|| *Comments on the 2012 Samsung Mobile 500:* View the most recent comment <#205> | Post a comment <#post> 1. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.13.2012 - 9:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone else getting a "too good to be true" vibe from MWR's start to this season? 2. Baker posted: 04.13.2012 - 9:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well considering I can't stand Michael Waltrip, Clint Bowyer, or Martin Truex Jr. I'm going to say NO. I can't stand the owner or the full time drivers so that means I'm going to have to suffer through an entire season of them running well. BLAH I think this race is going to be all Matt Kenseth all day. 3. LordLowe posted: 04.13.2012 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well Danica Bella Swan Patrick Busch is running in her usual position at the back of the field. 4. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.13.2012 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Btw, I am gonna be working tomorrow night, so I need lap by lap updates from you guys here :) Actually, i will try to listen to it on Sirius radio on my phone as I am doing now for the NWide race. 5. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.13.2012 - 10:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So super modern racing facility Texas Motor Speedway that replaced "antiquated" race tracks in North Wilkesboro and Rockingham can't even keep the lights on? 6. LordLowe posted: 04.13.2012 - 10:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What A joke this pretty much sums up the season thus far for NASCAR. 7. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.13.2012 - 11:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1-5!!!! I am loving it. Way to go Ricky. 8. 18fan posted: 04.13.2012 - 11:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If Ricky keeps it up and Roush can find sponsorship for him to run in Cup, he will be a star. 9. New 14&88 Fan posted: 04.13.2012 - 11:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nationwide Regulars have won 5 out 6 races thus far, Elliott Sadler and Ricky Stenhouse both have two wins, with James Buescher and Joey Logano one each. Logano is the only Cup driver to win a n'wide race thus far. 10. JG24FanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 12:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon Q'd 34th P1 28th P2 30th is there any chance of a Top 5 out of this race? 11. 10andJoe posted: 04.14.2012 - 12:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse certainly looks like the guy who could break the Busch/Nationwide Series Champions' Jinx in Cup. 30 seasons of racing, and the only BGN/N'wide champion to also win a Cup championship: Bobby Labonte. Not even the Bushwhacker Champions have won a Cup... 12. LordLowe posted: 04.14.2012 - 1:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon's Pattern in the past few years has been start in the back work towards then front and then drop to the back like a stone. 13. Anonymous posted: 04.14.2012 - 1:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) JG24FanForever, There is little chance of Jeff getting a top 5 in this race. I only give Jeff a 25 percent chance of getting a top 10. I am saying this because this is one of Jeff's weaker tracks through the years despite having a win here. Jeff had hot and cold streaks here. Jeff matter of fact had 4 race stretch of finishing 13th or worst here 4 races in a row before getting a 6th place finish in the fall last year. It appears that 6th place finish at this time was a fluke. 14. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 04.14.2012 - 1:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm still skeptical about MWR's performance, they haven't shown signs in the past of being able to keep momentum going for a long while. They'll definitely leave me surprised if this is how they run all year. 15. Watto posted: 04.14.2012 - 2:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm really, really hoping Truex gets a win soon because he is so due. 16. BON GORDON posted: 04.14.2012 - 3:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 25% Huh well how'd you think that number? Interesting....well it's not looking good but he ran a good bit of laps and liked his car on the radio. I think practice speeds can be decieving. He hasnt qualified well at all this year. I think if everything goes right for once he will get a Top 15 for sure.100% but as a Gordon fan I want more than that. I dont think its unlikely that he can get a Top 5. Things need to go his way. 17. joey2448 posted: 04.14.2012 - 3:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's true that this is one of Jeff's feast or famine tracks, and this weekend so far is looking like a bust. But I saw on Twitter that Jeff said his car in race trim is fast: "When we made Q runs yesterday we were a little loose. Tightened it up and today we were really loose??. Good thing the car was fast 4 race." Hopefully this is a feast race for Jeff... I also want to mention that it seems that (awesome) DuPont paint scheme Jeff has is hurting his performance. The 24 team was out to lunch at Vegas, and now this weekend... 18. JG24FanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 4:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon has finished outside the Top 5 all 6 races this year but has led all 6 and the most laps total. Gordon finished outside the Top 5 21 consecutive races back in 2005. 19. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 4:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm telling ya, to truly celebrate 20 years with DuPont, they should have run the old rainbow scheme in the DuPont races. I haven't even heard any plans for them to run it at all this year. Surely they will run it at least once. 20. Spen posted: 04.14.2012 - 7:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think this is the first time Tony Raines has been locked into the field since Homestead '07. Gordon's Texas luck seems to be going back to late '90's form. I can't say that upsets me any. Nice to see Stacy Compton at least trying to make the field. 