Tuesday, July 28, 2009

The Speeding Bullets: Allstate 400 at the Brickyard



  • Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for being the first ever man to win two consecutive Brickyard 400s. He didn't have the best car out there but capitalized on the opportunity when this victory practically fell into his hands. The double-file restarts were what gave him the chance to pass Mark Martin on the outside line in the closing laps. Johnson already has three wins this season and will get a couple more before the cut-off date at Richmond. It's the time of the year where he begins to make his power move that will very likely propel him to a fourth straight championship...
  • Mark Martin continues to have stout performances week after week. He became the oldest Sprint Cup pole winner ever at Indianapolis and came up just short of getting his long sought Brickyard 400 victory. I could tell in the final laps that he was absolutely driving the wheels off that machine and tried every possible maneuver to overtake Jimmie Johnson. I still don't think Martin will win the championship, but he sure will give whoever wins it a run for his money. Instead of being 50 years old, this guy is 50 years young...
  • It's now time to address the topic that has brought much controversy to the motorsports world the past couple of days: Juan Pablo Montoya's race day on Sunday. He absolutely dominated all race long and led 116 out of the 160 laps. Many people thought that he was bound for history with his retro paint scheme from when he won the Indy 500. His dream run came to a halt though when two of the six trackers along pit road supposedly caught him speeding. He came over the radio and said that NASCAR screwed him over because he was confident that he was going the right speed. It's hard to say whether NASCAR sabotaged him or not. After much dilemma, I have finally decided that I think NASCAR tried to be fair with him based on the electronic information they were given. The problem very well could have been that the scoring monitors were messed up; I know they have been troublesome in the past. It's just a shame that he had such a great car and didn't even leave there with a top ten finish...
  • Montoya isn't the only guy leaving the Brickyard with sour feelings. His best friend Kyle Busch (lol) took a hard hit in many ways as a result of blowing a right front tire. He is having the luck now that he had in the first two races of last year's Chase. Busch currently sits at 14th place in the points on the outside looking in after two consecutive finishes outside of the top 30. I am starting to doubt his chances of making the postseason if he doesn't get things turned around in a hurry. Hopefully, he can grow and learn from all of these hardships and use them as medicine...
  • I didn't think I would ever do this, but I am going to compliment ESPN's coverage on Sunday. I really enjoyed the in-depth interviews with Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch that they showed during the pre-race show. I was also excited to get to watch the driver intros live on t.v. for once. Maybe watching these last 16 races isn't going to be as bad as we all thought it would...

That's all I have for this week. I just want to let you guys know there will be no bullets next week for Pocono as I am going out of the country. Thanks for taking the time to read another edition of The Speeding Bullets!

5 comments:

RLGuido said...

Nice write gonger .....

I do not think that Nascar banged JPM, it was just one of them deals. Drivers get penalized constantly for speeding on pit road. Darrell Waltrip did commemt that the teams should have telemetry for their cars on the pit lane.

I remember when there was no speed limit in the pits ! It is still dangerous.

Enjoy your trip abroad
RL

jmayer1843 said...

Nice bullets! First time I have read them on the new site. Got some catching up to do.
Personally, I doubt that JPM was picked on. I don't think it did NASCAR any good to have such a good storyline go down the drain and have the #48 win another.
I agree that it was cool to see the driver intros like they do in the 500 there.

klvalus said...

Nice bullets Gonger...

I'll agree with my cohorts above, I dont think NASCAR had it in for JPM but it is a sad state of affairs for him.

Both Busch brothers had a bad race at Indy...hoping Kurt has a better week at Pocono and makes up for that stupid water cooler that broke on him last time.

I am not a fan of Mr.Punch...but otherwise it was an ok broadcast!

Have a great time out of the country!! Where ya going?!?

BTW - this blog isnt updating on the Lugnuts site (on the side where the blogs are listed in order of recent posts)...not sure why will try to figure it out.

Gene Haddock said...

Great Bullets, again.

NASCAR didn't make up the speeding. BUT, JPM was clocked at 60.011 MPH. Limit was 55, and NASCAR gives them another 5 mph. So, he was .011 MPH over.

Wonder what would have happened if it was the 88 car instead of the 41 car?

Have a great trip. Back to school soon.

Brent said...

RLGuido- Thanks. I have given the Montoya situation some thought and changed my mind about NASCAR screwing him over.

jmayer- Thanks. That storyline would have helped NASCAR when it comes to the ratings; they always drop when the 48 starts winning.

Kristen- Thanks. The problem with the Doc may be that he tries to be too expressive. My dad and I are going to Peru for around six days.

Gene- Thanks. NASCAR has penalized the 88 for speeding a number of times. Speeding is one matter where they actually try to treat everyone equally.