Fryer's Five: Pocono

Now that Tony Stewart is the first owner/driver to win a points race in 11 years, his detractors will most certainly argue that his success this season is tied tightly to his reliance on Hendrick Motorsports.

Stewart-Haas Racing receives chassis and engines from Hendrick, same as it did for years when Gene Haas was the sole owner of the organization. But when Haas fielded crummy teams with average drivers, no one seemed to care about the alliance.

That's changed now that co-owner Stewart has made the team a player. He won the All-Star race last month, Sunday's race at Pocono Raceway and is currently leading the points, while teammate Ryan Newman has six consecutive top-10 finishes and is currently fourth in the standings.

Now that Hendrick alliance is an issue, particularly with fans who despise the HMS dominance, my question is: When will it be an issue inside the actual HMS compound?

If Stewart's two cars continue to outrun the Hendrick brigade, it won't be long before the drivers and crew chiefs who actually work for Rick Hendrick begin to grumble about their new competition. In fact, I'm not convinced that tightly wound Chad Knaus isn't already sideways about SHR's success.

Knaus has helped Jimmie Johnson to a record-tying three consecutive Cup titles, and the two have had their hands full along the way competing against their own teammates. Now they've got increased competition from a pair of drivers who are using virtually the same equipment, and relying on Stewart crew chief Darian Grubb, who was a key Hendrick player until this season.

But it's not just Knaus who might ultimately be unhappy about this. Stewart took the points lead away from four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, who has been involved in a fair share of disputes with Stewart over the past decade. Always cordial off the track, and even occasionally friendly, the two are still natural rivals.

It's going to be interesting to watch this play out over the next few months. As the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship gets closer, the information flow coming out of Hendrick Motorsports could very well dry up rather quickly.

Here's five interesting things unrelated to Stewart from the weekend:

1. It was legendary Gibson Les Paul guitar … : In the interest of full disclosure, I did not see the Nationwide Series race at Nashville and thus missed out on Kyle Busch smashing the symbolic guitar that goes to the winner.

I was, however, quickly informed of his postrace antics through an email from a colleague who clearly disapproved of the act. My gut reaction was "So what?" and it didn't change a full 24 hours after the carnage. Even more, I was somewhat perplexed by the intense fury people felt about his celebration.

Then I debated the issue with a different colleague, one who has taken Busch to task this season for refusing to talk to the media after races he doesn't win.

"The guitar is their Martinsville grandfather clock," he argued.

"Yeah, but that's the essence of Kyle," I replied. "I don't think it's the act itself people are bothered by, I think it's that they just don't like Kyle. If any other driver had promised to smash the guitar up and share it with his crew, I don't think the reaction would have been the same."

"No other driver would even think to do that," was his response.

He's right, and that point made me reconsider my opinion.

Busch has always done things his way, and he's embraced the consequences that come with his refusal to conform. He doesn't mind the booing, doesn't mind that a large chunk of his fellow competitors don't like him, and he doesn't mind when the media takes him to task for his oft-displayed immaturity.

NASCAR artist Sam Bass annually paints the Nashville guitar, which, by the way, is a coveted Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. Bass admitted he was shocked to see Busch take his latest piece of work and give it three solid whacks before tossing it aside.

But after speaking with Busch, the artist claimed he was fine with the offbeat celebration because Busch explained his desire to share the trophy with his crew.

The problem is, it's not clear Busch would have even cared if Bass had been bothered by the vandalism. And at the end of the day, if Busch so badly wanted to share the trophy with his team, he could have commissioned Bass to make replicas for everyone.

I still believe there's a large contingent of people who simply don't like Busch and will condemn every one of his actions, even the kindhearted gestures. Only this time, after further thought, I'm not convinced he didn't cross the line.

2. Now, what's going on with Busch's teammate? A new-and-improved Denny Hamlin came into this season intent on making the transition from "a driver with potential" to "a driver who can win the championship."

More than four months later, he's yet to actually take that step.

In fact, he's going backward.

Hamlin suffered a broken fuel pump on the first lap of Sunday's race and the mechanical failure led to a 38th-place finish. Of course, it was beyond his control and not at all indicative of the No. 11 team, which had the fastest time in practice a day earlier.

But Hamlin and that team have been on a slide the past six weeks that's taken him from fourth in the standings all the way to 12th and on the edge of being knocked from Chase contention. His last top-10 finish was a sixth at Phoenix in April, and the Joe Gibbs Racing crew coughed away a chance at victory at Richmond last month with a botched late pit stop.

So it's now make-or-break time for Hamlin, who usually melts down during trying times such as these.

