No longer a familiar sight at NASCAR events. Are they still there?
Or is it the television cameras? It's surely all for the better for the
image conscious sport.
We’re a little late of our summary of Saturday night’s thriller Sprint Cup race at Richmond, but as always, the results were full of surprises as the action was exciting. First, BOO-HISS, it’s hard to get excited seeing Kyle Busch win no matter how talented he is or how much we respect team owner, Joe Gibbs. While NASCAR was always had its share of young smart asses, there’s a certain lack of humility the kid from Las Vegas shows that makes relishing the roll of the bad guy had too stomach. Sure Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, and Tony Stewart were brash boys in their day, there was something different. Okay, now that we have that off our chest. The kid is one damned good race driver and still growing. Who knows how far his talent will take him, but nah-nah, nah-nah-nah, he’s still behind his big brother in the point standings.
While Talladega helped take the heat off of Dale Earnhardt Jr., his 27th place finish dropped him three positions in the points standings from knocking on the door to being in the chase for the chase to 51 points to falling out of the top twenty.
Despite having no one qualify higher than 20th, only two drivers from Roush finished in the top 20. Jamie McMurray jumped to 7th, a much needed top ten finish, while Greg Biffle managed a 17th finish. The rest of the Ford fleet was left with much work to do to be ready for Darlington.
Aside from Kyle Busch winning the race, the other big winner Saturday night was Tony Stewart’s operation. With Tony Stewart finishing in 2nd and Ryan Newman in 4th, both drivers are now in the top ten in points with Stewart just 39 points out of first.
Jeff Burton continues to quietly and competently move forward. His third place finish moved him two points up in the standings. A top ten finish, allowed teammate, Casey Mears to advance one spot closer to the top twenty. Clint Bowyer held his own, but the weekend was again cruel to Kevin Harvick whose 34th finish six laps down continues his most frustrating season.
Another winner in the weekend’s action is Sam Hornish reaching his highest finish since breaking in as a rookie last year securing the 7th spot.
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises toward the bottom of the pack was Jimmie Johnson who struggled with his equipment before being involved in accidents finishing a miserable 32 laps down in 36th place. While being a tough weekend for Hendricks rides for Johnson and Earnhardt, Mark Martin finished 5th and Jeff Gordon 8th. Mark Martin advances three places closer to chase contention.
Though a 20th place finish was good enough to advance Reed Sorenson three places in the standings, Kasey Kahne’s struggles showed that Richard Petty Racing inheriting the legacy of Gillette/Evernham’s operation last year is still struggling to become a top ten threat. Given the cloudy future of Dodge, the pressure on this team to produce can only become tougher. Despite their struggles, this has been a good year for team Penske with Kurt Busch being one of this year’s most successful drivers while Sam Hornish continues to grow.
Darlington will have 47th entries as Saturday night’s race continues the Southern 500’s legacy. It is one of the most interesting tracks for good competition. In the age of the cookie cutter new configurations, the series oldest superspeedway continues to be one of the greatest tests of driver talent.
While Talladega helped take the heat off of Dale Earnhardt Jr., his 27th place finish dropped him three positions in the points standings from knocking on the door to being in the chase for the chase to 51 points to falling out of the top twenty.
Despite having no one qualify higher than 20th, only two drivers from Roush finished in the top 20. Jamie McMurray jumped to 7th, a much needed top ten finish, while Greg Biffle managed a 17th finish. The rest of the Ford fleet was left with much work to do to be ready for Darlington.
Aside from Kyle Busch winning the race, the other big winner Saturday night was Tony Stewart’s operation. With Tony Stewart finishing in 2nd and Ryan Newman in 4th, both drivers are now in the top ten in points with Stewart just 39 points out of first.
Jeff Burton continues to quietly and competently move forward. His third place finish moved him two points up in the standings. A top ten finish, allowed teammate, Casey Mears to advance one spot closer to the top twenty. Clint Bowyer held his own, but the weekend was again cruel to Kevin Harvick whose 34th finish six laps down continues his most frustrating season.
Another winner in the weekend’s action is Sam Hornish reaching his highest finish since breaking in as a rookie last year securing the 7th spot.
Perhaps one of the biggest surprises toward the bottom of the pack was Jimmie Johnson who struggled with his equipment before being involved in accidents finishing a miserable 32 laps down in 36th place. While being a tough weekend for Hendricks rides for Johnson and Earnhardt, Mark Martin finished 5th and Jeff Gordon 8th. Mark Martin advances three places closer to chase contention.
Though a 20th place finish was good enough to advance Reed Sorenson three places in the standings, Kasey Kahne’s struggles showed that Richard Petty Racing inheriting the legacy of Gillette/Evernham’s operation last year is still struggling to become a top ten threat. Given the cloudy future of Dodge, the pressure on this team to produce can only become tougher. Despite their struggles, this has been a good year for team Penske with Kurt Busch being one of this year’s most successful drivers while Sam Hornish continues to grow.
Darlington will have 47th entries as Saturday night’s race continues the Southern 500’s legacy. It is one of the most interesting tracks for good competition. In the age of the cookie cutter new configurations, the series oldest superspeedway continues to be one of the greatest tests of driver talent.
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