Marty Snider says all the housecleaning Robert Yates is doing may not be the best for his team. Credit: Autostock

RYR continues cleaning house, but is it all good?

Indianapolis performances won't save Chase runs for two drivers

In case you haven't noticed Robert Yates Racing is cleaning house. This week's release of Tommy Baldwin and Slugger Labbe was the final piece. Both Baldwin and Labbe were hires of former general manager Eddie D'Hondt. When the Yates family released D'Hondt in June they wanted to take back control of the family business ... now they've done it.

	Marty Snider
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RYR will continue down the path of building with youth. With drivers Stephen Leicht, most likely David Gilliland, two new crew chiefs and possibly another young Busch Series talent next season they will start anew.

While I agree with some of the decisions they have made I can't help but think that they made a mistake in letting two talented crew chiefs go. I think there was just an overwhelming sense to both Robert and Doug Yates that these were D'Hondt's buddies and part of the old regime.

Fellas, don't fire someone just because of the person who hired them. If they are talented enough, keep them on board, after all this business is all about people. I'm sure there's more to the story but if you were going to pick two crew chiefs to build upon, those two are a pretty good start.

Robert Yates feels strongly that he needs to straighten out his company before he retires -- he calls it nice book ends. Eventually they will get there, but the problem is Robert wants to step away sooner rather than later and this rebuilding process will take a few years.

Is Stewart the new Earnhardt?

Evidentially last week I got several fans riled up by comparing Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt. To set the record straight, I DID NOT say Tony Stewart was Dale Earnhardt. I said like it or not, Stewart's the closest thing to Earnhardt we have in today's corporate-minded, overly polished, politically correct world of NASCAR.

	Marty Snider says love it or hate it, Tony Stewart is the new Intimidator. Credit: Autostock
	ALSO How can the Tony Stewart that contributes $1 million a pop to a charitable cause, Marty Smith wonders, be the same guy with the road rage on Sundays? Marty Smith wants to know.  •   Complete story, click here NASCAR TodayTony Stewart admits fault for early wreck at Pocono Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

And even though I believe that to be true, that statement doesn't mean that I always approve of Stewart's driving style on the track. At times he indeed does drive like the jerk that Carl Edwards says he is. And yes he is starting to offend many drivers, which in the end will only hurt him.

But I think the very same intensity that Tony cannot let go of inside the racecar is what makes him one of the best drivers that will ever sit in a stock car. Joe Gibbs told me a few years ago, "I don't want Tony to change the intensity, I love the intensity ... that's what makes him great. He just needs to learn how to manage it off the track."

Joe was right, and for years that has been the quest for the Stewart camp. You don't want to tone him down because Tony's passion for winning and success is what takes him a level above most other drivers on the track, but you knew he had to temper his demeanor once he was out of the racecar. Yes, with an inherited short fuse from his father, some times that passion boils into a raging inferno behind the wheel.

Is it right to blow your lid when you're behind the wheel of a 3,400-pound stock car? Of course not.

Was he wrong for what he did on the track at Pocono? Absolutely.

But it's the after-the-race thing that always needed work. Which brings us back to maturing that I see in Stewart today and the comparisons to Earnhardt.

Two years ago Stewart would have stormed away from Pocono without talking to his crew much less the media. And those crew guys -- the poor crew guys who pour their life (and their families lives) into making the 20 car go fast -- would have sat at the shop all week knowing that they were going to Indy with no shot to win the race because their driver was out of it mentally.

Instead a much calmer Stewart than we saw in years past got out of the car at Pocono and answered every question the media had to throw at him. More importantly he wasn't afraid to speak his mind, much like Earnhardt. Whether you agree with his answers or not is ill-relevant to this conversation.

The 2006 end result? Pocono is behind them now, the team is focused on Indy and as for those crew guys, with the new Tony Stewart they know they can go to the Brickyard and win the race. That's how a mature Tony Stewart is a better Tony Stewart. And whether you agree with it or not, more like Earnhardt than some of you would like to admit.

So who's out?

One reader asked me, "Well if Dale Jr. does make the Chase, who drops out of the current top 10?" Good question. To me two drivers currently in the top 10 stand out as being in jeopardy of falling out of the Chase before the playoffs start at New Hampshire in September.

Unfortunately I agree with most of the pundits -- Denny Hamlin will not make the Chase. I say unfortunately because there is nothing more that I would like to see than Hamlin make the Chase.

A product of the system, he is a budding star that could captivate this sport some day; he will make plenty of playoff runs in his career. Now all of you Hamlin fans don't write me e-mails next week, after Hamlin runs well at Indy, telling me that I was wrong. I will go on record right here by saying that Denny Hamlin will have one of the best cars at Indy. He is one of my favorites to win the Brickyard. But it's those pesky other five races that will trip up Hamlin.

In the last five races, Kasey Kahne has one finish of 20th or better. Credit: Autostock

Watkins Glen, Michigan, Bristol, California -- all tracks where the 11 team has not been a top-10 team of late. As tight as things are from fifth to 12th in the Chase they need to be a top-five team to be to make it. Richmond is their type of track, but by then it may be too late.

The other driver may surprise you -- Kasey Kahne. Somewhat under the radar, the 9 team has not been running well lately. They even brought their "happy" car as Ray Evernham calls it (five races this year, four wins) to Chicago where it was rather unhappy, finishing 23rd.

Honestly since their win at Michigan they have been a mediocre race team with an average finish of 23.6. Like Hamlin, I think Kahne will run very well this weekend at Indy. He has a unique line that he takes at Indy (a little higher in the corners than most) and it seems to work. But again it's those other five races.

Watkins Glen will at best be a challenge for the 9 team. Michigan and California could be good, but their "happy" car wasn't so happy last time out as we mentioned, so they may need to make another plan. Which leaves Bristol and Richmond. Bristol is a question mark for everyone. Richmond should be Kahne's best track of the final six, but again it may be too late.

Marty Snider is a pit reporter for NBC and TNT. The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.