrations, and it’s time for him to reach victory lane again this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

Ryan Blaney (Right) stands with his father Dave Blaney during qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series Virginia 529 College Savings 250 at Richmond International Raceway on April 27, 2012 in Richmond, Virginia. Photo Credit: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

For over a year the NASCAR world had anticipated the debut of X-Games crossover star, Travis Pastrana, in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Last season he was all set to debut at O’Reilly Raceway Park, but then a vicious crash the night before in the X-Games set his debut back quite a bit with broken bones in his leg.

This weekend however it was finally go time for Pastrana, but his debut — a 22nd-place finish, two laps off the pace – wasn’t the most impressive debut of the weekend.

Ryan Blaney far and away surpassed what Pastrana accomplished in his first NASCAR race, and Blaney did it with little fan-fare and even smaller recognition from the media. Blaney rolled off the grid Friday night from the eighth position in his first-ever NASCAR Nationwide Series start, and he did what you want every young driver to do — he finished the race. But Blaney didn’t just merely finish the race, he brought home his car cleanly in the seventh position and completed all 250 laps on the night.

Blaney, the son of veteran NASCAR driver Dave Blaney, is showing that he has plenty of talent to wheel a car around the racetrack.

While Travis Pastrana was busy stealing all of the headlines in his Michael Waltrip Racing No. 99 Boost Mobile Toyota en route to a decent 22nd-place effort, Blaney quietly put together one heckuva race for an underfunded team (Tommy Baldwin Racing) and he did it all without a huge sponsor (Seal-Wrap Tape).

Many came away from Richmond Friday night praising Pastrana for a good first step in his NASCAR journey, I however find myself more excited by the promise of a future star in 18-year-old Ryan Blaney.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images, All graphics created by Toby Christie of Sicknissified.com.

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

In the closing laps at Richmond we saw a potential rekindling of a rivalry between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr. If you remember back to 2008 they were running one-two in the closing laps, when Busch sent Earnhardt spinning into the wall. This time around they each finished the race cleanly and they both reap the rewards of their great finishes in this week’s power rankings.

Dropped Out: Sam Hornish Jr., Joey Logano

Biggest Gain: Kyle Busch (up six spots) Biggest Loss: Martin Truex Jr., Ryan Newman (down seven spots)

Fail of The Week: Jeff Gordon — another bad finish with a fast racecar. Gordon is 17th in the point standings after nine races, ouch.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

If there were an NFL-style draft in NASCAR, the No. 83 team would be on the clock right now. Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR.

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

The NFL draft is underway in New York, and just as the opening day of the NFL draft was going the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series race was underway in Richmond. This race of course showcased many of the young up-and-coming drivers that will take over the sport someday in the future, and I wondered what would happen if NASCAR had a yearly draft of their up-and-coming drivers, just as the NFL has a yearly draft of players coming out of the NCAA ranks.

The rules for a NASCAR draft would be simple:

• In order to draft a driver you would have to be a top-35 team in NASCAR’s owner point standings.
• The selection order would be just like in the NFL draft, where the worst team “earns” the rights for first dibbs on the best talent in the pool.
• Drivers eligible would include anyone who has never been a full-time Sprint Cup Series driver.

Also, just as in the NFL when a player is drafted it means someone else may lose their job. If a team drafts a driver, that means the current driver of that car is left on the outside looking in. This simply means that teams like Hendrick Motorsports can’t just stock up on four more drivers in addition to their current roster in the draft.

Here is how I think the 2012 NASCAR Draft would go… If there was one of course.

1. BK Racing (No. 83 Toyota) – Selects Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

BK Racing gets the draft started with a no-brainer. They select Ricky Stenhouse Jr. – who won the 2011 Nationwide Series championship – to take over driving duties of their No. 83 Burger King Toyota. Stenhouse has racked up four-career wins in the Nationwide Series, including two already this season. The selection of Stenhouse means that Landon Cassill, who was just barely hanging on to the top-35 in the owner standings will now have to search for a ride elsewhere.

2. Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 10 Chevrolet) – Selects Danica Patrick

Due to an ongoing deal that is in place with Stewart-Haas Racing, Baldwin selects Danica Patrick. Patrick of course was up for grabs because she has never been a full-time Sprint Cup Series driver despite being in this year’s Daytona 500. David Reutimann’s will continue to split driving duties in the No. 10 car.

