That’s because such dates are a cash cow and there’s only 36 of them — and even fewer that are realistically up for grabs.

First, the backstory on Kansas: The speedway is trying to put a new Hard Rock Hotel & Casino on its property; there are three other groups also trying to land a Hard Rock franchise. As a deal sweetener, Kansas’ parent company, International Speedway Corp. — which is run by the France family — said it would try to find a way to add a second Cup date to the facility. (A little more detail is over at Scene Daily.)

ISC and its rival, Speedway Motorsports, are welcome to move dates among their tracks, with NASCAR’s approval, of course. But the rub is this: To get a date to a new track, one has to give one up.
So ISC has to find somewhere to give up a date.

Again, this is all preliminary; if the casino goes to another group, the issue is pretty much moot.

Martinsville traditionally comes up in these discussions for any number of reasons that we don’t need to rehash. Dustin Long pretty much nailed the list of scenarios; when you run through the list of ISC tracks, where are there honest candidates to lose dates?

There aren’t many, as Long points out.

It’s a situation that bears watching. If Martinsville does lose a race, whether now or down the road, it would be a fairly big blow to the state as a whole. As it stands, Virginia is one of only a handful of states (North Carolina, Florida, California) that have more than two Cup events.

• THE ‘SUSPENSE’ ENDS TOMORROW: Tony Stewart is holding a press conference at 10:30 tomorrow morning in Michigan to announce Stewart-Haas’ second driver.

Most everyone expects it will be Ryan Newman.

Next season will be a most interesting one for Stewart-Haas. I would tend to agree — but far from totally sold — with the naysayers who believe that ’09 will be a struggle for that team.

It will be interesting to watch once it arrives.

In the meantime, keep an eye on the current drivers. The No. 66, with Scott Riggs aboard, is 37th in owner points. The No. 70, now with Tony Raines, is 43rd in owner points. Though they will certainly change by season’s end, Stewart and (presumptively) Newman could be in the position of having to qualify for Daytona — as well as the following four races — on time.

With no safety net, the pressure will be on Stewart and his team immediately.

(Photo by Don Petersen/Associated Press)

Of course, one can’t simply rank the success of a season on wins alone (Matt Kenseth, for instance). Stewart is seventh in points, 10 behind Jeff Gordon. Those two are the highest-ranked drivers without a victory this season. Stewart has 130 points on 13th-place Clint Bowyer, so Stewart is in no immediate danger of missing the Chase. And he’s coming off of two straight seconds, at Pocono and Watkins Glen.

Yet something seems amiss.

It’s not a question of talent. We’ve long advocated that he is among the elite class of drivers in any series, and such distinctions don’t lose their luster in less than a year. It shouldn’t be a question of age, when drivers his age (37) and older have and continue to win and compete for titles.

Perhaps the search for a new home in 2009 took more focus than anyone realized. And, as we’ve said before, we dispute Stewart’s characterization that any distractions were media-created; we weren’t the ones who decided it would be a good idea for him to get into team ownership.

It took a toll, certainly. But unless you get an honest answer from Stewart, crew chief Greg Zipadelli or one of the team members, we’ll never know how much.

Was it, as some wrote, that Stewart has relinquished his top-dog status at Gibbs? Kyle Busch’s emergence has been the story of the year across the Cup series. Think about it: A year ago, the idea of Stewart losing to Busch at Watkins Glen by two seconds would be preposterous. Since 2002, Stewart’s worst finish at the Glen was 11th; every other race was either first or second.

There just seems to be a swagger missing from Stewart and his team. Don’t confuse that with a loss of confidence — he’s still running better than many other drivers — but that invincibility cloak seems to have cracked, if only slightly.

He’s never won fewer than two races in any of his Cup seasons. But the clock is quickly running out on this one.

(Photo by Russ Hamilton/Associated Press)

Instead, Tony Stewart’s search for a new teammate has garnered a greater spotlight. Consider that when Childress announced the sponsorship deal for the fourth car, Stewart had not yet been grated his release from Gibbs.

Childress was always coy, at least publicly, on who was in the running for that fourth spot. Various reports mentioned Ryan Newman (until it became clear he was headed to Stewart-Haas; confirmation, it seems, is days away), Bobby Labonte (until he re-signed with Petty Enterprises), Martin Truex Jr. (until he decided on another year at DEI) — virtually anyone who was at the end of a contract or in danger of losing their job.

But when Childress did speak, he referenced some drivers we would know, others we might not be as familiar with. Clearly, we’re familiar with Mears; we may never know who else was on the short list.
If the pick really is Mears, it will be incumbent upon him making this work.

His Cup history is not one of legend. Back in the Ganassi days, Mears needed 57 races before he scored his first top five. Of the 23 drivers currently ahead of Mears in the Cup standings, only two have taken longer for their first top five: Elliott Sadler (75 races) and Travis Kvapil, who has yet to score a top five in 92 career starts. (In case you’re wondering, those just after Mears are Bobby Labonte at 53 races and Brian Vickers at 49.)

In 202 races, Mears has one win — the fuel mileage victory at the ’07 Coca-Cola 600 — and three poles. Two of those poles came on consecutive weekends in 2004 at Pocono and Indianapolis.

That doesn’t add up, especially not for someone in occasionally-good Ganassi equipment and always-good Hendrick equipment. Mears does seem to get victimized by others’ mistakes fairly often. But the general course of one’s career should be pretty clear after five and a half seasons; such circumstances should give way to the larger picture.

Now, apparently, he’ll be off to Childress, where he’ll also get quality stuff.

