The fat lady was waiting in the wings Sunday in Texas, but Jimmie Johnson not only didn't clinch the title, he lost hundreds of points to his rivals. With two races to go, Mark Martin is only 73 points behind in second. Fellow HMS teammate, Jeff Gordon is 112 back in third.
Sunday's Texas race winner, Kurt Busch is fourth overall, but still too far back with just Phoenix and Miami left to decide this year's champ. While NASCAR and ABC are loving this unexpected tightening up of the Chase race, don't look for JJ to stumble two races in a row.
CHECKERED FLAGS.......Kurt Busch stretched the fuel mileage as others were running out at the end. It was not a cheap win though as Kurt had one of the strongest cars all day and led 89 laps. Kyle Busch won the NNS race on Saturday and the CWTS race on Friday at Texas. He led 232 of 334 laps in the SCS race on Sunday before running out of gas two laps from the end while holding a comfortable lead over brother Kurt.
GREEN FLAGS.....Gas mileage skewed some of the top finishes, but Martin (4th) was near the front all day, and collected as many points as he could. Matt Kenseth (3rd), and Denny Hamlin (2nd) had much needed good runs. Marcos Ambrose hung out in the top-5 most of the day before having to pit for gas and settling for 15th.
YELLOW FLAG.....David Reutimann tapped Sam Hornish into our points leader, Johnson, on lap three to ruin his day. LAP 3! We know you had a fast car, Rooty, but there were still 331 laps to get to the front....and you still didn't. Calm down, son.
RED FLAG.....NASCAR throws a debris caution near the end of 116 races in a row, and this one they don't? Why?
A....They didn't expect Jr to run out of gas.
B.....They expected Kyle to run out of gas.
C.....With JJ already cooked, they didn't want any of his rivals to get taken out during a restart.
D.....ABC told them that 5 hours was already long enough for a 500 mile race.
E......Reader's choice.
BLACK FLAG......Jimmie Johnson/ABC...Why no interview with the champ while he sat behind the wall for over an hour? Whose idea was it not to do an interview, JJ's or ABC's? This flag also goes out to those fans whining about an 11th place finisher, who sits 13th in the points, not hanging around to do interviews after the race.
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I said Jimmie can get taken out in a 1 car spin anytime just before Atlanta when they made it such a big deal about it. He was close too 4 cars spinning at Martenvilles. I said the double file restarts would make it a different ball game and make it harder for some drivers to hide out.Yet to be a factor.
ReplyDeleteThey keep saying it and you did as well with (( don't look for JJ to stumble two races in a row.)) This was another car spiining and him being in the wrong place when it happen. He can not control the other 42 drivers on when they spin out and this is a much tighter track next week.
I will say his luck has changed and look for something to go wrong on the car this week.
About your red flag, I say E cause the network showed live a safty crew guy picking up someones sandwhich... so no way could they throw another one. LMAO.. I will be doing a FXF cause for that one caution for debri was for a sandwhich or rapp in plastic clean film,..lol
I told you there was a bounty on the 48 car.
Cheers2You
I certainly hope the bouty stay on for the 48 car. Was there a race this weekend?
ReplyDeleteFor those just tunning in we have to tell you about Jimmie Johnson cause he ws off the track for 100 laps and we could only show of his TV air time so we need to make up for it.
ReplyDeleteYes, Jerry,, the hole world stop what they where doing when they heard Jimmie had to go to the garage for repairs on the 3rd lap... I mean I think the world did stop cause I spilled me drink when I saw him spin out. Then again it could have been cause of how high I jump off the couch yelling the fat lady has been seen back to the dressing room.
Cheers
I was in disbelief when I saw Jimmie hit that wall. My mind got to racing to see how many points Stewart could pick up today. But I forgot about all the points he lost last week at Talladega. So I was bummed. But I was glad to see that Mark took advantage of it and gained as many points as he did.
ReplyDeleteF2 I hope that you are right and Jimmie has trouble this week at Phoenix. I really want to see Mark win this championship.
F2....I like your theory that JJ is more likely to have trouble. Let's hope.
ReplyDeleteWill the FxF show what kind of sandwich it was? LOL
Skoal!