21. BON GORDON posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I never felt Texas was his worst track overall. He had good cars in 97,98,and 99. I think he wrecked in all three. He was bad in 2000 but he wrecked as well. He was bad in 2008 spring race and got lucky in the fall of 2008 to finish second. The spring races of 2007, 2009, and 2010 he had the best car. He hit the wall with like 30 to go while leading in 07 and still finished 4th, won in 09 and crashed going to the front in 2010. Every driver can be feast or famine at any track. If hes going to be good at Texas its usually the spring race. Im not worried. I'll take Texas over Dover for Jeff. 22. BON GORDON posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Dalesrfanforever I dont know if you seen but they are making a diecast for Jeff that has all three of his paint schemes combined together (rainbow,old flame, new flame). I dont think hes racing it though but I agree he should bring back the rainbow one more time and they should do it at Atlanta later this year or bring it back to the All-Star race like in 2004. 23. JG24FanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:56 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Bon Gordon Jeff was leading in the first race when Ernie Irvan hit a stationary car and Jeff just couldn't avoid hitting Irvan, and he was running second to Martin in 99 when coming through the exit of turn 4 cut a tire and absolutely smashed the wall for a rare last place finish and yeah he dominated 2007's spring race(I thought he was gonna match Earhardt's win total that day so I was really upset when he knocked the toe in by a simple exit of turn 4 mistake) and faded to 4th in the final 18 laps, and 2010 at both Texas event's is the worst of all his Texas stories. Gordon is one of the 5 best ever Texas driver's, he just happens to have some of the worst luck there. 24. BON GORDON posted: 04.14.2012 - 9:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree JG24FanForever. Hes run worse at other tracks. I cant even tell you how mad I was in 2007 and 2010 when those unfortunate events happened to Jeff. Man I was pissed. 25. 10andJoe posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) >Jeff was leading in the first race when Ernie Irvan hit a stationary car and Jeff just couldn't avoid hitting Irvan The other car involved was Greg Sacks', if I'm remembering correctly. 26. Bronco posted: 04.14.2012 - 12:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) After last week's fiasco, at least Reutimann had no problem timing his way into the race, even beating out Jeff Gordon who was hurt the most by last week's late caution. 27. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 3:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ugh, Brad is still whining about Reut at Martinsville. Give it a rest dude. Don't start acting like those whining assholes who trashed your style when you first entered the big time, the same ones you proved wrong. 28. 18fan posted: 04.14.2012 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In '97 Irvan was trying to get a lap back from Terry Labonte and ran into the back of Sacks and Irvan's damaged car came right into the path of Jeff, which resulted in Gordon crashing. Jeff was running 2nd but had led a good number of laps. 29. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 5:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also in that race, Jimmy Spencer cut across Gordon's nose, wrecking himself. The next race at Martinsville, as Jeff was dominating and lapping Spencer, Mr Pathetic spun Jeff, who simply looped it without hitting anything, and won. Damn Jimmy Spencer was a loser. 30. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Whoops, actually the next race was Bristol, where Mr Excrement tussled with well past his prime "Geoffrey" Bodine. Meanwhile Jeff executed the ol bump and run and won. Rusty retaliated a little over a year later, waking a sleeping giant, leading the most epic string of ass whippings ever administered to a Cup field in the modern era. 31. LordLowe posted: 04.14.2012 - 7:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You Know I wonder are the drivers trying to bore us to death. 32. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I love the tire wear. It should make for a great race tonight. 33. 18fan posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is it just me or are there a crapload of commercials right now. 34. Mr X posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) God I hope this race isn't screwed up somehow, tire wear, multiple grooves, and Rockingham tomorrow! 35. Daniel posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Out using the fastest 43: #33 Tony Raines & #36 Dave Blaney In using the fastest 43: #30 David Stremme & #87 Joe Nemechek I think Tommy Baldwin expanding to two cars has really hurt Blaney. The #36 is so much slower than it was last year. 36. Baker posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is it just me or has Tony Stewart been either winning or completely out to lunch? He never has a middle of the road day. Yeah, 7th was nice at Martinsville but he was a 17th place car at best. 37. LordLowe posted: 04.14.2012 - 8:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have said it before and I will say it again remind me why Dale Jr is still employed 38. Schroeder51 posted: 04.14.2012 - 9:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski is down a cylinder. Don't think he'll be making it to the checkers. 39. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 04.14.2012 - 9:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McDowell parks for the 3rd week in the row, as expected. So much for the full-year deal and not parking. It was predictable, though. Just want to point it out to the few people who argued they wouldn't go back to that this season. 40. JG24FanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 9:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) on fire! 41. Mr X posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I just wish that Alan Gustavson would try short pitting by just a lap or two as opposed to losing several second under every round of green flag pitstops. 42. Draco (Candraco) posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I really expected Tony Stewart to be a factor in this race based on his performance the last time we were at this track. I bet he wrecked his magic car that got him all the wins on the 1.5 mile or larger tracks... In which case we will be relegated to watching Stewart struggle for most of the season again until its chase time... Oh well, at least he nabbed a couple wins early this time. 43. NASCAR00 posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ZZZZZZZZZZZ...... 44. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Based on previous occurrences, I bet Nascar will throw a debris caution with about 45 laps to go. That will involve strategy to see if anyone wants to duck on pit road with slightly used tires. Also, it could put more cars on the lead lap by using the wave-around rule. 45. Schroeder51 posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #42 Looks to me like they will be going green all the way to the checkered flag. Watch me get proven wrong and look like an idiot (as I usually do). 46. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nope and I applaud Nascar for letting this thing play out naturally. It may not have been pretty, but it saves some integrity. 47. Schroeder51 posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Let me make a prediction: This will be NASCAR's cleanest season in years. 48. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's looking that way so far. Is it because the cars are getting that easy to drive? 49. myothercarisanM535i posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good race and congratulations to Greg Biffle. Heartbreak for Marcos Ambrose - he's had speed all year but just has't had anything go his way at all. 50. Cooper posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like my preseason prediction of Greg Biffle being a cup contender was correct. Even a blind squirrel will find a nut once in a while I guess. Worst season ever. That is all. 51. JG24FanForever posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon's 288th career Top 5 and 8th consecutive race led from 34th, yes! 52. 18fan posted: 04.14.2012 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great job by Greg and the 16 team. Greg got his crew chief Matt Puccia his first win as a crew chief. Would've been a great finish had Jimmie not gotten loose and hit the wall. I was impressed with Kyle and that team today. They didn't have a lot of speed, but Kyle kept his head after that problem on the pit stop and rebounded to finish 11th. They just plugged along and finally got a decent finish without any problems. Now the 18 team needs to find more speed, well JGR as a whole needs more speed right now on the intermediates. 53. Cooper posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) But at least no one got screwed over. That's a positive. 54. LordLowe posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Once Again win number 200 eludes Hendrick Motorsports 55. 18fan posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I couldn't agree more about Ambrose. He had a top 7-8 car all day and didn't get the finish he deserved. 56. BON GORDON posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What did I say about Gordon! Its about time! 57. Mr X posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I really think this is just another race that should be run on a sunday afternoon, the hotter slicker conditions would at least widen the groove a little, other then that it was a good race. Like Fontana, Martinsville, and Atlanta it was a race run on speed, not strategy, a few more cautions would've been okay to tighten the field up periodically, but it was nice to see Jeff Gordon be fast, in a race run on speed, and have no stupid crap relegate him to a poor finish. 2012 has been one of the weirdest NASCAR seasons I have ever seen, basically every race has been out of character in some way. But again I liked it. 58. cjs3872 posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No, Schroeder51 (#45) and OldSchoolNascarDude1 (#46). One reason there have been so few cautions, especially in relation to recent years is the fact that there isn't nearly as many good cars and teams as there have been in recent years. Remember that Roush lost a car after 2009 (due to NASCAR's four team rule) and again after last year, Childress lost a car after last year, and there really hasn't been anyone to step up from a competitive standpoint (due mostly to the top 35 rule), so the number of competitve cars is down. Add that to the fact that Joey Logano (JGR #20) is not really that competitve in a top car and that Kevin Harvick is the only one of three Childress drivers that are competitive on a consistent basis. That takes three potentially top cars out of the equation. Add that to the five to seven cars that start and park every week, hence dropping the number of cars on the track from 43 down to 36-39, and the teams coming in not being competitve, and as a result, the level of competition is at its lowest in more than a decade, so there just isn't as much competition as there was a decade ago, and with less competition comes the lesser chance for guys running into each other. Add that to the fact that it's just extemely difficult for cars to run close to each other, as well as the wider groove, and you get a race like this, a cleanly run race with no accidents. 59. LordLowe posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey oldschoolnascardude when are you planning to upload more videos of the 1997 Craftsman truck series season 60. Kyle posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @TheTruth i don't think anybody ever said mcdowell would be running full races for the rest of the season. they have a sponsor for SELECT races this year. i think his next full race is scheduled to be the coca-cola 600 next month. 61. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pierre Debris took a two week vacation, but kudos to race command for letting this race unfold the way it did. Biffle and Johnson had pretty equal cars. However, Jimmie pushed the envelop a little too hard behind lapped traffic and it cost him the win. Way to go Biff! Mark Martin started 4th and was a solid 3rd-6th place all night long. Martin is now 5 top-10s away from tying Bobby Allison for 2nd most top-10s in NASCAR history. Given the performance of the #55 team this year, Mark might get the record in 2012. Gordon impressed me the most and had a car that could have challenged the top two, but a solid finish none the less. 62. Red posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm astonished NASCAR let this race run 234 laps without throwing a debris caution. But I loved it. Races that play out naturually are always better. After last season, I thought Mark Martin was toast, and was begging him to retire. Definitely wrong on that one. Mark looks real strong at MWR - he's missed two races and still sits 20th in points. If he wins a couple races, could he sneak into the Chase as a wildcard running a partial schedule? Ok, that'll never happen, but it would be cool just to prove how stupid the Chase is. Like others have mentioned, another heartbreak for Ambrose. He was running 3rd at Phoenix when his engine expired, and now he runs out of gas running 7th. Seems like the #9 car has always been faster than the #43, but just can't catch a break. Jimmie and Chad are looking better and better every week. When they finally break through and win, I have a feeling it'll be a flood. I'd pick Jimmie as the favorite for the championship right now. Another impressive run for Kurt Busch in the pitiful Phoenix Racing machine, especially at an intermediate track, where he has a clear equipment disadvantage. I wonder if one of the big owners will take a chance on him next year... 63. 