The view from Richmond cleared up and revealed the twelve finalists into NASCAR's convoluted Chase/playoff format. Regular readers know that I'm no fan of the Chase, and that still hasn't changed. Where else could a driver with ONE top five finish make the playoffs, but another driver with FOUR wins doesn't?
I know, I know, they all play by the same rules, NASCAR rewards consistency, yada, yada, yada. I might be impressed if the championship goes down to the wire; not the race for 12th place. If the driver who wins the title this year is the same guy that most of us think will, can we just rename it 'The Chase for Second Place'?
CHECKERED FLAG............Local boy, Denny Hamlin won at his home track, finally. He's been running strong as we go into the Chase. JGR only having one car in the Chase should help him get better equipment, but don't look for him to win the title this year.
GREEN FLAGS........Kurt Busch (2), Jeff Gordon (3), and Mark Martin (4) all had strong runs and solidified their Chase dreams. Brian Vickers (7) kept Kyle Busch (5) in his sights all night and raced into the Chase. Sam Hornish finished 7th after spinning through the infield. I bet Sam leads the league in top-10 finishes after bringing out at least one caution during a race.
YELLOW FLAGS.........Matt Kenseth was the only driver to fall out of the top 12 in points, and thus miss the Chase, at Richmond. Tony Stewart finished 17th. He has had bad runs in 3 of his last four races. Not the way to enter the Chase for the points leader. Carl Edwards had problems all night after winning the NNS race the previous night.
BLACK FLAG.......ABC/ESPN.......Matt Kenseth was the driver who was in, then fell out of the Chase. So, who is the very first driver's face that they stick a microphone in? No, not Matt. Maybe Hamlin, the winner? No, not him. ABC thought they would get a good sound bite, or maybe even a tirade, at the very least a little tantrum by rushing Kyle Busch as he climbed from his car. Congrats to Kyle for not coming through for them.
RED FLAG.........Stop it Kyle. Please don't turn into Robo/Corporate/Driver. We already have 42 of them out there.
P.S. Poll results to make the Chase:
Kyle Busch 80%
Matt Kenseth 10%
Brian Vickers 10%
One person voted for Vickers. You know who you are.
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I forgot who I voted for ?,lol. They had kyle first cause he was the closet to the front cars with drivers getting out,, Poor Matt was one of the last to park his. Hey did they ever figure out what was the set up they missed on his car that Kyle was talking about? He had a top 10 car most of the night and was that the same car he won in at Richmond or did Denny get it by mistake?
ReplyDeleteCheers2You
So, will we be hearing about inferior Hendrick engines winding up at SHR in the weeks to come?
ReplyDeleteI don't give a crap about the Chase format.
Mark Martin, champion??? Not if 'degga has anything to say about it. Mark's dissed that track more than Obama has made doctors out to be evil, money loving, carpet baggers! lol
Congrats to Denny on the win.
Sorry about your boy Kyle. If only he could drive like Ryan Newman, he'd be in the Chase!
who's the dolt with only 1 top five? I know Juan snuck in with 2 but I thought everyone else had more than that, lol
ReplyDeleteOur aunt told us one time that correcting a child in the right way was important because the wrong way would destroy their "spirit." Kyle is spirited. Let him stay that way.
ReplyDeleteDawgs Defeat Gamecocks 41-37 LOL
I like a little spirits after work...
ReplyDeleteF-2....LOL, yeah I think Denny did get the good car. Kyle wasn't complaining, so he must have been doing all he could....Brian just drove harder, I guess.
ReplyDeleteCR....Do you think Tony will bite the hand that feeds him?
I could see Martin having a bad finish at Talladega.
Newman! I'd rather have the 4 wins.
Tez....I thought JPM only had one. He does have two....five less than Kyle. But JPM has 3 more top-10s than Kyle.
ReplyDeleteBev.....I don't see where Kyle needs any correcting.
