CHECKERED FLAG
Juan Montoya calmed down enough to dominate on Sunday for his second career Cup win. He has now won on both of the road courses that the Cup Series visits each year.
GREEN FLAGS
Marcos Ambrose won on Saturday at the Glen and had a strong third place showing on Sunday. Jamie McMurray started second, led the first five laps, and wound up in sixth place. AJ Allmendinger hung out in the top-5 all day, and scored an impressive fourth place finish. Andy Lally kept his #71 Chevy on the lead lap, and passed Mark Martin at the end for 18th.
YELLOW FLAG
Is the old Tony Stewart returning? He hasn't won, or been on probation for awhile now. He appeared to dump Boris Said for no other reason than he didn't want to have to pass him clean if Said got by him.
**Addendum.... To be fair, after Jeff Gordon's display at Sonoma, Smoke did give a warning about no more Mr Nice Guy.
RED FLAG
Are all the lug nuts on tight at Hendrick? Two weeks ago at Indy HMS had no top-10 finishers, out of their four entries. Sunday at the Glen, Jeff Gordon finishing 10th is all that kept it from happening again. This is the time of year (pre-Chase) when Jimmie Johnson's #48 team normally would be on cruise control. Unless they are testing exotic set-ups, and I could see them still winning 3-4 Chase races, the Lowes team looks ripe for the taking.
BLACK FLAG
How many cameras does ESPN use to cover a race? Two? Three? Sure you're not going to catch every wreck, or every pass, but these last two weeks have been brutal with the missed shots. Even worse, sometimes it seems that they have a camera perfectly focused on the action.... and they yank it away just as something is fixing to jump off.
don't forget how many lead changes happen while we're on ad breaks, lol
ReplyDeleteFour more races... Just four more chances...
ReplyDeleteHere's the Chase Standings:
-----------------------Points--Chs.Pts.
---Driver------Points---Back----Back
1 Kevin Harvick-3210----------------
2 Jeff Gordon---3025----185---------
3 Jeff Burton---2895----315---------
4 Kurt Busch----2892----318---------
5 J. Johnson----2882----328---------
6 Denny Hamlin--2872----338---------
7 Kyle Busch----2866----344---------
8 Tony Stewart--2865----345---------
9 Carl Edwards--2821----389---------
10 Matt Kenseth-2806----404---------
11 Greg Biffle--2743----467---------
12 Mark Martin--2641----569---------
13 Clint Bowyer-2631----579-----10
14 Ryan Newman--2558----652-----83
15 J. McMurray--2547----663-----94
16 D. Earnhardt-2520----690----121
17 Kasey Kahne--2508----702----133
18 D. Reutimann-2475----735----166
19 Juan Montoya-2436----774----205
20 M. Truex Jr.-2401----809----240
Looks like six guys have a legitimate shot... Who's gonna pull it out? You've got a couple of southern boys in the mix...
I have to admit I voted Chicago style for Clint Boyer... :(
Vote Early and Often!
What's a po boy to do?
BTW ESPN's coverage is the pits (and I'm being VERY nice about it...
Where's DW when we really need him?
Can you help me explain to my "boy friend" that the drivers ARE cleaning their tires by weaving back and forth? He doesn't believe that or that you're not supposed to put just water in a cup to get hot in a microwave for coffee.
ReplyDeleteWhich way do I vote? The first race attended....dirt track - with family about 5 years old; Nascar - given free tickets to Martinsville, age not relevant.lol
Oh, and my very first date EVER at age 16 was to at the Athens Speedway dirt track. I know, you didn't ask, but it just seems like everyone wants to tell you everything lately!
ReplyDeleteGene, no Kurt Busch for your Green flag? Or how about Kyle for that matter, having started somewhere around Syracuse and finishing in the top 10? Kurt finished second, his best ever showing on a road course. I'm just sayin'....
ReplyDeleteTez... Yes! That's another thing, they go to break just as the 2nd place guy pulls out to go for the lead.
ReplyDeleteD-Man... Come on! DW?! If he had any credibility at all, he lost it today when he said that KY Speedway getting a Cup race next year is the greatest moment of his racing career. Pulleezze!
ATH... I thought they just weaved back and forth because it looked cool. It seems that you have half the choices for the poll.
ReplyDeleteJon... I try and include guys in my Green Flags that aren't up front every week... like Lally. 18th isn't that great, but it probably felt great to him when he passed Mark for it on the last lap.
Gene,
ReplyDeleteDW is a Kentuckian... Just like ol Dan'l Boone. Now you don't expect him not to be excited about a big time race in his home state do ya?
You didn't give me your pick for the Chase...
Gene, all good. Just was curious at the omission of Kurt Busch on his best road course run of his career. (Busch normally doesn't run well on road courses.) Lally did have a good run at the Glen, though.
ReplyDeleteDwindy... one of these three will win the championship.... JJ, Harvick, or Gordon. I'll take Harvick.
ReplyDeleteThe safety improvements are nice, but Boris still bent the wall where he hit it. This is 2010, the wall on one of the fastest parts of the track should not be the same thing that sits on our local back roads.
ReplyDeleteThis is the worst I've seen Hendrick in a long, long time. At this point, who is the dominant team? Childress? The Gibbs guys struggled for the most part Sunday as well.
Woo! Go Jon! Defend my boy in his 350th start! I'll take Gene's omission of Kurt as a complement in that he assumes Kurt is running up front!
ReplyDeleteESPN coverage is pathetic...but arent they all?
Chase I hope goes to anyone but Martin!! Go Junyer!
JM... we still know that HMS will be right there in the Chase. I believe Harvick is the only competition JJ and JG will have for the title.
ReplyDeleteKris...Yes, Kurtis up front quite a bit this year. I usually mention the ones who aren't or the ones who were especially dominant.