In his defense, both his maturity and ability to deal with disappointment have been much improved this season. But he's also yet to be seriously tested.

If Hamlin really plans on being a championship contender, he's going to have to buckle down right now and get the No. 11 team through what's shaping up to be a difficult summer.

3. The Truck Series seems a little shaky right now: Some of the best racing is found in the Truck Series, which routinely puts on a great show with legitimate battles to the finish line.

But that's at the front of the field, where Todd Bodine, Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson bang fenders with Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and the other Cup Series moonlighters. Behind the action, the picture isn't so pretty.

There were only 33 trucks in Friday night's race at Texas Motor Speedway, and based on some of the entrants, those three empty spots maybe could have been filled by anyone reading this.

It sure seemed like 10 of the Texas entries were only in the event to collect a paycheck and had no intention of running to the finish. Norm Benning ran just three laps before a "handling" issue sent him to the garage for a 33rd-place finish and a $10,255 paycheck. Wayne Edwards went the farthest of the 10 apparent "start and parks" by running 26 laps before an "ignition" problem ended his race. He earned $11,155 for finishing 24th.

Not one of the trucks that finished 24th or lower ran a full fuel or tire run, and 30th-place finisher Nick Tucker's night ended because NASCAR said he was too slow.

Now comes word Monday that defending series champion Johnny Benson is without a ride because Red Horse Racing shuttered his No. 11 team when sponsorship could not be found. Benson said he doubts he'll be able to line anything up before this weekend's race at Michigan, his home track.

Still, he downplayed using the Texas race as any sort of barometer in measuring the health of the Truck Series.

"There's always been field fillers in all three series, always. I don't think this is new," he said. "But we're all nervous about the economy in every series. It's down and it's making it tough on a lot of people. But the series is still good."

Right now, that's debatable. Twenty-three trucks racing around Texas is not good for anyone, especially a series that has prided itself on its exciting shows.

4. Richard Petty Motorsports is feeling the pinch: General Motors is hoping for business as usual despite last week's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, and its race teams so far remain optimistic they won't notice a difference in funding or support.

RPM isn't so lucky.

Chrysler's similar filing last month has altered the bottom line for the team co-owned by George Gillett Jr. and Richard Petty, and the ripple effect was felt Monday when the team let go about 10 employees and cut salaries across the board.

Aside from the loss of jobs, what does this mean? Bet on RPM being in Toyota's fold next year.

Monday's cost-cutting measures by RPM are a clear indication the team can't continue – at least not at a championship-contending pace – with Dodge as its manufacturer. And, judging by Petty's recent comments that the checks were no longer coming in the mail, it could be that Dodge would be thrilled to see RPM find a way out of its contract.

Since everything must now go through a bankruptcy judge, there's no surefire way to predict a timetable for a potential split. But make no mistake, it's coming, and the longer it takes could eventually alter RPM's lineup.

The team has been fielding a car for AJ Allmendinger this season largely out of pocket, and officials have committed to taking him at least through the September race at Richmond. But he's also signed with RPM through next year, as are Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler and Reed Sorenson.

Should finances run so thin, the team could stop running a fourth car and try to buy out one of its drivers as RPM looks for solutions during the Chrysler crisis.

5. And still more Mayfield: NASCAR took the gloves off in its fight with Jeremy Mayfield, first by moving his legal challenge of his suspension to federal court and then by filing its own countersuit.

NASCAR is now accusing Mayfield of breaching his contract and defrauding NASCAR and its competitors of earnings.

NASCAR claims that more than $150,000 in prize money was improperly awarded to Mayfield and said that he was in three accidents in the five Cup races he competed in this season while drugs were in his system. The counterclaim has redacted the name of the third drug NASCAR claims Mayfield tested positive for in a May 1 random test at Richmond International Raceway.

Both sides are in agreement that Mayfield has admitted to using Claritin-D for allergies, and Adderall for treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Mayfield's attorneys have not mentioned a third substance, which NASCAR's lawyer described as a dangerous, illegal drug.

So, the fight continues with no end in sight.

Mayfield claims he is innocent, but proving it may turn out to be an expensive endeavor he ultimately can't afford to fight. Finances had already forced him to pull the No. 41 from Dover and Pocono, and Mayfield Motorsports isn't expected to return to the track until this legal battle is over.

Mayfield hired a bulldog of an attorney in Charlotte, N.C.,-based Bill Diehl, but he's also a very expensive attorney. Now that NASCAR has shown it's going to fight this hard, Mayfield needs to seriously think if the battle is worth the expense.

At this stage, participating in NASCAR's "path to reinstatement" might be the cheaper – and faster – option.