|| *Comments on the 2009 Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400:* View the most recent comment <#66> | Post a comment <#post> 1. John Royal posted: 05.03.2009 - 7:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) While Jeff Gordon decided to stay out some 100 laps to go, I knew that was stupid move. In every yellow I prayed he would come in change all four - never happened. I don't know how can you make so stupid decisions at that level, theres no way you can drive away with 100 lap old tires when other guys have only 50 lap old tires. Luckily because some cautions he only faded to 8th position. It is always nice to see Kyle winning because of how much people dislike him :D 2. Dodge posted: 05.03.2009 - 9:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree about your Busch statement, John. I am not surprised about Gordon staying out because I personally don't think that Letarte is a good crew chief, although I dislike Jeff Gordon. I was hoping that Kasey was going to have a good night but spun out twice. 3. Mr. Big posted: 05.03.2009 - 9:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone else think the front tire changer on Denny Hamlin's pit crew will be gone come Monday? Hamlin had the best car for the first 300 laps, but then it was Busch who took over late in the race. Finally a good finish for Casey Mears. Good finish for Sam Hornish Jr. and Marcos Ambrose as well. 4. Andrelli posted: 05.03.2009 - 10:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Way to go Tony Raines!!!!! 5. Timmy Q posted: 05.03.2009 - 10:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'll defend Steve L. here. Gordon had done really well earlier in the race by getting out front and it was an interesting gamble to see if they could win and get the ten bonus points for the Chase. Now, I disagree on not bringing him in later - I felt like he had a better car than Kyle and Tony, so pitting at the same time as them would probably have let those three battle for the victory. Still, Jeff probably didn't have the winning car, so why not take the gamble? Other notes: Casey Mears gets his first top-ten finish of '09 (first race with Todd Berrier) as crew chief. Someone has flipped a switch on Sam Hornish, Jr. A sixth place finish - second top-ten in the last three races. JPM's first ever top-ten at Richmond Marcos Ambrose, what else is there to say about him? Ran top-five most of Bristol and here at Richmond finished just out of the top-ten after getting his first top-five at Talladega. Good run for Joey Logano too. 6. Woodbridge posted: 05.03.2009 - 11:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Best career finish for Sideways Sam, who punted half of the field out of the way to get there. Marcos Ambrose is the truth. 7. Bronco posted: 05.03.2009 - 11:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Huge heartbreak as Hamlin leads the most laps for the second straight spring Richmond race, yet comes home empty handed. You can't help but feel bad for him whether you're a Hamlin fan or not. Dale Jr pretty much proved that last week's 2nd place finish was a complete fluke. How can you finish 27th, one lap down at your best track??? Shame on Mr. Hendrick for not giving him a new crew chief. I can't believe they hold a three hour meeting on how to make the 88 team competitive again...and in the end they decide to do nothing!!! If Mr. Hendrick truly cares about making Dale Jr competitive or ever winning a championship, he needs to make changes NOW, whether Dale Jr likes it or not. Good runs for Sideways Sam who scored a career best finish, and for Casey Mears for FINALLY getting a top 10 in the 07 car. And Marcos Ambrose continues to impress me by finishing 11th despite crashing. 8. Baker posted: 05.03.2009 - 11:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stewart Haas is coming! 9. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 11:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch ties Jeff Gordon with most wins before the age of 25. Sam Hornish, Jr. gets his bet finish in his career. Jamie McMurray gets his best finish of the year so far. Casey Mears gets his first top 10 since Homestead last year. Robby Gordon gets his best finsh since Las Vegas. 10. RaceFanX posted: 05.03.2009 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch becomes the second driver to win a Cup race on his birthday, Cale did so in 1977 Brad Keselowski becomes the first Cup winner in recent memory to deliberately skip the following race. When's the last time that happened? David Stremme had a special black and blue paint job to promote the then-new "Star Trek" movie. His car looked like it had faced the "Wrath of Khan" after he wrecked it. 11. NazRacePhan posted: 05.03.2009 - 2:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 3/27/77 at Wilkesboro and then 3/27/83 at Atlanta, so TWICE, Cale did it! 12. hyperacti posted: 05.03.2009 - 2:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "When's the last time that happened?" In 2002 when Jamie McMurray subbed for Sterling Marlin. 13. Smokefan05 posted: 05.03.2009 - 2:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good runs for JaimeMc, Sam Jr., Mr.Mears and RG. Tony is going to take a win this year (i hope). 