Five Artists That Had To Travel Far To Make It Big

Bands travel.  They pretty much have to if they want to make it big.  Touring the country, or the world for that matter, is what it takes for a musician to go from regional talent to global sensation.  Then there are artists who have to trek hundreds of miles just to get signed.  They have to relocate from their sleepy little town to a thriving “musicopolis” like Los Angeles, New York, or Nashville.

That means that no matter how good an artist sounds, or how expertly they use the internet, at least once in their career they’re going to have to rent a U-Haul truck.  Below are four bands, and one singer, that racked up major frequent flyers miles before they racked up major album and concert ticket sales.  In other words, the artists listed below had to travel far to make it big.

The Backstreet Boys – Florida to Sweden
The Backstreet Boys are not only the most successful boy band of all-time but they are also a quintessentially American musical act.  The Backstreet Boys formed in 1992 and their first performance was in May of 1993 at SeaWorld Orlando.  Yet, in June of 1995, to record their first album, A.J., Brian, Howie, Kevin, and Nick hopped a jet to Sweden.  Not only did they record in the Old World but they sold a bunch of albums over there too.  Their debut release cracked the top ten in six European nations and their first three singles broke the top fifteen in Austria, Germany, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.  Before the Backstreet Boys conquered the world they first had to fly 4,800 miles from Florida to Sweden.

The Backstreet Boys are traveling this summer and they are taking Jesse McCartney and DJ Pauly D with them.  The Backstreet Boys will be in Chicago on Aug. 2, the Backstreet Boys will be in Phoenix on Sept. 5, and the Backstreet Boys will be in Las Vegas on Sept. 7.

Cheap Trick – Rockford, Illinois to Tokyo
Cheap Trick got their start in Rockford, Illinois.  The band released their first two albums in 1977 and their third a year later.  All their great music got them absolutely nowhere in the United States.  Only “Surrender” from their 1978 opus Heaven Tonight did anything on the charts.  Yes, their first three albums are really good.  And yes, they attracted a small but loyal legion of fans, but Cheap Trick was a mere rock and roll afterthought in the United States in 1978.  In Japan, however, they were rock Godzillas.  In fact, they are known in Nippon as the “American Beatles.”  In 1978, they toured the Land of the Raising of the Sun and two of their concerts were recorded for an album.  Cheap Trick at Budokan was only supposed to drop in Japan but demand was so high that their record company decided to release it in the United States in early 1979.  The album eventually received triple platinum certification and made them a household name… at least in homes that liked rock and roll.  Just think, Cheap Trick only needed to travel 6,200 miles (the distance between Rockford and Tokyo) to go from a minor rock act to world famous rockers.

Fleetwood Mac – London to Los Angeles
Without question, Fleetwood Mac has the longest and most bizarre past in rock and roll history.  Before releasing one of the biggest selling albums of all-time, Fleetwood Mac was a London-based blues band that lost a member to a LSD-induced mental illness, another to a religious cult, and another because he slept with Mick Fleetwood’s wife.  The band ditched London after their manager used their equipment and their name to launch a fake Fleetwood Mac tour and sell bogus Fleetwood Mac tickets.  Realizing their record label was ignoring them, the Mac relocated to Los Angeles.  It was a good move.  The first album they recorded in U.S., Heroes are Hard to Find, peaked at number 34.  Even better, Mick Fleetwood and the McVies (John and Christine) discovered a couple of musicians by the names of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.  The band’s very next album went to number one and the album after that was a little opus called Rumours.  Fleetwood Mac was well known in the U.K. but in order to become legends they needed to relocate 5,500-plus miles from the heart of England to La La Land.

Justin Bieber – Stratford, Ontario to Atlanta
In 2007, a former record executive by the name of Scooter Braun accidently stumbled upon a video by a kid name Justin Bieber.  He was so impressed with the kid that he tracked him down, all the way in Stratford, Ontario (about 90 minutes West of Toronto).  Bieber’s mother was reluctant at first but she finally let her 13-year-old fly to Atlanta to record some demos (a week after arriving in the A-T-L, Justin sang for Usher).  In October of 2008, Bieber and his mother relocated to Atlanta for his singing career.  It was a move of a little more than 600 miles but I’m sure the shift from Ontario to Atlanta felt like they had landed on another planet.  Not that he’s an actual place, but L.A. Reid eventually signed Bieber to Island Records.  By the way, the more famous L.A.—the L.A. that’s an actual place—is 1,600 miles from Stratford and 1,900 miles from Atlanta.

