pace from some of the hacks we’ve had earlier this season and their caterwauling that’s supposedly our National Anthem. And it seems like every driver they showed paid the proper respects to the flag. Jeffy Boy, Joey the Giraffe, Bow Wow Bowyer, Ragan, and Newman all had their hands and hats where they were supposed to be. So thank you gentlemen.
In a rather unusual change of pace with the coverage, they had one of Robby Gordon’s crewmembers as the over-the-wall camera guy and had Robby’s car selected as one of the camera cars. Monster Energy Drink sure missed out on a good opportunity there with all that exposure. Maybe a real sponsor will step up and put their name and logo on Robby’s car.
Saturday, before they ran the Cup Lite race, I sent out a Twitter and an e-mail or two saying that Marcos Ambrose would win a race over the weekend and I was proven right. He won the Cup Lite race. Now, how could I have predicted that to happen? It’s a pattern that I’ve seen developing over the last several years. See who all amongst the Kool Aid drinkers is picking what driver or how many articles are being written by them about a particular driver. Then look at the silly season activity, speculation, and announcements. If a driver who is popular with NA$CAR has announced that he’s switching teams or an announcement or articles say that driver is moving, he coincidentally wins after that move hit’s the lamestream media. Not to take anything away from Marcos as a driver or his abilities but it was an amazing coincidence. And I do like Marcos. He’s one of the driver’s who’s as genuine in real life as you see on the camera.
Something I’ve mentioned before is about the start times. Remember how we’re supposed to have a standardized start time? 1:00 pm is supposed to be the standard start time for East Coast races. The green flag didn’t get dropped until about 1:25 pm. So much for an accurate, standard start time.
Before the green flag dropped, Shrubbery had to pit because of a problem with his ballast weight and the crew had to install an aluminum spacer on the right rear wheel. So he started shotgun on the field. This, of course, would add an “exciting story line” to the show. Also, as Drab Brad is one of the owners of Ambrose car, we got the typical cheerleading that goes with both him and Crusty when their cars are on the track.
It was sort of funny seeing IRL signs around the track. I’m surprised that they didn’t get covered up or removed especially since all the business ties to the IRL have been dissolved by His Highness.
Once the green flag was finally dropped, McMurray got the lead in Turn #6. Nobody said for sure what happened to pole sitter Cousin/Crazy Carl. He dropped several positions. And we got to see 4 laps before the first batch of commercials were shown. The first round had 7 commercials which worked out to about 2 laps of racing. With the exception of cautions, BSPN would average 6 commercials per break. We’d get about 5 laps in between the commercial coverage.
On Lap 10, Kevin Conway would spin but no caution came out. That was something I would keep an eye on to see if a single car spin which didn’t block the course would bring out a caution if one of the Chosen Ones wasn’t leading. On lap 14, Robby Gordon and his baby brother Jeff both passed Johnson. On lap 15, we saw Newman pass Johnson. This was the start of a very long day for Johnson and the rest of Slick Rick’s boys. Then we got to see Ambrose pass Cousin/Crazy Carl. Lap 16, Johnson pitted for a possible flat left rear tire. This would put him a lap down. By this point, the leading cars had to contend with vehicles they were lapping.
On Lap 18, Ambrose got by McMurray, then Cousin/Crazy Carl got by McMurray, and the 82 went into the pits with a vibration problem. Lap 19, Ambrose went by mayor McCheese then on Lap 20; they mentioned that Shrubbery in the 18 was running 18th place before going to another round of commercial coverage.
After they got back on Lap 21, Robby Gordon was having transmission problems, apparently with 3rd gear. Lap 24 started the green flag pit stops. On Lap 28, the 1st caution came out when PJ Jones spun and then parked at The Bus Stop. Even though there was no debris, it took 3 laps to restart the race. JPM was leading and would lead most of the race. Lap 32 saw Ambrose pass Cousin/Crazy Carl for 2nd and then they’d go to more commercial coverage.
When the commercial coverage was interrupted, Marcos had passed JPM during commercial coverage so BSPN showed a replay of the pass. The 82 car was dead on the track which brought out caution #2 and the resulting restart on Lap 45 in which JPM got the lead in Turn 1. On Lap 50, Ambrose passed the Blue Goose. Caution #3 came out when Bow Wow Bowyer lost his drive shaft and had to go to the garage for some quick repairs. Caution #4 came out as a result of Boris Said (Who Said?) pinched Stewart down and Stewart spun Said into the wall.
Caution #5 came out when Mayor McCheese got into Johnson and then Hamlin got into Johnson and damaged the nose of his car to the point that Hamlin couldn’t return to the track. Hamlin’s remarks in the garage area talking about drivers dive bombing each other and a few other things probably got him another Double Secret Probation fine.
When they restarted on Lap 82, JPM was still leading. Ambrose had been gaining on JPM up until that caution and then started sliding back as he’d used up his tires chasing him down which allowed the Blue Goose to pass him. They mentioned that Robby Gordon was back on the track. Amazing how the Booth Buffoons had never done that before. It was a Day of Firsts.
When they came back from the next round of commercial coverage, JPM had a 2 second lead. Two laps later, he had a 4 second lead. Normally, that would’ve meant a Ms Terry DeBris caution for anyone other than a Chosen One, but as it was the Diversity Program Poster Boy, he was safe. Even though the 78 car had a broken track bar, flat tire, and was leaving debris on the track, no caution was called. On the last lap, the Blue Goose got by Ambrose moving him back to third which was where he’d finish.
All in all, it wasn’t a bad race because we were
able to see more than the usual suspects and
some good racing at various points around the
track. One thing that I found ironic was the
commercials for NA$CAR’s Diversity Program.
You have those commercials and the Poster Boy
for the Diversity Program winning. What an
amazing coincidence. Of course, one thing they
didn’t bother mentioning in the commercials
about NA$CAR’s Diversity Program is that once
the money runs out for the program’s drivers,
they get dropped faster than a hot potato. Marc
Davis is a prime example of how that happens.
He was driving for JGR under the Diversity
Program and once the money dried up, JGR dropped him.
Now that we’ve turned over things to the Iraqi Army as far as combat duty goes, we’ll be seeing some of our troops returning home in the near future. When they get back, thank them for all they’ve done for us and let them know we appreciate all the sacrifices they make for us on a daily basis.
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