Danica Patrick could give NASCAR an energy boost

JEFF GORDON turns 40 Aug. 4, joining Tony Stewart in the 4-0 club. Both probably have at least 5 more years of quality racing in them.

Nine of the other top 12 Sprint Cup drivers are in their 30s, prime time for racers. At 26, Kyle Busch is the kid in the bunch.

While the Cup series has more than its share of stars and the quality of competition in most races is strong, many observers, including yours truly, believe the series needs fresh new talent.

Regular readers have seen this before: hel-lo, Danica.

Reports indicate Danica Patrick is ready to move to NASCAR. She is struggling in the Izod IndyCar series: 11th in points; best finish this year: seventh. She only has one career win in IndyCar.

Speed Channel analyst Robin Miller recently said, "I don't think anyone in IndyCar thinks she's going to be [back]. We've been saying for 6 months that she's gone."

ESPN analyst Dale Jarrett thinks NASCAR would welcome Patrick.

"It would be great if she [joined NASCAR]," Jarrett, the 1999 Cup champion, said on a Tuesday conference call. "She has shown she has a lot of talent. I know she isn't probably having the season in Indy car that she would like, competing for wins. Maybe that will influence her.

"It would be great for our sport to have someone of her talent and persona."

Andy Petree, Jarrett's colleague and a former championship crew chief, also would greet Patrick, with one condition.

"I think she needs a full season in the Nationwide series, without any distractions," Petree said.

Who knows if Patrick can run up front in Cup races? Regardless, it would be fun watching her. Clearly, she would bring additional buzz to NASCAR.

Starting with Sunday's Brickyard 400, Allen Bestwick is taking over as the lap-by-lap announcer for ESPN's Cup telecasts, replacing Marty Reid. Bestwick has previous experience with NBC and TNT anchoring NASCAR race telecasts. Recently, he has hosted "NASCAR Now" on ESPN2 and the prerace "NASCAR Countdown."

Reid will continue with ESPN calling Nationwide series and IndyCar races.

Referring to Bestwick, Rich Feinberg, ESPN's vice president motorsports/production, said, "It's the right time. He has a long history with NASCAR. It might be an area that he can bring a little extra. Marty remains a valued member of the team."

Nicole Briscoe moves into Bestwick's host's chair for "NASCAR Countdown." Briscoe has been the "NASCAR Now" host. She is married to Indy-car racer Ryan Briscoe.

Jamie McMurray has gone from winning three races last year, including the Brickyard 400 and the Daytona 500, to 29th in points now. We all know what that means.

"More than anything, right now, it's just about getting a good baseline," McMurray, driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet, said yesterday. "Honestly, it's just about working on next year already. I think our cars are still going to be plenty fast enough. You just get a little bit of good luck on our side, I still think we can contend to win a couple races this year.

"It's been really frustrating to have such a good season last year and struggle so much this year. Our performance has been better the last 10 races. But we're on our third engine failure of the year, we broke one transmission. We've had six or eight flat tires this year. Ran out of gas at Loudon [N.H.]. It just seems like if it could go wrong, it has."

Until last Saturday night's Nationwide series race at Nashville, the Rev. Joe Nelms was only locally known. After his unique invocation, he's national. CNN, for one, carried his invocation and a subsequent interview.

Channeling Will Ferrell's Ricky Bobby from "Talladega Nights," Nelms said, "Lord, I want to thank you for my smokin' hot wife Lisa and my two children, Eli and Emma, or as we like to call them, 'the Little E's' "

Nelms concluded by channeling Darrell Waltrip, saying, "In Jesus' name, boogity, boogity, boogity, amen."

Predictably, some narrow-minded thinkers objected to Nelms' invocation. Lighten up, folks. His invocation produced smiles from drivers, crew members and presumably fans and viewers.