Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Speeding Bullets: LifeLock.com 400



  • Congratulations to Mark Martin on his fourth win this season. He dominated from the time the green flag dropped and was there at the end when all of the other guys' patience ran out. Denny Hamlin happened to be Martin's benefactor in the closing laps when he bumped both Brian Vickers and Jimmie Johnson out of the way. For once, this is a case where the dominate car actually managed to win the race. When it comes Chase time, these 40 extra bonus points will more than likely give him the number one seed for the last ten races. It just seems crazy that he is still 11th in points even though he has visited victory lane more times than any other driver this season. That is an example of how consistency can be more important than winning in the long run...
  • This race and the Michigan one last month have a lot in common as you have probably already figured out. Both are sponsored by LifeLock, both are boring races aside from the exciting finishes, and both even have Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon finishing one and two, respectively. The only difference between them is that one finish was decided by fuel-mileage and the other was fought to the end by all-out war...
  • Jimmie Johnson seemed to be the villain toward the end of this race. Of course, he might have been a little ticked off after receiving the nice little nudge by Hamlin which was finally the payback from Martinsville. Jimmie then decided to take out his anger on Kurt Busch by playing a bumping and banging game that eventually gave him a flat tire and a 15th place finish. Kurt didn't seem too happy about it either, especially since this is the second time in four races that Johnson has prevented him from contending for the win. I think a new rivalry has been born between the two former champions. Jimmie's just had a villainous way about him this season; maybe he is the one threatening to kill Shaft and his daughter in the Mike Hanner series... lol.
  • It's time once again to dog NASCAR for the number of debris cautions thrown on Saturday night. There weren't even any little chunks of sheet metal on the track for TNT to prove to us that the yellow flag was legitimate. That's because the race was so boring and Martin had such a big lead that NASCAR felt like they had to do something to tighten up the field...
  • I was really disappointed with Roush-Fenway as a whole on Saturday night. For some reason, I just expected a little more out of them this week. Their highest finishing driver was Carl Edwards, and he drove across the finish line in 14th. None of the guys on that team have really gotten their game on in 2009. Matt Kenseth hasn't even really impressed me that much; one of his wins was only the result of a rainy Daytona 500. At this point, the Cat in the Hat will be lucky to even have two of his drivers in the NASCAR postseason...

That's all I have for this week. It's time for a much-needed off-week before the Race to the Chase begins and things really start to heat up. Or, if talking about t.v. coverage, things really start to cool down as ESPN/ABC steps in for the rest of the season...

5 comments:

RLGuido said...

Nice write Gonger .....

I do think that Jimmie Johnson had the car because when JJ got the lead he was walking the dog. Jimmie also knows that there is going to be one of those hotdog wrapper cautions late in a race ....

Another thing about Johnson is that it's all good until he has to actually race someone. When that happens JJ runs over them but still gets beat. His eyes may not be too good in traffic.

Roush is sure out to LUNCH bigtime, maybe FORD should have took some of that government lettuce handed to GM and Chrysler several months ago.

The Hendrick freight train is Smokin with Tony having the tiger by the tale .....

Someone's feeling are going to get hurt before the season is Chased out.

RL

klvalus said...

Awesome new header for your blog Gonger!

I agree with JJ taking on the villain role this year -- its the scruff and shaved head! LOL

Kurt wont give him an inch the rest of the year and should be driving super aggressive to go for the wins since he seems pretty safely in the Chase. Oops! If JJ gets near him...

Roush is having a weird season all right...its cuz they lost the Maltese Lug!!

Gene Haddock said...

Great bullets, dude.

JJ as the villian? Hmmmmm.

Agree with RL, JJ doesn't mind running over someone. He doesn't care for it to happen to him though.

The new header is bangin'!

jon_464 said...

Love the new header, Gonger, especially the one part where Harvick edges Martin in the Daytona 500.

Great speeding bullets. Spot on analysis. I can see Martin winning a couple more races before the Chase, then another couple in the Chase. I think it's going to be between him and Tony Stewart for the title. While I think Johnson will be a factor, he's made too many enemies this year. First Hamlin, then Busch. I can see Busch waiting until the Chase to exact payback on Johnson.

Brent said...

RLGuido- Thanks. Jimmie is always used to being out front instead of back in the pack. He may not be a three-time champion when it comes to everyday driving... lol.

Kristen- Thanks. Everyone's been wondering when Jimmie's going to shave that beard. I really like his aggressive style though...

Gene- Thanks. You gave me the idea whole idea for the header...

Jon- Thanks. I agree with you about Jimmie not winning the title. His streak eventually has to come to an end...