Since I can tell this is gonna annoy me all year, I will post this info each week.
Ok three comments and I promise to move on. Michael Waltrip made the comment to turn California into a restrictor plate track. And the track president agreed with him. This is absolutely one of the most ridicules things I have ever heard....as ridicules as moving the Labor Day date to California from its rightful home, Darlington SC.
So now the rumor is that Atlanta and California may swap their fall dates. Well Atlanta ain't Darlington but it is a heck of a lot better than California on Labor Day Weekend. At least I will lift my boycott if this does happen. I can honestly say I have never been to a race in Atlanta where it was nice the whole weekend.
Bruton was on a roll this weekend. He also is advocating moving the Championship banquet from NYC to Vegas. My favorite part: He would sell a portion of the tickets to race fans. I've been preaching that for years.
On Saturday Mark Martin boots Carl Edwards but didn't mean to. Wouldn't it be funny if when Mark retires he says; "I meant to wreck every single guy I have ever run into. They're all a bunch of suckers to believe that nice guy routine of mine!"
Only the third race of the season and here are a few things I am already sick of hearing:
"I kid because I care"
"Boogity, Boggity, Boogity"
"Let’s go racin' boys" either sung or spoken.
Is it just me or does anyone else just not get the Blue Man Group?
OK did anyone count all the stupid Vegas jokes and comments this weekend? Hey, all you commentators...WE GET IT! They were in Las Vegas, gambling capital of the world.
Man when is the last time Bobby Labonte spun out by himself and hit the wall and not just once? And what was up with 5 Dodge drivers hitting the wall in practice?
I can finally get some sleep...they have named the gopher cam.
Pre-race started at 3:30 and the green flag didn't wave until 4:48. There is just no need for a pre-race show that lasts that long. We definitely could have done without the Rutledge/Jimmy Spencer skit.
The new phrase for the week is "virtual sellout". Not to be confused with a real sell out. And since they didn't bother with the 10,000 extra temporary seats they have in past years at Vegas is it really as sold out as it has been in the past?
And since it was sold out what was up with the bottom quarter of the grandstands in turn 4? Unless all those people were wearing the same shirts those seats were empty. And at lap 149, I caught a good look at those turn 4 grandstands and there were definitely a bunch of empty seats all around not just the bottom fourth.
What the heck was up with all the speeding penalties?
Ok, I like that Eury Jr. had to fill out a job application for Hendrick and put Dale Earnhardt Jr. down as a reference.
I guess Bruton should have used some of the millions he dumped into Vegas to make it a showplace to make sure there were safer barriers all around the track.
Denny Hamlin, Travis Kvapil, David Regan, Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne and Elliot Sadler all received the lucky dog pass and turned a bad day in to top 13 finishes.
So black flippin' Carl's car failed post race inspection because the lid of the oil tank reservoir was off. Five Nationwide Series teams were penalized for a similar violation at Daytona. Those five teams were penalized with the loss of 25 driver and owner championship points. And we will wait and see what happens to Cousin Carl.
SURPRISES OF THE RACE:
The odds were against them to make it four in a row, but man the 48 team had a bad day. When was the last time they finished so badly without wrecking but by just being so far off?
David Regan and Travis Kvapil finish 7th and 8th. Good for them.
Kyle Busch for the third straight week dominates early then the 18 team can't close the deal.
Mark Martin booted the leaders in the Saturday race....who would have thunk it?
WHERE'S MY GOODYS?
Brad Keselowski seemed to have a chance to
win Saturday’s race before Mark Martin got into
Carl Edwards. You gotta feel bad for him.
Tony had a right front tire go down and hit the
wall hard. It was obvious he was shook up
'cause he didn't say a word about those
Goodyears.
Jeremy Mayfield had a decent run going with a
top 15 until he got a little tap and went around.
His team mate Scott Riggs had a great run
going in the #66 until he spun out on lap 180.
Kurt Busch humped it all day to get back on the lead lap after a speeding penalty early, finally got
it back, then had a tire go down and hit the wall with 10 to go.
Jeff Gordon had a top 4 going when he got loose, got into Kenseth then slammed the inside wall. 3 races and 2 DNF's. Last year he only had 1 DNF the whole year and a record number of top 10's. maybe he is just getting his bad luck out of the way early.
REAL LAP LEADERS:
According to NASCAR.com there were 19 lead changes. Riggs, Martin, Stewart, Kenseth and Earnhardt all lead a lap or two during the green flag pit stop or by staying out under caution. So 5 of the 19 lead changes really don't count. As to actually passes for the lead under green, there were only 5. All others occurred when some one won the race out of the pits. (Info gathered at www.jayski.com and www.nascar.com )
THE READERS DIGEST VERSION OF THE RACE: Whichever car got in the lead took off. With only 5 lead changes under green flag conditions, it seems that the only racin' we may be seein' this year is the drag race out of the pits.
Ok race fans. We're off to Hotlanter where the racin' is always hot and the weather is always cold.
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