The Biebs is doing even more traveling this summer.  Justin Bieber rolls into Chicago on July 9 for a gig at the United Center, Justin Bieber journeys to Philadelphia on July 17 for a performance at the Wells Fargo Center, and Justin Bieber voyages to Boston on July 20 for a show at TD Garden.

The Lumineers – New Jersey to Denver
This year, you can buy The Lumineers tickets for concerts all over the United States and Europe.  Yet, before they could even think about collecting The Lumineers tickets in Nashville or The Lumineers tickets in Los Angeles, the band had to go west.  In a unique twist to the old cliché of traveling to New York City to become famous, The Lumineers left the Big Apple—nearby New Jersey to be exact—and traveled to Denver, Colorado.  The band, at the time consisted of Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraites, and they had become disillusioned with the callous music scene of The City That Never Sleeps.  Once in Colorado, they met the third member of their group, cellist Neyla Pekarek, and found funding to record their debut album.  Their hit song “Ho Hey” was heard in the series finale of the CW show “Hart of Dixie,” a drama set in Bluebell, Alabama (which is nearly 750 miles from NYC).   The Lumineers’ debut album came out a few months later and the rest as they say is history.  Yet, before The Lumineers started earning Grammy Award nominations for their unique brand of folk rock, they first had to travel 1,700 miles from the culture capital of the world to the middle of nowhere.

In 2013, you can catch The Lumineers in Memphis, San Francisco, Nashville, and several other cities across the North American continent.  Opening for the band on select dates are Dr. Dog & Nathaniel Rateliff.  The former is from West Grove, Pennsylvania and the latter hails from Denver.

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Miley Cyrus Sings About Drugs

They grow up so fast.

Miley Cyrus, who is 20 years old, has just released the first single from her forthcoming album.  Many believe her new song, “We Can’t Stop,” contains drug references.

During the track’s hook, some people think Cyrus is singing “We like to party/ Dancing with Molly/ Doing whatever we want.”

That sounds harmless enough except the phrase “Dancing with Molly” is slang for partying on ecstasy. 

The producer of the single insists that Cyrus is really singing is “Dancing with Miley,” a phrase for partying with an overrated child actor.

Some fans claim they heard “Miley” right away.  Others are adamant that she’s definitely singing “Molly.”  You can judge for yourself as a video of the song is posted below.

“We Can’t Stop” also contains the line “trying to get a line in the bathroom.”  That appears to be a reference to cocaine although some creative Cyrus apologizers might be able to make the case that she has bladder control problems and immediately needed an empty stall.

Regardless, Cyrus is keen enough to realize how you get around the whole drug reference thing.  It’s called ambiguity.  You just make sure you don’t literally sing “I do drugs.”  Instead you make veiled references and use semi-obscure slang. 

The ones that get your references are cool, hip, and edgy.  The ones that don’t get your references are big dopes (no pun intended).  Either way, the artist, in this case Miley Cyrus, gets some serious street cred.  For whatever reason, if you sing about puppy dogs and rainbows you’re lame.  If you sing about partying on acid, or getting a line of cocaine in the bathroom, you’re cool. 

On her new track, Cyrus also croons about morally-challenged girls dancing on poles: “shaking it like we at a strip club.” 

If you ask me “We Can’t Stop” shouldn’t be chided for its drug references, or because it glamourizes decadence, but for its poor grammar.  Here’s an actual lyric from the song: "Can't you see it's we who own the night/Can't you see it's we who 'bout that life. We run things, they don't run we/We won't take nothing from nobody."

Cyrus sure has come a long way from her days as Hannah Montana when she sang songs like “True Friend” and “We Got The Party.”  Certainly that party was drug and alcohol free.

With a new album on the way, and most assuredly a Miley Cyrus tour to follow, it’s pretty obvious that Cyrus is trying to continue the maturation process that she started with her last album, Can’t Be Tamed, 2011’s “Gypsy Heart Tour,” and a pair of appearances on the very adult Two and a Half Men.  She’s not a kid anymore.

