- Congratulations to Ryan Newman on getting his first win of the season and breaking a drought that lasted over two years. His gutsy move was taking two tires on the final pit stop when that strategy hasn't worked out so far. What won him the race, though, was Jeff Gordon choosing the wrong lane on the final restart. It's hard to imagine he would consider this victory more memorable than his Daytona 500 one, but this one came at a time when his team was in need of a morale boost after coming up short for so many races...
- Jeff Gordon lost the race once again after thinking he had it in the bag in the closing laps. Who would have known that choosing the outside lane would be the wrong move on the final restart after it had gotten off to the fastest start on all of the other ones??? Newman or any other driver probably would have done the same thing. These finishes are just so unpredictable, and that keeps drivers and crew chiefs guessing each week on the right race-winning formula...
- Juan Pablo Montoya finally closed the deal with his fifth place finish. Lately, he has been a driver with a dominant car at the beginning of a race but ends up crashing midway through. Since he made his first Chase last year, what he wants the most now is another win. Montoya's only victory came at Sonoma in 2007, and he has yet to take the checkered flag on an oval...
- An eighth place finish for Kyle Busch looks great when comparing it with his other results from the first seven races, but it doesn't feel too great when he had the car to end up in victory lane. He and his crew chief thought they were making the right move by taking four tires on the all important pit stop when thinking back to Bristol and Martinsville. Both of them should have used logical reasoning, though, and realized that what works on half-mile track might not always do the same on more of an intermediate one...
- I must say that I really liked the 63 extra laps added on to Saturday night's race. They gave the fans more for their money and made the event more exciting for us viewers at home. We would not have had all of the drama in the closing laps if the race had been its normal length. Also, it would have otherwise ended before the sun set all the way with the start time being one hour earlier...
That's all from Phoenix. Next week, we move on to Texas where the real test for the new spoiler awaits. The Atlanta race was a pretty good indicator of who will have a strong run there as well...
7 comments:
Good Stuff. I'm afraid after a race actually finishes without a late caution, people are going to be complaining about how boring a race it was. The finish Saturday night masked a lot of mediocre racing.
Can't wait for the next several weeks. This is a fantastic stretch of races.
I agree with Mayer, that race was a long one (and not just cuz Kurt was out of it! LOL) and had way too much single file racing. Only excitement were the restarts. I could do without the extra laps myself.
I could have *really* done without the bugs though!
Mayer- Thanks. I also agree with you. That finish would have been a letdown otherwise. When Kyle Busch had a big lead with ten to go, I started to think about how disappointing the race had been...
Kristen- Those bugs didn't look too fun... lol. Are they that bad every year for the spring race???
Gonger, good stuff as usual, although I must admit there was a lot of single-file racing, and very few passes for the lead. Like him or not, JPM is one of the few drivers that breaks the mold, and to see him in the lead was pretty compelling. He is getting closer to that first win on an oval, and I think he'll get it sooner rather than later.
Did Kyle call for 4 tires or did his crew chief? I was asleep at the end. Kyle's hours of leading knocked me out.
I didn't think the longer distance added any excitement to the race. We had three looong green flag runs by three different leaders. Shorter races might give them a sense of urgency to make something happen. You know, like the Winston All Star race did. lol
Jon- Thanks. Montoya is one of the more interesting drivers in this sport. We have too many guys who are satisfied with points racing every week...
Gene- Not sure which one it was. It could have been a mutual decision. I think it's always important to have a good mix of races. Some short ones, some long ones...
No those bugs arent always that bad...had to do with the recent rains and then warm weather or some such thing.
The competitor parking lot at PHX was still flooded so they still had lots of standing water around the track.
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