14. John Royal posted: 05.03.2009 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) RaceFanX, Jamie McMurray, Charlotte 2002 15. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) RaceFanX, The last time a first cup winner to deliberately skip the next race before Brad Keselowski was Mark Donohue in 1973. 16. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Royal is correct about Jamie McMurry deliberately skip the next race. NazRacePhan, Cale didn't miss a race in 1977. 17. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As someone else said, the last time a winner from the week before skipped the race was McMurray in 2002. Interestingly, it was Mike Bliss who drove the 40 at Talladega that week, and it was Mike Bliss who drove the 09 at Richmond this week. 18. Dodge posted: 05.03.2009 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I personally am glad that Denny didn't win. Last year his comments after the Nationwide series, something like "I'm a Cup driver, the Nationwide drivers shouldn't race me" really rubbed me wrong that I no longer respect him. 19. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 5:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kyle Busch ties Jeff Gordon with most wins before the age of 25." Well yeah... and Kyle Busch ran his first full year at 19 years old, compared to Jeff Gordon at 22. 20. Bronco posted: 05.03.2009 - 7:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Interestingly, it was Mike Bliss who drove the 40 at Talladega that week, and it was Mike Bliss who drove the 09 at Richmond this week." Actually Mike Bliss subbed for McMurray at Martinsville, not Talladega. Talladega was where McMurray made his first career start. "I personally am glad that Denny didn't win. Last year his comments after the Nationwide series, something like "I'm a Cup driver, the Nationwide drivers shouldn't race me" really rubbed me wrong that I no longer respect him." True, but he's not the only one who's said stuff like that. Bowyer last got pissed off at Stremme for moving him out of the way at Nashville, and a year ago in this race Shrub yelled at Steve Wallace, only to have Steve totally rattle his cage. Also the Reut falls out of the top 12 for the first time this year. Hopefully he'll move back up. I expect Kenseth to fall out soon. 21. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Actually Mike Bliss subbed for McMurray at Martinsville, not Talladega. Talladega was where McMurray made his first career start" That's right. I read what was said on jayski in a hurry and got the idea that it was Talladega. 22. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 8:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @05.03.09 - 5:33 pm , Your age info is incorrect between the two drivers as rookies. Jeff Gordon was 1 year, and almost 9 months older than Kyle in their rookies years in cup. That means there is no 3 year difference as rookie drivers in cup. Jeff Gordon was 21 when his rookie year started in 1993. He became 22 in August 4th. Kyle Busch was 19 at Daytona in 2005, but he turned 20 on May 2nd. 23. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 9:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) my bad, it's a 2 year difference. the point remains, though. when you're talking about a race to 25, close to two years is huge. there were also less races/opportunities in the early 90's. Kyle Busch - 160 starts, 15 wins. Jeff Gordon (under 25) - 143 starts, 26 wins. so wait a minute, your "fact" wasn't even accurate. it's a nonsense stat to begin with. Before Kyle turns 25, he'll have close to 60 more starts than Gordon did when he turned 25. 24. hyperacti posted: 05.03.2009 - 9:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Who cares, we all know Jeff Gordon is better anyway... ...*not meant to be taken seriously, don't start a useless debate.* 25. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I didn't want this to turn into a Kyle Busch vs Jeff Gordon debate a first place in terms of who is the better driver. I am not a huge fan of his. He is a great talent, but is missing maturity and is a hit or miss driver at this point. This debate Shouldn't happen who is the better driver till Kyle is in his 15th years of cup competition a first place unlike David Newton of Espn calling Kyle the best 24 year old driver ever. What David Newton said shouldn't have been mention yet a first place. Jeff Gordon is the standard for cup drivers in the modern era from the age of 24 to 30 years old. I only brought the record of win by a certain age for a reason. I remember Jayski and other forms of media bringing it up after Kyle won his 14th cup race. Kyle Busch'a accomplishment is a standard for drivers that will start out at the same age as he did in cup in terms of wins before the age of 24. 