Show of hands. How many of you actually thought Jimmie Johnson wouldn't dominate this week in Phoenix after his misfortune last week at Texas? Came back like a lost dog in a Disney movie. Okay, put your hands down.
Congratulations to all who have endured the last nine months of the NASCAR season....just to see JJ crowned "King of the Chase" once again. We wrap it up this Sunday in Homestead, then in less than three months the boys are back on track at Daytona. Amazing, two races in Florida....one, "Meh". The other, "all right, drop the rag, let's roll"!
CHECKERED FLAG.....Jimmie Johnson dominated on Sunday leading 238 of the 312 laps at Phoenix. This after an early wreck last week had narrowed his points lead to 73 over Mark Martin. JJ's lead is back up to 108 now.
GREEN FLAGS......Martin Truex Jr won the pole and finished fifth. Jeff Burton (2nd) seems to have turned the corner on a bad season. Denny Hamlin (3rd) and Martin (4th) did all they could and never came close to Johnson. Kurt Busch (6th) led some laps and appears to be running better with the lame duck crew chief than they were before Pat Tryson gave his notice. Kevin Harvick won the Truck race on Friday and came home second in the NNS race on Saturday.
YELLOW FLAG.....Dale Earnhardt Jr caused the big one.... on a one mile track! Lil E lost it coming off turn four while in front of a pack of cars during a double file restart. He also didn't get enough of the blame for the othe non-debris caution. Again during a restart, Jr braked hard, and pulled down, but not out of the way of anyone behind him. The car in front of him (Juan Montoya, I think) didn't hit anyone, and there were several car lengths between Jr and JPM when Jr hit the brakes.
RED FLAG.....I'm taking reader's suggestions this week on the red flag. I'm tired of giving it to ABC, and, or NASCAR evry freakin' week! I don't know if I can take Jerry "Waterboard" Punch one more week.
BLACK FLAG.....Brad Keselowski. Just who does this kid think he is? Kyle Busch, or something? His talent has surprised me this year, I'd like to see what he could do in the #88 Cup car. But this guy thinks he's a veteran for some reason. He hasn't paid his dues....yet!
.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sorry Gene. The black flag has to go to the ABC announcers who tried to cover for Jr saying "maybe" an oil leak contributed to his ever more frequent encounters with momentary talent loss. Kinda like a tourettes syndrome for driving ability.
ReplyDeleteGene:
ReplyDeleteIt is the same thing every week on the red flag and rightfully so. Why don't you just make ABC and NASCAR the permanent red flaggers.
I just find it hard to believe that 38 ( not counting the start and park drivers)other drivers cannot come up with some thing to beat JJ more frequently the last 4 years. Some thing is amiss.
I meant red flag.........
ReplyDeleteYou nailed the opening two paragraphs this week. Nice job. I'm glad to see Burton have a good run, hopefully next year the entire RCR crew will be back in the mix.
ReplyDeleteSoCal....glad you're back. Jr is in a no-win situation....Get it? LOL
ReplyDeletePhoto....It does seem strange. Might we not be giving JJ enough credit as a great driver?
JMayer....If it is this much HMS (counting SHR) next year, NASCAR may never recover. They better hope that RCR and RFR and Penske win some races next year.
since the introduction of the new car, the ratio for HMS has improved from 1 win every 5 races to 1 every 3....
ReplyDeleteOh Gene you giving credit to Jr for the only excitement in the race, its so unlike you to be so nice to him! =P
ReplyDeleteOh Ma Gawd if I heard Jerry Punch yak about JJ one more time last week ... He makes Rusty sound good. All due credit to JJ but there are other things to talk about. Oh and my pet peeve - why go to Tims inane cutaway garage RIGHT when Kurt was battling JJ for the lead?? It was quite possibly one of only a handful of passes not a restart and we had to watch in the tiny box as Brewer explains fire out the tailpipe....OY!!
That is an amazing stat Tez...
Tez....does that also include Tony Stewart's wins this year? LOL
ReplyDeleteKLV....Your right, that was the only excitement of the race. WTG, Jr!! If only he would have gave ABC an interview during, or after, the race. Fans get upset when every driver isn't available for interviews at all times. LOL
Mama said, "if you can't say somethin' nice, don't say anythin' at all". Well, my mom never said it. Jo mama?
ReplyDeleteAnyone going to the show in Vegas?
Anyone?
The asphalt in Phoenix is starting to look like sections of route 66 that are still accessible.
Even though you gave him the Green Flag, maybe Jimmie and the 48 team need the red flag for stinking up the chase for the fourth year in a row. lol
ReplyDeleteSorry I meant the checkered flag not the Green Flag. My bad.