18fan posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last thing I'm going to say about Kyle: I think this was the first time all year that they made their car better throughout the race. At Phoenix they were a top 3 car for half the race and then the second half struggled to stay in the top 10, at Vegas the car was decent until Kyle slipped in someone's oil and knocked the toe out when he hit the wall due to the oil. At Bristol and Martinsville he was out before the first pit stop, and at California the car did not improve and then Kyle hit the wall. 64. 10andJoe posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >I think Tommy Baldwin expanding to two cars has really hurt Blaney. The #36 is so much slower than it was last year. That's because, at this point last year, the #36 was outside the top 35. The moment they got inside the top 35, their qualifying went to the back of the field so fast it ablated on the way down...Blaney is qualifying the same way he did last year after he got locked in. His finishes are suffering a bit this year though, but that's likely largely luck. >i don't think anybody ever said mcdowell would be running full races for the rest of the season. they have a sponsor for SELECT races this year. i think his next full race is scheduled to be the coca-cola 600 next month. They explicitly said "full season" deal with K-LOVE. Guess that went the way of the dodo. 65. 10andJoe posted: 04.14.2012 - 11:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #88 sponsor: Diet Mountain Dew/7-Eleven #21 sponsor: Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center (typo) #38 sponsor: ModSpace (one word) 66. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) On a somber note Racing Reference community, exactly 100 years ago this evening somewhere over the North Atlantic, the worst maritime disaster occurred. Please a moment of silence for those souls lost and families scared for life as a result of the tragedy... thank you. 67. NadeauFan91 posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) From what I'm hearing from some friends, I'm glad I decided to skip watching this snoozefest. 68. NadeauFan91 posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I just broke the moment of science btw... 69. Kyle posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @10andJoe "full season sponsorship" does not mean they are running full races every week. some weeks K-Love only has a small sticker on the bumper or c-post. plus, mcdowell is an official trackside representative of k-love radio. 70. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) JarrettFan, I wouldn't call the opening of Fenway Park (up North, by the sea) a disaster :) Not feeling too bad about missing this one. Can't wait for The Rock tomorrow! 71. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) LordLowe, I plan on resuming my uploading duties around the first of May. I've had way too many obligations with school, work and sports to focus on videos. 72. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, Fenway opening isn't a tragedy, but the Titanic sinking is and that is all I could think about at the end of this race. Bring on the Rock tomorrow!! I know Mike Joy mention the longest green flag run from the last caution to the end of the race since '99 at Homestead, which was a 400 mile race. The 2012 Samsung Mobile 500 had the fewest cautions for a 500 mile race since the caution-free Fall '02 Talladega race. The most recent 500 mile race with the fewest cautions ( at least 1) prior to 2012 Texas was the 1999 UAW-GM Quality 500 at Charlotte (then Lowe's) Motor Speedway with 2. 73. LordLowe posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF I think he was referring to the sinking of the titanic 74. Rusty posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race should've been completly caution free. A typical NASCAR "debris" caution and Trevor Bayne slapping the wall were the only yellows of the night. 75. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course, in 1999, there was also a caution-free race at Michigan, so that year there were a number of speedway races with very few caution flags. And with the 63rd Southern 500 at Darlington on the horizon with the way this year has gone, if must be noted that the modern record for fewest cautions in a race at Darlington is two, set in the 1993 Southern 500 (which was shortened by 16 laps due to darkness) and matched in the 1998 Southern 500 (the last race at Darlington without an accident). In the 1998 Southern 500, only four cars finished on the lead lap and only one car finished one lap down. Ernie Irvan was sixth, but was two laps down. Of course, the 1963 Southern 500 went caution-free. 76. ch posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor changes: All of the ones mentioned in post 65 and 19 - TriStar Motorsports 34 - Scorpion Window Films (Al's liners, primary at Daytona, was just a minor associate) 51 - Phoenix Racing 77. Ben posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Boring, boring, boring. I guess I'm just not a fan of 1.5/2 mile tracks. 78. Bronco posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not a Biffle fan after what he did in the Daytona 500, but he definitely deserved this one. Can't believe there was someone on this site that predicted at the start of the season that Biffle was going to be replaced by Stenhouse after 2012. This is 8th straight top 10 and 3rd straight top 5 at Texas. He might make it two in a row with Kansas next week. First win for Matt Puccia who looks like a champion crew chief within less than a year of taking over the #16 team, after never having been a Cup crew chief before. His Nationwide season with Paul Menard was pretty unremarkable too. At least one MWR car has finished in the top 10 in every race going back to Talladega last year. Biffle, Truex Jr and Earnhardt Jr are all tied with 5 top 10s in only 7 races. Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne finally have uneventful races and end up with top 10s. Both Kahne and Edwards haven't led this whole year despite 3 poles between them. 79. Kyle posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @Bronco "Not a Biffle fan after what he did in the Daytona 500". what did he do in the 500? they proved he was going 100% throttle on the last lap, he wasn't intertionally holding jr. back so kenseth could win. 80. 