Matt Kenseth, driver of the #20 Dollar General Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)

The dichotomy between Joe Gibbs and the drivers he’s tapped in recent years has been noticeable.

After hiring veteran wheel-turners in Joe Gibbs Racing founding driver Dale Jarrett, followed by 2000 JGR Cup champ Bobby Labonte, his choices have been young (Joey Logano, Denny Hamlin), or petulant (Tony Stewart), or some combination of the two (Kyle Busch).

Over the years I’ve both questioned why Gibbs hired drivers who don’t follow his squeaky-clean mantra, and marveled how he’s been able to work with guys who don’t seem like a good fit.

But I’ve always wondered why Gibbs, the Super Bowl champion coach, for years hasn’t had somebody who was more an extension of himself on the track. That’s what football coaches often look for in a quarterback, yet that experienced, even-keeled leader has been absent.

Until now. And boy, what great timing!

Busch seems to already be simmering a bit over a rough 2013 start, and Hamlin, whether right or wrong, is now glued to the seat of NASCAR’s cross hairs over his Gen-6 car comments. Throw in the seemingly perpetual Joe Gibbs Racing/Toyota Racing Development engine-building partnership growing pains, and there’s just a lot of reasons why it’s a good time to have one of the sport’s most solid guys on the roster.

Matt Kenseth is the type who will do a lot more than win races, like Sunday’s Kobalt Tools 400. He’ll step up his performance exactly when his team and organization needs it. When Roush Fenway Racing experienced sponsorship woes in 2011 and threw together short-term deals for Kenseth with every eye wear and toilet parts company they could get their hands on, he didn’t flinch. He put the eye wear company and the toilet parts company in Victory Lane, even as he wore Crown Royal gear because there wasn’t enough time to get him a uniform to match his car.

It was a pretty rag-tag look for a bona fide NASCAR superstar, and a problem Kenseth won’t have with Gibbs. That team is so awash with sponsorship that Kenseth is also getting 15 rides in the Nationwide Series, something he sorely missed.

The Kenseth/Gibbs partnership looked perfect on paper — the stable, middle-aged driver who would never have his owner worrying about the BS, and the golden-touch-with-sponsors owner who would never have his driver worrying about the bills.

On Sunday, Kenseth’s 41st birthday and only the third race of the new pact, it looked even better on the track.

Follow Josh Stewart on Twitter @JoshNASCARWWE

Denny Hamlin stands outside his hauler at Las Vegas Thursday, the day he was fined for criticizing the Gen-6 car. Photo by Chris Graythen/NASCAR via Getty Images

I guess that’s because NASCAR, indeed, lost its mind in fining Denny Hamlin simply for saying the Gen-6 car, which took two years to develop, would take more than two races to figure out.

The difficulty is figuring out where this ranks in the history of bogus NASCAR fines because we don’t, for the most part, know anything about which guys have been fined for speaking out of turn in the past. Only at the beginning of last season did NASCAR decree that there would no longer be unannounced fines.

Prior to that, NASCAR could fine someone privately, and the driver could in turn let people know or keep it to himself. So, we don’t know for sure if Kyle Busch was fined for saying the Gen-5 car (formerly COT) cars “suck” in Victory Lane after winning their debut race at Bristol in 2007.

Earlier that year at Phoenix, Hamlin received an early pit road speeding penalty after looking dominant early in the race. After driving through the field like he stole the blessed car to finish third, he questioned the speeding penalty, which included the swipe, “I was tonight’s entertainment I guess.”

in 2010 Hamlin admitted he was secretly fined for a Twitter conversation he had with a reporter, inferring that NASCAR would “tighten up” a late race with an unneeded caution flag to create a more exciting finish for the fans.

It’s one thing to publicly ponder whether NASCAR would artificially create a more exciting finish. But inferring that NASCAR would unjustly penalize one driver just to make sure he wouldn’t stink up the show is quite another.

