CHECKERED FLAG
Denny Hamlin talked the talk before qualifying; then he went out and backed it up. After a slow start, Hamlin got his groove back and was among the fastest cars all day. After his third win in a row at his home state track, Hamlin is just six points behind Jimmie Johnson in the standings.
GREEN FLAGS
Along with Hamlin, JGR's Kyle Busch (4) and Joey Logano (6) were strong at the half mile track. Mark Martin came from two laps down to finish 2nd. Dale Earnhardt Jr makes his quarterly appearance here by leading 90 laps and coming home 7th. Brad Keselowski finally got his first Cup top-10 finish with his 10th place run. Ken Schrader led 7 laps and wound up 18th.
YELLOW FLAGS
There was plenty of rooting and gouging, punting, dumping, and even some one fingered saluting. Some innocent bystanders got a raw deal... sorry Regan Smith, Sam Hornish was trying to wreck someone else. Both Busch brothers were laying on their chrome horns. It was nice to see some drivers saying, "Points be damned."
RED FLAG
The RCR organization is not looking very classy right about now. Kevin Harvick threw his crew under the bus last week, so they were traded for Clint Bowyer's over the wall bunch. Bowyer tried to say all the right "team player" type things, but he no-sold it. Sunday, after a solid third place finish, Harvick praised his new crew, effectively throwing one last jab at his old guys.
As if he didn't create enough drama in the pits, Harvick spazzed out on his other teammate, Jeff Burton. Evidently, Kev doesn't like getting passed cleanly. Even though I don't like Burton's holier than thou, self-appointed Mayor, act, his post race comments spoke volumes. He wondered why Happy is always in the middle of the drama, and suggested that maybe everybody else isn't always at fault, Kevin.
BLACK FLAG
The trip back from the engraver. Maybe JJ does not have this one locked up just yet.
It's a good thing to see some competition for the Cup...
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed a picture I ran across of JJ in the pits after the race with a worried expression... Was it just for show? Has Hendrick got something up his sleeve? Is the death star fully functional?
I guess we had some puntin' and passin' but no kickin' and the wrong drivers were gettin' punted... CARUMBA!
Concerning your poll... I have to say that ESPN is doing a very good job (IMHO) promoting NASCAR but I voted for Speed TV based on good ol' crusty "state the obvious" Rusty Wallace...
Thanks Gene!
Gene, while I didn't agree with the way Happy went about dissing his old crew, (And I thought he was wrong in throwing said crew under the bus.) you can't argue with the pit results with his new crew. He was consistently gaining spots with his new crew, whereas with his old crew, he was consistently LOSING spots. I put his old crew in the Bad category a few times. I thought I saw a few tire tracks on a couple of Bowyer's new crew members...
ReplyDeleteI unfortunately had to blow thru this race on x16 speed cuz hubby just could not tolerate watching so missed a lot of good racing. Worst yet I have a horse show next weekend so will miss always fav Dega - which seems like will determine the winner this Chase. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteHarvick is a bit of a drama queen but I like hot heads - dont like drivers that throw their crews under the bus though but his crew was pretty bad.
Points be damned!!
Dwindy... I've noticed that ESPN is showing a ton of NASCAR promos during their college football games.
ReplyDeleteI believe if Hamlin can leave Talladega no further 20 points behind JJ, he might have a shot.
Jon... I have no problem with Harvick trashing his crew or teammates. It shows a burning desire to win. Only wish I knew how come it's whining when Kyle does it, but not for Harvick. lol
ReplyDeleteKristen... you missed a great one. This Chase, and the entire season in general, has had the best races in a looong time. And less viewers. lol
ReplyDeleteThose hot heads want to win.... but the 4 time champ is winning without getting flustered. I hate that! lol