Congratulations to Kasey Kahne for getting his first Sprint Cup victory in over a year. This win was long due and did him so much good mentally and in the points standings. Kahne is now only three points out of the Top 12 and has all the momentum to carry him through Richmond. He clearly had the best car on every restart which was the reason he won this race. It still amazes me that he didn't even have a top 20 at this track before Sunday's race. I'm really happy for him and his whole team; it's nice to see a different face in victory lane. Richard and Kasey; you guys better not be fighting over who gets the wine... lol.
Tony Stewart has been exemplifying the definition of perfection week in and week out. He is at the point now where he considers his second place Sonoma finish just run-of-the-mill. I really think that it is his turn again to win the championship this year. We still aren't even halfway through the season, but just remember how valuable consistency proves when it comes Chase time...
Pats on the back go out to Marcos Ambrose, Juan Pablo Montoya, and A.J. Allmendinger for their third, sixth, and seventh place finishes, respectively. Ambrose has really progressed throughout this season with great finishes on tracks ranging from Bristol to Pocono. I just have to dog Montoya because of what he said before the race about being happy if he got out of Infineon with a top five. I smell points racing, the smell that every NASCAR fan hates!!!
I am going to say that the incident between Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson was just hard racing combined with the fact that JJ had a lack of patience; Kurt happened to be the innocent victim. Jimmie was too competitive to step back in a section of the course where passing is nearly impossible. I have seen a different side of Johnson this season that I really like, a competitive one that isn't willing to give at all. Last week, I told you about Carl's alter ego; this week, I am telling you about Jimmie's. I have decided that the two drivers traded places over the offseason. No, it is not Wife Swap; it's Driver Swap!
I really enjoyed watching this race; it was one of the best Sonoma races I have ever seen. I think the double-file restarts were part of the reason the racing seemed so competitive. The restarts were the opportunities for drivers to make their big moves because passing during a long run isn't as common on a road course. Once again, I have to applaud NASCAR for implementing this rule when they did. We fans will prosper from it all the way to Homestead...
I hope all of you guys and gals who went to the dinner and the race had a great time. It looked like beautiful weather and was a great race. I spotted Kristen on t.v. during Kurt Busch's post-race interview!
I just want to let all of you know that there will be no bullets next week because I'm going out to Phoenix, AZ to hang with my cousins for a couple of days. Hope this community overhaul happening while I am gone doesn't mess anything up...
Congratulations to Mark Martin on his third win of the season. He managed to climb from 32nd starting position all the way to victory lane, his lowest starting position ever when winning a race. Gaining five positions in points as a result of this win could possibly "lock" him into the Chase. His wisdom and knowledge was the reason that he won this race. Instead of racing hard at the end, Martin chose to conserve fuel and just hope that the victory would fall into his hands, which it did. That whole final lap just seemed totally out of the ordinary of any finish I have ever seen before. For once, guys actually ran out of gas on a fuel mileage finish. How can Tony Stewart manage to save three laps of fuel at Pocono and then these guys cannot even save one or two at Michigan??? Maybe we should listen to Hanahan's take and say that the race was rigged... lol.
I never thought I would ever do this, but I am going to give the Mistake of the Week award for Michigan to Jimmie Johnson, the three-time champion. He dominated all afternoon by leading 146 laps of the 200 laps. I think what cost him was when he chose to challenge Greg Biffle for the win instead of just trying to finish the race. I'm glad that he didn't take the easy way out, and I have to give him credit for racing like a real man. Have you noticed that some of the most exciting moments in the sport are when Jimmie Johnson makes some mistake???
Even though Greg Biffle's fuel tank also hit empty, he still managed to salvage a fifth place finish. I do think that Johnson racing him harder may have caused him not to reach the start/finish line on the final lap. His plan was to win the race exactly as Tony did last week. I really thought that he was going to get his first victory of the season. Biffle is closing in on it each race...
I know something has changed about Carl Edwards when he said in his post-race interview that "a fourth place finish was a gift". Last season, Carl used to be the guy who won race after race and did whatever it took to get to victory lane. This season, he has turned more into a Jeff Burton or Mark Martin type who just plays the points game and lets a win fall into his hands. For now, I am going to call this Edwards' alter ego. This alter ego may be the reason that he is winless so far in 2009. It is almost as if he and Jimmie have traded places; Jimmie's the competitive one and Carl the conservative (not as in politics.. lol). I hope by the time the Chase starts that it will go away and that the old style Carl will return to the sport...
Week after week, I get tired of NASCAR trying to throw some caution in order to tighten up the field for the next pit stop. I think that debris caution 60 laps into the race was probably a total hoax. Since there was no excuse for a competition caution, they chose to have a debris one instead. Anytime a driver comments on an unwanted truth about the sport, NASCAR makes sure to quiet him...
