Monday, August 24, 2009

The Speeding Bullets: Sharpie 500



  • Congratulations to Kyle Busch on getting his fourth victory of 2009. This win gave him a much-needed boost of confidence heading into the final two races before the Chase cutoff at Richmond. He went into Saturday night's race knowing the marks he had to meet and the statement he needed to make to NASCAR nation. Busch is now only 34 points out of 12th place in the standings. It isn't going to be easy for him to make the Chase, but it now looks possible for a driver with his level of talent . Bristol has always been one of his dominant tracks as he proved by sweeping both of the races there this season. He better just be happy that Mark Martin chose to race him the way he did in the closing laps; otherwise, the outcome of the race could have been quite different...
  • Mark Martin made his 1,000th career Cup start on Saturday night and dominated most of the race from the pole position; it's too bad he didn't end up in victory lane. He said that the reason that he didn't do the bump-and-run on Kyle Busch was because he didn't feel that Kyle would do the same to him. I understand that Busch giving Martin the inside passing lane prevented the need for a bump, but I just feel that Mark didn't try hard enough to make the maneuver and could have been a little more on the aggressive side. Kyle is the type of guy who will do whatever it takes to win a race...
  • Marcos Ambrose is edging closer and closer to that first ever Cup victory. He is proving to be much more than just a road racer and a serious threat to win races week in and week out. I know that making the Chase is an unreachable goal for 2009, but he very well could have a shot at contending for the title down the road...
  • The Mistake of the Week award for the Bristol night race goes to Jimmie Johnson's jackman. The saying proves true once again that a race can be won or lost on pit road. Johnson pretty much had a win in the bag until his jackman somehow dropped the jack during a tire change. Jimmie made a great recovery and ended up with an eighth place finish; that right there is a mark of a true champion. I can still picture seeing the guy's face on t.v. trying to explain himself. Denial, denial, denial...
  • The first half of the race about put me to sleep after having to get up at 6 a.m. for a cross country meet, but the second half was pretty action-packed. It was crash after crash after crash as a result of 43 competitive drivers on a Saturday night at Bristol. Clint Bowyer's Chase hope was shattered along with all of the torn-up race cars thanks to Michael Waltrip's tire going down. There's just something about Mikee and Bristol that don't go too well together...

That's all I have for the Bristol edition. Next week, the drivers get one final off-week before the 2009 season hits the home stretch and the intensity reaches an all-time high.
The guys who are on the bubble of making the Chase will get to sit in their La-Z-Boy recliners waiting in agony for their fates to be decided...

6 comments:

Gene Haddock said...

We must disagree on one thing here. Mark raced Kyle just as Kyle would have raced him. Mark couldn't bump and run Kyle, because Kyle was giving Mark the whole bottom lane to try and pass him.

As far as Kyle doing 'whatever it takes to win', other than last year at Richmond (which any non-Nation fan will say was at least 50/50 to blame) name one time when Kyle has wrecked someone in the last few laps to win a race.

Brent said...

Gene- All I am saying is that I think Kyle would have been more aggressive in that situation than Mark was; that's just Busch's nature.

I do think that he has too much dignity to purposely wreck a veteran like Martin though.

jon_464 said...

Gonger, good Speeding Bullets. Are you sure that Kyle was faster than those bullets? And I agree that Ambrose is getting closer and closer to that first Cup win. I think it's going to happen before the end of the season.

klvalus said...

Hey Gonger -- I have to agree with Hanny - the reason Mark wouldn't wreck Kyle was cuz Kyle left him plenty of room to pass so there was no need to wreck him.

Both JJ and Kurt had the same problem on pit road with lugs yet both got top 10 finishes...

So what is up with Smoke not coming clean about the radio? I heard on TWINs that he had it on the wrong channel and couldnt reach it to change it? How lame is that!?!? LOL

jmayer1843 said...

Great bullets again! I really hope Ambrose becomes a Chase contender next year. I just hope a David Ragan type thing doesn't happen to him. Ambrose has had more racing experience though.

Brent said...

Jon- Thanks. It very well could happen in one of the Chase races.

Kristen- I see your point about Kyle leaving the passing lane for Mark. Maybe there was no need for a bump-n-run, but I just felt like Martin didn't try hard enough...

jmayer- Thanks. Ragan has been a quite a letdown. When he first came into Cup, I actually thought he was going to be good...