The difference for Mears is that he’ll be more out of his comfort zone. Mears had strong allies at Hendrick, namely Jimmie Johnson, one of his closest friends. He had a superb crew chief in Alan Gustafson. At Childress, Mears would get an unknown crew chief (if only unknown to him) and a crew of three other drivers that have been together for several seasons.

Next year, no matter where he lands, will be a now-or-never season for Mears.

• THANKS, BOB: Richmond Times-Dispatch columnist Bob Lipper wrote his final piece on Sunday. He’s retiring after 43 years in our business.

I was able to spend time with Bob here and there, mainly on the NASCAR weekends in Richmond. He was as nice as could be; probably nicer than one could reasonably expect when you have a mid-major columnist and a weekend call-up sitting next to each other. We chatted in the massive media room in Indianapolis during the Mason run; which was kind of comforting. When you’re around so many people you recognize — but they haven’t the slightest inkling of who you are or, for that matter, much care who you are — it was nice to see someone you actually knew. (Well, we did sit at the same table as St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bryan Burwell, who started his career in Manassas. That made for a nice ice-breaker.)

I do wish Bob well and hope that retirement offers fulfillment for him. It certainly is well-deserved.

(Photo by Rob Carr/Associated Press)

Yes, Kyle Busch won again. But I disagree with Tim Brewer’s characterization that Busch is somehow now a “road racer.” He’s a good driver no matter the venue, but it’s not yet possible to put him in the same class as Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon and Robby Gordon.

We can all agree that Hendrick Motorsports was dominant last season. If Busch had access to such dominating equipment a season ago, wouldn’t that have borne itself out in the stats at the road-course races — particularly if Busch is a road racer?

Yet prior to this season, Busch led all of five laps on road courses, whether in Cup or in Busch/Nationwide. He usually came away with top-10 finishes (four of eight career races) but was not a threat to win.
This year, of course, the results are much different. But to peg that to Busch somehow becoming a superstar road-course guy is short-sighted.

Busch won at Sonoma, Watkins Glen and Mexico City not because he’s improved that signifi-cantly at those tracks, but because he’s been kicking the field’s tail this season. He’s done it any most any other kind of track this season; why wouldn’t logic hold that he would do so at a road course?

No, Busch won because he’s a talented, aggressive driver in superior equipment that is working incredibly well for him. He may yet become accomplished enough to rank with Stewart and the Gordons, but such feats are not overcome in one season.

• GORDON ADDS THREE TO WINE COLLECTION: Speaking of Jeff Gordon, you’ll recall the night when some friends and I sampled the offerings from his collection and Richard Childress’ winery.

Now comes word that Gordon will be adding to his collection: 2006 vintages of chardonnay and pinot noir, as well as a red blend of cabernet sauvignon and merlot.

The ’05 chardonnay, which we sampled, was a pretty good wine, but the prevailing opinion was that it was quite overpriced.

According to Gordon’s new Web site, the prices won’t be any better in this vintage. The chard is still the cheapest and still $50; the reds are steeper, starting with the merlot at $53. The pinot is $59, the cab is $80 and the blend is $140 — though that comes only in a magnum, which is twice the size of a normal bottle.

The wines are made at August Briggs winery in Calistoga, Calif., which has its own line at slightly better prices.

Perhaps it’s a must for hardcore Gordon fans, but you could likely find comparable wines at much better prices.

(Photo by Kevin Rivoli/Associated Press)

Unfortunately, I’ve not had a lot of experience with east-coast wines generally and New York wines specifically. It’s just not something I’ve been dying to try; California, Oregon and Washington make the best U.S. wines. Plain and simple. (The site we’ll use below ranks the top 100 wines as being from two of those places, and the lion’s share was from California.)

If it makes me a wine snob, so be it.

At the same time, I don’t want to discount what the eastern and New York wines have to offer, so I’ve got a backup plan.

Wine Spectator’s Web site, the home of the most prestigious wine magazine, requires you to be a member to access rankings. Wine Enthusiast, however, has rankings available to all.

The list is mostly whites. But since whites tend to lose their luster after four years or so — unlike reds, which can be stored for decades — I’ll include only more recent vintages of whites and any reds that pop up. I also limited the search to the Finger Lakes (a certified American Viticultural Area, AVA for short), since that’s where Watkins Glen is.

So, with that in mind, Wine Enthusiast’s best bets from the Finger Lakes:

• Ravines Dry Riesling (2005): This wine, an editor’s choice, reminded the reviewer of the famous Alsace region in France, also known for its Rieslings. Fruity in the nose and on the tongue, the reviewer believes it could stand up for five years or more. WE Grade: 90.

• Sheldrake Point Dry Riesling (2005): Despite a rough bouquet, the wine comes alive where it matters, with minerality, spiciness and fruitiness. It also happens to be a great value; they list the price at $15. WE Grade: 89.

• Dr. Konstantin Frank Dry Riesling (2006): Notice a trend here? The review says this is a more laid-back Riesling, one that works well with food pairings. Creamy yet refreshing. WE Grade: 89.

OK, so you have your lot of Rieslings. Not everyone is a fan of sweet wine, which Riesling most definitely is. So while there are more Rieslings on the list, I’ll skip forward to include some other varietals.

• Cascata Fireside Chardonnay (2006): A mix of flavors bring this Chard together, including fruit, mineral and “a touch” of butter. WE Grade: 87.

• Chateau Lafayette Reneau Owner’s Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon (2001): A more expensive bottle at $55, and the first red we’ve ever really talked about. But it seems to fit the Cab profile very well. (For what it’s worth, the ’99 vintage is $10 cheaper, though a point less.) WE Grade: 87.

So there are a few picks from the list; but with better than 200 selections, you can find the one that’s right for you.

(Photo by Mark Rozin/Capital Press via The Associated Press; it’s a vineyard in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, but you get the picture)