Dearborn, Mich. — Invokin’ Santayana’s Law of Repetitive Consequences, the Sparkster is hopin’ this week that Ford Racing crew chiefs Bob Osborne and Greg Erwin have very short memories.

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	• Send Sparky e-mail • Exclusive TFR blogs This week's NASCAR podcast with Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, Jack Roush and Colin Braun. In this week's NHRA Countdown to 1 podcast Robert Hight talks about breaking his win drought and the upcoming race in the Countdown. Additionally, Ford Racing Mustang Challenge Champion Andrew Caddell checks in following his winning weekend.

Whose law of what?

Repetitive consequences? Isn’t that what makes a tire go ’round and ’round and ’round and ’round?

Who knew that racin’ engineerin’ was so difficult?

George Santayana once opined, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Now, the Sparkster has always thought that the word condemned always kind of had a despairing feel to it, but maybe in this situation condemned could be a good thing. You know, in a destined kind of way.

It was just last year that the drivers for those two crew chiefs—Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards—finished first and third, respectively, at Dover in the second race of the ’08 Chase.

Another 1-and-3 finish this year, in any combination—Biffle-and-Edwards, Edwards-and-Biffle—would be pretty well-timed for Ford Racing.

For those impartin’ their own version of Santayana’s Law and forgettin’ the significance of last year’s race, The Biff won at Dover to become the first driver ever to win the first two races in the Chase. Edwards finished third, for the second Chase race in a row, and held at the time a slim 10-point lead in the standings over Biffle and Jimmie Johnson. And, to complete that day’s Ford Racing triple play, Matt Kenseth finished second. Those three drivers exchanged the lead four times over the last 99 laps, and that is the last time Ford drivers ended up 1-2-3 in a Cup race.

Ol’ Steady Matty, unfortunately, is not in the Chase this year, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a factor in this weekend’s race. So, in an effort to repeat last year’s result, maybe Drew Blickensderfer can “not remember” what happened last September, either. Or, maybe he can “not remember” what happened earlier this year when Kenseth opened with back-to-back victories at Daytona and Fontana.

It sounds more complicated than it truly is. Really.

But, followin’ last week’s race at New Hampshire, instead of bein’ first and tied for second in the standings, Edwards and Biffle are 11th and ninth, with nine races left to be run. And, a lot can happen in nine races; A lot can happen in less than half of that. Just look to Edwards, who closed last season with three victories in the final four races en route to a second-place showin’ in the final standings.

Besides, Dover has been kind to Ford over the years, startin’ with the very first Cup race there in 1969 when Richard Petty won the Mason-Dixon 300 in a Ford Torino. Richard Petty Motorsports, of course, are in line to be runnin’ Fords again in 2010.

In the past, both Edwards and Biffle have finished as high as second in the standings, and both have won Nationwide Series titles. And, The Biff also has a Truck Series championship to his credit. Both have nine races to add one more line to their list of accomplishments.

JUST LIKE THAT
When September started, Robert Hight was more like Robert Who? Hight—who will win an NHRA Funny Car championship someday, perhaps as early as this year—was on the outside lookin’ in on the series’ relatively new Countdown to the Full Throttle Championship. Then, he reached the finals at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis to reach the Countdown, and then—finally!—won his first race of ’09 last week at relatively new dragway in Charlotte.

And, just like that, Robert Who? is back to being Robert Hight, sittin’ in third place—third place!—in the standings.

Robert, who could very well be the nicest person in a sport filled with nice people, will not have a lot of time to appreciate his meteoric rise in the race for the championship; the race at Charlotte was the first of four in four weeks for the NHRA. The Sparkster thinks that it’s rather appropriate that the NHRA would adapt a NASCAR-like grueling schedule startin’ in Charlotte.

Anyway, Hight trails teammate Ashley Force Hood, who is in second place, by just 27 points, and Ashley is just one point out of the lead. Bob Tasca III, another Ford Mustang Funny Car driver, is in fifth place.

MORE THAN 1,000 FEET, LIKE BY ABOUT 200,000 FEET
It won’t happen this weekend because the Wood Brothers won’t be back at the track until Kansas, but the Sparkster is lookin’ forward to talkin’ with Bill Elliott again. You see, the last time, Ol’ Sparky was talkin’, but Awesome Bill wasn’t really believin’. At the time, the Sparkster was talkin’ about fuel mileage with a former Ford Racing executive—not “fuel mileage” as in Do-We-Need-to-Stop-One-More-Time-Before-the Finish, but “fuel mileage” as in Should-I-Fill-the-Tank-Today-or-is-There-Enough-to-Last-Until Tomorrow?

The Sparkster had rented a Focus to get back and forth from the track to the hotel for the Watkins Glen race and just couldn’t believe it when the electronic info center said the first tank was delivered a little better’n 39 miles to the gallon. So, the Sparkster did what everyone did in the old days—B.C., Before Computers—and did the math himself. Even without the use of a slide rule, the Sparkster’s long-hand math was exactly the same as the Focus’ computer. The next tank delivered better than 38 miles to the gallon. And, again, Ol’ Sparky’s old math produced the same numbers. The following week, the Sparkster drove another Focus for the Michigan race and got similar numbers.

So, the Sparkster was recountin’ the experience for this former Ford Racing executive, who listened intently. Awesome Bill would interrupt every now and then and ask, “Hybrid?” And the Sparkster would say, “No. Standard combustion engine.” And Awesome Bill would say, “No car can get 39 miles to the gallon.”

This went back and forth for a while, and then Bill got ready for a practice session. Finally, the former Ford exec looked at the Sparkster and said, “You know, I bought a Focus last year and take it Up North. I’ve been getting better than 38 miles to the gallon, but I haven’t told anyone because I didn’t think anybody would believe me.”

The Sparkster does. The Focus made me a believer.

MAILBAG
Sparky:

Were you in Charlotte for the four-wide drag racing exhibition on Sunday? What did you think of it?

Milton
Delware

Unfortunately, Milton, the Sparkster was not in Charlotte for that Sunday exhibition, but he certainly wishes he could’ve seen it in person instead via TV. As the Sparkster has noted before, drag racing is an experience that needs to be, well, experienced. Anyone who’s ever been to the track knows how much rumble just one of those 8,000-horsepower Funny Cars can produce, and when two of ’em go side-by-side, it seems like way more’n twice the roar. Four must’ve really been somethin’. The Sparkster’s not sure if four-wide is in the NHRA’s future. Imagine makin’ lane choces under those conditions. Hmmm. Four-wide. Kind of like Michigan International Speedway without the turns. For the record, and for those who haven’t yet heard, Mike Neff won that race, John Force was second, and Tim Wilkerson third. A Ford 1-2-3.