3. Tommy Baldwin Racing (No. 36 Chevrolet) – Selects Austin Dillon

You couldn’t expect Baldwin to pass up the opportunity to upgrade his team. Baldwin pulls the trigger on Austin Dillon to take over for Dave Blaney in the No. 36 Chevrolet. Dillon brings sponsorship backing to help get the No. 36 on the track for the full-season and he brings an alliance with Richard Childress Racing with him.

4. FAS Lane Racing (No. 32 Ford) – Selects Jeb Burton

Frankie Stoddard knows better than anyone what good can be done with a Burton behind the wheel of your racecar. Stoddard used to turn the wrenches on Jeff Burton’s No. 99 Ford back in his Roush Racing days, after conversations with his former driver Stoddard opts to hire Jeff Burton’s nephew to turn around his struggling organization. Jeb Burton has been showcasing his talents in the Camping World Truck Series this season. Ken Schrader, Terry Labonte and various others now need to look elsewhere for a ride.

5. BK Racing (No. 93 Toyota) – Selects Justin Allgaier

BK Racing snatches up two of the hottest drivers in the NASCAR Nationwide Series garage over the past couple of seasons as they add Allgaier to be the teammate to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Former Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil is now unemployed.

6. Front Row Motorsports (No. 34 Ford) – Opts to pass

Front Row Motorsports’ owner Bob Jenkins decides to hang on to David Ragan to drive his No. 34 Ford. Ragan is one of the more likeable drivers in the garage, and he has won in the Sprint Cup Series.

7. Front Row Motorsports (No. 38 Ford) – Selects Trevor Bayne

Front Row Motorsports steals from another Ford team with their second spot in the draft. This draft pick brings instant credibility to their team as they now have a Daytona 500 champion in the stable. Sadly David Gilliland, who has done an incredible job with this startup team is now out on the streets.

8. Germain Racing (No. 13 Ford) – Opts to pass

GEICO and Germain mutually decide that because they have filmed too many commercials for the season with Casey Mears, that Mears will remain the driver of the No. 13 Ford at least until 2013.

9. JTG/Daugherty Racing (No. 47 Toyota) – Selects Darrell Wallace, Jr.

After six career victories in the NASCAR K&N Pro East Series, Wallace parlays a deal with Toyota into a Cup Series ride with JTG/Daugherty Racing. Wallace is a rising star, but the addition of him to the 47 team is bittersweet, as it means 2000 Sprint Cup Series champion Bobby Labonte is without a ride.

10. Hendrick Motorsports (No. 5 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Although Kasey Kahne has had a sluggish start to his first season at Hendrick Motorsports, Mr. H opts to hang on to the driver of his No. 5 Chevrolet. Kahne gets a chance to prove the beggining of 2012 was nothing but rough luck.

11. Phoenix Racing (No. 51 Chevrolet) – Selects Chase Elliott

Phoenix Racing signed Kurt Busch for the 2012 season, but it has resulted in disappointment and tons of torn up equipment. James Finch decides that he can get the same – if not better production from the son of 1988 Sprint Cup Series champion Bill Elliott. Chase Elliott’s developmental deal with Hendrick Motorsports may have also played a part in this selection.

12. Penske Racing (No. 22 Dodge) – Opts to pass

A.J. Allmendinger and first-year crew chief Todd Gordon have had some bad luck to start of the year, but they have shown signs of brilliance, enough for Roger Penske to hang on to hope that the Dinger will be the next first-time Sprint Cup Series winner.

13. Furniture Row Racing (No. 78 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

The little team that could from Denver, Colorado decides to stick it out with the little driver who could from Cato, New York. Regan Smith gave the company their first-ever win in 2011′s Southern 500 at Darlington, and they reward him by hanging on to him.

14. Richard Petty Motorsports (No. 9 Ford) – Opts to pass

RPM knows that Marcos Ambrose’s 2012 season has been a disappointment so far, but he is always a threat to win twice a season at the road course events.

15. Richard Petty Motorsports (No. 43 Ford) – Selects James Buescher

Buescher caught the eye of Richard Petty after taking home the trophy in the Nationwide Series season opening race at Daytona. Petty himself knows a thing or two about winning at Daytona. Then just this past week Buescher continued his winning ways in Kansas with a Camping World Truck Series win. Now he gets to try to get the famous No. 43 car back to victory lane. Aric Almirola’s tenure at RPM is over before it even really began.

16. Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing (No. 1 Chevrolet) – Selects Cole Whitt

Junior fans are buzzing with this pick, as his former Sprint Cup Series team steals his Nationwide Series driver right out from under him. Cole Whitt takes over a car that won three times in 2010. Jamie McMurray is left looking for a job.

17. Hendrick Motorsports (No. 24 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Rick Hendrick stays loyal to Jeff Gordon. The driver of the No. 24 car has brought his owner four championships, and over 80 victories, but his start to this season is the slowest of his career.

18. Richard Childress Racing (No. 31 Chevrolet) – Selects Ty Dillon

After already losing his other grandson – Austin – to Tommy Baldwin Racing, Childress decides to replace Jeff Burton in the No. 31 car with Ty Dillon.

19. Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing (No. 42 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Chip Ganassi stays loyal to Juan Pablo Montoya. The two have won a couple of races together, and Montoya has come close to winning the Brickyard 400 several times.

20. Penske Racing (No. 2 Dodge) – Opts to pass

Roger Penske is no fool. He has one of the sport’s brightest rising stars in Brad Keselowski and he isn’t letting him go any time soon.

21. Richard Childress Racing (No. 27 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Paul Menard has earned his stay at RCR. He won the 2011 Brickyard 400, and he has full sponsorship covered thanks to his father’s company (Menards).

22. Joe Gibbs Racing (No. 18 Toyota) – Opts to pass

Coach Gibbs actually thought about replacing Busch here, but due to the fact that the majority of the top-tier prospects in sport had already been taken, he opted to hang on to the extremely talented – yet volatile Kyle Busch.

23. Joe Gibbs Racing (No. 20 Toyota) – Opts to pass

JGR stands by Joey Logano for now, but it appears he may be suffering the same fate that Casey Atwood did after being moved through the ranks too quickly. However Logano still has until 2013 to hit expectations.

24. Michael Waltrip Racing (No. 15 Toyota) – Opts to pass

MWR got a steal when they found a way to sign Clint Bowyer to their team following his exile from Richard Childress Racing.

25. Michael Waltrip Racing (No. 55 Toyota) – Opts to pass

Car owner Michael Waltrip chooses not to shake things up on his team, and will stick with the rotating driver lineup in the No. 55 car of Mark Martin, Brian Vickers and Waltrip himself.

26. Stewart-Haas Racing (No. 39 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Stewart-Haas Racing decides they are good to go with Ryan Newman as their driver of the No. 39 car.

27. Roush-Fenway Racing (No. 99 Ford) – Opts to pass

Carl Edwards nearly always makes the Chase, and just last season he lost the championship in a tie breaker. Jack Roush retains the very talented Edwards.

28. Stewart-Haas Racing (No. 14 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Tony Stewart schedules a meeting with his team’s employees to tell them that he has decided to draft another driver so he can retire from driving to start a family. After a few seconds of watching the team’s reaction, Smoke informs them that he is only joking and will be around for years to come.

29. Hendrick Motorsports (No. 48 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Jimmie Johnson is off to one of his worst starts to a season ever… That being said he is still in the top-10 in points, and he has five championships. Hendrick would be nuts to cut him loose.

30. Richard Childress Racing (No. 29 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Harvick has been a championship contender for the last few seasons, and his spot at RCR is now secure.

31. Joe Gibbs Racing (No. 11 Toyota) – Opts to pass

Denny Hamlin nearly won the championship in 2010, and already has two wins early in the 2012 season. Its easy to see why he retains his ride at Joe Gibbs Racing.

32. Hendrick Motorsports (No. 88 Chevrolet) – Opts to pass

Had this have been 2009 or 2010 this may have been the biggest headline of the draft, but luckily for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. he has turned things around. Earnhardt’s super-consistent 2012 campaign keeps him in a top-tier ride for years to come.

33. Roush-Fenway Racing (No. 17 Ford) – Opts to pass

Another Daytona 500 trophy, and a strong start to the 2012 season keeps Kenseth’s spot at Roush safe for another season.