Friday I contacted a Hamlin spokesperson, who said he wasn’t sure whether Hamlin was secretly fined for the 2007 comments.

If he wasn’t, then Thursday’s announcement is even more of a head-scratcher. How do you get fined for what he said last week at Phoenix and get away with what he said six years ago at Phoenix?

While there’s no excuse for Hamlin’s most recent fine, I realize what NASCAR’s motivation is. NASCAR has survived and thrived despite a lot of issues, both economical and social. Now, Danica Patrick has opened up a whole new audience, Darrell Wallace Jr. has a real chance to become NASCAR’s first breakout black star, and the new cars have the ability to bring the “car guy” back to NASCAR after years of homogenization.

NASCAR sees another glory era at its fingertips and doesn’t want anything getting in the way. After the Jeremy Clements incident, NASCAR was already hypersensitive, and Hamlin paid the price.

I actually agree that NASCAR has a lot of things going for it in the next couple of years. That makes it all the more troubling to see it act as its own worst enemy.

Follow Josh Stewart on Twitter @JoshNASCARWWE

Danica Patrick poses with the Nationwide Series Most Popular Driver Award November 19, 2012 in Miami Beach, Fla. Will Patrick’s popularity with casual fans do her more harm than good? (Photo by Chris Trotman/Getty Images for NASCAR)

I walked into work two days after the Daytona 500, and the first two people I spoke with about the race essentially opened with, “What an awful last lap Danica had.”

Huh.

Danica Patrick started the last lap third and finished eighth. At Daytona, you can start the final lap third and finish in traction. (Guess their TVs were busted for the Saturday race.) It was the most unfair standard ever applied to an athlete in the history of competitive sports.

Then last Friday came and the questions from NASCAR novices came fast and furious about how Patrick was doing at Phoenix. They wanted some magic again. The uninitiated equated one pole lap at Daytona with a Tiger Woods-esque infatuation with Patrick that just can’t be fulfilled.

By June, will she wish she had qualified fourth?

* When it was announced that the NRA would sponsor the April Sprint Cup race at Texas, the two main things Speedway Motorsports Chairman Bruton Smith told ESPN.com was (1) the NRA was one of the top sponsors of Speedway Children’s Charities, which Smith founded, and (2) he personally wishes that “we,” presumably meaning the country, could get our hands on assault weapons and “melt them down.”

If Smith feels that way, then the top name that should be on the guest at his Fort Worth track next month is obvious: Gabrielle Giffords. If Smith, like many, believe that the NRA should be about supporting shotguns — not machine guns — then welcoming the NRA and Giffords at the same time should be nothing but a positive for the organization.

Smith makes a lot of statements for effect. In this case, I hope he makes a sincere invitation.

* It was notable when Carl Edwards won Sunday in Phoenix that he immediately went through an open fence door near the flag stand to celebrate with fans. Similar fence doors at NASCAR tracks allow fans with certain ticket packages to roam the infield before the race and quickly get back up to the stands when it’s time for the action.

It’s a cruel irony — one of the main reasons that Daytona International Speedway will get nailed when sued by fans who got hurt at the end of the Nationwide race  is because it had a element to its fence that was meant to serve fans.

Those who were injured have every right to seek remediation to be made whole. I just hope they do so with a certain level of common sense, and even appreciation, for what Daytona was trying to do for them.

 Follow Josh Stewart on Twitter @JoshNASCARWWE

Carl Edwards, driver of the #99 Subway Ford, celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. (Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Every basketball official has been accused of swallowing his whistle.

Every football officiating crew has been accused of taking over a game with countless yellow hankies.

Too much oversight. Too little. Nobody’s ever right.

So, on those rare occasions when a sport can eliminate human judgment, it should.

NASCAR is currently using timing loops to nail pit road speeders, and hopefully after Sunday’s Subway Fresh Fit 500 the fine folks at the R&D Center in Concord will make one of their next big projects the use of similar technology to decide fair and unfair restarts.

