Jimmy Spencer talks with Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick on pit road on Raceday. (Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images Photo) » More Photos

My head is still spinning with all the news and rumors in the garage area. Silly Season was full steam ahead leading into Daytona and one of the casualties was Dario Franchitti after Chip Ganassi announced he shut down the No. 40 car. I wasn’t surprised because Dario didn’t really take to NASCAR like I thought he would. On the flip side, Juan Pablo Montoya has taken to the sport superbly. There is something about Franchitti, and I can’t quite put my finger on it, but he never got a grip on this series like he needed. He received the same equipment as his teammates, and when he was sidelined with a broken ankle, other guys got in his car and ran well.

I also think Franchitti’s inability to perform well over here just goes to show how weak the IndyCar Series is. He is a past IndyCar and Indy 500 champion and we can’t secure a sponsor for him. I think the IndyCar Series is weak and Franchitti suffered in NASCAR as a result.

Look at Gillett Evernham Motorsports, where Patrick Carpentier is showing signs of improvement weekly and making every race. Sam Hornish over at Penske is a talented driver and he’s making races and running well.

I’m only guessing but I think Franchitti will go back to open wheel racing. He’s a hell of an open wheel driver and if I owned an IRL team, you can bet I’d be chasing him to drive my car.

Another IRL driver who became successful in NASCAR is Tony Stewart and we watched him climb out of his car Saturday night because he was ill. Tony told me earlier in the week he hasn’t been feeling good for a while but couldn’t pinpoint the cause. I really admire him for saying, ‘I started making mistakes in the car and it was time to get out.’ I hope he gets checked out and everything is okay because the sport really needs Tony Stewart.

I wish we had a system in place to where Tony wouldn’t have felt it necessary to start the race. For instance, if Kyle Busch breaks his wrist, give him three or four “bye” weeks for someone else to drive in his place and accumulate points for Kyle – not just the owner. Drivers should be able to only do this once a year and there must be a proven, legitimate reason.

I hope Tony is close to 100-percent at Chicagoland this weekend because it will be a tough race for the guys. I’ve really got my eye on the Roush-Fenway Racing teams because they are so strong on this type of track. Matt Kenseth is long overdue for a win and so is Greg Biffle, who won last year at Kansas City, which is often compared to Chicagoland. You can’t count out Kasey Kahne, either. But what you can count on is these guys looking forward to their last off-weekend of the season the week after Chicago … unless they’re all testing every day.

Jimmy Spencer calls it like he sees it as an analyst on NASCAR RaceDay and NASCAR Victory Lane on SPEED. He retired from driving with two NASCAR Sprint Cup, 12 NASCAR Nationwide and one NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory, putting him in an elite group of drivers who have logged wins in all three of NASCAR’s premier divisions. In 478 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts, Spencer amassed 28 top-five and 80 top-10 finishes. He won back-to-back NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championships in 1986 and 1987 on the heels of 15 victories, becoming the first driver ever to earn consecutive titles in the series. He earned the nickname “Mr. Excitement” for his flamboyant and aggressive driving style early in his racing career.