34. Michael Waltrip Racing (No. 56 Toyota) – Opts to pass

Had they had the chance one or two seasons ago, this team would have probably pulled the trigger in a draft, but with how good Martin Truex Jr. looks right now it would be absolutely insane for them to cut ties.

35.  Roush-Fenway Racing (No. 16 Ford) – Opts to pass

Jack Roush decides that the job Greg Biffle has done so far in 2012 is more than satisfactory.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman Bruton Smith answers media questions about the construction project at Bristol Motor Speedway. Photo Credit: Bristol Motor Speedway.

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

After this year’s spring race at Bristol garnered a half – or less than half – full grandstand, track-owner Bruton Smith announced that changes would be made to the track to bring the half-mile speedway back to it’s bumping and grinding roots. Wednesday Smith finally elaborated on those changes.

“I said when this process began last month that I would listen to what the fans said they wanted,” Smith said. “After a week to 10 days, there was no question that the overwhelming majority was asking for alterations to the track.

“Since March 28, when we announced that changes would be made, we have listened to fans, heard from drivers and talked to engineers about what to do and how much time we had to do it. Once we knew the direction, we located the right equipment to make it happen.”

So exactly what changes will be made?

“The majority of fans we heard from said they wanted adjustments made and the bulk of those said the progressive banking was what they didn’t like,” Smith explained. “So, that’s the focus of our efforts. And that is what we are working to change.”

Effective immediately Bristol Motor Speedway will begin to chisel away the layer of concrete that makes up the curent high-groove at Bristol Motor Speedway. The track since 2007 has sported progressive banking, which means the closer to the outside wall you get, the steeper the banking slopes. This method worked to success at places like Homestead and Las Vegas, but it wasn’t so well received at a track that had no issues selling out races before the repaving. The result of the repaving did produce great side-by-side racing at bristol, but it also produced long green flag runs like the 219 lap green flag stretch here in the Spring.

The track changes will be performed by the Penhall Company, who has machinery designed specifically for this project.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

It has been well documented, so far in 2012 caution flags have diminished in NASCAR and we are now seeing a brand of racing similar to that of Formula One. Drivers are courteous, efficient, and sponsor driven machines. But don’t worry folks according to you, there should be relief starting this weekend.

Whether it is fair, or unfair Steve Wallace has been tagged by fans of the sport as one of the most wreckless guys on the track — this weekend in Richmond fans will get to see him on the track for the first time since the end of the 2011 season.

For the past couple of months, Wallace has had to think about what he would do if he ever got the chance to return to a NASCAR racetrack. Wallace’s father’s race team in the NASCAR Nationwide Series shut it’s doors before the 2012 season began due to sponsorship struggles. However this weekend Wallace is back to prove himself at Richmond, and he has help from JTG/Daugherty Racing and their No. 47 Sprint Cup Series pit crew for Friday night.

Will we see Wallace show fans how the sport used to be, by turning the front of his No. 4 car into a battering ram? Don’t expect it.

“I’m really excited to get back on the racetrack finally. We’ve worked very hard to make this happen. Blake (Bainbridge) and I, along with a couple of other guys, put the entire car together. We tested it the other day up at Motor Mile Speedway and it went really well. Hopefully we’ll have a smooth race and put together a good finish that can help us firm up some sponsorship to run more races this year. Right now, our goal is to run 10 or so races this year and look at going racing again full-time in 2013,” Wallace said in a team press release.

Steve Wallace, judging off of that quote, seems like he definitely understands why he has missed out on racing to this point in the season, and maybe just maybe he will begin to take a step forward in his racing career this Friday night – but if that isn’t the case the fans may get their wish for more Cautions in the Nationwide Series race.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

Photo Credit: Getty Images: Nick Laham, John Harrelson, Tom Whitmore, Jonathan Ferrey, Tom Pennington, and Christian Petersen. Graphic Created By: Toby Christie (Sicknissified.com)

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Martin Truex Jr. nearly made it back to victory lane this past Sunday for the first time since the 2007 season (175 races ago). However after leading a race-high 173 laps, he was forced to settle for a second-place finish when Denny Hamlin edged ahead of his No. 56 NAPA Toyota with just 30 laps to go in the STP 400 in Kansas.

“I’d like to try it again,” Truex would exclaim when he exited his car Sunday,  ”I mean, I drove as hard as I could.”