26. Anonymous posted: 05.03.2009 - 11:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Richard Petty Motorsports needs to use the new dodge engine. Penske has been getting good results with the new dodge engine. That 5th place finish by Speed is a fluke. Fluke things happen at Daytona and Talladega. Dale Jr. was a better driver from 2000 to 2004. Part Jr.'s struggles this year is the crew, but the driver needs to be blamed for all the driver errors he makes and seems not to try when his car is not right. There is a feedback problem right now with the 88 team. Hendrick can't do anything right now crew chief changes. You don't want to move the 48,24 car chief to the the 88 team as a crew chief. 27. BON GORDON posted: 05.03.2009 - 11:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff and his team made a bad call to stay out. However I think he couldv'e won with fresher tires. I felt he had a better car than everyone who finished ahead of him. Track position was huge Saturday. Look what happened to Denny Hamlin. I felt he had the best car but put him in traffic and he couldn't do anything. On Kyle being compaired to Jeff I think this is rediculous. While I think Kyle is talented, saying he is as just as good as Jeff Gordon is kinda crazy. I don't care how many wins he has at what age. Jeff Gordon will still have more wins than Kyle Busch when he retires. I am a huge Gordon fan so some might say what I say isn't as valid but I don't care. Everyone who is good with a good team wins 8 to 10 races a year. Ryan Newman even did back in 2003 I believe. Look at Newman now. Who thinks he can win 80-90 races by the time he retires? Not me. I don't hate the man but I'm trying to make a point. This is Kyle Busch's time in NASCAR for sure, but we don't know if we will be measuring Busch's wins to anybody in 5 years. NASCAR is a very humbling sport. This is just my opinion and maybe I should've listened to hyperacti. If you disagree with me please don't tell me im wrong. 28. Brad posted: 05.04.2009 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great run for Stewart-Haas Racing. Both cars in the top 5. It's just a matter of time before they crack victory lane. I think it's safe to say that Tony has proved everybody wrong. He certainly proved me wrong. I figured he would be competitive, but not like this. Both cars in the chase as of now, Tony is 3rd in points only -39 behind Gordon. It's only a matter of time now. 29. Kit posted: 05.04.2009 - 5:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "It is always nice to see Kyle winning because of how much people dislike him :D" Why? It causes long-time fans to leave the sport. "You can't help but feel bad for him whether you're a Hamlin fan or not." I don't. "Shame on Mr. Hendrick for not giving him a new crew chief. " We can blame the crew chief but I'm starting to suspect that Dale Jr. just doesn't drive as competitive as he used to. Why should he? He still has women in his bed, fans flashing him, and money. He doesn't have to work for it by racing. Racing now is just about trophies. "Kyle Busch ties Jeff Gordon with most wins before the age of 25." Didn't Busch start out earlier though? 30. Dodge posted: 05.04.2009 - 7:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If Mr. Hendrick does do a crew chief change for Jr., what if it don't work. MAYBE it is because the driver that stinks? Put Brad in the car for a few minutes in practice and then have Jr. drive his setup to see if its better. If Dale keeps struggling on the crew chief change, then the driver should be next to go. 31. Anonymous posted: 05.04.2009 - 8:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kit, Kyle did start earlier earlier than Jeff Gordon. 32. John Royal posted: 05.04.2009 - 10:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kit, if there is a trend of long time fans leaving the sport, I bet it is caused by something else than Kyle or Kyle-fans. Tracks, COT, rule changes, over commercializing... At least those are something I dislike. 33. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.04.2009 - 12:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I personally am glad that Denny didn't win. Last year his comments after the Nationwide series, something like "I'm a Cup driver, the Nationwide drivers shouldn't race me" really rubbed me wrong that I no longer respect him." It is actually worse than that. Denny quit on his team after the bad pit stop. I picked him for this race in my race pool, so I kept up with him all night. After his pit crew made a mistake, he didn't pass anybody. This after having the best car all night. He flat out quit. Kinda like Tony Stewart did at Indy in 2002 (right before he punched a photographer). It is like Kit said, drivers like Denny and Kyle Busch are driving fans away from the sport. Most of us hate watching these spoiled prima donnas contend for every win. Unless everything is perfect they whine their little heads off. That is why the ratings have fallen way off this year. You can blame the economy for the empty seats, but did they have to sell their TVs too? Of course not. Yes there are many other factors as John Royal mentioned, but don't overlook the unlikeable drivers that are dominating. 34. Anonymous posted: 05.04.2009 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Woops, my stats were wrong! I must correct them. Kyle Busch DID tie the same amount of pre-age 25 Jeff Gordon wins. BUT, he also did it with 48 more starts. That's 160 starts vs Jeff Gordon's 112. A real bullshit stat. If you wanna compare apples to apples, at 112 starts, Jeff Gordon had 15 wins compared to Kyle Busch's 4. Can't argue with the facts! 