10andJoe posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) >A typical NASCAR "debris" caution It was legit; brake ductwork. 81. Smiff_99 posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeehaw, boys, we're racin' at The Rock tomorrow!!! I can't friggin' wait! Although Kahne will obviously be the heavy favorite going in, *I* think it may be a little more wide-open than it appears. Either way, it's gonna be awesome! 82. Uptight Motorsports Nerd posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ben, maybe your real problem is that you don't like racing. 83. myothercarisanM535i posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "It was legit; brake ductwork." You sure about that? I didn't see anything from a car...I saw a bloody hat! 84. hyperacti posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR is totally making a point to not throw debris cautions as frequently as they used to. It's so obvious. AND I LOVE IT THOUGH 85. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 4:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Funny, the last time I went to Darlington was the '98 Southern 500. I was glad that race had so few cautions cause it was so freaking hot. But as for your prediction of this year's race having similarly few cautions, I have tickets for that race. Maybe my presence makes the Lady tamer lol. Of course I was also at the 2005 World 600 which had the most cautions ever and lasted 5 and 1/2 hours counting the red flag. I was also at a Martinsville race that had 20 cautions which is tied for the second most, so I can be a caution magnet too. Then again, I was also at the only World 600 to last less than 4 hours. What does it all mean? It means it doesn't make a damn whether I am there or not, I am a mere spectator. I was at a North Wilkesboro race that had 17 cautions (in just 400 laps). One year later I was at a race there that went caution free which I'm pretty sure is the last time a short track race went caution free. 86. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 4:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was just joking about Fenway. Trust me, I have watched a ton of TV specials about the Titanic in preperation for its 100th anniversary, culminating with watching James Cameron folding a banana in half to show how Titanic broke apart while sinking. 87. Spen posted: 04.15.2012 - 5:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Can't believe there was someone on this site that predicted at the start of the season that Biffle was going to be replaced by Stenhouse after 2012." Yeah, that was me. Actually I think my exact prediction was that he'd either step it up big time, or continue last year's struggles and get fired. Apparently, he picked the former. I was expecting the latter. Which actually is quite typical of Biffle. In all my years of watching NASCAR, I have never, ever seen a driver as difficult to predict as Greg Biffle. Even compared to Harvick. Lets take a little look at my Biffle predictions over the years: 2003: Biffle's a sure bet for ROTY. He's older, has more experience in the lower ranks, and is already a two-time NASCAR champion. (Should have been three, but we won't get into that.) Plus, Roush has been on fire recently (I was sure that this would be the year they finally broke through for a title.) Yeah, McMurray's got that Charlotte win, but he'd done next to nothing before that, and Ganassi (and SABCO before them) has never been known for having equal cars. He'll be trailing Sterling by at least ten posistions (not that Sterling's gonna have a great year, either. But better than Jamie's for sure.) So it's gotta' be Biffle. Actual result: McMurray cruises to ROTY, while Biffle has a seriously lousy year, highlighted only by a flukey fuel milage win. Granted, Kenseth aside, Roush wasn't doing very good. 2004: Okay, maybe he'll be like Kurt Busch. His rookie year was atrocious, but he got it turned around the next year. I think he'll make the cut for this silly 'chase' thingy. (What's that, sis? *Elliott Sadler* is going to make the chase? Come on, get serious.) Actual result: A couple of random wins, but no consistency whatsoever. Barely any higher in points. 2005: Well, we've seen what Biffle can do. And it's not very pretty. Sure, he's good for the occasional win, but he is in no way a serious championship calliber driver. Even if he manages to make the chase this year (which I doubt), all he'd be is this year's Jeremy Mayfield. Make the chase, and that's it. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if after his contract is up, Jamie McMurray comes over to Roush and takes Biffle's spot. Actual result: Biffle goes on an absolute tear, winning five of the first 15 races, briefly takes the points lead, and ends up second only to Tony Stewart. 2006: Okay, so he was a late bloomer. Well, I don't trust Tony's ability to keep his head on straight two years in a row, and Johnson's choked it away how many times now? Edwards is probably gonna have a bit of a sophmore slump, Mark can't win it, and Kenseth's been just... there lately, so I'm predicting a Biffle championship. Actual result: Plenty of speed, but absolutly zero luck. Doesn't even make the chase. 2007: That had to have been a fluke. This run of bad luck can't continue. Him and Edwards are both going to get a few wins, and make the chase. Actual result: No speed, but a small amount of luck. Enough to get a rain-shortened win. But nowhere near enough to even think about making the chase. 2008: One chase appearence in four attempts. '05 is getting more distant by the day. Biffle's fifteen minutes are up. I'll be surprised if he makes a race, let alone the chase. Actual result: A shockingly consistent year, highlighted by winning the first two chase races, and winding up third in points. 2009: Carl's going to be in for a tough year after a loss like that. Matt's saddled with a rookie crew chief, and I doubt Ragan's ability to do more than make the chase. Biffle's going to be winning multiple races, and lead the Roush effort for the title. Actual result: I was almost right, except for the winning part. A generally invisible season, where he managed a distant seventh in points. Best of the Roushkateers, but that wasn't saying much. 2010: I doubt Biffle can make the chase three years in a row. Carl will be bouncing back, Matt's got Todd Parrott now, and even Ragan can't have a year as bad as last. Biffle will be the odd man out this season. He'll likely go winless, and miss the chase. Actual result: Two wins, and a chase appearance (though a forgettable one). 