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Judging by the feedback I received from the Nov. 8 edition of Splash And Go, it appears that the many dramatic subplots of the AAA 500 last Sunday weren’t enough to draw back those of you who have abandoned the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup this fall. Your attitude seems to match that of Kyle Busch to the NASCAR official during his stop-and-go penalty for pit road speeding last Sunday at Texas — the big, fat middle finger.

Guess many of you feel the same way about the Chase, which is too bad.

That’s a shame, as no one is going to convince me this isn’t a compelling Chase. The top three drivers within 59 points. Two races to go. Forget about the COT. Forget about the Chase system.

Two races to go, 59 points separate the top three. If that’s not good enough for you, maybe Travis Pastrana can save NASCAR in your eyes.

Off my soap box and on to Phoenix.

Four-time reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson trails leader Denny Hamlin by 33 points after Hamlin won last Sunday at Texas. But there are few better places for a JJ rebound than Phoenix, as he has won the last three fall races at The Desert Mile.

Hamlin is hot, as he’s racing no differently during the Chase than he did during the “regular season” — the dude is driving to win. So anyone Chase naysayers complaining about conservative “points racing” better not point to Hamlin. Oh, sorry, I’m on that soap box again.

And what about Kevin Harvick? He’s 59 points behind leader Hamlin, and Mike Mulhern suggests it might be a must-win situation for Happy this Sunday at Phoenix.

It should be vewwwy interesting, as Elmer Fudd would say.

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Is this Kyle Busch after a speeding penalty or NASCAR fans who still think this year's Chase stinks?

So, Chase naysayers: Are you happy now?

If not, then just end your illusion of any allegiance to NASCAR. Just come clean: You’re not a NASCAR fan anymore.

Because if you didn’t find the AAA Texas 500 even the slightest bit entertaining, then you should just move on. Pass Go, collect $200 and move to your latest sport du jour or continue to long for the “glory days” that had no more glory than what was on track Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

I’m far from a NASCAR apologist, as there are times I think reading toaster oven wiring manuals is more exciting than watching a Sprint Cup race. But this season has been solid, and no race has featured more drama, excitement and over-the-top entertainment than Sunday at Texas.

Let’s start recapping the plot lines. I bet we’ll need to move to a second hand to get a complete count.

One, Denny Hamlin uses a great inside-out move on Matt Kenseth to win the race. Denny could have sat back in second and taken the safe route, knowing he still would have left Fort Worth with the points lead. But Denny did what champions are supposed to do: Drove his ass off for a victory. (It’s a shame that NASCAR doesn’t reward winning drives like this with more points, but that’s a topic for another day.)

Two, Jimmie Johnson is out of the points lead with just two races remaining. Johnson entered the race 14 points ahead in his Drive for Five, yet he left Texas 33 points behind Hamlin, in second, after finishing ninth. Kevin Harvick remains third, 59 points out of the lead, in the closest three-man race this late in the Chase since the format started in 2004.

Three, Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, benched his pit crew mid-race for poor performance, orchestrating a swap with teammate Jeff Gordon’s pit crew. It was about as stinging as a public rebuke can be, but it’s not surprising considering Knaus’ Texas-sized ego. Plus even though Knaus never has met a mirror or the pronoun “I” that he didn’t like, look at the man’s record: He delivers. Johnson didn’t seem that torn up about the divorce from his pit crew after the race.

Four, smack talk by Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Ford. He said the mid-race Hendrick crew swap could be the tipping point toward Denny ending Jimmie’s run of four consecutive Sprint Cup titles. Brash, bold talk — you’ve got to love it.

Five, Gordon’s crew was available because Jeff Burton inexplicably took out Gordon, precipitating the Backstretch Bash. The Driver formerly known as Boy Wonder stomped toward Burton on the backstretch, gave him a strong two-handed shove and started to throw punches before being restrained by NASCAR officials.

It wasn’t exactly Cale vs. Donnie and Bobby on the backstretch at Daytona in 1979, but it was quite compelling. And because the combatants were Gordon and Burton, two of the more sage, even-tempered elder statesmen in the NASCAR garage, you know it was real.

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Enough. Please. Stop.

Make it stop!

NASCAR is in the midst of its most exciting Chase for the Sprint Cup since the inaugural year of the format, 2004, when just 16 points separated champion Kurt Busch, second place Jimmie Johnson and third place Jeff Gordon at the end of the season. Yet the endless bleating, soul-searching and head-scratching continues about NASCAR in reverse gear.

Make no mistake: NASCAR has problems. Declining TV ratings and race attendance. Top teams struggling for sponsorship. Yet it’s still the most popular form of motorsports in America, by far. Every other series in the U.S. would love to have NASCAR’s “problems.”

But can we just focus on the racing for the next three weeks? There are three races remaining in what has been a compelling Chase for the Sprint Cup. Four-time reigning champion Jimmie Johnson leads Denny Hamlin by just 14 points and Kevin Harvick by 38.

It’s high-octane drama, yet from Tuesday through Thursday of every race week during the Chase — after the race reports and analysis are out of the way by Monday and before the race previews and coverage start Friday — all I read about on NASCAR blogs and websites are theories and speculation about the root cause of the great withering of NASCAR. Dustin Long, who I read daily and whose work I admire greatly, even wrote that the close Chase could be hurting NASCAR.