35. Kit posted: 05.04.2009 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Ask.com is asking fans for help in finding the perfect birthday present for Bobby Labonte, driver of the #96 Ask.com Ford" How about a competitive car that Labonte can win in? John Royal, those are also true, but the main reason I don't follow the sport much anymore is because I don't like the current drivers for the most part. Kyle Busch would have gotten his ass kicked on a regular basis at my high school and he has that mentality. Why should I care how much he wins? I can't respect him regardless. When a classy, good driver like Bobby Labonte has to drive second-rate shit whereas competitive cars are filled with immature drivers, then yes, I have no interest in following the sport. Kyle Busch is no Jeff Gordon. Gordon actually had maturity at that point in his career. In a few years Kyle Busch will probably end up like his brother, competitive only on a few tracks. 36. NazRacePhan posted: 05.04.2009 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I never said Cale missed a race.... It was in reference to drivers winning on their birthdays.... Cale won on 3/27/77 at Wilkesboro and then 3/27/83 at Atlanta, winning on his birthday twice! 37. Matt G posted: 05.04.2009 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is going to be one of those seasons where I really miss the old points system. You have three drivers who have combined for seven championships only 39 points apart with Denny Hamlin, Kyle Busch, three time defending champion Jimmie Johnson, and the experienced veteran in Jeff Burton all within striking distance. (I realize Jimmie would not have won three straight under the old system.) Just think about how much more intense Richmond would have been if Kyleâ??s win, Jimmieâ??s struggles, Steve Letarteâ??s pit call, and Hamlinâ??s miscues actually meant something. (Maybe Hamlin wouldnâ??t have quit on his team if he needed to finish a couple positions ahead of Gordon to get within 100 points of a lead that actually mattered.) This six race stretch (Talladega, Richmond, Darlington, All Star race, Coke 600, and Dover) is my favorite part of the season and while the first part of it has proved very exciting; I feel Nascar could be sizzling right now if you threw this great points battle on top of it. Unfortunately we can just add this to the long list of things that Brian France has robbed from us. If France is as concerned about TV ratings in the spring as he is in the fall, he might want to think about this. 38. Bronco posted: 05.04.2009 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "We can blame the crew chief but I'm starting to suspect that Dale Jr. just doesn't drive as competitive as he used to. Why should he? He still has women in his bed, fans flashing him, and money. He doesn't have to work for it by racing. Racing now is just about trophies." Kit I disagree on that. Dale Jr has always had those things since he started out in Cup, but that didn't stop him from having successful seasons in 2001, 2003-2004 and 2006. I firmly believe that Dale Jr has a good deal of talent - he wouldn't have won 18 races otherwise. His problem is channelling that talent and realizing that he will never accomplish anything with Tony Jr as his crew chief. He needs veteran leadership atop the pit box, a Larry McReynolds/Jeff Hammond type guy. Like I said, I don't get how they can hold a 3 hour meeting on how to fix the 88 team and in the end they don't change a thing. So far 2009 is looking a lot like Dale Jr's 2005 season. "It is like Kit said, drivers like Denny and Kyle Busch are driving fans away from the sport." That's a silly statement. Fans are leaving the sport because of the stupid cha$e, the vague rules, the CoT, uncontrolled double dipping in the Nationwide series, the quality of racing etc. "When a classy, good driver like Bobby Labonte has to drive second-rate shit whereas competitive cars are filled with immature drivers, then yes, I have no interest in following the sport." Well don't forget that Bobby is largely responsible for his position right now. He chose to sign with Petty in the first place, and then last year he re-signed with them despite all the turmoil that they were in. When it becamee evident that Petty was finished, he took up the 96 car which was the only ride available. 39. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.05.2009 - 12:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "That's a silly statement. Fans are leaving the sport because of the stupid cha$e, the vague rules, the CoT, uncontrolled double dipping in the Nationwide series, the quality of racing etc." We've had the stupid cha$e since 2004, vague rules since 1948, and uncontrolled double dipping since 2001. Yet the ratings, while taking a gradual decline, only took a big nose dive this year. And here's another dirty little secret: The quality of racing has been declining since the mid 1990's. When Chevrolet came out with the new Monte Carlo and Ford created the Taurus, the excitement of racing, especially at the big tracks, has been boring. That was also when NASCAR started going to tracks like California, Texas, and Las Vegas. Last year, during Brickyard 400 week, ESPN Classic played a few old Brickyard 400 races. In the 1994 race, Ernie Irvan in his Thunderbird and Jeff Gordon in his Lumina staged a classic race, passing each other many times until Ernie cut a tire. The 1995 race however, the first year with the Monte Carlo, was ridiculous. Whoever was out front couldn't be passed. Dale Earnhardt ran 12th for the first 40 laps, and couldn't pass anyone. Great pit work eventually got him to the lead, and he couldn't be touched. It was a ridiculous race. And this is ME saying that. Dale Earnhardt won. But we still watched to see our classy heroes run. Even if our favorite driver couldn't win, it didn't HURT to watch the others win (except Geoff Bodine). It does now. When Mark Martin, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton, Rusty Wallace, The Labonte Brothers, Dale Earnhardt, hell even Jeff Gordon were winning, it was OK. Now the ratings are in a free fall. So don't overlook the diva factor. 40. Dodge posted: 05.05.2009 - 1:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why all the hatred for Geoff Bodine? I met him once when him and Ted Musgrave were playing softball against each other with their respective teams and he seemed real down to earth. That was the first Pocono event of 1997. 41. John Royal posted: 05.05.2009 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "When Chevrolet came out with the new Monte Carlo and Ford created the Taurus, the excitement of racing, especially at the big tracks, has been boring." Sounds like improved aerodynamics killed big part of the racing excitement. Thats only reason I can come up when talking about Monte Carlo and Taurus. My personal problem is with tracks (because there won't be 1986 Olds Cutlass coming out of Detroit ever again). I just cant understand why NASCAR increases amount of cookie cutter tracks and why new tracks are built similar. They even had to change Atlanta ten years ago when cookie cutter craze begun. 42. Kit posted: 05.05.2009 - 3:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kit I disagree on that. Dale Jr has always had those things since he started out in Cup, but that didn't stop him from having successful seasons in 2001, 2003-2004 and 2006." He had more fire under his ass in those seasons, either influenced by his father or Eury Sr. "I firmly believe that Dale Jr has a good deal of talent - he wouldn't have won 18 races otherwise. His problem is channelling that talent and realizing that he will never accomplish anything with Tony Jr as his crew chief." I agree with you. He is talented but you have to blame him as much as Eury Jr. Dale Jr. has said that he won't let racing come between him and Eury Jr. That's a lack of passion and focus. He doesn't give enough of a shit about racing and now he's starting to rely on his last name more than anything. Frankly I am getting sick of his problems. He's reminding me of Casey Mears in the #5 now. "Fans are leaving the sport because of the stupid cha$e, the vague rules, the CoT, uncontrolled double dipping in the Nationwide series, the quality of racing etc." If Bill Elliott, Dale Earnhardt, Harry Gant, Terry Labonte, Ricky Rudd, Rusty Wallace, Alan Kulwicki, Geoff Bodine, Sterling Marlin, Kyle Petty, Davey Allison, etc. were still competitive drivers, people would put up with the other bullshit to watch them because these drivers were likable. But I'm not going to put up with the COT, vague rules, the Cha$e, raping of the Nationwide Series, etc. just to see some dork like Kyle Busch or some child like Hamlin. "Well don't forget that Bobby is largely responsible for his position right now." Not really, why in the hell couldn't Richard Childress or somebody else equivalent put him in a decent car? Yet Casey Mears can be in one? "Sounds like improved aerodynamics killed big part of the racing excitement." No kidding! Teams spend MILLIONS today and not only are the cars not any faster, but the racing is worse. 43. John Royal posted: 05.05.2009 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kit, that is sad yes, but at least it's something NASCAR cannot be blamed of. It's just that automotive world started to design sleek aerodynamic semi-sporty toycars, and NASCAR has always based on stock models. Although I don't really know what this COT is but available options are not any better. 44. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.05.2009 - 8:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Sounds like improved aerodynamics killed big part of the racing excitement. Thats only reason I can come up when talking about Monte Carlo and Taurus." Bingo. The newer cars relied on air pressure to press the front of the car down to the track to give the car its handling. So when a car is directly in front of it, it takes that air pressure away and the car pushes because it isn't pressed to the track. Meanwhile the car in front has that air and can run faster. If you can ever watch the end of the 1995 Brickyard 400, it looked just like today's races. Dale Earnhardt was in front of Rusty, and Rusty could drive up to Dale's bumper at will, but couldn't make a move to pass him. Dale Jarrett had by far the fastest car at the end of that race, but once he got to Rusty's bumper, he stalled out too. " just cant understand why NASCAR increases amount of cookie cutter tracks and why new tracks are built similar. They even had to change Atlanta ten years ago when cookie cutter craze begun." $$$. They built tracks that could host NASCAR races as well as open wheel races. And they built them big so they could include all sorts of corporate suites, corporate hospitality centers, corporate seating sections, and corporate eating areas. "but at least it's something NASCAR cannot be blamed of. It's just that automotive world started to design sleek aerodynamic semi-sporty toycars, and NASCAR has always based on stock models. Although I don't really know what this COT is but available options are not any better." Dude, the cot doesn't look like ANYTHING I have EVER seen. When they decided to start over with the new car, they needed to force them to raise the car's front bumpers off the ground and design a front that wasn't as sensative to downforce. Instead, in typical Brian France-era NASCAR fashion, they made it worse. If they weren't going to make it look like anything on the streets anyways (and they didn't) then they should have addressed this problem. 45. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.05.2009 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Why all the hatred for Geoff Bodine?" The Earnhardt fan in me will always dislike Geoff. Even though he was a really good driver (and very underrated), he just always rubbed me wrong. Earnhardt/Bodine is just one of those rivalries that never ends, kinda like UNC/dook, Red Sox/Yankees, Cowboys/Redskins, Michigan/Ohio State, and Dale Jr/Determination. The two sides will just never agree with one another. 46. Anonymous posted: 05.05.2009 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kit, Bobby actually was rumored in 2008 to be the driver for the 4th Childress car in 2009. Bobby decided to resign with the Petty Enterprise at the time instead despite the fact the 43 car had no sponsors for 2009 at the time. Bobby was too loyal with the Petty family to a fault and he trusted the merger with Boston Ventures was going to help the race team. Bobby Labonte has made bad career moves in the past as a cup driver. 47. Dodge posted: 05.06.2009 - 6:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I see now. I know what you mean. I live in New England and hate everything about New York because of the hatred for the Yankees. So I see where you are coming from. 48. Bronco posted: 05.06.2009 - 9:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Bobby was too loyal with the Petty family to a fault and he trusted the merger with Boston Ventures was going to help the race team." Anonymous is correct. BV didn't do a damn thing for the Pettys to help them improve as a team and be competitive again. Instead, all they did was create a rift between Richard and Kyle by forcing Kyle out, and they failed to find sponsorship for the 43 car which caused Bobby to leave. Hopefully Bobby takes over the 07 car next year and tries to be competitive again. As predicted, Hall of Shame Racing isn't doing anything for his career. 49. Rusty posted: 05.06.2009 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Real disapointing race for Kurt Busch. Had one of the fastest cars but it fell off big time at the end and he ended up finishing 12th. 50. BiffreyIndiana posted: 05.07.2009 - 2:15 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "The last time a first cup winner to deliberately skip the next race before Brad Keselowski was Mark Donohue in 1973." Actually, you aren't entirely correct, RaceFanX. The actual truth is even more fun, and kind of eerie. I assume you said "willingly" in reference to Tim Richmond winning the final race of 1986, and missing the Daytona 500 in 1987 due to his illness. There has been one instance of willingly missing the next race by a first time winner that is far more recent than 1973, and it's one of those crazy racing coincidences. Think about this!: At Talladega, Brad Keselowski, having never led a lap in the Cup series before that day, pulls off a major surprise win. The next week, at Richmond, that winning car was driven by Mike Bliss. At Charlotte, in 2002, Jamie McMurray, having never led a lap in the Cup series before that day, pulls off a major surpise win. The next week, at Martinsville, that winning car was driven by.... Mike Bliss. cue the Twilight Zone theme. 51. Anonymous posted: 05.07.2009 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @BiffreyIndiana, RaceFanX didn't typed "The last time a first cup winner to deliberately skip the next race before Brad Keselowski was Mark Donohue in 1973." The person that typed that was me. 52. Kit posted: 05.08.2009 - 5:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Hopefully Bobby takes over the 07 car next year and tries to be competitive again." Richard Childress will be completely stupid if he doesn't take a driver like Labonte over Mears. 