Truex has been on a roll as of late, and he is actually now up to second in the point standings after eight races in 2012, which is the highest he has ever ranked in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings in his seven-full seasons in NASCAR’s premier division. He will get his chance to try again at snapping his long-long-long winless drought this Saturday in Richmond.

Truex hasn’t been stellar through his career at Richmond International Raceway, but honestly he hadn’t been too great anywhere heading into 2012 — So don’t expect the past to ring true this weekend. His Michael Waltrip Racing team is building some seriously fast race cars, and it’s just a matter of time until they find victory lane. Maybe this is their weekend.

If you don’t think Martin Truex Jr.’s streak will be busted this Saturday night, what about Hendrick Motorsports’ now 14-race winless drought? Since the company hit 199 Sprint Cup Series wins in Kansas last October it seemed like win No. 200 would be automatically right around the corner. Well here we are eight races into 2012, and poor Mr. H is still having to lug that heavy box of 200th win hats and t-shirts around every week waiting for the moment to bust out the box cutters. But that may very well not be the case after Saturday.

Hendrick Motorsports has two drivers in it’s stable that lead all active drivers in wins at the .75-mile race track. Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. each have three Sprint Cup Series wins at Richmond, tying them with Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart among the current sports’ best at this track.

But those aren’t the only bullets that Hendrick has in the chamber for this weekend. Jeff Gordon may have had rough luck so far this season, but he is no slouch at Richmond. He has two-career wins at this track – and last time we visited a short track (Martinsville) he was in position to win until a crazy finish took him out of the running order.

Oh and what about that Kasey Kahne guy? Remember when he was teetering on the edge of falling outside the top-35 in owner’s points? Well he is now on a two-race top-ten finish streak, and he too has a victory at Richmond that came back in 2005.

All four of Hendrick’s drivers have at least one victory at this track — this very well may be their best shot at breaking into the win column for the first time in 2012.

And don’t forget (as if that was possible) that if Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the one who can somehow get it done this weekend for Hendrick Motorsports, he will break a winless streak of his own in addition to nabbing Sprint Cup win No. 200 for HMS. Earnhardt hasn’t won since Michigan in June of 2008, which was 137 races ago, and as a result if Earnhardt pulls into victory lane Saturday night there very well may be a riot. His fan base can taste a win, and they are licking their chops — but so is the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet.

His confidence is so high that he even boasted in a recent media availability that he thinks he is a better driver than five-time champion Jimmie Johnson. So if Earnhardt does go on to win it won’t be much of a surprise as he has been stout all season long to this point, and his confidence is sky-high. Earnhardt currently is on pace to set his best ever average finish for a season (currently averaging a finish of 8.0) and he has yet to finish a race in 2012 a lap down.

Expect Earnhardt to compete for the win this weekend. Expect Hendrick Motorsports to have a really good shot at win No. 200. And Expect Martin Truex Jr. to keep his Cinderella season going.

There you have it. Tree huge winless streaks — all of which have a very realistic chance of ending this weekend in Richmond.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

Photo Credit: Jamie Squire/Getty Images, All graphics created by Toby Christie of Sicknissified.com.

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Welcome everyone to the first edition of the weekly Sicknissified.com NASCAR Power Rankings. This will be an ever-changing and evolving list of the top-20 drivers in the sport. Sometimes you may not necessarily agree with my placement of drivers, if you don’t agree let your voice be heard in the comments section below! Without further adieu here are my Power Rankings after Kansas:

Fail of The Week: The Toyota Racing camp. Although they took home the top-two spots after 400 miles in Kansas, three Toyota power plants blew up in the race.

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.

Denny Hamlin celebrates his 19th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in Kansas Speedway's Victory Lane on Sunday in Kansas City, Kan. Photo Credit: Chris Graythen/Getty Images for NASCAR

By: Toby Christie – Follow on Twitter @Tobalical

Since winning in Phoenix – the second race of the 2012 Sprint Cup Series season – Denny Hamlin had kind of fallen off the map. In the six races since the win, he had finished inside the top-10 just once, and he had fallen from the point lead back to sixth in the standings.

Sunday in Kansas Hamlin found himself in contention all day long. After starting fourth he had hovered in or around the top-five for the majority of the afternoon, and with just 30 laps to go he zoomed past Martin Truex Jr. for the lead. Truex had led 173 laps on the day, but from that point on it would be all Hamlin the rest of the way.