2011: You know, maybe Greg's finally learned consistency. He's starting to feel like a safe bet for the chase. This'll be a good year for Roush anyway, so he'll have no trouble winning a race or two and making the chase. Actual result: Only three top fives all season. Worst points finish since '04. Got a ridiculous number of speeding penalties. Seemed totally incapable of putting a race together. 2012: He's now 42. No driver born in the 1960's has won a race after turning 42. Not Jeff Burton, not Bobby Labonte, none of them. Roush isn't capable of having two great seasons in a row. So at least one of them will be missing the chase. It can't be Carl since he's the star of the show, so it'll be either Greg or Matt. Matt's looking better right now. And with Stenhouse tearing it up in Busch, they're going to have to make some room at the inn. Biffle's looking mighty expendable right about now. Actual result: Biffle goes ahead and becomes the first driver 42 or older to win a race since Mark Martin. And holds the points lead for the longest time in his career. And makes my head explode in the process. 88. myothercarisanM535i posted: 04.15.2012 - 5:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Chinese F1 Grand Prix has just finished and it was another awesome race. It's been a great day of racing! I think the GP was the more exciting of the two, but I thought the Cup race was more interesting overall, as it's very, very rare for a NASCAR race to turn out like that, but I'm glad it did. I really hope that tomorrows Truck race gets a replay here, because I've never seen a race at Rockingham. After that, bring on next week, with Bahrain, Kansas and V8 Supercars from Hamilton! 89. Spen posted: 04.15.2012 - 5:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another possible reason for the lack of cautions is the lack of inexperienced drivers in the field. Only four of the drivers in today's race have fewer than 90 career starts. Of those, Josh Wise is a start-and-parker, Trevor Bayne is known for his conservative driving style, Aric Almirola is in his seventh year of NASCAR racing, despite not having a lot of Cup starts, and Landon Cassil has to run very carefully if he wants to keep that top-35 spot. If we had a few more inexperienced drivers in competitive equiptment, we'd see far more cautions. 90. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 04.15.2012 - 6:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "i don't think anybody ever said mcdowell would be running full races for the rest of the season. they have a sponsor for SELECT races this year. i think his next full race is scheduled to be the coca-cola 600 next month. " Kyle... not true. All you have to do is go a few races back and there are multiple people who wrote that the 98 wouldn't go back to parking and that it's a full season deal, with the copy & pasted PR release and everything. It was never said to be a "SELECT" race deal. If you go back to the threads at Bristol and earlier, there are multiple people disagreeing with the notion that the 98 would soon return to parking. 91. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.15.2012 - 6:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 2012?! F1?! China?! Yippee! 92. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.15.2012 - 6:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) OMG! Someone is pretending it'3 2003 and 2005 and it's not me..... no. I will not let this happen. I am the king of Retrodictions, A sleeping Giant has been awaken. I will now unleash my retrodictions on all of you. Blame Spen ;) My 2002 Preseason Top 40 (Blame Spen) 1. 20- Tony Stewart 2. 24- Jeff Gordon 3. 99- Jeff Burton 4. 18- Bobby Labonte 5. 29- Kevin Harvick 6. 8- Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7. 12- Ryan Newman 8. 88- Dale Jarrett 9. 28- Ricky Rudd 10. 40- Sterling Marlin 11. 2- Rusty Wallace 12. 17- Matt Kenseth 13. 6- Mark Martin 14. 9- Bill Eliott 15. 10- Johnny Benson 16. 22- Ward Burton 17. 25- Jerry Naedeau 18. 32- Ricky Craven 19. 48- Jimmie Johnson 20. 97- Kurt Busch 21. 41- Jimmy Spencer 22. 21- Eliott Sadler 23. 30- Jeff Green 24. 19- Jeremy Mayfield 25. 31- Robby Gordon 26. 36- Ken Schrader 27. 55- Bobby Hamilton 28. 5- Terry Labonte 29. 15- Michael Waltrip 30. 77- Dave Blaney 31. 26- Joe Nemechek 32. 43- John Andretti 33. 1- Steve Park/ Kenny Wallace 34. 7- Casey Atwood 35. 66- Tood Bodine 36. 23- Hut Stricklin 37. 4- Mike Sinner 38. 45- Kyle Petty 39. 11- Brett Bodine 40. 14- Stacy Compton 41. 44- Buckshot Jones 42. 90- Rick Mast These are from a journal entry I made detailing my predictions back on February 4, 2002. Blame Spen for rewaking the retrodictions master ;) 93. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 10:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well DSFF, I'm not saying that the 63rd Southern 500 in four weeks is going to be another race with few cautions. I was just saying that the way this season's going, that's a very real possibility. And Spen, how can there be more drivers coming up if there's nowhere for them to race? After all, the way the Cup drivers have dominated the Nationwide and Truck series the last five to seven years, there has been no way for up-and-coming drivers to showcase their skills. Add that to the top 35 rule that is preventing new teams from entering the sport without buying existing teams, as well as the fact that no new organization has risen up to join the ranks of the elite in the last 20 years has basically locked out new teams. That's one big reason that Michael Waltrip's team joining the ranks of the heavyweights in the sport this year and even becoming Toyota's top team has been so refreshing (yes, they've been Toyota's top team so far this year, even though they have not won and Joe Gibbs has). You might not like the car owner, but the plain truth is, MWR has been one of the top four teams this year when you consider how they've run, and who would have believed that when the season started. And with the same teams running up front all the time, having a new team run up there is refreshing to see. I wonder if Mark Martin and all of his experience has something to do with this. I predicted that Michael Waltrip's team was going to improve, but I don't think anyone in their wildest dreams could've predicted how much they've improved, not even Michael Waltrip himself. 94. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 10:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And by the way, on the topic of debris cautions, NASCAR did miss one last night when Juan Montoya (who else) ran over a full bottle of Gatorade (or some other drink bottle) on the backstretch. I wonder how NASCAR could've missed that, especially after Montoya ran over it, but they did. In fact,. I'm surprised it didn't cut his left front tire. I just hope that NASCAR isn't becoming so conscious of not throwing derbis cautions that they're not throwing them when they should (i.e. the bottle that Montoya ran over last night). 95. Raycer posted: 04.15.2012 - 10:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) We need Sam Hornish back in cup to get more cautions. 96. Rob posted: 04.15.2012 - 10:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good race. I only saw the last 100 laps or so because I was watching the ALMS race. Im glad there were only a couple cautions. By the way people who like to see crashes arent real racing fans...... 97. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 11:17 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And by the way, Roush may be closer to taking the #6 out of mothballs that we all think. Roush has said that if he can find sponsorship (and the way things are going for him on that front, the sun might rise in the west first), that he might put Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the #6 car for selected races later this year and run him the full 2013 season. Chances are, he'll find sponsorship for that before he finds sponsorship for Trevor Bayne in the Nationwide Series to run more races for him there, especially now that Bayne's out of the championship hunt (so is everyone else not named Sadler or Stenhouse). 98. Eric posted: 04.15.2012 - 11:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spen, The lack of cautions is more than having experience drivers in the field. It also goes to 3 things besides having experience drivers in the field. The first thing is the amount of start and park drivers. That means there is a small chance of a caution happening from those drivers. The 2nd thing is Mechanical problems don't happen at the rate they did many years ago. The 3rd thing is the amount of wreckers that are not in start and park teams and in the cup field in general. You forgot that being an experience driver doesn't mean you are not a wrecker. There had a had been a good amount of experience wreckers in the field in the full basis in the past even dating back to the 1980's or 1980's such as the Bodine brothers, and Ernie irvan as examples when they were full time cup drivers. Today's field in cup only has Montoya as a wrecker based on his well earned reputation, but that is about it. Robby Gordon at times in his cup cup career is a wrecker, but does mostly start and parks now when makes the field. Michael Waltrip isn't a full time driver anymore. Michael was a wrecker in his final cup seasons as a full time cup driver. Today's cup owners and sponsors don't want wreckers in their cup cars anymore for the most part. 99. Bronco posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now that Biffle has won, the only active full time drivers remaining with a winless streak that goes beyond 2011 are McMurray, Montoya, Reutimann, Logano, Burton, Earnhardt Jr, Truex Jr and Labonte. Of those eight I think only Earnhardt Jr and Truex Jr will win this year. Labonte will likely never win again, McMurray and Montoya have the talent but not the equipment even this year, while Burton and Logano are headed out the door at their current rides. Reutimann would win this year if he was still at MWR but since he isn't I think he's done. Marcos Ambrose needs some luck, he should easily be in the top 20 in points at least if he hadn't been cost top 10s at Phoenix and in this one. Kyle Busch is also someone that has had horrible luck this year in both Cup and Nationwide. 100. 10andJoe posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >I didn't see anything from a car...I saw a bloody hat! Pretty sure it was a hunk of brake ducting that just looked like a hat. 101. Rusty posted: 04.15.2012 - 12:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Martin Truex, Jr. could end up winning a race this year, but for some reason I get the feeling he won't. I got the same vibe from Dale Jr. last year. I wouldn't be suprised if Juan Pablo Montoya looked to leave NASCAR and look into something else, he looks completly out to lunch this season and he hasn't panned out like some had hoped. I can't see him going back to F1 or anything, but he seems like the kind of guy who would get frustrated at his struggles and just do something else. 102. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Maybe, 10andJoe, but that bottle Montoya ran over on the backstretch was no phantom debris. Fotunately, that was in a part of the track with no spectators, and that the bottle was kicked toward the inside wall, but I'm shocked that nobody saw that bottle on the track, especially since it was not an empty bottle. But imagine if that had been in an area of the track where there were grandsatnds, and that bottle had been kicked up into the stands the possibility that someone could have been hurt o even killed. Now I'm no fan of phantom debris cautions, but how could all of the officials have missed a FULL bottle laying on the track? 103. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And by the way, I may have been wrong about Phoenix Racing and their pit crew. To me, the fact that they finished 13th and were on the lead lap until the end in a race with virtually no caution flags told me that their pit crew this year is better than I thought it was. And the fact that Kurt Busch ran ahead of Kyle for a chunk of the latter part of the race (though he didn't finish ahead of Kyle) told me that the Phoenix Racing pit crew was the most impressive in the race last night. They may not have ben the best pit crew, but they were the most impressive to me, so let's give a shout out to the #51 Phoenix Racing team amd pit crew for their work in last night's race, because they deserve it, especially in a race where numerous other top-flight pit crews had trouble. 