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CNNSI.com's Stephen Thomas tackles three questions that matter to fans:

1	Is the lack of restrictor plates at NHIS cause for concern?

Jeff Burton Jamie Squire/Allsport The last time the Winston Cup series raced at New Hampshire, NASCAR mandated that teams use restrictor plates. The decision to use the horsepower-limiting devices was made to calm the drivers, some of whom reportedly threatened to boycott the race and most of whom were uneasy about returning to the track where Kenny Irwin Jr. and Adam Petty had died earlier in the year without something being done. While the plates produced the desired results, the Dura-Lube 300 wasn't one of those races that will go down in racing history. Well, Jeff Burton did become the first driver in 22 years to lead every ... single ... lap of a race, but (yawn) you get the idea. Still, in the wake of earlier events, NASCAR was pleased to exit New Hampshire without any further problems. All to the good, certainly, which brings us to this weekend's race ... in which teams will not be running plates. According to the thinking, running plates this year is unnecessary because the new tire compound manufactured by Goodyear, combined with the new spring rules and the elimination of the bump stops, renders the plates unnecessary. That's the theory, anyway. However, at least one prominent Winston Cup driver is not convinced. According to him, aside from some minor in-car changes, the circumstances now are remarkably similar to those that existed at the time of Irwin's and Petty's deaths. Furthermore, this driver is even sad to see the plates go, because if they did nothing else, he says, they at least altered the angle of impact with which drivers hit the wall at New Hampshire, one of the crucial factors in Irwin's and Petty's deaths. To this driver's way of thinking, at least by requiring teams to run plates, NASCAR was addressing a situation it knew was wrong. ... Here's hoping NASCAR is right about the tires and the bump stops.

2	Does history bode well for Rusty Wallace's title hopes?

Rusty Wallace M. David Leeds /Allsport With Dale Jarrett and Jeff Gordon tied for the lead in the points race and Ricky Rudd a paltry 18 points behind in third, it is clear that we have ourselves a three-horse race for the championship … or is it? Rusty Wallace would seem to be almost an afterthought, resting in fourth place 207 points out of the game. But in addition to showing surprising resilience this year -- he was first after Rockingham, fell to 11th, climbed back into third, fell again, to sixth, before coming back to his current position -- the next eight weeks of the season play right into Wallace’s wheelhouse. Of his 54 career wins, 27 have come at the eight tracks the circuit visits in the next two months. Though Wallace has only one victory at New Hampshire and none at either Indy or Darlington, he fairly well owns Pocono (four wins), Watkins Glen (two), Michigan (five), Bristol (nine) and Richmond (six). Moreover, in the 65 other races at each of those tracks during the last five years, Wallace has a respectable 15 top-5 finishes. No, nothing in racing is certain, that’s why teams show up every weekend. But if you’re Wallace and you’re looking ahead even a little bit, you’ve got to like what you see.

3	Will Kevin Harvick be the most successful rookie in Cup history?

Kevin Harvick M. David Leeds/Allsport With his second win of the season in the Tropicana 400, Kevin Harvick created a three-way tie (with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Davey Allison) for second place on the list for wins by a rookie. The ineffable Tony Stewart, who won three races in his stellar rookie year in 1999, is the target at which Harvick now takes aim. Whether Harvick gets the record, his accidental season has already exceeded all expectations. But if he manages to surpass Stewart, Harvick will have had the most successful rookie season in 35 years. Sunday's win moved him to seventh in points despite the fact that he's raced one fewer race than everyone else in the top 25. Give him the benefit of a 21st-place finish at Daytona and the 100 additional points that would have been worth (Harvick's average finish this year is 14th), he moves to sixth, 25 points out of fifth. And though he might likely need another two wins to begin to approach Stewart's impressive fourth-place points finish in his rookie year, the record isn't out of Harvick's reach. Harvick's two wins have come on 1.5-mile tri-ovals; he also finished eighth at Vegas, seventh at Texas and second at Charlotte, each of which is ... a 1.5-mile tri-oval. With his brief history and races still to come at Kansas, Charlotte and Atlanta, not to mention one more restrictor-plate race at Talladega (his team, Richard Childress Racing, does as well in plate races as Harvick does on mid-size ovals), it's not inconceivable to think Harvick could do it.

 

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