Well, to open up this Questions for Kristen, I will rant a little bit. Bare with me.
One of my pet peeves is when someone thinks they know everything. I don’t care what your prior race history or background is, I highly doubt you know all there is to know about NASCAR. You aren’t special, especially if you try to predict The Chase 13 races in advance.
I recently watched this on NASCAR Now, and it was pointless. Look at what has happened in the first half of the regular season? Drivers have come back from adversity, and they’ve dug themselves into a deeper hole. Anything can happen this year.
Don’t try to tell me who’s not going to make The Chase when they can barely predict if it’s going to rain or not. As our sport grows and changes, it’s hard to keep up with the times.
Let whatever happens happen. That’s what I love about NASCAR, its unpredictability. It’s like gambling. (But I’m too young to gamble, so . . .)
Anyway, I’ll step off my soapbox and answer your questions now.
Do you think the Cup series should add another road course race? If so, where, and should one be in The Chase? -@folyzbear16
I do think the Cup series should add another road course. Why not, right? Personally, I love road course races; it’s much different than the ‘Go Left, Only Left’ mentality we watch every weekend. Montreal comes to mind, and so does Road America. As for in The Chase? There should be one. A champion should be diverse and talented on all levels.
But, I’m a writer. I don’t make the rules.
You think Jeff Gordon will have a crew chief change soon? -@scottaltimaman
Jeff Gordon’s luck isn’t a crew chief issue, it’s an issue with the entire #24 team. My solution? Get the team together and talk. Hell, get some notes from the #5 crew. They need to turn this season around as soon as possible, but a mid-season crew chief change probably isn’t going to help.
Bristol is working with local hotels to help fans. Do you see this becoming a trend or a one time thing? -@Millahlite2
This needs to become a tread. Fans can’t spend $300 per night on a hotel room on top of race tickets. What Bristol is doing is something I’ve touched on before, and I’m glad they’ve stepped up. I know the owners of other race tracks aren’t stupid, so they’ll most likely follow suit and make a race package deal.
Who do you think will get a full-time Cup ride first, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. or Austin Dillon? -@kevin_vanpelt10
Stenhouse or Dillon. Hmm.
This is quite a tough one, but I’m going with Austin. Pop Pop has the money to do so. I don’t see Roush doing anything but focusing on his Cup team right now, which breaks my heart; he has two young talents, Stenhouse and Bayne, just waiting for an opportunity. I wish he’d help them more, but you gotta go where the money is, I guess.
Both are talented beyond belief, but it’ll be Dillon.
How’s your writing career going? -@abullins
Things are definitely speeding up since the summer began. I’m now a writer for Speedway Media, which I just started. I’m also the first NASCAR writer over at Independent Sport News.
The craziest thing is going to happen this Monday, the 18th. The local newspaper, The Mansfield News Journal, has asked to interview me for a story. Mansfield is a decent-sized city I live on the outskirts of, and I’m really excited for this.
Awesome stuff is happening, one day at a time, but it’s happening! I’m just chipping away and trying my hardest. I’ll post the link over here when the interview is up!
Catch you guys later, and enjoy the race weekend! 