Following Carl Edwards’ win, Jimmie Johnson complained that Edwards had twice slowed down in the stretch in which he was supposed to be starting the field to the green flag. Bob Dillner confirmed on SPEED’s “NASCAR Victory Lane” that Sprint Cup Race Director David Hoots had reminded drivers before Sunday’s race that they must maintain their speed in that stretch.

If Edwards was slowing down intentionally, it was fine gamesmanship. By easing his RPMs, Johnson had to woe down his car because if he had gotten to the start-finish line before Edwards, he would have been penalized. In theory, Edwards could use that strategy to slow down Johnson, then slam on the gas pedal just before the green flag and fly away from the pack.

Fans of Edwards and Johnson will be slicing and dicing each other on Twitter all week long debating what the truth is.

Why? This is math. Either Edwards slowed down or he didn’t. If he did, and was warned about it before the race, he shouldn’t have won the race. Heck, if he did do it twice, maybe NASCAR could’ve given him a verbal warning the first time and dinged him if he did it again. (As long as a one-warning rule is put in the books and applied to everyone regardless of the situation.)

If Edwards didn’t slow down, then we could decisively dismiss Johnson’s complaints as sour grapes.

Let’s monitor it. We’re already seeing telemetry on our television screens collected from devices inside the cars. The definitive answer to who should have won Sunday might be stored in somebody’s laptop right now. What are we arguing about?

Remember that this technology wouldn’t just be used to punish the guilty. It would also be used to absolve the innocent, like Elliott Sadler. Sadler was rooked last year in the Nationwide race at Indianapolis when Brad Keselowski spun his tires on a late restart and Sadler took the green flag first. Sadler got black-flagged, a move that very well may have cost him the Nationwide title. (Sadler finishing 15th instead of first cost him 18 points, and he ended up losing the title to Ricky Stenhouse Jr. by 23. But Sadler would have left Indianapolis with a sizable lead had he not been penalized, changing the entire complexion of the ensuing races.)

Using technology in last year’s case, you could determine that Keselowski, albeit accidentally,  slowed down to a level that would by rule completely insulate the guy opposite him from receiving a penalty. In a case like that, no penalties would be levied. Having clear data make the decision would be the equivalent of picking up the flag in the NFL.

Leaving this call up to human judgment has likely already cost one man a championship.

Why don’t we fix this before it becomes two?

Follow Josh Stewart on Twitter @JoshNASCARWWE

Nationwide Series driver Jeremy Clements. (Photo by John Harrelson/NASCAR via Getty Images)

I’ve never spoken to Jeremy Clements, and have no idea what was in his heart when he uttered the n-word to MTV blogger Marty Beckerman at the 2013 Daytona Nationwide opener.

I just know that he shouldn’t be allowed back at a NASCAR track until the 2014 Daytona Nationwide opener.

Sure, whatever he did pales in comparison to other issues of race that mar NASCAR’s history. Shoot, baseball integrated in 1947, NASCAR formed in 1948, and yet, 60-plus years later one African-American, Darrell Wallace Jr., is in a full-time ride in one of NASCAR’s top-three series. The stories of black NASCAR racing pioneer Wendell Scott being marginalized have finally been exposed to the point they don’t need to be repeated here. (That said, check out Brian Donovan’s “Hard Driving” for the full recap). Stories of a black driver, team employee and race official being harassed are troublesome enough without them all happening within the last 15 years.

At the Super Bowl, players from the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens sparred over the issue of gay players in the locker room. NASCAR still seems to be fighting much of the last generation’s social battle.

So it’s understandable for people to feel that Clements is being unfairly served up as a scapegoat for NASCAR’s past.

It’s just an incorrect feeling.

