Viewer's Guide: Pocono

ATLANTA -- Kasey Kahne has gotten quite a bit of attention during this season -- his rookie campaign in the Nextel Cup Series. During Sunday's pre-race show from Pocono on TNT, he'll get a lot more.

Kasey Kahne

Bill Weber spent some time with Kahne in his home state of Washington during the Nextel Cup off-weekend a couple of weeks back. Some of that visit will be shown Sunday.

Like most of NASCAR's finest, Kasey comes from a grass roots background. His first competitive laps came on dirt tracks in Washington. He won four races in his first season running Micro Midgets.

Kahne's progression was anything but gradual. He won 11 of 14 races in 1996 to win the Hannigan Speedway championship and the Northwest Mini-Sprint Car championship.

By 1998, Kasey was running full-size sprint cars. He visited Victory Lane a dozen times in his first season.

Steve Lewis, who has employed the likes of Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, offered Kahne a sprint, midget and Silver Crown deal that would run the full United States Auto Club (USAC) schedule.

In his first season, Kahne garnered the USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year award, and both the USAC Midget Series Champion and Driver of the Year honors before heading to the bright lights of NASCAR.

Kahne has garnered four second-place finishes so far this season and heading into this week's action at Pocono, he's 14th in the Cup standings, 162 points out of the all-important 10th spot, the last position that will enter the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

Jeremy's World: Wally Dallenbach will yield control of "Wally's World" this week to Jeremy Mayfield and car owner Ray Evernham, who will take the TNT car for a lap at Pocono. Dallenbach is unable to do the segment this week due to his committment to another TNT project -- Robbie Knievel's jump on the U.S.S. Interpid that will be aired Saturday night on the network.

Ask The Producer: This week's question comes from several users who want to know how it is decided which drivers will have in-car cameras in their machines each week.

NBC/TNT producer Sam Flood says about six of the eight cars that have in-car cameras each week have contractual agreements with the network. The other two, Flood says, are decided on by he and director Mike Wells based on news value on that given week.

Let your voice be heard: Each week, we'll pick one question to ask the producer of the NBC/TNT telecast. Why did they do things this way? Why did they talk to that driver? Any question that eats at you could be answered right here in the Viewer's Guide.

Send your questions to the e-mail box in this piece.

The Rant: This week, Judy Tell of Del Rio, Texas has a request concerning pre-race activities:

EMAIL Send Mark your take for "The Rant" or your question for "Ask The Producer"

"I've always wondered why when the different planes fly over about the time the National Anthem is being sung, that all we see on TV is them flying off into the distance.

"I've been at races, and the fly by is one of the most popular things that happens. NASCAR fans are great Americans, and support our troops in every branch of the service. I would like to see more of these planes.

"I know that the government spends a lot of money to put those planes in the air for these fly bys, and they should get more recognition than they do."

Get in on the action: In "The Rant," we'll pick e-mails each week to argue about a TV coverage issue, be it a commentator's comment, a driver's comment, a pre-race feature -- basically anything you want to spout off about.

Come with an intelligent, passionate argument and you may see your take on NASCAR.COM.

On to this weekend's busy schedule:

Site: Long Pond, Pa.

VIDEO Fuel for thought Newman plays his fuel mileage perfectly to get his fourth win of 2003 Costly mistake Jeff Gordon takes a hit on the track and in the points Tunnel vision Martin helped as he spins through the tunnel turn

Track: Pocono Raceway (2-mile triangle, 14-degree banking in Turn 1, 8-degree banking in Turn 2, 6 degree-banking in Turn 3. Frontstretch: 3,740 feet. Long Pond stretch: 3,055 feet. Backstretch: 1,780 feet).

Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps

TV: Bud Pole Qualifying: TNT, 3 p.m. ET Friday. Happy Hour: TNT, 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday (tape delay). Race: TNT, 1 p.m. ET Sunday.

Last race: Kurt Busch won the race while injured Dale Earnhardt Jr. stuck to his game plan and, with relief help, held onto second place in the NASCAR Nextel Cup points on Sunday.

Last year: Late caution flags helped Ryan Newman stretch his gas to the end, allowing him to barely hold off hard-charging Kurt Busch and win the 2003 Pennsylvania 500.

Potential storyline: Jade Gurss, a spokesman for Dale Earnhardt Jr., said earlier this week that his driver hopes to drive the entire Pennsylvania 500, but will have veteran John Andretti -- a part-time DEI driver this season -- standing by throughout the weekend.

Point to ponder: Ricky Rudd has competed in 50 of the 53 NASCAR premier-series races held at Pocono since 1974, more than any driver. His first was July, 1977; he finished seventh.

Site: Fountain, Colo.

Track: Pikes Peak International Raceway (1-mile oval, 10-degree banking in turns. Frontstretch: 1,510 feet. Backstretch: 1,350 feet).

LAST YEAR Winning finish Wimmer takes the lead on Lap 228 and gets the win Hard contact Kahne and Compton make contact early Spin out Bliss spins Hamilton Jr. on Lap 63

Race distance: 250 miles, 250 laps

TV: Busch Pole Qualifying: SPEED, 6 p.m. ET Friday. Race: TNT, 3:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

Last race: Matt Kenseth, the reigning Nextel Cup champion, won the Siemens 200 at Loudon, N.H., by about six car-lengths over Tim Fedewa. Kenseth has two wins in seven Busch starts this season.

Last year: Scott Wimmer won the Busch 250 at Pikes Peak in a race that had a track-record 15 lead changes. Wimmer led 70 laps and took the lead for good on the 227th lap by overtaking Jason Keller.

Potential storyline: Jason Keller leads all drivers entered in this weekend's event with three top-five finishes at Pikes Peak. All have come in his last three appearances and his results have improved each year -- fourth in 2001, third in 2002 and second in 2003.

Point to ponder: With none of Pikes Peak's six previous NASCAR Busch Series winners --- Matt Kenseth, Andy Santerre, Jeff Green, Jeff Purvis, Hank Parker Jr. and Scott Wimmer --- entered in this weekend's event, a seventh different winner in as many races is guaranteed.

Site: Fountain, Colo.

LAST YEAR Easy victory Gaughan dominates the closing laps at Michigan Early Battle Leffler and Edwards fight for space up front in the early laps

Track: Michigan International Speedway (1-mile oval, 18-degree banking in turns. Frontstretch: 3,600 feet. Backstretch: 2,242 feet).

Race distance: 200 miles, 100 laps

TV: Race: SPEED, 1 p.m. ET Saturday.

Last race: David Starr became just the second truck driver to win by leading only the final lap at the Dodge Ram Tough 200 in Madison, Ill.

Last year: Brendan Gaughan ran the fastest race in NCTS history at the Sears 200 in Michigan. Gaughan averaged 154.044 mph, eclipsing Kurt Busch's mark of 144.260 set in 2000.

Potential storyline: The points lead after the halfway race hasn't been a very good predictor of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship. In fact, that leader has failed to wear the crown on six of nine occasions. The last time the mid-point advantage translated into a championship effort was in 2000 when Greg Biffle became the only series driver to clinch the title before the season's final race.

Point to ponder: Michigan International Speedway has been a track of extremes for competitors on the Craftsman Truck Series. Robert Pressley's 2002 winning margin over Jason Leffler was .102 second, 10th closest in series history. Last year, Gaughan held an 11.477 second advantage over Ted Musgrave to mark the fourth widest victory margin.

Mark Spoor is an interactive producer of NASCAR.COM. The Domino's Viewers Guide appears each Thursday during race weeks.