Say what?

Isn’t there a two-month offseason during which endless column inches and online bytes can be devoted to the Great NASCAR Decession? You know, when no actual racing is taking place?

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There might be only three guys in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing who have it better right now than Jamie McMurray — Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick — even though McMurray isn’t one of the 12 drivers this year in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

You'd be stoked if you won at Daytona, Indy and Charlotte in the same season, too. Even if you weren't in the Chase.

McMurray continued his banner season with a victory last Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Jamie Mac’s three victories this season came at the three most prestigious tracks in NASCAR – Daytona, Indianapolis and Charlotte.

I wrote this before, but McMurray’s primary sponsors, Bass Pro Shops and McDonald’s, must be pretty stoked these days. I know I’d rather benefit from the exposure of winning the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 and a race at Charlotte and miss the Chase than make the Chase and go winless, as Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth have done so far this season.

Only Johnson, Hamlin and Harvick should be happier than Jamie Mac these days because they’re the only three drivers with a chance to lift the Sprint Cup on Nov. 21 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson finished third at Charlotte, with Hamlin fourth, stretching JJ’s lead to 41 points over Hamlin in the standings. Harvick is third, 77 points back.

Everyone else from fourth-place Jeff Gordon to 12th-place Clint Bowyer are at least 156 points behind Johnson. They can turn out the lights on 2010, Irene. With just five races remaining, they’re toast.

While most media members and fans think Johnson is easing away from Hamlin heading into Martinsville this weekend, Dustin Long begs to differ. He believes this could be Hamlin’s Chase to lose and presents an interesting statistical case.

Kasey Kahne’s lost season continued with illness and a third brake failure Saturday night at Charlotte, and the relations between Kahne and Richard Petty Motorsports plunged to an even deeper malaise. Kahne claimed illness for his reason for leaving the team after his early accident, yet he was healthy enough to run a 5K race for charity the next morning. Granted, RPM has provided Kahne with cars barely worthy of Fred Sanford’s junkyard this season.

It’s an ugly example of how a lame-duck driver and team should not end a partnership.

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Colin Edwards

Colin Edwards, a Houston native nicknamed “The Texas Tornado,” will offer candid insight about his performance, competitors and life in the exciting world of MotoGP motorcycle racing before every event in 2010 in “Tornado Warning.” It’s the third consecutive season in which Edwards will offer this exclusive insight for www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

Two-time World Superbike champion Edwards, 36, is in his eighth year of MotoGP competition, riding this season for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Edwards and the rest of the MotoGP riders will continue the season Sunday, Oct. 10 at the Grand Prix of Malaysia at the Sepang Circuit (6 p.m. ET, Oct. 10, SPEED).

The colorful Edwards competed in the third annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 27-29 at IMS along with fellow American MotoGP stars Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, and MotoGP superstars Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

Motegi, that was more like it. What was the big change, the big turnaround?

Let’s see: What was it? Motegi, last year, I should have had a good result there last year if we wouldn’t have had the rain map on the bike in the dry race, which is just a mistake that was  … Shit happens, I guess. We went there, and we just remembered all the problems we had last year. And one of our main problems was just wheelie, just wheelie everywhere. It’s hard to go forward when the front wheel just keeps coming in the air. We pretty much just kind of moved both axles backward, front and rear, we just moved them back. Just enough. Not a whole bunch. Get a little more weight distribution over the front of the bike. Man, that seemed all the difference. I felt so good, so confident. I’ve been running into this front-end confidence pretty much all year. It feels like when I let off the brakes, all the weight just transfers to the rear and I don’t have any front feel. And now we’re putting a little more weight on the front, and now the front seems to stay planted. I feel like I can actually turn the bike and kind of pivot the rear around. It worked out pretty good.

Is that something you have tried before this year or was it something new?

We have never tried it ever. We’re rear, from countershaft to rear axle, we’re longer than we’ve ever been, with Bridgestones. We used to run it quite a bit longer with Michelins, but we had to shorten it up a lot with Bridgestones to make the tire work in the right temperature range and pressure range that it needs to work. We never moved it back, because it’s always, let’s just say, a baseline length that we’ve used. My crew chief had an idea, hey, Guy said: “We’ve got a big problem with wheelie here so let’s just try something a little bit different. It should give you a little more front-end confidence at the same time, and wheelie should be better.” And it all worked out.

We’re talking millimeters here, right?

We’re talking half a centimeter. Maybe not even that. This bike is real finicky. You change a couple of mils on this bike, and it turns into a completely different motorcycle. We didn’t go 2 inches or anything like that. Just small changes. At the same time, I think what probably helped at Motegi is we ran around most of Friday and all day Saturday morning on the hard rear. It was looking real bleak, to be honest with you. Ben and I were both struggling, and Valentino was struggling, as well, with grip. Once we got into the qualifying session and we put the soft tire on and do some lap times, it was like it was a completely different motorcycle. Everything just worked. It just worked a lot better. Put a good qualifying time in, strung a few good laps together, and it was like, “Huh, OK, this is how it’s supposed to be.” It all started working out then.

You have said a few times this year that it’s pretty meaningless to ride at the limit for 10^th or 12^th place. What was it like to ride at your maximum again for a meaningful result, fifth place? Was there a moment when you thought: “This is cool. This is why I race motorcycles?”

