The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is in Pocono…and I’m not, which is good, because it’s raining in Pocono and I hate rain at the track.

 

If you have the idea that Hendrick Motorsports is the team to beat, take a look at the practice speeds for the 53 minutes of track time they got in this morning. Six of the top seven on the chart are HMS products, and the top four are all HMS originals—the 24, 48, 5 and 88 (not necessarily in that order.)

 

Just goes to show you that if you throw enough money and hire the right people, you too can win just about everything under the sun. Johnson, Martin and Gordon have all won, and so has Tony Stewart, so that gives HMS technology more than half the race victories so far this season.

 

Joe Gibbs Racing has four, Roush has two, RPM has one. It isn’t close, folks.

 

Speaking of Roush, Matt Kenseth will trade black and yellow for purple and yellow next season, as Crown Royal will move to Mattie K. in 2010. Jamie McMurray? See ya, dude!

 

He could wind up with EGR in the 1 car next year after Martin Truex goes 56-ing with MWR, or he could wind up at Yates Racing with essentially the same equipment he’s got now.

 

Pocono is a strange place. Love it, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not like the other tracks. This is good on the one hand and not so good on the other. Having been over almost every inch of the place in the past 21 years, it’s a massive place, but large sections of the grounds are relatively unspoiled. There’s an infield in the infield, if you know what I mean.

 

I do sorta miss the Tastykakes and birch beer, but I have enough trouble saying no as it is.

 

Speaking of that, I have to develop a spine before I go back to Indy next year. IMS is the only place I know of that has Barq’s Red Cream Soda on tap. I wore that sucker out last week!

 

If you follow the common wisdom, you’ll note that the guys who ran well at IMS usually run well at Pocono. That means the 5, 48, 14 and 42 should run really well this weekend. Of course, should is the key word.

 

Next year, we won’t be going to Lowe’s Motor Speedway at all. Period. We’ll go to Charlotte Motor Speedway, but not Lowe’s, as Lowe’s is not renewing the naming-rights deal that has been in place since 1998.

 

My secret agent in the negotiations says that SMI officials asked for $9 million per season to renew. Lowe’s, which had paid $3.5 million a year for the 10-year deal plus another $3.5 mil for this year, quite rightly said no thanks and moved on.

 

That leaves Infineon (another SMI property) and Auto Club Speedway as the only named facilities in the NASCAR world.

 

Just a comment, OK? Asking for nearly three times the per-year jolt in the midst of a down economy is so…Homer Simpson-ish, don’t you think? Doh!

 

Negotiations are continuing, according to SMI officials, and there’s still five months left on the current deal, but it’s looking like LMS is back to being CMS for the nonce.

 

In the absence of more info from Pocono, that’s going to do it for this edition. It’s off to see the senior SCOOPette take on Coulwood in the final games of the Northwest Filly League this afternoon. She’s starting the game as the pitcher, so I have to get a good seat!