by Jeff Hammond

Around the track

Follow the action:

• Daytona schedule
• Daytona practice speeds

Watch:

• Video Central

Picture perfect:

• Action from Daytona
• 2010 Hall of Fame nominees

Read all about it:

• NASCAR boss defends drug policy
• Stewart on pole after qualifying rainout
• NASCAR announces Hall nominees
• Mayfield misses deadline for Daytona

Analysis:

• DW: Let's be clear
• Spencer: Drivers to watch in Daytona

I think Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch's teams just happened to hit the right setup and it really showed how good they were. Sure, we had seen that in the past, but I was looking and hoping for more Saturday night. I like what they have done to that racetrack. Some might want to say it's this new car that is creating the problem, but it is not. I think they have done too good of a job at Bristol. The guy (or guys, in this case) that really hits the setup really puts it on everyone else.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't hoping it was going to be a wreck-fest over there and drivers knocking each other out of the way. I was just hoping for some good side-by-side racing and guys putting donuts on their door panels as they race each other hard.

This is a challenge that NASCAR is going to be faced with. What do they do? I'll be honest, I don't have a really good answer myself as to what you do to fix it. It's just frustrating for all involved. Jeff Gordon had a good race car the other night and so did Kevin Harvick. Track position just was so important the other night.

You even heard Kyle Busch make the comment that being out front was the key. That was part of the frustration for him when Carl got around him because Kyle basically felt he was done at that point. Then his teammate Denny Hamlin got around him and he had to spend time getting back around Denny.

Darrell Waltrip and I did the DirecTV broadcast Saturday night with the No. 29 car and Kevin started up front. Even though his car wasn't right at the start, he was able to maintain his position and great work in the pits kept him there. Again, track position was the key at Bristol.

Oh yeah, about that rivalry

The only complaint I have with the post-race stuff between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards was that I wish they would have done it outside of the race cars. Both those cars survived 500 miles at Bristol in pretty good shape. So they didn't need to be then tearing the cars up after the race was over. Now as far as those two retaliating against one another — well, go for it!

Having said that, I loved the emotions on display. Kyle was upset enough that he had to stand up and do what he had to do. I am glad these guys are passionate about what they do. Folks sometimes wonder about whether these guys really care about what they do — well, Saturday night we saw two that really do. We now see we have us a rivalry between these two young bulls who are challenging each other for the Chase.

I just hope that NASCAR doesn't get crazy with penalties. I will say straight out, I hope they don't even get probation. If you even put them on probation and they mess up, well then you have to take it to the next level of punishment. If that step happens, then you may affect the outcome of this Chase. I would hate for it to come down that way.

Don't get me wrong, what those two did Saturday after the race was not right. I am not advocating it. That being said, it was good to see two guys get so upset that they were willing to stand up for what they believe in. It's just cool. We need that kind of excitement. Folks have been begging for it and now we got it. Sure, we don't condone it but at the same time, let's not kill it. That's for the powers that be to figure out. I say fine them, have a talk with them and let them race. I just don't want to see them put on probation.

Again, I don't want to see them retaliate with their race cars because it makes more work for those poor guys in the shop. Next time Kyle should get out of his car and go get in Carl's face like he did Stephen Wallace at Richmond earlier this year. Kyle better also realize that Carl is a full-blown pit bull too, so Kyle better be wary.

Don't forget the guys behind the front two

Even though DW and I covered them for DirecTV, I must say I was really impressed with Kevin Harvick's run. He and his crew chief Todd Berrier have put together some impressive runs in recent weeks. They have really put forth the necessary effort to get themselves back in position to challenge for a championship. I for one am really glad to see that.

They showed how strong they are the other night. The car wasn't right at the start of the race. They didn't panic and kept working on it. By the end of the night they had a very competitive race car. The pit crew was solid all night even counting the fact they had a replacement tire carrier in there. They never gave up track position in the pits and Kevin drove a real brilliant race even though he didn't win. He kept that car in great shape. They could run it again this weekend if they needed to.

They have really turned their program around and unless something really disastrous happens in the next two weeks, they should be solidly in the Chase come the Loudon race. Even though they might not have any bonus points, they still feel they can be a strong contender for the championship. They are going into this thing with the attitude that they can get the job done.

My concern after last week's race was Denny Hamlin when he said they didn't deserve to be in the Chase. Well, okay, but you need to turn that around and in a hurry. They had a good run Saturday night so hopefully that got some of the bad taste out of his mouth from Michigan.

I am real big on the attitude situation. Obviously Carl and Kyle have their settings on "kill" right now. They are trying to annihilate the competition between the two of them. These two guys combined are looking like the Hendrick organization was last year at this time. There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that these are the two best teams in the business right now.

Gas ‘n Go: More short track madness?

Jeff M. from Dundas, Ontario, Canada asks: You have to love short tracks. At Michigan International Speedawy last week I saw so many people leaving while there was 25 laps to go. You would never see that at a short track like Bristol. I would rather pay more for my ticket to have more short tracks

Jeff Hammond: For me, I would love more short track races added to the schedule. I have to ask the question, why don't we have more Bristol's being built? You can't make me believe the fans wouldn't go for it. I mean come on, they sell 160,000 seats at Bristol two times a year. I love short tracks. That gets us back to our roots where most of us got our starts in the sport.

Fans are just hungry for good racing whether it's on a short track, the 1.5 milers or the Daytona or Talladega's of the world. You can't fault NASCAR because they have made a lot of positive changes. Goodyear is trying to help them out. I just don't know where we go right now to improve things. What we do need to do is start re-evaluating things now to see how we can help promote more side-by-side racing.

We know we have probably the safest race car out there possible right now. We can't stop improving there though. We also need to figure out some tweaks to help get the cars through the corners better. It would be an interesting debate. I would love to do a roundtable with somebody right about now with the subject being what do we need to do to fix this. I would love to ask for 10 ideas from the current champion Jimmie Johnson and his team, 10 ideas from another mid-pack team, 10 ideas from Goodyear and 10 ideas from the fans. I would love to see if there are any common denominator solutions that would come out of that exercise.

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.