by Jeff Hammond

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Busch light

Bud from Montgomery, Ala.: If Kurt Busch had driven through the Watkins Glen pits without stopping, he still would have come out at the end of the line. Assuming his spotter had warned the team about the violation before stopping, and Busch had driven through, would NASCAR have allowed him to regain his former position, especially given the closeness of the call and the sheer impossibility of turning back onto the track?

Jeff Hammond: I believe that might have been Kurt Busch's salvation. The way the rule is written, the field is frozen when the caution comes out. If Busch had maintained pit road speed, I believe he would have been allowed to come back on the racetrack in a reasonable position. He probably wouldn't have retained the lead because he was clearly going to give it up to Tony Stewart. But the call would have been more favorable if he had continued driving and didn't stop.

Obviously, crew chief Roy McCauley and Busch did not understand the situation as it stood at that time so it may be a moot point if the information wasn't relayed to them fast enough to do a drive-through. You can't fault Busch for assuming that he had made it on to pit road without a problem. It would have been a difficult deal for his spotter to see the entrance. All of this is strictly speculation, but I believe that he would have been better off if he had driven through and come back out on the race track.

Watkins Glen Cup/Busch photos PHOTOS: Cup race at The Glen PHOTOS: Busch 200

It's very unfortunate because Busch clearly had the car to beat. It was a great race, but it would have been a more interesting race if Busch had been in the mix at the end with Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart. But NASCAR made a rule, and they're trying to make it fair for everybody. It just so happened that the rule caught Busch. NASCAR didn't maliciously penalize him. They were just following the letter of the law, and the videotape clearly shows that the No. 2 car didn't make it to pit road before the light turned red. Sometimes you don't like the call, but you've got to live with it.

The only question should be whether NASCAR knew fast enough to let the team know that Busch was pitting too early. If NASCAR didn't have time to inform the No. 2 team, therein lies the challenge facing the sanctioning body. As quick as Busch was and as close as the call was, it would have been easy for the driver to miss. Obviously the crew chief couldn't see it, and even the spotter may not have had a clear view.

Revising free-pass rule

Wendell from Johnson City, Tenn.: Enough is enough with the lucky dog/free pass. How can NASCAR allow a team to make up five laps after spending time in the garage to fix a major problem? They need to put a cap on how many free passes one driver can have during one race.

Jeff Hammond: After this year, NASCAR is in a position to reevaluate the lucky dog in the same way that they reevaluated the champion's provisional in the Busch Series. The sanctioning body needs to examine how many times one driver can get the lucky dog after Jeff Gordon came back from four laps down at Indianapolis and Kyle Busch came back from five laps down at Watkins Glen.

Let's make one thing perfectly clear. These teams did nothing wrong. They are victims of these situations, and they also benefitted from the rule. Hendrick Motorsports isn't getting unfair treatment. Their drivers just happened to be in position to benefit from the rule the last two weeks. When you're a crew chief of a team that's had a bad run of luck, you take what you can get. My hat is off to the No. 5 crew for making quick repairs and taking advantage of the rule as it was written.

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The free pass adds a certain element of suspense and another race within a race when it's in play. But allowing a team that's 10 laps down at a place like Watkins Glen easily wind up back on the lead lap because of a technicality is wrong.

Two titles for Harvick?

Tony from Macomb Township, Mich.: What are the odds of Kevin Harvick winning the Busch and Nextel Cup championships this year? Just wondering....

Jeff Hammond: I'm glad you asked that question. Considering how consistently strong all three Richard Childress Racing Nextel Cup teams are running this season, once Harvick makes it into the Chase, the chances are very good. Unless somebody kidnaps him, he is going to win the Busch championship. When they realign the top 10 after the Nextel Cup race at Richmond, Childress will be holding an ace or two up his sleeve for the final 10 races. We haven't seen the best of the RCR cars yet. Hendrick and Roush are probably doing the same thing so it could turn out to be which driver catches the breaks at the right time. We're going to see a whale of a run for the championship this year.

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FOX race analyst Jeff Hammond led Darrell Waltrip to two of DW's three Winston Cup championships as his crew chief. They also teamed to win the 1989 Daytona 500.

For autographed copies of Jeff Hammond's book "Real Men Work in the Pits" plus magnets, hats and more, check out www.dwstore.com.

For photos and appearances, visit Jeff's web site www.jeffhammond.com.