Jimmie Johnson continued his dominaton at Auto Club Speedway, and in the Chase, on Sunday. He led just over half of the 250 laps in the Pepsi 500.
There were a reported 70,000 fans in attendance at Fontana on Sunday. It seems to go down every race there.
CHECKERED FLAG......Jimmie Johnson could have led a lot more laps. He constantly gave up his lead on pit stops under caution. Not really a bad thing, as his crew knew he had the car, and they just wanted to make sure all servicing was complete each time. If JJ wins this week in Charlotte, the Chase will be over, and NASCAR's TV ratings will sink faster than the President's approval ratings.
GREEN FLAGS....Jeff Gordon (2), and Mark Martin (4) completed the HMS exotic trifecta box finish. Juan Montoya was third, and now has five top-four finishes in this year's Chase. David Ragan (7) makes this list for the first time this year.
YELLOW FLAGS....Dale Earnhardt Jr had his fans wishfully imagining a possible top-10 finish until his team pitted him on the next to last caution. This, in turn, led to him being in the right position to be a major player in the last caution. Denny Hamlin found out the hard way that Montoya doesn't give an inch. You're either clear, or your not, Den.
RED FLAG.....Tom Logano. Joey's dad had his NASCAR credentials taken as a result of his actions after Saturday's NNS race. This was not Tom's first run in with NASCAR personel. He has a bit of a temper, and a bit of a track record.
Greg Biffle told his team, via radio, that he would wreck Joey Logano. Biffle then raced Logano high and hard into a turn, Joey bounced off the wall, then touched Biffle. Biffle never touched Joey to send him into the wall. He came very close, but never touched him.
NASCAR knows that almost every driver out there has threatened, by radio, to wreck a fellow competitior. Kind of hard to punish just one of them. On the other hand, Tom Logano has a history of irratic behavior, temper tantrums, and death threats against others.
BLACK FLAG......The phantom debris cautions. At least half of Sunday's eight yellow flags were for debris, or a restart wreck after a debris caution. Kudos to Kasey Kahne for speaking out about the phantom debris flags. NASCAR claims that there was debris on the backstretch apron to bring out the last debris yellow. Um, okay...but if that 'debris' was so dangerous, why wait until all the cars had made their green flag pit stops before throwing the caution?
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psst, Gene...I think you have Juan's stats the wrong way round since there's only been 4 races in the Chase so far :)
ReplyDeleteGreat notes as always!
ReplyDeleteThat Biffle-Logano scene was real life Days of Thunder stuff, except the movie version had that type of action happening at Daytona, which wasn't too believable along with "dropping the hammer" as if he was saving a gear on the straighaway.
Tez....Haha. I must be getting week 5 of the NFL confused with week 4 of the Chase. I'll stand by that stat and sat JPM will have four top-fours after LMS...LOL
ReplyDeleteJuan couldn't have given Denny an inch if he wanted to, with the 48 car pushing him. I think Denny's spotter totaly blew that one.
ReplyDeleteSeemed more than 70,000 to me. But, I didn't actually have a tally whacker to count all of the people.
The Foreigner concert was great. The race was boring. I was actualy tempted to leave early. But, it's always good to hear, feel, and smell the raw horsepower.
Good stuff! You know where I stand on the debris issue.
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that Joey's dad keeps getting involved with stuff around the track. I know his son is only 19, but to me it just looks bad when a professional has their parents making news at the son's place of work.
Jon Logano. It probably is right to do something to Jon logano but what are they going to do about Biffle and his remarks.
ReplyDeleteIn a way I think Jon was right to do what he did. At least he didn't punch out Biffle's lights like I would have done. However I would have done it with brotherly love.
CR....Why did Denny choose the outside lane for the restart anyway? He was leading! Saturday he wrecked while racing for the lead also. Bad weekend for the Hampster.
ReplyDeleteJM....Yeah Logano the Elder is the epitomy of a 'stage' mother. Feel sorry for the kid having the dad embarass him all the time.
ReplyDeletePhoto....LOL, your Brotherly Love sounds like me and my brother in the backyard.
FBall....missed ya up there. I only saw the replay of Joey and Biff once or twice, and still haven't heard what was said. But, I've seen way more deliberate attempts to wreck someone, and you hear threats on the scanners at every race.
ReplyDeleteDays of Thunder is to real racing as Dane Cook is to real comedy.
The Hampster, I love that Gene.
ReplyDeleteFelt like I took Niquil during the race but there is nothin like a bunch of tore up cars to make up for a super exciting finish.
Hey Hanny,, How was Brian Vickers aloud to race with out a NASCAR approved shock???? Then pass post inspection. lol
ReplyDeleteI sure would not let the network go showing it on TV.. I guess they are aloud too when it breaks.
Man, haven't been on here in awhile Gene.
ReplyDeleteTrue that if they busted every driver for saying something on the radio, NASCAR would have everyone standing in the penalty box - And Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner!
Why don't they just come out and admit that they want 30 lap sprints to reset the field.
Have a couple of cold ones on me this weekend bud.
Rick....yeah nothing like mass carnage to make people forget how boring a race they just slept through...lol
ReplyDeleteF2....Yeah, waz up wid dat? I think I asked that question somewhere this week.
Moseby....They may as well have a 'competition' caution 25 laps from the end of each race. That would guarantee at least one more yellow, and probably a GWC ending.