Everybody in the garage knows how much NASCAR needs to make its racial issues finally go away. NASCAR made a great decision by not allowing PGA golfer Bubba Watson to drive his “General Lee” show car at Phoenix last year. The car would have been fine at the World Series, but not at a NASCAR race. Too sensitive a subject for countless reasons.

NASCAR showed it would hold itself to a higher standard on racial sensitivity. It was a clear message to those in the garage that they had better do the same.

Clements apparently didn’t get the message.

He’s apologized, and he’ll receive sensitivity training, as was reported Saturday. NASCAR VP Steve O’Donnell told scribes the goal was to get Clements back in a car “as soon as possible.”

I partially agree. The goal should be to get Clements back in a car. But the goal also should be to make the consequences of this behavior sufficient to the point that we don’t have to go through this again…and again…and again.

Everybody deserves a second chance, and I look forward to welcoming him back with open arms.

Next year.

Follow Josh Stewart on Twitter @JoshNASCARWWE.

Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood, left, holds a news conference with NASCAR Nationwide Series President Steve O’Donnell after an incident on the last lap of the NASCAR Nationwide Series DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Several fans injured during the final-lap crash of Saturday’s DRIVE4COPD 300 are already in the process of suing Daytona International Speedway after parts of Kyle Larson’s car made it through the catchfence.

But will the defendants list soon include Larson’s car owner, Turner Scott Motorsports?

FOXSports.com has reported that NASCAR met earlier this week with Turner Scott representatives over possible illegal modifications to Larson’s chassis, meant to give it an aerodynamic advantage.

NASCAR has yet to announce any rules violations. But several attorneys contacted by As the World Turns (Left) said that if a violation is announced it’s quite possible Turner Scott will be dragged into the legal process along with the speedway.

“If it is found that Turner Scott Motorsports used a car with illegal modifications to it and those modifications contributed in any way to the crash that injured … the spectators, there would again be a strong likelihood of success against Turner Scott in a lawsuit,” Gary R. Roberts, Dean & Gerald L. Bepko professor of law at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, told As the World Turns (Left) in an email.

NASCAR and the speedway have begun a probe of the incident that will not include any government agencies and not require either to file reports with any public agency, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. But a lawsuit against multiple entities could bring out more details of what happened.

“Lawyers are inclined to seek out as many defendants as possible. It increases the likelihood of recovering damages,” said Michael McCann, director of the Sports Law Institute at the University of Vermont Law School and sports law columnist for SI.com. “It encourages defendants to give information if they think they are in competition with others. If you only sue one, they might not be as willing to release information. If you sue five, they may be more cooperative.”

Daytona International Speedway is owned by International Speedway Corporation, a publicly traded company controlled by the France family — which also owns NASCAR, a privately held company. Since NASCAR actually runs the events and inspects car before the races, a suit including Turner Scott could pit governing body against team.

“[Turner Scott] could say, ‘We were able to race. Nobody stopped us. If it was so egregious why wasn’t it seen?’” McCann said. “That would be their argument.”

But Marc Edelman, a professor at Florida’s Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law — who also teaches sports law at Fordham — thinks along with Roberts that any civil action will be resolved before the parties get too deep in weeds as far as who exactly was at fault.

“We live in a litigious society,” Edelman said. “… Over 90 percent of lawsuits filed ultimately settle before trial My guess would be if fans sue based upon injury there will likely be a settlement early on in the case. It’s very unlikely will there be a full litigation.”

As far as the much-discussed fact that race tickets say fans assume a certain risk, Edelman added, “Merely putting words on the back of the ticket doesn’t absolve completely. It helps, but it doesn’t insulate entirely.”

Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont 20 Years Celebratory Chevrolet, takes the checkered flag as he crosses the finish line to win the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images

The sale of DuPont’s automotive paint division will lead to a re-branding of Jeff Gordon’s 14-race sponsorship with his longtime sponsor, a Gordon spokesperson said Monday.

Questions about Gordon’s sponsorship arose last August when private equity firm the Carlyle Group announced it would acquire DuPont Performance Coatings for $4.9 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.