Hamlin spoke about stealing the win from Truex following the race, “You know, at the end it’s a no-lose situation for myself because I’m a fan of Martin’s (Truex Jr.), I’m a fan of Michael Waltrip, and they’ve really done some great things with that program.  But, my job  is to win for my guys and really drive as hard as I can to get them those wins because they’re so hard to come by now that you have to just do everything you can.  And I knew that he was driving his heart out as well as I was driving mine.

This victory marks Hamlin’s second of 2012, and its the 19th of his career. With the win Hamlin jumps back up into the top-five in the point standings — three spots ahead of Tony Stewart who sits eighth in the standings. Stewart of course fired Hamlin’s current crew chief Darian Grubb after a championship performance for the ages in 2011. As of right now it appears the Grubb is the one laughing loudest right now. Following the race though, Grubb took the high road when he spoke with the media.

“It’s just big for the momentum for the entire Joe Gibbs organization.  Everybody is working so hard just trying to improve everything.  We’ve had good cars, we got the win at Phoenix and we’ve had consistent good performances but just not the wins that we wanted to get, so going out there and getting that now and working our way up in points, it’s showing that effort that’s going on with the fab shop and the engine shop and those guys doing everything they can do to make everything better.  All these details are starting to add up,” said Grubb.

Hamlin who just a week ago rated his team a “five or six” out of 10, looks to be a serious contender again.

Although he was disappointed in a tough loss, Martin Truex Jr. did hold on for a second-place finish – considering the fact that his Michael Waltrip Racing teammates (Mark Martin and Clint Bowyer) both had engine failures on the day, things could have been much worse for the Mayetta, NJ driver. Truex has now leapfrogged to second in the point standings after another strong run.

So why exactly after being so dominant did he lose the race? Speculation during the race was that the sun – which had been non-existent for most of the afternoon in Kansas – caused his car to get super-loose late, but Truex didn’t think that was the case.

“I don’t think it was the sun.  We put that last set of tires on and it wasn’t anything like it had been all day long — just bad, badloose for the first 20 laps of that run.  Just lost the lead and once you lose the lead, it’s hard to get it back.  I was a little betterthan he (Denny Hamlin) was at the end, but when he’s running where you are, it’s just about impossible to pass him.”

Jimmie Johnson looked to have a shot at the victory Sunday, but a decision to pit for tires under a caution when most of the leaders stayed out mired him just far back enough in the running order where he could only pick his way to third by the time the checkered flag fell. Johnson was the highest finishing Hendrick Motorsports driver in this race, that team is of course still in search of their milestone 200th victory in the Sprint Cup Series. They have rolled snake eyes since Jimmie Johnson scored No. 199 14 races ago in Kansas.

Johnson following the race would explain the ever-changing wind that wreaked havoc on drivers Sunday in Kansas.

“There were times when you got into a rhythm and have five, six, seven laps of the car doing the same thing. The next lap you would enter the turn, and totally different; almost as if you ran over oil or something. It was tricky for everybody, and I like tricky conditions. Just wish we had a little bit more today, and be in victory lane,” said the five-time champion.

Roush-Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five finishers on the day. Kenseth reflected on his day after climbing out of his No. 17 Ford EcoBoost machine, “It was a good run for us, not great.  I wish we could have got up there and mixedit up with the top two a little bit more, but overall, it was a solid day.  We had good pit stops.  Jimmy and the guys made great adjustments on our car to make it better from yesterday to today.  We were just a little short and had that one bad restart that got us behind and we just weren’t quite strong enough to getup there again.”

Biffle, who started 17th, would describe his route to a top-five finish as tough.

“It was a tough day. We were back and forth all day and were just off a little bit.  When the track had a lot of grip the car wasunbelievable.  It fired off there and I thought, ‘This is gonna be a lot of fun,’ and then when the track started getting slick she started going away a little bit.  We just kept after it and didn’t give up,” said Biffle.

By not giving up, Biffle and his No. 16 team still find themselves atop the Sprint Cup Series point standings, and their point lead now grows to 15 markers over Martin Truex Jr.