I’m sure the Tennessean has already completed her upcoming and unnamed opus.  In case she hasn’t, I have compiled a list of drug-related songs she can record.  These certainly aren’t the only ten songs about drug use but they are all very good.  For the most part, the songs’ drug references are veiled by chipper melodies, bouncy beats, and/or insinuating lyrics.  Regardless, if she records all or some of the ditties listed below she’ll have all the street cred she can handle.

“And She Was” by Talking Heads
Miley Cyrus old fans can sing this Talking Heads’ song into hairbrushes as they dance in front of their full-length mirrors that are hanging in their bedrooms.  Meanwhile, the hipsters Cyrus wants to come to her concerts but won’t (unless it’s for irony’s sake) can just stand there with gleeful smirks knowing full well the true story behind this toe-tapper.  This buoyant, dare I say bubbly song is about a chick taking LSD next to a Yoo-Hoo bottler.  “The world was moving, she was floating above it and she was.”

“Bad” – U2
U2 is mostly associated with over-bloated politically charged songs or over-bloated romantically charged songs.  “Bad,” from their 1984 album The Unforgettable Fire, is an over-bloated song about heroin use.  This is one of the most performed songs in U2’s repertoire.  Over the years, Bono has ascribed the inspiration behind “Bad” to three different heroin users.

“Cracked Actor” by David Bowie
This song is perfect.  Heck, Cyrus should make it her next single.  “Cracked Actor” is a classic David Bowie song about an aging Hollywood star partying with a prostitute and some heroin.  In a culture that covets youth as much as ours does, Cyrus really only has a few good years left before she’s playing moms and guest-starring on CSI (like Black Sabbath).  Like Bowie, Cyrus can perform this song on stage while singing to a skull via the Bard’s Hamlet.

“Got To Get You Into My Life” by The Beatles
Much to the chagrin of American Idol contestants who sang karaoke to this classic Beatles tune from Revolver, “Got To Get Your Into My Life” is NOT about a paramour.  It’s about pot.  Paul McCartney wrote the song shortly after being introduced to marijuana (“I took a ride, I didn’t know what I would find there”).  In 1980, when asked about this song, John Lennon said it was one of Paul’s best. 

“I’m Waiting for the Man” by The Velvet Underground
If you want a song about drugs, and you’re ignorant on the subject, you can’t go wrong with randomly picking a Lou Reed composition (the same can be said for the Rolling Stones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Stone Temple Pilots).  Reed wrote this classic song for the pioneering rock band Velvet Underground.  “I’m Waiting for the Man,” which is easily one of the top three drug-related songs of all-time, is about buying $26 dollars’ worth of heroin in Harlem.

“Kid Charlemagne” by Steely Dan
While Steely Dan is light-years ahead of where Miley Cyrus is musically, “Kid Charlemagne” does make sense for her.  She’s still a “kid” and the song is about LSD chemist Owsley Stanley.  For good measure, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen also added a reference to Ken Kasey’s The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.  Just try to imagine the looks on the faces of Miley Cyrus concert goers when she starts playing Steely Dan.

“Lit Up” by Buckcherry
“Lit Up” raises a rather serious ethical question: “Is it okay to enjoy a song that’s about a 16-year-old trying cocaine for the first time?”  I hope it is because Buckcherry made a great rock song about front man Josh Todd’s youthful indiscretion.  As for Miley Cyrus, covering this song would make her as mature as Betty White.  That’s because “Lit Up” is one of the few songs that eschews allusions and just comes right out and says “I love the cocaine” (another is JJ Cale’s “Cocaine” [famously covered by Eric Clapton]).  Still, Cyrus will probably want to make her cover of “Lit Up” a non-listed bonus track.

“Mother’s Little Helper” by The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones made “Mother’s Little Helper” the opening track to their 1966 album, Aftermath.  Miley Cyrus could use the song to open her pending album.  The track has a cheerful melody that would please her longtime fans but drug-related lyrics that would bolster her new tough-girl image.  “And though she's not really ill, there's a little yellow pill/She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper.”

“Never Let Me Down Again” by Depeche Mode
If you have Depeche Mode tickets get ready to wave your arms at the end of “Never Let Me Down Again.”  The arm waving has been a tradition ever since Dave Gahan did it in the documentary 101.   Maybe Cyrus can cover it and start a similar tradition?  Can’t you just hear her sing “I'm taking a ride with my best friend/I hope he never lets me down again?”

“Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind
Most people don’t realize that “Semi-Charmed Life” by Third Eye Blind is about a crystal meth user.   When Stephan Jenkins sings “I want something else” he means he wants something other than the copious amount of crystal meth he’s putting into his body.  This song is fast and bright.  The lyrics come so rapidly that one really has to read them to get their full meaning.  Therefore, Cyrus could cover this song and legitimately plead ignorance about its drug references.

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Concert Tickets Wish List: What Band Do You Want To See On Your Next Birthday?

I turn 30 this summer.  To be precise, I turn 30 on July 13.   So what does a recovering rock snob want for his 30th birthday?  Sonic Youth box set?  Radiohead t-shirt?  Animal Collective imported beer cozy?  No.  What I want for my 30th birthday are concert tickets and lots of them.  I mean my life is half over.  I should celebrate my pending demise by seeing any musical act I want to.

If I was to tell this to my friends they’d immediately run out and buy my One Direction or Jonas Brothers tickets.  Ha!  The joke’s on them.  I already have Jonas Brothers and One Direction tickets.  For my big 3-0 I’m pulling out all the stops and naming the six concerts I want to attend on my birthday, which in case I didn’t mention is July 13. 

This isn’t a fantasy list.  I don’t want to see The Beatles or Jimi Hendrix.  Nor is this list unrealistic.  I’m not asking for The Smiths to get back together or U2 to jam at a Tim Horton’s.  I’m asking for concert tickets my friends and family can realistically give me as a gift (although they will need to win the lottery).  The following six shows are actually happening and it’s possible (though not probable) for me to attend every one of them.  I know I’m asking a lot but hey, unless you’re my aunt, you only turn 30 once.  Did I mention my birthday is July 13 and I’m a size 34?

1. Paul McCartney in Washington, DC @ Nationals Park
Sir Paul is tops on my list even though he’s not scheduled to perform on my actual birthday.  He is however scheduled to perform the day before.  Paul McCartney will be in Washington, DC on July 12 for a show at Nationals Park.  This is the concert I most want to attend, but it’s far from his only U.S. gig of the year.  Look for Paul McCartney in Boston on July 9 and Paul McCartney in Seattle, Washington on July 19 as well as several other Macca concerts.  Speaking of Seattle, back in 1991 I saw the former Beatle, who is also my all-time favorite artist (music or otherwise), at the now purged Kingdom.  It was a life-altering show.

2. Robert Plant in Memphis, TN @ Memphis Botanical Garden
If I can’t see a Beatle in concert how about a Led Zeppelin?  This summer Robert Plant and his new band, the Sensational Space Shifters, are touring America.  Their 21-date route includes Robert Plant performing in Los Angeles, Robert Plant rocking Boston, and Robert Plant working in Brooklyn.  On my birthday—which is July 13 by the way—Robert Plant tickets will be collected in Memphis.  That doesn’t sound too bad.  I’m a huge Led Zeppelin fan and I’ve never been to Ohio!  Not only that but seeing Plant live would be something I could tell my grandkids about.  After all, I’m almost old enough to be a grandfather.  By the way, Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters should be rocking a much harder sound than Plant’s 2010 venture with Band of Joy. 

3. The Eagles in Ottawa, Ontario @ Scotiabank Place
The all-to-brief “History of the Eagles” 2013 tour begins July 6 with an Eagles concert in Louisville, Kentucky.  It ends later that month on the 25th when the Eagles fly into Bethel, New York for an engagement at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.  The band is touring to support a documentary called “History of the Eagles.”  It dropped April 30 (that reminds me, I do have a Blu-ray player).  Amazingly, Eagles tickets aren’t being scanned over my birthday weekend.  The Eagles are however playing in Ottawa on Monday, July 15 (what a lame day that is).  Eagles are in Toronto on July 11 and while I love T-Town that’s too far away from my birthday to be in serious consideration.