On Friday, the spokesperson told As the World Turns (Left) via email,  “DuPont Performance Coatings, LLC. will be the primary sponsor on the No. 24 Chevrolet SS for 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in 2013. CromaxPro, a DuPont Performance Coatings, LLC. product, will be featured as a major associate in all remaining races.”

On Monday, a clarification was offered via email: “DuPont Performance Coatings, LLC. is the business that DuPont is selling, but it will no longer be a part of DuPont once the sale is completed.”

When asked how that will affect the sponsorship, the spokesperson replied via email, “It will be re-branded.”

The No. 24 car paint scheme and schedule for those 14 races will be made available in the near future. Last year, the team celebrated 20 years of sponsorship with DuPont, which was Gordon’s primary sponsor for 18 years before AARP Drive to End Hunger took over a majority of the races in 2011.

Jeff Gordon drives the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet during practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Pocono 400 at Pocono Raceway on June 8, 2012 in Long Pond, Penn.. (Photo by Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images for NASCAR)

DuPont’s sale of its automotive paint division will not affect the brand’s sponsorship of Jeff Gordon in 2013, spokesperson Jon Edwards confirmed Friday.

Questions about Gordon’s sponsorship arose last August when private equity firm the Carlyle Group announced it would acquire DuPont Performance Coatings for $4.9 billion. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2013.

“DuPont Performance Coatings, LLC. will be the primary sponsor on the No. 24 Chevrolet SS for 14 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in 2013. CromaxPro, a DuPont Performance Coatings, LLC. product, will be featured as a major associate in all remaining races,” Edwards said in an email Friday. DuPont was also the primary sponsor for 14 races last year.

According to Edwards the No. 24 DuPont car paint scheme and schedule will be made available in the near future. AARP Drive to End Hunger (22 races) and Pepsi Max (two races) paint schemes, with CromaxPro in an associate sponsor spot, have already been released.

The sponsorship commitment ends after the 2013 season.

Photo by HHP/Harold Hinson

If Scott Riggs is going to work full-time for Stewart-Haas Racing, the team isn’t saying.

Last month, Jayski.com reported that NASCAR Sprint Cup veteran Riggs had an opportunity to work as a driver coach for Danica Patrick and/or serve as a test driver for Stewart-Haas Racing, along with a limited schedule in a fourth Stewart-Haas car, pending sponsorship.

When contacted about Riggs, spokesperson Mike Arning on Thursday said via email, “Scott Riggs has no official role with Stewart-Haas Racing. However, the team utilizes him for tests as needed.”

Riggs, who tested for Stewart-Haas at Talladega in 2011, drove full-time for Haas-CNC Racing in 2008, the year before the team morphed into Stewart-Haas Racing with the arrival of Tony Stewart.

In 2012, Riggs ran the start-and-park Cup car for R3 Motorsports and finished fifth in the fall Truck Series race at Martinsville for Ricky Benton Racing in a one-race deal.

Robby Gordon, who raced his way into the Daytona 500 last year as part of a light NASCAR schedule, is not scheduled to do any NASCAR racing in 2013, a Gordon representative said via e-mail Monday evening.

Spokesperson Alison McCabe said she doesn’t think Gordon will participate in NASCAR due to his involvement in his new racing project, Robby Gordon’s Stadium Super Trucks series. The 12-race off-road stadium series will debut April 6 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

The Stadium Super Trucks series will be televised by NBC and the NBC Sports Network.

Gordon, 43, who will compete in the Dakar Rally off-road event beginning Jan. 5 in Lima, Peru, raced full-time in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup from 2002-11,  and won three times.

But sponsorship woes with his self-owned team led to him racing only three times in 2012: the season-opener at Daytona, race No. 2 at Phoenix and the road-course race at Sonoma. He failed to qualify for early-season races at Las Vegas and Fontana.