That moment kind of hit me on Saturday whenever we put the soft tires back in to go qualifying, and I went, “This feels so easy.” It felt comfortable; it felt like I can push. I don’t feel like I’m gathering it all back together and struggling and limping around. I felt like I could actually push. That’s the difference. When you feel like you can push and you can fight and you can take some risks knowing that you can cut back tight or square it off or run some different lines and play around a little bit, that’s where confidence comes, as well. You’re just comfortable with the bike. It’s just a comfort level. If you don’t have confidence in the front or the rear or whatever it, it’s real hard to push when you’ve got your sphincter overload going constantly.

Did the ferocity of the battle between Valentino and Jorge for third surprise you at all? Were you surprised that the rivalry finally boiled over into a “Screw you. No, screw you!” battle on the track?

Well, you have to look at the whole picture. I’ve known Valentino for many years, and obviously I’m good friends with Jorge, as well. I think Jorge is the only one up to date … you could say Casey, too, but Jorge is more of a wall. If Valentino is trying to play some games with him and trying to jack with him, Jorge just doesn’t really put up with it or doesn’t care what he does. Jorge goes out and does his own thing. But when you look at Valentino and you look at that race at Motegi, that wasn’t about last year or this year or that particular moment. That whole thing is taking place because of next year, really. He’s trying to dig some screws in early for next year and get this new program he’s got going on over at the red camp. He’s just planting that seed; that’s all he’s doing.

I think it worked, because Jorge was complaining after the race. It seems like Rossi got into his head a little bit.

Yeah, that might have been the first time he’s got in there a little bit. At the end of the day, it’s motorcycle racing. Shit, I’m not going to say I run against a bunch of primadonnas. But there are a couple of out there. I don’t really think Jorge is one of them, or Valentino. But that kind of attitude to where somebody rubs you or touches you, it’s like, “Oh, what are you doing?” Shit, where I come from, you can knock somebody off the track and pretty much get away with it. It’s just a different mentality. Hell, rubbin’s racin’.

Odd question, but here goes. You’re one of the few guys now in MotoGP who doesn’t remove his inside leg from the bike and stick it out into the air, almost as a tripod, when in high-speed corners. Why?

Well, first off: I’m 36 years old. There’s something in the saying, “Can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” If I tried to pull my leg off, I might f*ckin’ fall over. It’s just something I’ve never done. It’s not in my repertoire, my bag of tricks. The reality of it helping you actually do something, I don’t see it. I’ve not gone to the school of sticking your leg out while braking. Motocross. But hell, I don’t want the bike moving around as much as motocross.

It seems like nobody started doing it until Valentino started doing it two or three years ago. I don’t recall seeing anyone doing it on the 990s.

There was a time a while back, Schwantz would do it occasionally. I don’t think he even knew he did it. It was more of a reaction, and that reaction usually is when you get that sphincter overload and you’re braking too deep and you’re trying to haul the thing down. That’s how Valentino started out as. Every time he would do it, he did it the whole time I was on the team, so ’05, ’06, ’07. He would do it occasionally. But it would be once or twice, three times a race, maybe. It was that: “Oh, shit, I’m in too deep. What am I going to do here?” That thing would get stopped, and he would put his leg back up. It was more of a reaction. And then everybody caught on to it. And he started doing it more and more. I don’t know what the benefit is. But maybe it works. I don’t know.

Malaysia. What does the weather forecast look like?

I can pretty much guarantee that it will rain every day here, which is generally what happens. It usually doesn’t happen until 4 or 5 o’clock. Afternoon thunderstorms roll in. And being that they’ve got the race delayed for European time and all that, I think we’re racing an hour later, maybe two. I’m not sure. We might get some thunderstorms. Whatever. Here you never know. Hit or miss. It’s either going to be blazing hot or pissing down rain.

Do you think your bike will be set up better for the long straights of Malaysia coming off tight corners because you have the wheelie problem under control?

It should be better. The wheelie is not a real big problem here. There are a couple of corners. But you’re linking a hairpin to another corner. You’re always linking corners here. Whereas Motegi is more start-stop, down the short chute, turn, down another short chute. And that’s where you’re grabbing a handful, and a lot of wheelies occur. Whereas here you’re usually going from a right to a left or a left to a right. You’re constantly flowing instead of just standing straight up and got the thing wheelie-ing. It’s not really that big of a problem here.

NASCAR has the controversy it wanted for the 2010 Chase for the Sprint Cup: The Curious Case of Clint Bowyer.

Bowyer was penalized 150 points, and his crew chief, Shane Wilson, was suspended for six weeks due to Bowyer’s car not meeting specifications after it won the Chase-opening Sylvania 300 on Sept. 19 at New Hampshire. Team owner Richard Childress appealed the penalties because he said either taps from drivers congratulating Bowyer on his victory lap or the wrecker that pushed his car into Victory Lane knocked the back end 60-thousandths of an inch out of whack. RC said he’ll take the case all the way to the NASCAR commissioner, whomever that is.

That all came down Wednesday. Fast-forward two days, and this soap opera is getting sudsier by the hour.