I always thought Hanahan was a Sam Elliot movie role or something. I guess I shoulda named myself Los Angeles all those moons ago at Fux Sports.
ReplyDelete"She loves racing" does she?
I challenge her a race to the state of undress.
Bleed, I don't think I'd be talking about Gene's daughter that way, if I were you.
ReplyDeleteDid I say that out loud?
BTW Bleed... She's got a head start on you in that race of yours! lol
ReplyDeleteI'm saying I hope "they" don't destroy Kyle's spirit! Saturday night, Kyle gave God credit for his gift of driving. I don't think that was staged. God uses radical people. Peter cut off someone's ear!lol
ReplyDeleteGreat Flagstand!
Bleed....Welcome to the jungle. You could have called yourself 'Hollywood'.
ReplyDeleteRace her? She's almost there.
Good to see you bro. I'll have that SRM NFL thing up each Wednesday.
Bev....He's a grown man, I doubt 'they' will destroy his spirit. JPM still has his spirit, and so does Robby Gordon. They don't even win enough to be as cocky as they are.
ReplyDeleteAnd, UGA was very lucky to get that win, at home. They didn't even cover the spread.
Now I dont remember who I voted for either!
ReplyDeleteBut am happy Vickers got in since it means Kyle will be driving for wins and might make a mockery of the Chase.
Big time Black Flag for that post race coverage...wanting to see Kyle explode was pathetic. Loved seeing Joe Gibbs right there in support of Kyle when he could have been in Victory Lane.
Also extra bad is waiting to show Kurt's interview nearly last when he finished 2nd. Although I know they do all the interviews at the same time out on the track, who ever spliced those together did not make me happy.
I voted for Matt. I also voted for Bob Dole...
ReplyDeleteKristen...So nobody will admit voting for him? Looks like someone would want the credit.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering why Joe was right there with Kyle instead of with Denny. We know where Jack Roush would have been. Maybe Joe is Kyle's new shadow. Just to make sure that Kyle doesn't blow up.
CR....New Poll....Bob Dole and John McCain..... The Republicans idea of energizing the voters....or sacrificial lambs?
ReplyDeleteWell I am no fan of the chase, but it doesn't matter. I will still be taking the ritual mid race naps as usual. Seems all the excitement has been scripted to be in the last 50 laps in most cases.
ReplyDeletei don't remember who I voted for! If we win something I will take credit. LOL I predicted Vickers and Busch with Kenseth and Biffle out. .500 would get me in Cooperstown right?
ReplyDeleteI don't agree with a 4 win driver not being in, esp with 4 drivers in with 0 wins. However thems the rules. I am going to keep track. My guess is that had he got in, Kyle would win the CUP.
Okay, okay, it was ME that voted for Vickers, LOL! (J/K! I voted for Busch.)
ReplyDeleteBleed's new nickname? MANNYWOOD. LOL!
Great win for Hamlin in his home track. While I think he'll do well, he's not going to win it. Talladega is the Great Equalizer, and I think you'll see The Big One equal to last year's Big One that took half the Chasers out of the field, thanks to Carl Edwards' bonehead decision to bump draft Greg Biffle in the corner. (Anyone remember the Harvick-Edwards scuffle a few days later?) For the record, I went with Jimmie Johnson to win his fourth straight title in the preseason and I'm sticking to my pick. JJ wins, but by a closer margin than a lot of people expect.
Photo...plenty of points racing still to come = plenty of naps still to come.
ReplyDeleteStork....I'm pulling for Montoya to win the title. He says he will still points race in the Chase. I would love for the champ to have ZERO wins and TWO top-5s this year!
Jon...LOL, Kevin hurt Carl's feelings during his TV interview. So Carl left a note on his airplane....what a joke.
ReplyDeleteJJ is the man to beat. To be the man, you have to beat the man!
Gene, I remember that! I didn't blame Kevin for being PO'd then and I don't blame him now! He said what was on a lot of fans' minds. Carl should have left Kevin a text message, at least.
ReplyDelete