53. Kit posted: 05.08.2009 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Bobby actually was rumored in 2008 to be the driver for the 4th Childress car in 2009." Meaning this probably came right out of a sports writer's ass. Labonte and RCR may have never talked about it. 54. Anonymous posted: 05.09.2009 - 6:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeremy Mayfield's last cup race in his career. He is now indefinitely suspended from NASCAR for violating the sanctioning body's substance abuse policy. http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4154666 55. Dodge posted: 05.09.2009 - 9:40 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Too early to tell if this is Mayfield's last race. He could follow the plan NASCAR has for reinstatement once he gets help for it. However, I hope it is his last race in his career. I lost respect for him when he told the public what Ray Evernham was doing. That was going where he should of never went towards. It just shows what type of person Jeremy was. A "SQUEAL." 56. Boobie Johnson posted: 09.11.2009 - 10:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) " He could follow the plan NASCAR has for reinstatement once he gets help for it. " That deal is no longer on the table 57. awesomegordonfan posted: 11.10.2010 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mayfield's last race before his drug faliure 58. Daniel posted: 05.22.2012 - 10:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 43: #64 Todd Bodine Out using fastest 43: #34 John Andretti 59. CBASS posted: 02.03.2013 - 8:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates #88 National Guard "Drive The Guard" #44 King's Cup/ PVA.org #43 McCafe #42 Target/ Polaroid #19 Stanley Vidmar http://archives.ciastockphoto.com/cgi/images.php?group=w0911 60. LASTCAR posted: 04.23.2013 - 12:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave Blaney picked up the 8th last-place finish of his career in Saturday's Crown Royal presents the Russ Friedman 400 at the Richmond International Raceway when his unsponsored #66 Prism Motorsports Toyota was involved in a single-car crash on lap 9 of the 400-lap race. After missing the previous week's race at Talladega due to a social obligation, Blaney returned to the Prism Motorsports team at Richmond. Blaney qualified a solid 26th in the 43-car field with a speed of 124.908 mph. Due to rainy weather in the Richmond area, the opening six laps of Saturday's race were run under the caution flag. On lap 7, the field took the green flag and Blaney worked the high side to get through the field. Unfortunately, he entered turn three too high on lap 9 and spun out, backing his Toyota into the outside wall. Though Blaney was able to slow down enough so that the impact did little damage to the rear of his car, Blaney went behind the wall and did not return to the track. The race was Blaney's third last-place finish of the year and his first since last month's Samsung 500 at Texas. No one else has had more than one this season. This was the first time the Phil Parsons-owned team has left the race with any damage to the car's sheetmetal. The team's previous two last-place finishes were because of steering and brake failures, respectively. 2009 RANKINGS 1st) Dave Blaney (3) 2nd) Mike Bliss, Todd Bodine, Matt Kenseth, Joey Logano, Mark Martin, Joe Nemechek, Tony Raines (1) Visit http://brockbeard.blogspot.com/ for more. 61. Windows Millennium Edition posted: 03.12.2016 - 7:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates: #34 Window World 1-800-Next-Window #44 King's Cup/PVA.org/gokart #55 NAPA Adaptive One Brakes #42 Target/Polaroid #33 BB&T/Cheerios #47 Bush's Baked Beans 62. Ryan M posted: 07.30.2018 - 7:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All five Roush drivers took the free pass during this race (including McMurray twice) and four of them were on four consecutive cautions with four different drivers. There's your random stat of the day. 63. NascarLeadLapPoints posted: 06.30.2019 - 2:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle 50th career Nascar win, as he sweeps the weekend at Richmond 64. Mannoroth posted: 06.30.2019 - 6:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) 63. And when you're at it, his 100th career NASCAR win was 2011 New England 200 at Loudon (Xfinity), his 150th career NASCAR win was 2015 Food City 300 at Bristol (Xfinity) and his 200th career NASCAR win was (as we know very well) 2019 Auto Club 400 at Fontana (Cup). 65. Ryan posted: 09.15.2019 - 10:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @45 "Earnhardt/Bodine is just one of those rivalries that never ends, kinda like UNC/dook, Red Sox/Yankees, Cowboys/Redskins, Michigan/Ohio State, and Dale Jr/Determination." LOL at Dale Jr/Determination DSFF made some good points about the decline of NASCAR on the comments for this race. I agree with him at the time that they had some unlikeable drivers and still do. 66. Rich posted: 12.17.2020 - 11:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the commentators. Dr. Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda were the pit road reporters. Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond were in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: