This week's View From the Flagstand was a wet one once again as rain fell during the Cup race at MIS. Unlike the past two weeks NASCAR was able to get the full 400 mile race in on Sunday.
CHECKERED FLAG.....Brian Vickers won on Sunday and finished 2nd on Saturday. He also won the pole postion for both races. Quite a weekend for B. He even managed to enrage Kyle Busch on Saturday by blocking 2nd place Busch on the last lap while waving 3rd place Brad Keselowski by for the win.
GREEN FLAGS.....Dale Earnhardt Jr finally scored his second top-5 of the season by bringing it home in 3rd place. If only two more cars had run out of gas Jr might have won a race. Jeff Gordon had a solid 2nd place run. Sam Hornish Jr (5), Casey Mears (6), and Joey Logano (7) all had surprising finishes.
YELLOW FLAGS....The Busch brothers both had dismal days. Kurt hit the wall and killed his car inroute to a 36th place showing. Kyle was never a factor and limped in to finish 23rd. Robby Gordon wrecked again. Amazingly, Robby didn't ruin some kid's day this time.
RED FLAG.....ESPN tried a new idea during the NNS race on Saturday, no play-by-play announcer in the booth. It was hit and miss. Dale Jarrett was the star, providing much of the needed commentary. Andy Petree also was solid. Rusty Wallace, as usual, mostly kept us informed as to the whereabouts of Steven Wallace, and that was about all for his participation. Ray Evernham was the smartest guy in the room but didn't know how to fit in with the country boys (Jarrett and Petree) who were running the show. You tried, ESPN. It didn't work too great. Keep DJ and Petree in the booth, lose Jerry Punch, and bring in Alan Bestwick on PxP.
BLACK FLAG.....Rain! For the third Sunday in a row. There are many different factors that go into NASCAR's schedule making....or, maybe they just use a dart board, I don't know. But, perhaps they should look at past weather history at some of these tracks before scheduling them for the same dates every year.
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Red flag indeed - while I didnt catch the NW ESPN coverage, Cup coverage was pathetic at the end. All they did was pimp who was where in the points the entire race then cut to Sportscenter without even showing the finishing order or standings!
ReplyDeleteI agree, Bestwick in the booth!!
Looking forward to rain in Bristol...NOT.
Yea Jr! Boo Kurt!
I know that all of us have debated this before. But how about something different - Schedule the Cup race on Saturday afternoons and the NNS race on Sunday?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know, no Cup racers would run the NNS series and they use the track time for the Cup race. But it still has to be a better alternative than running on Monday's for weather. Especially now that NASCAR is more quick to postpone if it can't be run during TV scheduled window. Plus, they have a better chance to compete in the fall vs. CFB than the NFL.
Just throwing it out there - everyone skewer me now...
With regards to scheduling and the weather- why not consult the Farmer's Almanac when making the schedule. My experience has been thet the Almanac gets the weather right way more often than the TV weather forecasters.
ReplyDeleteGo Brian!! Great weekend for him. I have cheered for him since he left HMS! I think I just like guys that leave there. HMMMM, Where can I get a 07 hat?? Nice wrap Gene, I have some opinions, but I won't fill up your comment section. Look for a blog later.
ReplyDeleteHave a good week!
Just checked The Weather Channel online for the Bristol forecast-
ReplyDeleteWednesday(Truck race): Scattered thunderstorms, 50% chance of rain
Friday(Nationwide race and Cup qualifying): 40% chance of rain
Saturday(Cup race): 30% chance of rain
Sunday(just in case): 60% chance of rain
Kristen....NASCAR'S TV ratings on ESPN blow golf's away. But, the lack of a post race rundown---so they could glom onto Tiger----shows how much ESPN cares about NASCAR fans. Will NASCAR consider that when TV negotiations roll around again? H3LL NO!
ReplyDeleteSorry for the mini-rant.
Well as long as there is a chance of rain, My boy Mikey will have a chance for Bristol.