Drivers met the press today at Dover, site this Sunday of the second race of the Chase. (Loudon, N.H., and Dover, Del. — two chic media capitals to start a big-time postseason, eh? But that’s the topic for another blog entry.) Bowyer lobbed the opening grenade by making an impassioned defense of himself and his team. Here’s the full transcript.

Safe to say, Clint is pissed. He thinks NASCAR put his entire team into the hardware department — it’s getting screwed.

Hamlin: You're so full of crap, Clint, that your eyes are turning brown.

But that was just the beginning. Points leader Denny Hamlin countered by saying NASCAR had warned Bowyer and his team earlier this season about tip-toeing much too closely to the edge of the rulebook. While Hamlin was convinced Bowyer’s claims of innocence were bunk, four-time reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson proclaimed apathy.

Once he learned of Hamlin’s barrage, Childress counter-punched with a jab instead of a one-two series of hooks.

Ah, this is getting juicy. But remember, there is a race this Sunday at the Monster Mile. What’s that? Oh, yeah, the race! All Left Turns handicaps the AAA 400, making a good point that Johnson is on thin ice after just one race in the Chase as he attempts to complete his drive for five.

The build-up to the IZOD IndyCar Series finale Oct. 2 at Homestead-Miami continues, without the melodrama of the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Paul Dalbey and Steph Wallcraft at More Front Wing take an interesting point-counterpoint approach to the Clash of the Titans for the title between points leader Will Power and Dario Franchitti.

I have two wishes for the race at Homestead: One, Will and Dario battle for the title down to the last lap, just like Scott Dixon and Franchitti did in 2007 and 2009, with Dario becoming champion both years. Two, KV Racing Technology puts all of its chassis back on the truck in one piece.

It’s been a rough season for KV, which must have platinum card status with Dallara. You also hope the team has accident forgiveness insurance with Allstate. Some cruel or clever dude — take your pick — has put together this compilation of the team’s troubles this year on YouTube:

Ouch. You really have to feel for team owners Kevin Kalkhoven and Jimmy Vasser and for drivers Takuma Sato, E.J. Viso and Mario Moraes. And for sections of concrete wall all over North America.

While there’s still a superb current championship race in the IZOD IndyCar Series, there’s also a lot of attention on the future in that series. The new schedule for 2011, the new chassis and engine package in 2012 and future sources of talent behind the wheel.

Robin Miller of SPEED writes that USAC drivers, who got a foot back into the Indy door during the early years of the IRL, might have a smoother path back to the Brickyard in an open-wheel car if series boss Randy Bernard has his way. One of those potential USAC drivers to jump into the Road to Indy system could be Shannon McIntosh, who continues her driver diary at Pop Off Valve.

But the always interesting Tony Johns at Pop Off Valve insists that everyone in IndyCar needs to let go of the past if the series is to progress. No, he’s not talking about the ebbing acrimony of The Split. He’s talking about everyone’s insistence that it’s vital that progeny of the great names of the past are in cars and the persistent belief that IndyCar keeps a firm grasp on its past glory days.

MotoGP is off this weekend, but its feuds are brewing almost like those in NASCAR Sprint Cup. There’s already a cold front coming through the Repsol Honda organization, whipping up a storm between those who support incumbent Dani Pedrosa and those who back the incoming Casey Stoner. Hate to say I told you so, but I predicted this coming snit fit a week ago. Dani and Casey certainly aren’t the Captain & Tennille or Peaches and Herb.

With new 1000cc bikes coming to MotoGP in 2012, many suspected that Aprilia was using its Superbike World Championship program as a warm-up act for a return to the premier class of worldwide motorcycle racing. Balderdash, says Aprilia.

It’s not like the Italian marque set the world on fire when it was in MotoGP in 2003. Oh, wait, it did: Just ask American Colin Edwards. His Aprilia mysteriously burst into flame while he was riding it at 125 mph at the German Grand Prix in one of the indelible images of the 2003 season.

That was Colin’s first MotoGP season. It’s amazing he even wanted to return in 2004 after riding that flaming piece of turd.

Formula One is taking its nightclub on wheels under the lights this weekend at Singapore, where the Red Bulls of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber ruled the first practice. Like IndyCar, F1 is another series that doesn’t need a postseason to create a good title race. Just 24 points separate leader Webber from fifth-place Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button forming a triple burger with cheese between them.

Hmm. Anyone ever wonder that maybe the points system in NASCAR is broken and needs fixing? Just sayin’, as people in the Midwest are wont to say.

The controversy over which team will use the famed Lotus name next season is over: Lotus will remain Lotus. God, I feel better now. Don’t you? As I said before, it’s a moot point. The current F1 car is not a Lotus. This is a real Lotus.

Amen.

Sorry for the late-evening version of Splash And Go, but I had to wait for the first practice results from Motegi. They’re in, and Will Power is on top of the time chart. His closest pursuer in the points, Dario Franchitti, was sixth.

It’s a strong statement of intent by Power, but it’s not like the guy has looked shabby at recent oval races at Chicagoland and Kentucky. Still, John Oreovicz of ESPN.com makes a really good point about Will: He’s never raced on the asphalt egg at Twin Ring Motegi.

Still, I think it’s only a matter of time until he earns his first oval victory in the IZOD IndyCar Series for Team Penske. Dario just hopes that time is next year.

I was stunned when I first saw the time sheet and noticed Takuma Sato was at the bottom, even beneath Milka Duno. Say it ain’t so at your home motor dojo, Taku-san. But then I read where Taku crashed after an oil line failure splurted oil on the tires, causing Sato to spin.

Good thing Taku is OK. It’s pretty safe to say that normal order will be restored, with Milka in the caboose. But you have to feel for Sato in front of his home crowd. And do you think KV Racing Technology has gold card credit status with Dallara for chassis repair yet this season?

While practice is underway at Motegi, it’s not too late to check out this humorous preview of the race at Pop Off Valve.

She's still an elite race driver, ladies and gents

Tony Johns of Pop Off Valve also takes on the white elephant in the room with the IZOD IndyCar Series, the future racing intent of 5-2, 100-pound Danica Patrick. Tony thinks IndyCar doesn’t need Danica anymore.

Sorry, Tony, but I beg to differ. Danica is the most popular driver in the series, has attracted countless fans of both genders to IndyCar and is a magnet for attention, good and bad. No one can force her to stay in the series if she wants to run NASCAR full time after her contract expires with Andretti Autosport, but to say the series doesn’t need her? That’s a big step off a very narrow ledge.

Johns brings up Danica’s relative lack of success — one victory in nearly six full seasons of IZOD IndyCar Series racing — and says her results don’t match her hype. Well, the stats don’t match the buzz for Dale Earnhardt Jr. in NASCAR Sprint Cup, either, but he remains the most popular driver in that series by about six ZIP codes.

Sports is a personality-driven entertainment business now. People follow personalities more than results. But results are still a factor, and Danica gets it done at the biggest race in the world, the Indianapolis 500. Five top-eight finishes in six career starts at the Brickyard. ‘Nuff said. She’s a plus for the series. Period.

On a final IndyCar note, it’s really heartening to see that Mike Conway is almost ready to climb back into the cockpit. This boggles my mind considering the ferocity of Mike’s wreck at Indy, but he’s trying to beat the clock to return to his Dreyer & Reinbold seat for the season finale Oct. 2 at Homestead. Dude’s a racer – what else can you say?

Hey, did you know the Chase starts this Sunday? THE CHASE! THE CHASE! I’m starting to sound like Herve Villechaize calling for the plane on “Fantasy Island.”

The always excellent Dustin Long analyzes what each of the 12 Chase drivers needs to do to hoist the big silver mug at Homestead. Mike Mulhern also takes a really interesting look at how a strong, candid relationship between drivers and crew chiefs, especially when the driver is a bubbling young volcano like Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, is vital during the Chase.

Mike Hembree at SPEEDtv.com wrote an interesting piece stating that sleepy, small Loudon is an odd place to conduct the first race of NASCAR’s postseason.

New England is a stronger racing bastion than one might think, and Nor’easter fans go especially nuts for the superb NASCAR Modified Tour, the most exciting division in NASCAR, in my opinion. But New England also is a pro stick-and-ball haven, with the Patriots, Celtics and Red Sox Nation inhaling most of the available media oxygen.

Still, that’s not stopping track president Jerry Gappens from beating the drum. Jerry is an Indiana native, so racing is in his veins. He also worked for the legendary promoter Humpy Wheeler at Charlotte Motor Speedway, so the guy clearly knows how to sell and connect with fans.

The new Grand Prix of Aragon is underway in MotoGP, and the Motorland Aragon is one trippy racetrack, as this photo feature at motomatters.com shows. There are so many blind entrances to corners that I think Ray Charles and Jose Feliciano designed the circuit.

Dani Pedrosa was quickest overall as MotoGP returned to two Friday practice sessions. Pedrosa has been en fuego since Indianapolis and was rewarded with a new two-year deal with Honda. It will be very interesting to see how the notoriously fickle Pedrosa and his attack-dog manager, Alberto Puig, get along with Australian hard-ass and sometimes chronic complainer Casey Stoner next season in the Repsol Honda garage. Expect little love lost between the two.

James Toseland: Don't hate me because I'm beautiful, baby

Speaking of unloved men in motorcycle racing, it seems like James Toseland has alienated another teammate. American Colin Edwards couldn’t stand Toseland after Toseland orchestrated a swap of his crew chief with Edwards’ before the start of the 2009 MotoGP season. The Texas Tornado got the last laugh, as he clicked better with his new crew chief, Guy Coulon, and kicked Toseland’s ass so thoroughly that the Brit lost his ride and dropped back to World Superbike.

Well, it appears that Toseland’s WSBK teammate, fellow Brit Cal Crutchlow, also doesn’t have Toseland on his Christmas card list this year, either. Crutchlow was asked if he sought Toseland’s advice on MotoGP in advance of jumping to MotoGP in 2011 with Toseland’s old team, Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Crutchlow dropped a hammer on Toseland with his answer!

I sure hope Edwards remains at Monster Yamaha Tech 3 next season. The verbal volleys coming from that garage will look like Volkswagen Beetle-sized shells being fired from the USS Missouri.

In a very classy move Thursday, Moto2 points leader Toni Elias suggested in the pre-event press conference at Aragon that the Michel Metraux Trophy, presented to the best privateer rider of the season in the Moto2 class, should be presented to Shoya Tomizawa, who was killed in a Moto2 racing crash Sept. 5 at Misano.

