Monday, August 17, 2009

Random Thoughts from Michigan!!

Another weekend in Michigan has come and gone. Before we all get to pumped up and excited for Bristol, I thought I would take a few moments to look back at what happened the last two days.

* Jimmie Johnson and I finally have something in common. We both want to be weatherman. What other job can you get, where you can be wrong 50% of the time and still not be fired. o% percent chance of rain, yet still two delays. Atleast they ran it on Sunday eventually.

* Kyle Busch and Brian Vickers- Man I hate when two of my guys have a problem. You would think they would get along, both being HMS leftovers, but I digress. Although I freely admit Kyle acted rashly by running the 32 down on pit lane. But,I do see his point. Had Vickers run the line that he had been using all day, it would have come down to those 2 cars. By pulling down and running Kyle along the bottom, he did slow both cars down. Don't ask me how, its one of those aero deals. If Vickers spotter had kept him aware that the 88 was coming on the high side, he would have ran high, and he and Busch would have dueled for the win. The fastest two cars were Vickers and Busch, those two battling for a win would have been classic. Instead we got Bucky in the 88 playing the opportunist for a second time this season. I won't say Brad was lucky, he had his car in the right position to take advantage and when the time came he pounced.

* The pre-race both days included stories about Keselowski, being from Michigan, and donating tickets to 40-50 area workers, that have been laid off. It was a nice story.
What doesn't get reported, Kyle Busch donated 60 tickets to MIS for them to distribute. Maybe the public wouldn't think he was such an a-hole, if the media would report some things like this about the guy.

* Jimmy Johnson's driving ability called into question once again. Two HMS cars pitted on the same lap. Both had pressure from other cars. One managed to finish and the other didn't. Saving fuel is directly related to a drivers ability to maximize performance while not mashing the gas. Floating the car in, and pedaling off allow a driver to maintain some speed, while saving fuel. Some masters of this include Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, and Brian Vickers.

*While we are on the subject of JJ. He should have never been out front to begin with. He clearly jumped that last restart and should have recieved a penalty from Nascar. I think jumping the start is a pass through. I only heard Jarrett mention it once on the broadcast and have yet to see anyone talk about it anywhere else. I guess rules don't apply when JJ is gunning for a win.

* Kudos to the Red Bull team and Brian Vickers. I hope this allows them to finalize Brian's contract and get him a teammate that can provide some feedback and help. I like Speed, but he is not helping provide any info that would enable Red Bull to contend seriously for the title.

*Once again we are foiled by too much pre-race and not enough post-race. I raised the same issue during Fox's coverage. Please TV people, less pre, more post.

Well enough whining and crying. (HMMM maybe thats why I like Kyle, we both like to complain)

Hope everyone has a good week, I can't wait till Fri and Sat. I love me some Bristol night racing.

Thats just my opinion, I could be wrong. But probably not!

8 comments:

  1. Great points once again, although I tend to blame Knaus more than JJ for running out of gas. JJ went 2 laps further than he did at MIS 2 months ago...and still didn't make it! Why did Chad even try it? If there was no such thing as the Chase...Chad wouldn't have gambled.

    NOW, I know why I like Kyle too! LOL

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  2. Rain in the forecast all weekend at Bristol.

    Don't know about JJ jumping the start(don't get to see another race until Richmond), but as I understand restarts, the green flag only controls the start of the race. After that, the race leader sets the pace of the restart(don't understand it, but that's what the talking heads say).

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  3. STROKE,

    GREAT POST, GOOD INFO, THE RESTART THING HAS ME WONDERING, DOES THE LEADER GET THE LEAD ALL THE WAY ACROSS THE START-FINISH OR JUST TILL THE WHEELS HIT THE LEADING EDGE. NOW WE ALL HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO THINK ABOUT.

    GUNAQUAT

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  4. Another entertaining bunch o' thoughts stork. I would say JJ didnt "clearly" jump the start but boy was he within 1mm of Smoke when they crossed the line.

    I found the "new rule" pretty obnoxious too. When did they decide you had to "blend in" after faking a pit stop? Sounds like Edwards didnt know that one...

    JJ might have Achilles heal (or Lead Foot) in fuel mileage races...hmmmmm

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  5. thanks for stopping by and commenting everyone.

    kristen- the restart I was refering to was later in the race, and I believe JJ was on the inside of Vickers. He clearly beat the 83 to te line by half a car. My understanding is that it can be a Nascar judgement, if the lead spins his tires ( that happened in the NNS race the day before) Jimmy clearly jumped yet wasn't penalized.

    Mikey Waltrip mentioned it last night on This Week in Nascar ( Chad Knaus was conspicously absent) He said he was going to ask about it at this weeks drivers meeting.

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  6. Vickers was saving gas by drafting behind Jimmie,. The biggest mistake was the young crew chief for Mark Martin and in no way should they have been out just trying to finish on enought fuel. Mark and Dale Jr could have made the march to the front 1by1. Instead Mark gets a very bad finish and lost ground on making the chase.

    I think cause Jimmie gave Vickers the lead back they let him off on jumping the start. Now if he did it because of that or Vickers just took it back is another story.lol

    Nice run down. Cheers2You

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  7. JJ did beat Vickers by half a car link to the green on that restart. Agree with F2, JJ let Brian have the lead back (or did he) so he wasn't penalized.

    Have to disagree with F2 on blaming Martin's crew chief. Same guy looked like a genius 2 months ago when he won at the same track on mileage.

    I blame Knaus though. The 48 ran out last race at MIS...then tried to go even further on gas this time. WTH?

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  8. Nice write stork .....

    But Kyle Bush is out to lunch by trying to stand up another driver after the race, The cars did not even touch.

    The sooner that Kyle learns how to lose will be the sooner that he learns how to win.

    Concerning JJ, Gene is correct in that they are in the Big Show and can play games. This team is dangerous and is playing with the competition. The 48 bunch does not care about fuel mileage with the Chase but may have been better served to play the fuel game. This karma could bite them in the last 10 but they are the best in Cup by far. Every time Johnson gets the point he walks away.

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