ReplyDeleteMoseby....I like the idea. Let the NW series run Fri nights and Sun afternoons. TV networks would proabably shoot it down. I think their ratings are higher on Sun afternoons for Cup now than they are for the Sat night Cup races. So they probably want Cup on Sundays more often.
ReplyDeleteMmmm. Skewers. Blackened shrimp?
SB14....The Almanac could not possibly be any worse than the dartboard they're using now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the Bristol forecast. Grrrr!
Hanny-
ReplyDeleteAlso have Hurricane Bill affecting East Coast weather this weekend. Maybe daddy and grandpa are trying to send Brian a message?????
Stork...those 07 hats will be selling very cheap by the end of the season. Have to move that inventory to get ready for the new names on those hats next year....or sooner?
ReplyDeleteI like Vickers, but he was an idiot on Saturday. He admitted that he had no idea that BK was passing him for the lead. He had one thing on his mind....blocking Kyle. Moron! He said he raced Kyle like Kyle raced him...no way Kyle would have wasted his time, and lost the race, by carrying another driver down to the grass...on a straightaway!
Guess what B Vick, it IS the Kyle Busch show! No one is buying tickets to see you B.
Photo....Was the last race that Mikey won the rainy one in Daytona? I guess his best hope is to pray for rain...lol
ReplyDeleteI didn't have an issue with what Vickers did to Kyle on Saturday. When you're in front, with less than two laps to go, you don't pull over for anybody! Even if it is the Kyle Busch 400, and not a regular NASCAR race.
ReplyDeleteCR....no issue from me either except that Brian's tunnel vision let the 3rd place car win.
ReplyDeleteHe didn't have to pull over....driving the same line that had worked for him the entire race would have been nice though. He was so intent on blocking that he proabably cost himself the chance for 2 wins and 2 poles in 2 days. Believe me, Vickers will nevvvver have that chance again.
Nice Flagstand Gene ....
ReplyDeleteTHe first two races I attended were interuppted by rain. At Dover in May of 1975 it started raining before halfway and they called it to finish on Monday. Our car broke down so we got to stay. Before the rainout a shock broke in David Pearson's Merc and the Wood Brother's pitted the car 7 times during the rain to replace the shock.
They came back on Monday and won the race with Cecil Gordon finishing 2nd, the best of his career. A young Al Gore was at the track with his little weather station.
We went to Pocomo that Summer and it rained BIG TIME before halfway. It was soo hot that the track dried quickly. Pearson won that race also by crop dusting Petty with a cracked engine block in his Purolator Mercury. Nascar did not throw the black flag untill there were two laps left, Pearson of course ignored that and took the checkered flag. That was the Purolator 500.
I do not tweet .....LOL
and Kyle Bush is a twitt. If anyone needs a medication it is him ...what was he talking about after Saturday's race ? The Weed has been getting his doors blown off all Summer ....
Rick....lucky you....you got to see the great Pearson win the first two races you went to. And somehow you still became a Petty fan? WTH? LOL.
ReplyDeleteKyle was talking about how stupid Vickers was to let the 3rd place car win the race. I'm sure the Toyota execs loved Vickers letting a Chevy win, then acting like it was no big deal.
Yes I have been lucky enough to see Pearson, Yarborough, Parsons and Waltrip win back in the day. Never saw Petty win in person.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I became a Petty fan is that he has the same first name as I ...... as a ten year old of course.
My Grandfather and Father and Uncle were into it, they would go to Langhorne PA etc.... Pops hated Lee Petty, said he cheated, I loved every one of his stories. They also used to upholster the seats for Elmo Langley back in the 60's and 70's.
I do know what is up with Kyle, he has been getting beat on a regular basis and does not take it well. The Weed has some growin up to do.
Guys like Petty, Pearson, Benny Parsons or Ned Jarrett among others are a bench mark on how to act in and out of a race car. Class pays off in the long run.
Thanks, Gene
It's raining in Bristol. Go figure...
ReplyDelete