Another weekend, another rained out race. Last Saturday’s NNS event was cancelled as severe weather rolled across the South. This led to the flagman pulling double duty at the Talladega two-fer on Sunday.
CHECKERED FLAGS
Kevin Harvick led two laps, and won for the first time in 115 races. Or, for the second time since, lame duck sponsor, Shell/Pennzoil came aboard his RCR Chevy. Harvick set up Jamie McMurray perfectly through the tri-oval and won by about two feet. Brad Keselowski’s last lap pass in the NNS race kept Harvick from hitting the daily double.
GREEN FLAGS
McMurray was second and his EGR teammate, Juan Montoya, came home third. Denny Hamlin was strong all race long and ended up fourth. David Ragan (6) and Mike Bliss (10) had surprising finishes. The race itself also gets a bonus flag as new records for leaders (29) and lead changes (88) for a single race were set.
YELLOW FLAGS
Several ‘Big Ones’ and three Green, White, Checkered restarts at the end left a lot of carnage in the garages on Sunday. Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon continued their quasi-feud as they again locked horns over real estate. Hey boys, it’s a big track.
RED FLAG
Part-time racer, and full-time annoyance, Michael Waltrip was quick to criticize Kyle Busch for starting one of the Big Ones. There was a lot of bump-drafting going on out there, and that’s all Busch did to Johnny Sauter. Sauter thinks he’s a tough guy, and a great driver, but he couldn’t handle a little shot in the rear. The irony is that Mikey’s pitiful attempt at bump-drafting had earlier caused Hamlin to spin out.
BLACK FLAG
The weather! Enough is enough! I’m sure Al Gore is dreaming up a theory about NASCAR’s carbon footprint causing El Nino to begin early, and the resulting global warming is causing unusual precipitation patterns around large asphalt ovals.
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Good Spinout! as usual. I think JJ is trying his hardest to act the tough guy, but he comes off acting like a douche bag. More retaliation will follow, as aggrieved drivers (see: Busch, Kurt; Gordon, Jeff) will take their pent-up anger out on JJ.
ReplyDeleteIt was quite a day of racing. That Nationwide finish was something as well. As for the big one, if Kyle hadn't started it, someone else would have at some point. That stuff just happens at Talladega. Overall i thought it was a pretty clean race until the overtimes.
ReplyDeleteLoved Harvick's slam on Penzoil in VL...hehehee
ReplyDeleteI dunno, I think JJ just isn't that good of a driver on those restrictor plate tracks but I'd love to see open season & have at it boys directed at him...
Thanks for starting the chat this week - I'll be flying home from Cleveland during Richmond so feel free to chat it up again!
This was one race that kept me awake the entire race finally. Certainly one of the better ones this year.
ReplyDeleteJeff and J.J. feud. Maybe Jeff will punt J.J. out of the way to win a race in the future. I would definitely pay to see that.
Jon....I heard Harvick on the radio Wednesday and he said that Gordon is a lot tougher than the fans would think....he didn't mention JJ...LOL
ReplyDeleteJM....Yes, both races were very exciting, in different ways though.
KLV...Yep, nice dig that Harvick had to get in there. open season on JJ would be sahweet. I'll be at an Arena Football game Saturday night, so maybe Speedy will stir the chat stew?
Photo...good to see you around, partner. Love to see Jeff punt JJ... on, or off the track. LOL