The trophy is awarded based on a vote of the Moto2 riders, and they unanimously agreed to posthumously award the Metraux Trophy to Tomi.  A very proper gesture from a solid, tight community of racers.

Formula One is off this weekend, but the news and rumors never stop in the “pinnacle of motorsport,” as Nigel Mansell used to call it.

Joe Saward writes that it makes little sense for Renault to dance with Kimi Raikkonen despite reports that the Kimster and the French team are courting for 2011. Joe also throws cold water on the rumors that Lotus will switch to Toyota engines, instead writing that the shadow of the once-colossus fronted by Colin Chapman and Jim Clark will switch to Renault engines in 2011.

Sorry, but if a Cosworth DFV isn’t in the back, it’s not a real Lotus regardless of the paint job or team name.

Finally, Michael Schumacher is excited about the first night race of his career at Singapore on Sept. 26. Be careful what you wish for, Weltmeister: The spotlights of Singapore only will more brightly illuminate both the decline of your career and a possibly ham-fisted, lethal attempt by you to stuff a faster driver into the numerous concrete barriers of the street circuit.

Only the best win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Just look at the winners of the Indy 500 since 2005: Wheldon, Hornish, Franchitti, Dixon, Castroneves. All IZOD IndyCar Series champions except Helio, and he’s won Indy three times. Same with the Brickyard 400: Stewart, Johnson and McMurray. All Sprint Cup champions except Jamie Mac, and he has won the Daytona 500.

MotoGP is no different. Seven-time MotoGP World Champion Valentino Rossi won the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP in 2008, and Jorge Lorenzo — who is almost a shoo-in to win the title this year barring disaster or injury — won last year.

But there’s also an interesting trend that has developed over the first two years of the MotoGP race at IMS: Dark horses emerge.

There has been at least one surprise among the riders standing on the famous circular podium at Indy in 2008 and 2009, and there’s no reason why it can’t happen again this year.

Nicky Hayden on the IMS podium in 2009

In 2008, American Nicky Hayden finished second. What’s so surprising about that, you say? After all, the Kentucky Kid has been America’s best rider in the World Championship for the last eight seasons. He beat Rossi to the world title in 2006.

Yeah, yeah: I get it. But Nicky’s runner-up finish during the “hurricane race” in September 2008 still could be classified as a surprise. He had been struggling in what was his final season with Repsol Honda leading into Indy, with no podiums and just three top-five finishes in the first 13 races of the season.

But buoyed by his home crowd, Nicky led 12 laps before finishing second for his first podium finish since August 2007. It also didn’t hurt that the wind and driving rain delivered to the track by the remnants of Hurricane Ike caused the bikes to slip and slide all over the IMS course, which favored Nicky’s sublime bike-handling skills cultivated by years of power-sliding flat-track racing on dirt tracks across America.

Last year, it’s arguable that winner Lorenzo was the only one of the top three finishers who was expected to be on the podium. Alex De Angelis finished second, and let’s face it: Only diehard motorcycle racing fans knew of Alex De Angelis before the red lights turned off to start this race.

Hayden finished third for his second consecutive Red Bull Indianapolis GP podium finish, a feat matched only by Lorenzo in the race’s two-year history. Nicky was struggling mightily in his first season with Ducati entering Indy, with a fifth-place finish his best effort in the first 11 races.

Yet once again, Hayden enjoyed the taste of home cookin’ and came through for his throngs of fans at IMS.

So if this trend continues, who are the candidates to make a surprise appearance spraying champagne in the shadow of the IMS Pagoda around 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 29?

First, let’s eliminate the four “aliens,” as MotoGP rider Marco Melandri coined them last year. It will be no surprise if Lorenzo, Rossi, Dani Pedrosa or Casey Stoner finish in the top three. They’re clearly the four best riders in the world, all on factory bikes. So scratch them from the list.

Honestly, would it be a massive surprise if Ben Spies finished in the top three? I don’t think so. Elbowz qualified second and finished fourth at the Czech Grand Prix on Aug. 15 at Brno. He already has a podium finish this season as the top rookie in MotoGP and is challenging Hayden as the top American rider in the standings.

I also don’t think it would qualify as a shock if Nicky finished on the podium for a third straight year. Look at his track record at Indy. ‘Nuff said. Plus he has four fourth-place finishes in 2010 during a resurgent season on his Ducati.

Colin Edwards in 2009 at IMS

But the third American on the MotoGP grid, Colin Edwards, would qualify as a surprise if he stood on the podium. It has not been the best of seasons for the Texas Tornado on his satellite Monster Yamaha Tech 3 machine. He has has finished seventh in the last two races, his best efforts of the season.

Yet Colin has a solid chance at a strong finish at Indy. I talked with him this week for the upcoming installment of “Tornado Warning” at this blog, and he was pumped for Indy — and not just because it’s his home race. Colin said the team made a big breakthrough in setup during the test Aug. 16 in the Czech Republic.

Another dark horse — well, let’s call him a gray horse — is Andrea Dovizioso of the Repsol Honda Team. Dovi isn’t exactly a dark horse, as he is on a factory bike and has four podium finishes this season. But he always seems to be eclipsed in results and recognition by his teammate, Pedrosa.