4. Phish in Columbia, Maryland @ The Merriweather Post Pavilion
We fly into Thurgood, rent a car, grab some crab cakes, and then drive to Columbia with our Phish tickets.  This is the birthday that keeps on giving as Phish rocks Columbia’s Merriweather Post Pavilion on both July 13 and July 14.  Yes, we’ll catch both shows.  That way we’re guaranteed to remember at least one of them.  Phish is on the road for most of July and the early part of August.  Then everyone’s favorite jam band sets up camp in Commerce City, Colorado for a three night stand at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.  Their summer jaunt also includes the first-ever Phish show at Darling's Waterfront Pavilion in Bangor, Maine and their first concert in Canada in more than a dozen years (Phish in Toronto on July 9).

5. John Mayer & Phillip Phillips in Dallas, Texas @ GEXA Energy Pavilion
John Mayer is back and Phillip Phillips isn’t half bad considering he’s a former American Idol champ.  Mayer hasn’t embarked on a road trip in three years.  The sometime sleazy guitarist is touring to support his 2012 release “Born and Raised.  Their trek begins July 6 when John Mayer and Phillip Phillips travel to Milwaukee.  It ends Oct. 5 when John Mayer and Phillip Phillips roll into Los Angeles.  On my birthday, which is July 13, John Mayer and Phillip Phillips voyage to Dallas.  I was born three days too early.  On July 16, John Mayer and Phillip Phillips march into Red Rocks.  Now that would be a concert.

6. New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees & Boyz II Men in Anaheim, CA @ Honda Center
I debated heavily on whether or not I should include tickets to a New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees, and Boyz II Men concert.  I say this not because it’s NKOTB or because Nick Lachey is in 98 Degrees or because Boyz II Men spells “boys” with a “z.”  I wasn’t sure to put this concert on my list because it’s in Anaheim.  I mean, who wants to go there?  Well, I’d stomach A-town to see the actor who plays Danny Reagan on the CBS drama Blue Bloods, and to hear “Motownphilly” live (but I’m getting a beer and a “Hangin’ Tough” t-shirt during 98 Degrees’ set).  This epic tour begins May 29 in Uncasville at the Mohegan Sun Arena and ends Aug. 4 in Indianapolis.  As far as boy bands go, I’d rather have Backstreet Boys tickets but their tour doesn’t begin until August.

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NASCAR On Fox: Network’s Shoddy Equipment Makes Strange 2013 Season Even Stranger

NASCAR will definitely remember Memorial Day 2013. 

Sadly, it won’t be because Kevin Harvick won the Coca-Cola 600 for the second time in three seasons or that second place finisher Kasey Kahne, who was putting up lap times better than he did in qualifying, led 156 laps.

No, Sunday’s Sprint Cup race will be remembered thanks to Fox’s shoddy television equipment.

NASCAR News
On Lap 122 of Sunday’s race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a nylon rope used to tote an overhead TV camera snapped and fell onto the track.  The cord damaged several cars.  It’s not that it was so heavy and thick, but when you’re traveling at 200 MPH just about anything can mangle your vehicle.  The rope also fell into the stands where it injured ten fans.  Three went to local hospitals for treatment but were released later in the day.

The broken line forced NASCAR to red flag the race on Lap 126.  Pit crews were given 15 minutes to work on their cars and repair any damage the fragmented strap may have caused.  Teams could change tires and re-fuel but they couldn’t fix problems NOT related to the busted line.  All in all, the defective rope delayed the race 26 minutes.

Kyle Busch
The driver most affected by the twine was the race leader at the time, Kyle Busch.  The rope ripped up the right side of his car around his front tire.  He also experienced damage to his fender, rocker arm, and splitter.  After all the cars had been stopped, Busch got out of his and photographed the wreckage with a barrowed camera phone. 

Right after colliding with the spoiled string, Busch thought his night was done.  That was not the case.  He continued to lead the race until Lap 177.  As if he hadn’t experienced enough bad luck, Busch suffered complete engine failure on Lap 253.  His race-ending troubles had nothing to do with running over Fox’s cable. 
Earlier in the year, Busch picked up wins at the Texas Motor Speedway and the California Speedway in Fontana.

NASCAR On FOX
NASCAR has put the entire incident into the hands of Fox Sports.  In other words, they are waiting to hear what Fox’s investigation reveals before making any kind of decision.  Right now, Fox has indefinitely suspended the technology as they look into the matter. 