ReplyDeleteCR....HaHa....my mom said, "if you can't say anything nice, start blogging."
ReplyDeleteWhich show are we going to? Is 'O' by Circ de Solei still there? It was awesome the last time I was there.
Ts....Yes! I would love to black flag the entire HMS outfit!
Are you talking about the first restart when Jr turn left to avoid hitting Biffle as the second big reck he caused?
ReplyDelete75 percent of the coverage was on Lowe's, Near the end with a few laps to go it was the Lowe's show to Chad to burn out to commercial to victory lane to champ points to commercial to victory lane to Mark Martin to victory lane. Not to mention the first 30 or so laps that Kurt Busch had the lead and only showing him in the lead when they gone to commercials.
Past champion's won it with by racing 30 to 43 drivers for 24 to 34 races a season give or take a few. Jimmie has won 3 by racing 10 to 12 drivers for 10 races and they want to put him up with the past champions is a disgrace to them.
NASCAR needs something to turn it around and that driver will be Mark Martin this Sunday as the big upset is going to happen.
Great post,,Cheers
PS - I am not knocking how great Jimmie & Chad are cause right now they are the best at this new car and chase format. Just comparing his championships to the past winners.
ReplyDeleteCheers2All
F2....Maybe a FxF of the restart wreck that happened just as they were getting the green flag? It happened right after the first caution for 'debris'.
ReplyDeleteI had a couple of blogs last year that said that there was no way that JJ's 3 in a row were as impressive as C Yarborough's 3 in a row. Mainly because Cale had to RACE, all out, for 36 races a year....not 10. I was very surprised that about half of the fans disagreed with me on that.
Hany, No need for the FxF on that first restart, cause Jimmie Johnson caused it. Mark Martin got a great start on Jimmie, Jimmie knew it and slowed up, this making Mark as well as not to reach the start/finish line before Jimmie.
ReplyDeleteThe first 3 cars high and low where stuck together. Jr did the right thing by avoiding slamming Biffle as they all started to check up. Next thing you know Jimmie wants the out side lane and making Mark take inside and blows him away on that very next re-start. Can you say 5 bonus points for Mark leading a lap down the drain, cause he had Jimmie when they where recking behind them on that first restart.
At that track they need to make the re-start line sooner just aftr the turn 4. It will be hard for those still in the turn but think it will help file them down the short front strech, same with Bristol.
I told Jon464 Jeff Gordon wins his 3rd championship in a row over Terry Labontte in the chase format, I took the time and added the last 10 races and bonus points for wins in season. Maybe I will do up the other 3 seasons to see if he pulled off the 4 in a row by chase format. I first look up my driver Dale Sr to see if he could have and he still came in 3rd to Bill Elliot in chase format. Now I hate the chase format but that would have been a barn burner with Dale Sr, Rusty, and Bill and heck even Darrel was forth.
Cheers2You
JJ's 3 in a row is impressive for this chase format/decade with out a doubt and there is nothing in the cooker that say's he can't win more unless they change some of the tracks.
ReplyDeleteBrian France has stated this is there big headline pull. Again he dosn't get it, It may be great for Dynistys in other team sports but not in racing. Even if Jimmie was my driver it wouldn't be fun seeing him wipe the field and win cause there wasn't any compation.
If my favorit football team blows a team out in the first half whats the point in watching the second half when you know they've won the game. Its boaring to me, I say the best race was Dale Sr last win when he had to come up threw the field with 4 laps to go. More excititng cheering him on then if he was way out front if you know what I mean.
F-2....I guess it's hard to blame anyone for those wrecks on the restarts. It starts at the front----and they don't get wrecked----then by the time it gets to mid-pack, they're slamming the brakes and each other. lol
ReplyDeleteI don't think you can really 'know' how many points someone would have based on another system. I doubt JJ would have been so far behind Stewart after 26 races this year if there was not a Chase. He probably would have been way out in front. Chad's strategy would be different, so you really can't say they would all have the same amount of points now as they would under the old system.
lol, no I didn't include SHR in that....but wasn't the whole point of this car to even out the playing field a bit?
ReplyDeleteI know they (NASCAR and the commentators) made a big fuss over the idea that you could take a Bristol car to Talladega and whatnot but I'd rather see different guys winning races.
I mean, I already watch a series where you pretty much know who's most likely going to win after qualifying; it's called Formula 1, lol
Tez....yes, quite a laugh when NASCAR said they could race the same car at Bristol and Talladega. Even bigger laugh when they said it would save the teams some money. The teams with the most money always come out on top...in any series.
ReplyDelete