Monday, November 22, 2010

View From The Flagstand

Our final View of 2010 was slightly anticlimactic, as the four-time champ became the five-time champ. Once again, Jimmie Johnson and his Lowe's crew prove that they are the masters of the Chase universe.

CHECKERED FLAGS

Carl Edwards won the race, his second in a row. This supposedly makes him a championship contender next year. Your 2010 Champion, Jimmie Johnson was second in the race, but walked away with the bigger prize. Kyle Busch clinched owner's championships in the CWTS on Friday, and in the NWS on Saturday with wins on both nights.

GREEN FLAGS

Kevin Harvick was third in the race, and third in the final standings. If only he could have led one lap he would have been second in the point's final tally. RPM's top two cars both had top-5s, as Aric Almirola was 4th and AJAllmendinger was 5th. Martin Truex Jr faded to 11th after leading several laps. Bill Elliott qualified 4th and wound up 15th, on the lead lap.

YELLOW FLAG

Kevin Harvick used an interesting strategy at Homestead... run over people for track position. While in 2nd place during the NW race, he ran into the back of some rookie, on the straightaway. New line? Sunday he did the same thing to Kyle Busch, parking Busch for the rest of the day with a charred car. Earlier, he cut down across the front of Busch, then Allmendinger on consecutive restarts.

RED FLAG

All the hype going into the season finale. I bought into the great shootout we were going to get in Homestead. Three contenders, separated by a handful of points, has to be spectacular, right? Uh, not really. All the smack about those three racing each other to settle it led to a grand total of ONE lap led between them. The race had enough cautions so it wasn't a complete snoozefest, but where was the mano-a-mano-a-mano action we were expecting? We got the usual CYA run from JJ while the other two had some bad luck.

BLACK FLAG

The last black flag of the year goes to.... Brian France. Surprised? This weekend he stated that, according to NASCAR's Fan Council, we love the Chase. I'll admit this year's Chase was the best one ever, but does anyone expect next year's to match it? Release the actual totals from the Fan Council, BZF.

I'm not a member of the Fan Council, but I know some of you are. Did the poll have just 'like' or 'don't like' as the only two options? Doubtful. I'm willing to bet that it had several options with terms such as 'somewhat like', 'like very much', 'like when Earnhardt is in it', etc.

THANKS

Thanks to all the readers at Spinout, at Sports Review Magazine, at Racing-Reference.info, and the peeps at Facebook. This is the last View of 2010, but I'll have a few reviews and projections during the off-season. Three months until the Daytona 500!


14 comments:

  1. Nice blog, totally agree! I am particularly glad to see the end of this season... Yep.. you guessed it... Earnhardt Jr fan... Come on 2011!

    Bumpdrafter.blogspot.com

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  2. Good one Gene... Especially the yellow flag for Kevin Harvick (maybe shoulda been a red one?). I guess it's who you pull for that colors which way a person views things like Kevin's suddenly vastly different driving style and then the comments about not putting up with other drivers' style when they happen to be in his sights...

    It was a great season but I don't think the Chase format had much to do with it. Circumstances made it possible and like history tells us, this type of finish is very unusual. How many years until the next set of circumstances makes it happen again?

    I look forward to once again reading and commenting on Spinout down the road... Think Daytona (hope to actually meet you there)...

    BTW good to see JD (a new NASCAR blogger on blogspot) on here looking and commenting on Lug Nuts!

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  3. Kevin technically led 4 laps...but they disallowed it since he was speeding in the pits, lol

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  4. had to pick the final option on the poll, Gene....mainly since the chase came into effect the season I started watching so it's not fair if I compare it to the old format.

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  5. I didn't get bent out of shape when Harvick punted Kyle, even though I had an interest in seeing Kyle finish ahead of Edwards, JJ, and Denny. Fact is, Kyle was being a good team mate for Denny. He was racing the 29 hard, trying to keep him boxed. Harvick needed to finish 1st to have a chance at the championship, and he made it clear before the race, he'd do whatever it took. Kind of looked to me, that Kevin walked the talk. Hardly what I'd call two-faced. lol

    Thanks for reporting the way you see things Gene. Been many occaisions, where you've helped me gain perspective, and see a bigger picture.

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  6. JD... Welcome to the Fan Addicts! You don't have to be an addict to be here, but it helps! lol

    Nice to see a Jr fan that hasn't jumped on every Chevy bandwagon (except JJ) for the last three years. Most of the old Nation went from Tony to Mark, to Kevin. Whichever Chevy driver was winning at the time. (B

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  7. Dwindy... that's the cost of 'have at it' driving. No skill involved... just drive through someone! I'd like to think that Kev would not have finished third if Kyle's car had not caught on fire.

    I'm looking forward to Daytona, brother!

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  8. Tez.... Harvick won't be penalized for intentionally wrecking someone.... but questioning NASCAR's integrity on the speeding call will result in a punishment. Boys, Have at it... just don't impugn NASCAR. What a joke!

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  9. CR.... No doubt Kyle was harassing Harvick, you mess with the bull...

    No doubt I think Kyle is the best driver out there, but he's not always right. No driver is. I always look at every incident from both drivers POV. Then ask myself if the drivers were switched around, would I still feel the same car was at fault?

    Kyle probably didn't have to hit Reuty at Kansas, just like Kevin prolly didn't have to hit Kyle yesterday. But, both were fed up with some perceived hard racing by the other driver. What goes around, comes around.

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  10. JD, welcome to Lug Nuts and Fan Addicts! Looking forward to reading your work!

    Gene, I've enjoyed your Spinout! and Right Sides Only throughout the season. Looking forward to next season and your views and perspectives. Remember, only 90 more days until the Daytona 500!!

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  11. Jon.... As you well know, it's a chore getting a regular post up every week, and we all appreciate your's, too. It gives me a different perspective on the same race. B)

    Are you coming to Daytona?

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  12. It was a bummer both Hamlin and Harvick battled issues throughout the day. Hamlin's three-wide attempt that sent him spinning is something Johnson would have never even thought of doing so early in the race. I guess that's why he has five trophies and Hamlin has none.

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  13. As a proud member (cough cough) of the advertising arm of NASCAR aka the fan council I can tell you they do not ask direct questions - they are all likert scale (1-10) ratings usually about the race broadcast, the race itself and how the race made me "feel" which I find to be a VERY odd question. Then they usually have follow up questions about some aspect of the sport - Miller Coors paid them a few weeks ago to ask about "Ms Coors Light" to see if any fans even knew who she was etc.

    That answer your question Gene?

    Gotta give you a standing-O for your outstanding blogs - god knows I cannot do it weekly (let alone 2x weekly!) anymore...

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  14. JM... Very doubtful that JJ would have went 3 wide at any point in the race. LOL

    Kristen... That is about what I expected as far as their fan voting.

    Rachel is a (cough cough) FB friend of mine.
    http://www.facebook.com/misscoorslight

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