Kudos to Juan Pablo Montoya for getting his second top ten finish in a row. Maybe he is finally starting to get NASCAR figured out after a little over two years racing. With Infineon the next track around the turn, don't be surprised if we find him in victory lane on Sunday...
TNT kind of irritated me this week with their discussion relating to the start and parkers. They talked as if they could care less that there are cars in the field not planning to run the entire race, as if they actually thought what those guys are doing is a respectable thing. If there aren't 43 teams out there who have the funds to finish a race, then I don't think that we should have 43 starting spots in the Sprint Cup field. I know the number 43 is all about tradition, but sometimes tradition isn't always the best thing down the road...
Congratulations to Tony Stewart for getting his first ever "points win" for Stewart-Haas Racing. What makes it even sweeter is that he had all odds stacked against him. Stewart made his march to the front from dead last as a result of crashing in final practice. He even managed to save four laps of fuel on a 2.5 mile track which still amazes me. Tony made us realize in victory lane after the race that magicians never reveal their secrets and that drivers also never reveal their fuel-saving techniques. Once again, I am going to say that "Smoke" has it in him to win the championship this year. He made the most brilliant decision possible when he chose to depart from Joe Gibbs Racing and start his very own team. I even had my doubts when all of this began...
Ryan Newman moved up to fourth place in the points with his fifth place finish this week. It doesn't matter if he is running 29th at the halfway point of a race; he will still finish stoutly. The man just got his sixth consecutive top ten finish. He is getting closer and closer to his first victory since the 2008 Daytona 500. This move not only turned around Stewart's career; it also turned around Newman's...
Too bad for Carl Edwards. He had the best car all afternoon but lost the race on the final pit stop when Tony Stewart beat him out. Edwards has had his share of bad luck this season, but he claims, and I believe, that a turnaround has started happening to his team in the past couple of weeks. Carl will be ready when the NASCAR postseason rolls around in 2009. I feel like he learned a lot from getting beat by Jimmie Johnson for last year's championship. I won't be surprised if he has a noticeably better grasp on this year's Chase...
The Mistake of the Week award for Pocono goes to Kasey Kahne plus all of the other teams who came down pit road instead of gambling on fuel mileage. Kahne gave up a much-needed second place finish and instead ended up in 16th. I know it may have seemed like a safe move at the time, but I hope all of these guys learn something from Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards. It may have been the fact that the Dodges just didn't have as many miles to the gallon as the Chevys and the Fords had...
After one week of the double-file restarts, I have to say that I think that NASCAR truly made a good move by implementing them when they did. Pocono is still Pocono, but at least these restarts made it a little more interesting. The most exciting part of the race, though, was the fuel-mileage finish...
2009 continues to be a disappointing year for Denny Hamlin. Troubles haunt him race after race. Something always happens to him when he is in a position to win that hard-earned victory, whether it is a little bump from Jimmie Johnson at Martinsville, a pit crew flaw at Richmond, or even a blown tire at Dover. This week at Pocono, all eyes were on him to dominate the race as he usually does. He had the fastest time in final practice and swept the races in his rookie season. From the drop of the green flag, his car was struggling and he ended up having to go to the garage for a while. At the end of the day, he finished 22 laps down. I really feel sorry for him; he could just about cry, especially after these last two weeks (and I could cry about the fantasy finish he gave me this week... just kidding).
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. had a typical Junior race, a nonfactor who finished in 28th position. I know, Junior Nation, your new excuse is that he is having to adjust to the crew chief change. Just realize at some point it all comes down to evaluating the driver himself. In a couple of months, I will be laughing at all of those fans who are ignorant enough to believe that a simple crew chief change is all it will take to turn around this man's career. At the rate Junior's going, his next points win isn't going to come until July of 2010 (He wins one every 25 months)...
The following blog is a response to NASCAR approves double-file restarts which can be found on the NASCAR page of this website or by clicking on the link provided.
Finally, NASCAR listens to its fans and does something to make the sport more exciting. Something to boost ratings and keep viewers tuning in every week as the season approaches the mid-way point. This is one of many changes in the modern era of NASCAR racing. A change with which all fans may not agree. Some may even try to rebel and even boycott the sport. But overall, I think this change is helping steer NASCAR back in the right direction.
The big question about it is: Why do you choose to implement it at Pocono of all tracks??? Are you trying to boost TNT's ratings on its debut week of the Summer Series? Are you trying to keep us viewers awake for 500 miles at what the majority of fans consider one of NASCAR's most boring tracks (Personally, I like Pocono)? Or, did you realize just how messed up the old restarts were at Dover last week?
The downside of this new rule is going to relate to all of the lapped-down cars. Pretty much, they aren't going to have a chance at getting their lap back unless they win the Lucky Dog. They are going to practically be hopeless.