FOX had employed the camera and the ropes before.  They used the contraption at this year’s Daytona 500.  They won’t be using it again.  The network has one more race to broadcast this year, the Dover 400.  The race occurs this Sunday and NASCAR tickets will be collected at the Dover International Speedway in Delaware.  The following race, at Pocono, will be broadcasted on TNT.

CAMCAT
The colloquial name for camera is “CAMCAT.”  It was suspended over the track by three ultra-strong synthetic ropes.  Two guide the camera while the third is a drive rope responsible for moving it back and forth.  The drive rope was the one that snapped Sunday and fell onto the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

The rope is made out of Dyneema.  That’s a synthetic material that’s supposed to have the same strength as steel wire of the same diameter.  According to Fox, the Dyneema ropes they used had a breaking strength of more than 9,300 pounds but endured a mere 900 pounds on Sunday.

What’s Next
My guess is Fox got a hold of a bad cable that became further comprised by the elements.  I say this because in a press release Fox indicated that the rope was less than a year old but it hadn’t been inspected since last June.

The faulty rope is serious but it’s not “serious.”  Thankfully no one got badly hurt and it didn’t seem to cost anyone a race.  Of course, fans have been injured at race tracks before and “malfunctions” have ruined more than one drivers’ day.  For example, in 2004 a chunk of concrete from Martinsville Speedway put a hole in Jeff Gordon’s car.  He was running second at the time of the accident.

As I mentioned before, Fox is only broadcasting one more race this year.  So what will probably happen is they’ll drop the technology for the time being and then get a fresh rope for 2014 when they bring the technology back for the Daytona 500.  In the meantime, they’ll have to endure some ribbing from NASCAR’s other broadcast partners TNT and ESPN.

I’m sure ESPN has already put up a sign: “We’ve gone   #   amount of days without maiming a spectator.”  And TNT is working on a new a slogan: “NASCAR on TNT we promise not to hurt anyone.”

NASCAR Results
What’s really newsworthy about Fox’s defective rope is it’s yet another crazy thing that has happened during the 2013 NASCAR season.  If you’ve been looking to get into NASCAR or you’ve been away from the racing circuit for a while, now is the perfect time to get back into it.  You don’t know what you might see…

>>Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win a Sprint Cup pole.
>>A crash during a Nationwide Series race injures dozens of fans.
>>Denny Hamlin breaks his back.
>>Allegedly, crewmembers of Richard Childress Racing assault Nelson Piquet, Jr.
>>Danica Patrick gets into a wreck with boyfriend Ricky Stenhouse.

NASCAR Schedule
That’s a brief rundown of what has happened (so far) in 2013.  Here are some things to keep an eye on for the remaining of the season…

>>Can Denny Hamlin make the chase?  Since returning full time from breaking his vertebra, Hamlin has moved up seven spots in the standings.  He finished second at Darlington and fourth at Charlotte.   Look for him to rally at the Atlanta Motor Speedway or Charlotte.  Hamlin took the checker at both those tracks in 2012.

>>Can lame duck Harvick be this year’s top dog?  This is Harvick’s last season with Richard Childress Racing.  In a year of drama and crazy stuff happening, it would be fitting for Harvick to win his first career championship during the last year with his current team.

>>Can Tony Stewart make the chase?  He finished 8th at the Subway Fresh Fit 500 (Phoenix International Raceway) back in March and then didn’t crack the top ten until Sunday’s race in Charlotte.  He’ll need to build off of his success at the Coca-Cola 600 if he wants to seriously challenge for the cup.

>>Defending Sprint Cup Champ Brad Keselowski started the year with seven top ten finishes out of eight races (four in the top five). Beginning with Richmond, Keselowski has finished 33th, 15th, 32nd, 22nd, and 36th.  If he wants to repeat he needs to go back to the form he had in March.  Fortunately for him, Dover is on the schedule twice and Chicagoland Speedway once.  He raced to victory at both of those tracks last year.

>>Guess who’s leading the points?  Yes, it’s Jimmie Johnson.  The five-time Sprint Cup Champion is at the top of standings over Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth.  More bad news for the field, he’s taking his 32-point lead into Dover where he’s the defending champ and seven-time winner.  It’s early, but JJ might want to clear some room in his trophy case.

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