Remember, though, that Dovi ran with the front-runners on a satellite Honda during the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP before finishing fifth. He also showed superb bike-handling skills in the wet last year at Donington Park when he earned his only MotoGP win so far in a deluge. The long-range forecast doesn’t show rain on Race Day this year in Indy, but the ability to adjust to the different types of asphalt on the Indy road course definitely helps. Dovi can do that.

So keep an eye on the Texas Tornado and Dovi. It’s a safe bet they’re the leading candidates to be the surprise men on the podium this year at the Red Bull Indianapolis GP.

Colin Edwards at Barcelona

Colin Edwards, a Houston native nicknamed “The Texas Tornado,” will offer candid insight about his performance, competitors and life in the exciting world of MotoGP motorcycle racing before every event in 2010 in “Tornado Warning.” It’s the third consecutive season in which Edwards will offer this exclusive insight for www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

Two-time World Superbike champion Edwards, 36, is in his eighth year of MotoGP competition, riding this season for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Edwards and the rest of the MotoGP riders will continue the season Sunday, July 18 at the Grand Prix of Germany (8 a.m. ET, July 18, SPEED).

The colorful Edwards will compete in the third annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 27-29 at IMS along with fellow American MotoGP stars Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, and MotoGP superstars Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

Barcelona seems like another weekend in which you rode your butt off, but the results didn’t show how well you rode. Correct?

Barcelona is one of the weekends where … Golly, I went out there and we played around with the bike, tried to get it right, tried to get it right. I think I finished sixth there last year. So we’ve got the same bike, basically, with a slower engine. We’ve been struggling to get this thing set up and feeling heavy. So we thought, “Well, let’s have one bike similar to Assen and one bike like we had last year. Last year was the best result we had in Barcelona, so let’s run it. And we did, and I pretty much matched everything I did last year but went faster by like a tenth, two-tenths each session. Everything felt the same. Same tires, same bike, same leathers, same everything, same rider, just a year old. So everything was basically the same as last year. Only problem was, that wasn’t good enough. All the guys running out there up front were better. Just going faster. We did a (1:) 43.1 last year in qualifying. I did 43.0 this year. I came in and I had one tire left, but I was: “I can’t go any faster. I know I can’t. I hit everything I wanted to hit. I can’t go any faster.” And I didn’t. Not trying to defeat myself, but at the same time, Ben, I think had 43.0, the same time as I did, and he was right behind me. And then he went out and put a blinder in, and was, I don’t know, 2 ½-tenths or three-tenths quicker. And that put him fifth instead of 11^th or 10^th, anyways. I came in, I was all pissed off. I threw my helmet, smashed it. I haven’t done that in years, man. I think ’99 was the last time I threw a helmet. Getting older and wiser. But hell, sometimes you’ve got to let some tension out. I was like: “Man, sorry, guys. That was immature of me.” And Herve was like: “No. I like to see that, your aggression. Pissed off.” The short story: It wasn’t working that good. It was working exactly the same as it did last year, just not good enough. So we made a decision Saturday night to kind of let’s keep one bike what we know and let’s pretty much kind of go what Valentino had last year. It’s completely different front geometry than what I was running at the time. Move the front wheel back a little bit, get a little more weight on the front. A little bit stiffer in the rear spring. A pretty big change, considering. Went out in the warm-up and we pulled the tire off one bike and put it on that one, and I was two-, maybe three-tenths quicker consistently. I only got four laps on each bike. But each lap, I was faster on the new setup, on Valentino’s setup from last year. So we thought, “Let’s run that.” Not having any time on it, not knowing what’s going to happen, we only did four laps on it. It felt great. We started the race, everything was going pretty good. And once everything got hot and heated up, and as soon as I caught up to Ben, then it just started plowing. The front just started rolling over. Instead of turning, it was just going straight. I was just sitting on my knee, I thought, “Well, I can do this for another lap and a half and throw it in the gravel.” But at the end of the day, I’m in frickin’ ninth and 10^th, anyways. I’m risking for what? That’s kind of my problem right now. I know that’s my problem. The issue I’m having is that I don’t mind putting my nuts on the chopping block if I’ve got a podium, a top five or we got a good showing. But when you’ve got to do that to finish ninth, I’m out. To me, that’s just bullsh*t.

Yeah, especially when you’ve been doing it this long.

I’ve been doing it this long. And you know, part of thing is, too, I’m not trying to bag on anybody, but De Puniet, I know what level he is. I know what kind of rider he is. A couple of guys, not saying anything bad about Bautista or Capirossi, either, but they’ve been struggling all year. But when you can those guys are just up there and going and De Puniet is qualifying on the front row, this is just a big joke. It’s just a joke.

How do you keep your spirits up? How do you show up at Sachsenring, which I know isn’t one of your favorite tracks at all, and think it’s going to be better?

I’m trying to figure that one out right now. (Laughter). I’m trying to figure out that dilemma right now. I’ve had some long conversations with Mr. Ben Spies. He’s riding incredible. He is riding really good. He’s riding awesome. But at the same time, he has to. In conversations we’ve had, he’s like, “I never … ” He was so pissed off. I think he was more pissed off on the weekend than I was, honestly, because he knew that he rode his ass off. Every lap was a qualifying lap, and he’s still 21 seconds behind the lead. That doesn’t settle well when you’re putting that much effort in. And that’s really the problem he was pissed off about. But anyways, I don’t know what we do. We just keep on moving. Hopefully Yamaha will bring something for us.

