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!

The Two Faces of Jimmie Johnson!

All we normally see of Jimmie Johnson is the Mr. Cool exterior that he portrays during interviews. Well those of us with Nascar.com's Trackpass got more than that on Saturday night.

During and after an altercation with the 6 of David Ragan, Jimmie let his darker side out of the box. Understandibly angry with David after being ran into, JJ let loose a flurry of expletives and threats. At one point he was so angry he was unintelligible. There was also talk of ripping his MFing head off. When told that Ragan hit the wall after hitting the 48, Jimmie replied " Good for that MFer"

Lest all you 48 fans think I am bashing Mr Johnson for this outburst. Please refrain from attacking me. I found it refreshing that Jimmie has this mean streak. Its nice to see him show that emotion. I am sure he has these outburst from time to time. Its to be expected from all the drivers. It was just the first time I ever heard it from him.

Just so everyone doesn't think I am getting all cozy with the 48 and the HMS crew, I do have a few other revelations learned from listening to the highlights of Johnson in-car audio.

I think Chad Knaus, in addition to being a top notch crewchief, would also make a great Lamaze coach. I counted atleast 3 times were he told JJ to "calm down and take a deep breath". It was quite funny.

The quote of the night from the 48 in-car however was during the stop in which Kevin Harvick helped Jimmie park his car at a 90' angle to the wall. After getting the car pointed the right direction, Jimmy said " @#%& What did we do to deserve all this". Then I thought I heard him ask for a tissue. Well just kidding about the tissue part.

Anyway just some insights from the 48 in-car radio, some I were impressed with, others well lets just say I got a good laugh.

Seriously though, I am not a paid shill for that service, but it does add a little flavor to just watching the races. It usually gets a little behind due to buffering, but it is uncensored and great entertainment. I recommend it highly, you can get great insight into your favorite driver and his team.

Is Jimmy Johnson Overrated??

I have seen this question posed about Dale Jr. and it got me thinking about who else could be overrated in Nascar. Let me point out that i neither like nor dislike JJ as a driver, and that i am no fan of HMS as a team. Also let me say that i think Jimmie is a good driver. However I think his success outweighs his ability.

What does that mean you say?? It means that i think if you put any number of "good drivers" in the 48 with Chad Knaus as crewchief, they would put up "great driver" numbers.

The proof you ask?? Well there really isn't any, but let me ask you this. Did anyone know who Jimmie Johnson was prior to 2002, when he won 3 races. Lets look at his history..
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He started out racing motorcycles and off-road trucks. He did well here, but is off-road racing a sign of a great Nascar driver. No, see Robby Gordon for defense exibit A.

He then went on to run ASA and the then Busch series. In 1999 he ran a full ASA season winning twice and finishing 3rd in points. Is being a good ASA driver a sign of a great NASCAR driver. No, see Frank Kimmel for defense exibit B. In 2000 and 01 he ran full Busch seasons, finishing 10th and 8th in pts. Sure sign of greatness, Nope see Elton Sawyer ( finished higher in pts both years) for defense exhibit C.

Then in 2002 a miracle for Jimmy happened. He came to Sprint Cup in great equipment (the HMS 48) and was paired with Chad Knaus. Low and behold a 3 win rookie season and finished 5th in season points.

We all know the rest of the story. Now before you start the angry, your a JJ hater, comments. Please note i am not saying that Jimmy is a bad driver. I just think that Chad Knaus's ability to adapt the car to changing track conditions, with the obvious quality of HMS cars adds up to a package that would make any good driver into a "great one"

I would love to see what would happen if you put Jr into the 48 and JJ in the 88. My guess is that Jr would start competing and Jimmy would be begging to go back to the 48.

So anyway, that just my opimion i could be wrong, but probably not. Let the angry comments begin.....