NASCAR driver/owner combos works for some

It was Busch’s first major NASCAR win as a driver/owner, but Harvick’s Nashville triumph was his fourth of the season in a KHI entry. He also won the Nationwide race at Las Vegas and two truck races, at Atlanta and Martinsville.

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In his past three Sprint Cup seasons, Paul Menard has finished 34th, 26th and 31st, so it's somewhat surprising to see him among the top 12 in points for three consecutive weeks.

But the switch to the Fords at Richard Petty Motorsports seems to be just the ticket for him. He has had even better results in the Nationwide Series, where he and his Roush Fenway Racing team are sixth heading into this weekend's races at Phoenix. In contrast, his two more experienced Cup teammates, Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler, are 20th and 23rd respectively in the standings, and both are former Chase drivers.

Menard told reporters this week that he and his team plan to use information they’ve gathered in the two most recent Cup races, at Martinsville and Bristol, and apply it to the car they’ll take to Phoenix, which at one mile in length is treated much the same as a shorter track such as Martinsville or Richmond.

“The big things we will take from the last two races are how to get the car to turn in the center and how to get drive off the corner,” he said “That’s what will apply to Phoenix, and, hopefully, we can just keep the ball rolling.”

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NASCAR's new policy of allowing up to three attempts at a green-white-checkered-flag finish has led to lots of debate about the best strategies to use at the end of a race. At Bristol and Martinsville, the winners -- Jimmie Johnson at Bristol and Denny Hamlin at Martinsville -- took four tires with a handful of laps left and muscled their way to the front just in time to get the checkered flag.

But many crew chiefs and drivers still maintain that maintaining track position is better in most cases than having fresh rubber.

"Even though the guys behind you [with new tires] are faster, if there are multiple cautions, they're not going get a chance to get up there and race with you, so track position is still going to be very, very important," Greg Biffle said. "But it has thrown a curveball. There's a lot of strategy when it comes to these multiple green-white-checkereds."

Biffle said he thinks two tries at a green-flag finish are plenty.

“I agree that the fans deserve to see that race finish under green, but we’ve got to keep it within reason,” he said.