Saturday, April 25, 2009

Sprint Cup 2009, Race 9: Dixie Daze



On to Talladega deep in the Alabama mountains, the competition turns to NASCAR’s longest track, 2.66 miles in length. Forty five drivers have entered, so two will go home, but the race that will mark the end of the 2009 season’s first quarter finds many teams looking for answers while others build on early season success.

If there was ever a good place for Dale Earnhardt Junior to return to form, now is the time. Adding to another dismal afternoon on the track where Junior was clicking off laps led early in the race then a race ruined by mistakes, the #88 driver added to the concern of a driver out of control with a post-race confrontation with driver Casey Mears. We’re not suggesting who’s at fault here, but it shows that in 2009, trouble seems to follow the sports’ most popular driver who will serve the next six weeks on probation one more stress factor on a team still looking for positive direction in 2009.

This would be a good time for Roush drivers to show championship form. Perhaps, nothing more that a little more attention and success is all that’s needed, another top tier team has resorted to more drastic action. Richard Childress Racing is swapping crews between the #07 Casey Mears team and the #29 Kevin Harvick team. Todd Berrier will be crew chief for Casey Mears’ ride while Gil Martin, very successful with Clint Bowyer the past two years, will partner with Harvick.

Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman continue to develop Stewart-Haas into a successful operation. Could Talladega be Stewart’s (or Newman’s) breakthrough race?

Restrictor plate racing is its own phenomenon in NASCAR and while some similar strategies and skills are required for both Daytona and Talladega, the two tracks have such different driving characteristics, drivers must focus on vastly different skills. While forming trains of drafting cars is required at both tracks, Daytona’s rough surface and turn configurations makes it much more of a handling race. Talladega with its high banking and smoother transitions is much more a strategy race.

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, teammates who possess seven championships between them compared to five among the rest of the field (Tony Stewart, 2; Matt Kenseth, 1; Kurt Busch, 1; Bobby Labonte, 1) lead the point standings both looking like strong contenders for this years’ championship. Last years’ two primary competitors besides Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch still haven’t shown their possible dominating form.

It’s time for the real contenders to announce themselves as the long stretch of the mid-season beckons. For some, it could be a long, cruel ride if results aren’t forthcoming. Dale Earnhardt Junior was once the master of restrictor plate racing and with Hendricks equipment, here’s his golden opportunity to show NASCAR fans he can compete for the chase. If he doesn’t not at least score a top ten finish this weekend, is it too soon to consider the 2009 season a loss? The clock is ticking. We wish him well, but this is one column that gave up making excuses for Junior a long time ago.

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