The lapped-down cars rule though may be part of what Brian France wants. I sort of like the idea of having two separate races going around the same circuit: the haves and the have-nots. It will keep damaged and slow race cars from affecting the leaders. Part of the reason the leaders get so spread out and the racing becomes so monotonous is because the lapped-down cars serve as obstacles. By the time the front-runners finally clear all of them, the leader has already taken off and left the rest of the field in the dust. The double-file restarts will prevent all of this from happening.
I think it is a good idea that they are letting the leader choose whether he wants to start on the inside or outside, just like allow the pole-sitter to do at the start of the race. It wouldn't be fair if the second place car had an advantage over the first-place one.
As you can tell, I am in favor of this rule for now. We will have to see how it goes for the rest of the season and how it works at many different tracks. NASCAR is having to test the waters with a new idea. After a year or so, we will either love it or hate it. Brian France has made some stupid remarks and terrible calls down the road, but for once he may have made a lucrative business decision for the sport we all know and love. All I can say is that All-Star Race sure was exciting...
Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for getting his second Cup win of 2009. He clearly had the best car and just dominated all race long. Johnson jeopardized his chances of winning, though, on the final pit stop when Chad Knaus made the call to get four tires instead of two. I thought that decision would be suicide for him, but it paid off as he managed to race his way to the front in less than 30 laps. Jimmie just impresses me race after race from the comeback he made last fall at Atlanta to the one here at Dover. He is on track to win his fourth straight championship, but I think winning this one will be much harder than the others if he manages to pull it off.
That was some great racing at the end between Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart, and Greg Biffle, the type of racing NASCAR fans are looking for when they come to the races each week. This finish reminded me very much of the one last fall between Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards. I agree with the announcers when they said that Dover is a track where the cars spread out for the main part of the race but bunch back up at the end. Both Stewart and Biffle took just two right side tires, but they could not hold their ground in the closing laps to the mighty Johnson. In scenarios like that, a car is either strong on the inside groove or on the outside one. On the other hand, Jimmie Johnson's car was good on both which made it virtually impossible for the other two to keep him in the rear view mirror.
You know how that must have felt to Tony Stewart to watch Jimmie Johnson fly by him on the outside groove. He was so close to that points win as an owner for Stewart-Haas. When I analyze Tony's whole racing crew, I have noticed this season that they have gained the ability to do something that only Jimmie's team has been able to do in the past: the ability to adjust on his race car throughout the race. This means, for example, at Dover he was able to get a second place finish even though he did not have a second place car. That skill will come in handy down the road and is a mark of a true championship team. Tony Stewart is the number one threat to Jimmie Johnson in winning his fourth straight Cup title. Tony hasn't been this good since his last championship in 2002. He has already won the FOX Cup...
I enjoyed all of the action at the beginning of the race. By setting up the competition caution on lap 30, NASCAR gave the drivers an excuse to run like speed demons right from the start in order to check for tire wear. The battle between Reed Sorenson and David Reutimann was exciting to watch. Greg Biffle was even concerned that he might have been running too hard so early in the race. For once, I have to applaud NASCAR for the competition caution...
I was really surprised that the Roush-Fenway Racing teams weren't much of a threat to win the race. Dover is one of those tracks where they usually dominate all day long. Greg Biffle did finish third and Matt Kenseth in fourth, but I guess I was just expecting a little more from them. Aside from Kenseth's two wins opening the season, they have been nothing other than terrible so far in 2009. I don't know what has happened to the whole organization, but they better get it figured out before it is too late...
Even though Dale Earnhardt, Jr. ended up with a 12th place finish, it probably felt like a victory to him. The crew chief change on his team from Tony Eury, Jr. to Lance McGrew has been the talk of the week. All of the top workers for Hendrick Motorsports devoted their time to the number 88 team for the whole weekend making any changes needed for the car to run better and faster. The outcome of the arduous labor and new crew chief was that Junior just looked like a different race car driver with renewed energy on Sunday. I really think that McGrew is the type of guy that NASCAR's most popular driver needs. He came on the radio and encouraged him throughout the race. Dale was even running in the top five for a big portion of the event. Junior is a talented race car driver; he just needs the perfect recipe of equipment and crew in order to succeed in the long run...
It is sad to see NASCAR on FOX say good-bye for the rest of the season. I know many people other than me are also not too happy about it, especially the ones without cable television. We may not enjoy Digger popping up every couple of minutes or perhaps get annoyed by having to listen to Darrell Waltrip. When you look at the big picture though, FOX is the best racing network for many reasons including the fact that they have the shortest pre-race show, the whole crew has the best chemistry and provides the most humor, they explains things in the easiest way, etc. They try to make themselves one notch above TNT and ESPN/ABC. As they put it, though, it is only eight months until the Daytona 500...
The Mistake of the Week award for Dover is for all of my fellow bloggers to vote on! I really couldn't come up with one on my own...
