What's up, dedicated readers? And for you casual readers, it's time to hop on the bandwagon -- there's still plenty of room. I swear my bandwagon will be the best … open bar, fog machine, celebrity cameos. It'll be awesome.
This week, I think I'll talk some NASCAR. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
First of all, I was glad to see Joey Logano walk away, albeit a little shakily, from his frightening, seven-barrel-roll trip on the Monster Mile. And then, because of the way my mind wanders, I was thinking about his rookie of the year campaign during the red flag.
Logano is sitting 20th in points, ahead of drivers such as Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr., and he has a win, although it was thanks to some pit-road strategy and a well-timed rainstorm. Other than that, Logano has a seventh and a trio of ninth-place finishes. Not bad, in my opinion. Even though Sliced Bread is in top-notch equipment, he is still just 19 years old and learning his way around a number of these tracks.
Logano is a sure thing to win rookie of the year, because his main competition is Scott Speed. Marcos Ambrose and Logano would be having a hotly contested race this year, except Ambrose lost his rookie status by running too many races last season.
Next year, Brad Keselowski would be the leading candidate for top rookie, except he's running too many races this year to be eligible. And Logano likely would've been on the same path as Keselowski had Tony Stewart not unexpectedly left Joe Gibbs Racing before the 2009 season.
The lesson here? For Cup teams, getting Cup experience for young drivers has become more important than the rookie of the year award. And I, for one, don't like it. The trend thumbs its nose at history by not allowing the cream of the crop among young drivers to rightfully receive the accolades they deserve.
Thoughts? Opinions? Ranting? E-mail me or leave your comments below.
The real Monster
Jimmie Johnson dominated this season at Dover. That is pretty plain to see if you just look at his pair of wins.
But Johnson's crew didn't just hit the right setup at the end of the race to put the 48 in Victory Lane. No, Johnson dominated the Monster Mile, leading more than 71 percent of the total laps and being the fastest car on the track for 282 of the 800 total laps.
To put that in perspective, no other driver was fastest on the track for more than 53 laps -- that was Mark Martin. The bad news for Johnson is we're done with Dover for the season.
Trivia break! Jimmie Johnson swept Dover this season. Who was the last driver to sweep both Cup races at the Monster Mile?
Golden oldies
I don't want to call Martin old, but I'm about giving facts in this column. Damning evidence came from my roommate, who commented that Martin looks older than 50.
But age is just a number, and Martin is fitter than I and some of the other drivers out there on the track. But when you've been around the sport as long as he has, you're bound to reach some milestones that only a handful of other drivers have hit before.
Sunday was Martin's 750th career start. He's the ninth driver to reach that mark. Martin finished second, by far the best finish for a driver in his 750th career start:
Trivia break! Elliott and Labonte are part-time drivers, and Kyle Petty is retired. Who is the only other current full-time driver besides Martin to have made 750 career Cup starts?
Bad news
You know I'm Mr. Positive, here to deliver the good news however and whenever I can. But I have some bad news to give Martin, he of the previous nugget.
The driver leading after two Chase races has never gone on to win the championship.
Each of the past two years, that driver went on to finish runner-up in the points standings, Jeff Gordon in 2007 and Carl Edwards last season. And that's the last thing that Martin needs -- another second-place finish in the points!
Trivia break! Sunday was Greg Biffle's 250th Cup start. He came up short of the win, but what two drivers in series history have won in their 250th starts?
Trivia break answers
1. Ryan Newman swept Dover in 2003, the last driver to do it before Johnson this year.
2. Michael Waltrip, with one more start than Martin, is the only other active full-time driver with 750 starts.
Matt Willis has been a researcher with the ESPN Stats & Information Group since 2006, working on "NASCAR Now" and "SportsCenter," among other shows.
He graduated from Ithaca College in 2006 with a degree in journalism. While there, he worked on ICTV on shows such as "Ya Think You Know Sports?" and "Sports Final."
He also was a member of the IC Comedy Club and figures about half the jokes he makes in his column are funny.
You can reach Matt at ESPNMattWillis@yahoo.com for any NASCAR-related questions or comments. Or, if you just want to talk. It never hurts to have an extra friend.
Matt Willis