Photo....If JJ can have one more bad race there may be a dramatic finish to the Chase. Hard to believe, isn't it? LOL
ReplyDeleteTsfan....Yes it's too bad that Tony, Kurt, and JPM already had their problems, and didn't really pick up much on JJ. We just may get a close finish yet!
73 points is a huge lead still for JJ not sure why everyone is getting so excited. Likelihood he wrecks again so early seems impossible.
ReplyDeleteI am just hoping Kurt can end up as the best of the rest (ie. first driver not HMS in Chase)...
Media isnt allowed to interview drivers if they have the window net up in the garage area...which I think JJ kept it up that whole time...
KLV...Yeah I think JJ's still has it wrapped up, but I like F-2's optimism.
ReplyDeleteI saw a view of #48 with net hanging outside of car with no driver in car while being repaired. Maybe F-2 can get FxF of that also? LOL
Didn't see the race, and only read the end of your play by play. So, if I had anything to say, it would be from an uniformed schmuck, and worthless. But I will say that Chad will most likly work hard on qualifying trim this week, and as a result, a probable top 12 finish. Mark should pick up a few more points to make Homestead a little more interesting. Smoke, Newman and Harvick should do well, at least I'm hoping for a win from one of them this weekend!
ReplyDeleteGoose eggs for everyone but Marcos in the poll. Saweeeet!
ReplyDeleteIs it true that there have been 116 late race cautions in a row ???? LOL
ReplyDeleteI will go with Photo's take, was there a race last weekend ?....just kidding .....
Stewart does not have a chance because HMS is giving him V7 and a half engines. Hey Tony, there are a bunch of Dodge engine guys off the hook this week .
On a side note, just found out that Fireball Roberts Daytona 500 trophy is up for auction on EBay.
CR....We don't think you're an uninformed schmuck. You seem very informed. LOL
ReplyDeleteIf I had to bet, I'd have JJ down for a top-5, at least, in Phoenix.
You only read the end? You missed the best parts... the commercials!
Rick.... it sure seems like 116 straight.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Fireball....I met Marvin Panch when I was at Rockingham last month. Cool old dude. Still seems ready for action...lol
I would love to sit down with those old boys and listen to their stories.
ReplyDeleteTim Flock was a great story teller. I do not think the hammerheads of today could hang with em back then.
Years from now the same will be said of today's great drivers.
Gene, I don't mean to wear you out here but could you help me? How are cars selected for postrace inspection? I understand that Truex had a car that was too low. How are those cars selected? I have also heard that Mr. Hendrick told NASCAR to take his #5 and #48 each race because of problems they had. So the #48 wasn't taken this past race. Why is that...if you know. Sometimes I just get so confused with all of the rules and regulations. Thank you if you can offer any insight into to this. BTW, I really hope that Kyle makes the trifecta soon. He is not my favorite driver, but I most certainly respect his driving ability. I wish I had just a low percentage of his ability. Take care and be safe. Oh, I also respect you and the fact that you always allow folks to comment to you even if they have a different viewpoint. You really are one cool guy.
ReplyDeleteWell, I read the whole run down, and I'm glad I did. Gene, can you do that again for the Homestead race? I have a feeling your race digest will be better than the race! Oh, and you're right, the commercials were some of the best parts. "Dead man talking" made me laugh, and Kellie Pickler in a tight tee shirt made my loins tighten! LOL
ReplyDeleteAll righty then,, the FXF are loaded up and will do post tomarrow.
ReplyDeleteVolfan,, Jimmie's car being recked, they knew he did not have a advantage over other drivers so they would have left it off the list to go over. BUT!! If you know if Kyle Busch's car had to be inspected then Jimmie's car was after all cause they where both parked in the garage next to each other and I find that odd that they didn't just load the 48 & 18 car up after the race.
Cheers2All
Vol...great to hear from you. Tell those K'ville Vols to quit picking on the Gamecocks...lol
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to keep up with their rules. They change them a lot...LOL
I think they take the highest finishing car of all 4 manufacturers. Plus 2 or 3 'random' cars. I just saw something that said that the crew chief of the 1st car out of the race picks a number. Whichever car finishes in that position, gets taken for inspection.
Just like most NASCAR rules, I doubt many of the drivers know how they choose who to inspect post race.