Kevin Harvick would rebound from a fueling issue early in the event to finish sixth, and he explained that his team has to stop shooting itself in the foot, “We have fast cars right now.  We just are making mistakes.  We will clean those up.  This team has been together for probably eight weeks now.  The Rheem Chevrolet was not exactly like it was in practice.  The car was really tight today.  It took us until the end to get it right.  The guys did a great job rebounding on pit road this week.  To run out of gas under green flag and come back and finish sixth is a good rebound.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished seventh and in doing so he still hasn’t finished outside the top-15 in any race this season. Count Earnhardt as one of many drivers who had a great time racing at Kansas.

“It was fun. The car was fun to drive. And we’ve had a great weekend. For whatever reason, that last run we were really loose. When you look at all the guys I’m racing around, their track bars are on the ground and we’re running ours about three inches higher, probably. We’ve just got to figure out a way to get that down and get the car to rotate and get the rear grip in the car. But I had fun.”

Earnhardt’s losing streak now reaches 137 races, but with six top-10s in the season’s first eight races he has momentum on his side, and he heads to a track – Richmond – where he has won three times in his career.

Kasey Kahne looks to have completely shaken off all of his bad luck funk, as he finished inside the top-10 for the second-consecutive week with an eighth place effort. Kahne now moves solidly inside the top-30 in points to 26th — remember in order to be eligible for a wildcard berth into the Chase you have to at least be inside the top-25 of the point standings.

Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch would round out the top-10, and they had a heck of a battle for that ninth-place position at the end.

“I had a lot of fun racing Kyle at the end.  That was really neat.  I acted like we were racing for the win and I think he was doing the same thing, so at least we got to have a little fun,” said Edwards, ”That was a good time.”

Edwards’ ninth-place finish meant that all three of Roush-Fenway Racing’s cars finished inside the top-10 — pretty impressive considering they all started outside the top-15 Sunday.

The No. 22 team and driver A.J. Allmendinger started the day with high hopes as they rolled off the grid from the pole. Allmendinger would start strong by leading the first 44 laps of the race, but his quest for his first-ever Sprint Cup Series victory would fall apart when engine issues cropped up on his AAA Dodge. Allmendinger would remain in the race to salvage as many points as he could, but to say his 32nd-place finish was a disappointment would be an understatement. This rough outing snaps a three-race top-15 finish streak that “The Dinger” had coming into this weekend.

Here is the full unofficial finishing order for the STP 400 at Kansas:

[ 1 ] 11-Denny Hamlin
[ 2 ] 56-Martin Truex Jr.
[ 3 ] 48-Jimmie Johnson
[ 4 ] 17-Matt Kenseth
[ 5 ] 16-Greg Biffle
[ 6 ] 29-Kevin Harvick
[ 7 ] 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.
[ 8 ] 5-Kasey Kahne
[ 9 ] 99-Carl Edwards
[10] 18-Kyle Busch
[11] 2-Brad Keselowski
[12] 42-Juan Montoya
[13] 14-Tony Stewart
[14] 1-Jamie McMurray
[15] 20-Joey Logano
[16] 9-Marcos Ambrose
[17] 51-Kurt Busch
[18] 27-Paul Menard
[19] 12-Sam Hornish Jr.
[20] 39-Ryan Newman
[21] 24-Jeff Gordon
[22] 31-Jeff Burton
[23] 43-Aric Almirola
[24] 78-Regan Smith
[25] 93-Travis Kvapil
[26] 13-Casey Mears
[27] 38-David Gilliland
[28] 32-Reed Sorenson
[29] 10-David Reutimann
[30] 34-David Ragan
[31] 49-J.J. Yeley
[32] 22-A.J. Allmendinger
[33] 55-Mark Martin (Engine)
[34] 83-Landon Cassill
[35] 47-Bobby Labonte (Engine)
[36] 15-Clint Bowyer (Engine)
[37] 36-Dave Blaney (Vibration)
[38] 30-David Stremme (Over Heating)
[39] 26-Josh Wise (Rear Gear)
[40] 98-Michael McDowell (Over Heating)
[41] 87-Joe Nemechek (Vibration)
[42] 19-Mike Bliss (Brakes)
[43] 23-Scott Riggs (Rear Gear)

– Toby Christie is the lead Motorsports writer for Sicknissified.com, and he can be reached via twitter or email. Tweet him @Tobalical or email him at tobalical@sicknissified.com.