It seemed like you could lose two-tenths last year and not drop six or seven spots. What has made the grid so tight this year?

Honda, really. Honda has just been doling out new sh*t to everybody. Swingarms and chassis, everybody’s got good engines. That’s really quite not like Honda whatsoever the last few years, but obviously I think they’ve probably been taking note of what Yamaha has been doing over the last few years. The satellite bike seems like they’ve probably been the best satellite bike. The Yamaha. And Honda, probably they put a little more effort this year in supplying all these guys with some good stuff.

Speaking of Honda, it probably wasn’t news to you when Casey Stoner signed with them for 2011. What are your thoughts on that move, possibly as a third factory bike?

Well, I think the writing was on the wall when Livio Suppo went over there. I know Livio always has liked Casey. I don’t know if that’s the sole reason for him going over there. But it will be interesting. I’m really excited about next year, honestly. We still got the rest of this year to go, but looking like Valentino’s going to Ducati and Casey over to Honda. There’s been a little bit of a shakeup going on. It’s what the sport needs.

Hell, yeah. You look at everybody going nuts over LeBron James going to Miami, and I put on our Facebook page this morning that you’ve got the top four riders in MotoGP as free agents this year.

Absolutely. I think it will be cool. I don’t know if I’ll be involved with it. But it’s definitely going to be a good year for the shakeup.

Has this tough run of form this year caused you to think about next year differently than maybe you would have two months ago?

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. It seemed like there I thought we were just having a bad run of races, and it would all turn around and everything was going to be cool. I know. You can ask my teammate. He knows, as well. I’m riding, he’s riding, we’re riding the best we’ve ever ridden. I’m riding the best I’ve ever ridden in my life. I feel so good, so confident on the bike. But God, I’m taking so much more risks than I normally. I’m not a risk kind of … I’m a calculated guy, you know? I get the bike set up. I get it going good. I ride it to the limit to where I know I’m going to put in the best result I can, and if that’s second, third, fifth, 10^th, whatever it is, 99 percent of the time I’m happy with it because I know I’ve rode my ass off. Problem is now, yeah, the results aren’t showing how hard you’re riding, and that’s really the deal.

Speaking of risk, Valentino is coming back at Sachsenring. That’s 40-something days after he snapped his leg in half. Don’t you think that’s kind of a risk? Why would you do that?

Well, I know why. Let’s just pretend, hypothetically. OK, I’m going to put it to you this way: Let’s pretend, hypothetically, that hypothetically in his contract there might be a clause that if you miss a race or two or three in a row, then your salary might hypothetically get cut in half or a quarter. You know what I’m saying?

Hypothetically, of course.

Hypothetically, of course. So I’m assuming, hypothetically, that he probably has a clause in his contract that if he misses more than X amount of races in a row, then his pay might be chopped up. Something like that. I’m assuming, hypothetically. (Laughter). And honestly, I don’t know what’s he’s making, but let’s just pretend he’s making $9 million. You know, half a million dollars a race, you start chopping that up, and that’s a bunch of money that’s going out the window.

Did you see the last-lap accident in the Moto2 race between Morales and Kenny Noyes at Barcelona?

Oh, crap, yeah, I saw it. Geez, I was sitting there watching it live. Woof. This is experience, too, and I’m not saying anything bad about him, anyone or whatever, as well, but he’s (Morales) not going to make that pass. It’s impossible. The finish line is right there; you’re on a 600. You’re just not going to make the pass. But the guy’s got a do-or-die spirit, and he was convinced that he was going to make the pass. But it didn’t work out.

Wild-card rider, too. He’s trying to put on a good show in front of the home fans.

Yeah, absolutely. He took a lot of risks, and it didn’t work out. But I’m glad the guy’s OK. It looked gnarly at the time.

Friday, April 9, 2010

Colin Edwards, a Houston native nicknamed “The Texas Tornado,” will offer candid insight about his performance, competitors and life in the exciting world of MotoGP motorcycle racing before every event in 2010 in “Tornado Warning.” It’s the third consecutive season in which Edwards will offer this exclusive insight for www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

Two-time World Superbike champion Edwards, 36, is in his eighth year of MotoGP competition, riding this season for Monster Yamaha Tech 3. Edwards and the rest of the MotoGP riders will start the season April 11 at the Grand Prix of Qatar (4 p.m. ET, April 11, SPEED).

The colorful Edwards will compete in the third annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on Aug. 27-29 at IMS along with fellow American MotoGP stars Nicky Hayden and Ben Spies, and MotoGP superstars Valentino Rossi, Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa and Jorge Lorenzo.

The final test at Qatar. How did it go?

I think it’s a question mark at the moment. It went good the first day. I shouldn’t say it went good. It was difficult. It didn’t seem as easy last year. Last year I was just accustomed to, I was always in the top three, the top four at the tests. Everything seemed to be going good. Well, looking back, we’re doing the same lap times pretty much I did last year. But everybody else was just going faster. It just didn’t seem as easy. The front geometry on our bike I changed a little bit from when we raced here. So we might have to go back and try a little bit of something because we know the bike is better than last year. There’s no reason we should be doing the same lap time. The tires are pretty much the same as what we had last year, so it should be better.