Tuesday, October 20, 2009

View From The Flagstand

This week's view from Charlotte was wet, and cold. Not the greatest weather in the world to sit outside, at night, just to watch a rerun of a show you didn't like the first three times you saw it.

Yes, Saturday night's win at LMS by Jimmie Johnson showed even the densest among us the two foot high letters that were written on the wall. This is where the season may as well be over, and it is for a lot of teams and fans.

CHECKERED FLAGS......Jimmie Johnson has won the last three Sprint Cup championships, and with his latest win on Saturday, they may as well engrave the trophy in his name now. Kyle Busch won the Nationwide race on Friday and finished 8th on the Cup side.

GREEN FLAGS.......Plenty of non-Chasers made the top-10 at LMS. Among them Matt Kenseth in second was either strong, or surprising. Others who made a rare visit to Toptenville were Clint Bowyer (6), Casey Mears (7), and Martin Truex Jr (9).

YELLOW FLAGS.....Numerous Chasers lost the tenuous hope that they carried into Saturday night's race. Juan Pablo Montoya saw his string of top-5s in the Chase come crashing to an end...literally. Denny Hamlin looked to have a car to contend with after leading early. Alas, the Virginian's race, and Chase, hopes were dashed. Carl Edwards, Brian Vickers, and Greg Biffle also had their fates revealed during the 500 miles at Charlotte. Not good.

RED FLAG.......Should there be a night race in North Carolina in mid-October? Temps in the forties, rain, and wind all weekend were not conductive to a memorable time at the old racetrack. There were plenty of empty seats in attendance, that just makes it seem colder.

BLACK FLAG......The Chase. Let's see if Jimmie can win a real championship. You know, like Cale Yarborough or Darrell Waltrip did.....by racing EVERY week of the season. Not just for ten races at the end of the year. What a joke!

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9 comments:

  1. Gene, if only we could produce more greenhouse gases, NC could host night races in mid November.

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  2. I'll always consider JJ's championships tainted. If it were the old way, he would have one championship, in 2004. A fairer way would be to give EACH of the 12 finalists 500 bonus points and leave the differentials as is.

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  3. jon... JJ could win 6 championships in a row. Think about it. That's 60 races on just 10 tracks. Making the Chase is the hard part. The rest is easy once you get the set ups for the car down on those 10 tracks. It's all total BS. The post modern era in NASCAR is like Goldman-Sacks. It sucks!

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  4. Gene, has your blog been targeted by the White House? Where are all the comments?

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  5. CR, knowing the power of Han's blogs, we've been offered a substantial amount of hush money!

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  6. CR...Nice point about the 48 having to plan for 10 tracks only, to win titles.

    White House spokespersons said that 'Spinout' wasn't a legimate 'news' outlet.

    Jon...No Chase at all would be the fairest way. But as the late David poole always said, "Fair is where you go to get cotton candy and candy apples."

    Bev....Shouldn't I get half? lol

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  7. You guys are all nay sayers and shouldn't be talking down the great JJ and Chad show. Opps that another post,, sorry got mixed up after reading the comments on which blog I was on.lol

    It is a joke and most die hard nascar fans think so, Any way back to this blog and Its ok but not a great one cause I said I wouldn't keep saying it was.. Have a great safe weekend Hanny and Cheers 2All

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  8. I would think you would want Dale Jr to stay in the 88 car, That gives one Hendricks car Kyle can beat in the 13 to 43 in points.lol

    You asked for it. :)

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  9. F2....I DO want Jr to stay in the 88. Sooner or later the trickle down from Chad and JJ should reach him...lol. It worked so well for Mears, Vickers, etc.

    Happy Weekend, bro.

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