104. Eric posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) if Montoya leaves Nascar, he is going to Indycar. Scott Dixon is doing great for chip, but Dario's best finish is only 10th. If this continues for Dario going into July, I think Chip would consider having Dario replaced. Montoya could be used as a short term answer there. I saying that because Dario is going to be 39 next month. While there has some very good or great driver open wheel drivers that won in the 40's, there are some that didn't. Emerson Fittipaldi was still in his prime when was in his 40's before he turned 48 years old. Mario Andretti won races in his 40's and even won a race in 1993, but not every driver in Indy car is like that. Here are a couple examples of drivers that were in decline in their late 30's or in their early 40's. Bobby Rahal didn't win in his 40's. Michael Andretti in his late 30's was in decline. I think Dario Franchitti right now appear to be a driver on the decline if things don't improve for him by July. 105. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All right, who cares about this shitpile of a race, they are racing at Rockingham again. With a decent crowd! Hopefully somebody will see this and purchase North Wilkesboro for a similar date. Let's talk about our favorite memories of Rockingham, and forget about the ultimate boring cookie cutter of Texas. I'll go first: Fave memory I can remember: Fall '94. No explanation necessary. Fave memory that isn't really memory but I've heard good things about it: Fall '73. 106. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is KBM getting their motors built by the same guy who built Bud Moore's motors in the 70's and early 80's? 107. Mr X posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) God I hope that this race triggers a Nationwide and eventually a Cup race here. Nelson Piquet Jr. looks like Kyle Petty in the 1992 AC-Delco 500 here. 108. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats to Biffle on his win, I was waiting for him to return to victory lane. I didn't see the race so I can't comment on how it was. SO glad to see racing back at The Rock! I've been waiting since 2004, nearly a decade, for one of the 3 NASCAR Series to return there and my wish came true. Here are some of my favorite memories (I'm only counting races since I started watching the sport): '99 Fall race (Burton brothers finish 1-2), '01 Spring race (Park wins the first race run since losing his car owner), '01 Fall race (very good race played out with only one caution, I believe, and there were a single digit amount of cars on the lead lap), '03 Fall race (Glad to say I at least got to see Awesome Bill win at The Rock once), '04 Spring race (in the final Cup race there to date, Kenseth edges out Kahne in a photo finish) 109. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 04.15.2012 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Correction, the 2001 Fall race had two cautions. I forgot about Awesome Bill and Kyle Petty crashing on Lap 2. 110. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Goodyear, are you watching this? MAKE TIRES THAT FALL OFF!!!!!! They don't have to fall off 3 seconds after 50 laps (although if you want to do that, that is totally cool), but they need to drop at least 2 seconds over a fuel run. #tirewear 111. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm probably not the only one, but I feel like a child on Christmas morning watching the Truck race at The Rock. Being a Jarrett fan and watching him come so close so many times to winning at Rockingham, it was a relief to see him beat Gordon out of the pits and finally win in the fall of 2000. I also enjoyed the battle between him and Kurt Busch in 2003 which showcased the best The Rock has to offer, tire-management and loose-handling race cars. It really does not matter who wins today because The Rock is back baby... Denny Hamlin tweeted he'd build a truck to run next year if he had to. The Cup guys who've never experienced racing at Rockingham want to run there now that NASCAR has sanctioned a race. 112. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How come no one is commenting on my retrodictions? The more you don't comment.... the more I'm going to do them ;) 113. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know what kind of opinion to form about Jeb Burton yet since I don't exactly like or dislike him, but it is nice to see a Burton once again running in the top 10 at Rockingham. 114. Alex posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^^ Because no one cares... 115. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is it me, or does it seem that there are more people in attendance for the Truck Series race at Rockingham than there were for the Nationwide Series race at Texas, because it looked to me that an attendance figure of 25,000 for the Nationwide Series race at Texas would be stretching it a bit. And wouldn't be ironic if the sons of two F1 World Champions of the past won in a major series for the first time on the same weekend. Nico Rosberg, the son of ex-F1 champ Keke Rosberg won this morning, and if things fall his way, Nelson Piquet, Jr., who's father won three World Championships could win today. Of course, Nelson Piquet, Sr. is one of the truly forgotten about great champions in the history of auto racing, no matter the discipline. 116. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn. Awful mistake by Piquet. I hate that cause I think he had something for Kasey. I am pulling for anyone but Kahne. I like Kasey, but I am enjoying watching Cup guys getting whooped in the lower Series. #Cupwhackers 117. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What an awesome return to The Rock. A little bummed the only Cup guy in the field won, but that is tempered cause he is a decent guy (Boobgate aside lol) and it was for an NWide/Truck team. Plus they are back where NASCAR belongs: Rockingham. So much fun watching clean air mean next to nothing and mechanical grip and tire management mean everything. Kick ass! #realracing 118. 18fan posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Kasey started in the back, which is better than the last time a Cup driver won a truck race. 119. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alex I hope you know that you just ruined me. I have spent my whole lfie working on this. So I could be the best person in the world and you wouldn't care about me? You are heartless! 120. AFrame43 posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, its the truth, #119. CJS3872, you really need to get off your high horse about the debris. Between your Trevor Bayne whining and your other assorted rants, you're a large part of the reason I've cut back on my posting here. 121. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm sorry you feel that way, AFrame43. I'm just saying what I observe, and nothing more. And about the debris thing, I'm just shocked that NASCAR didn't see that full bottle in the middle of the backstretch before Montoya ran over it. Like I said, I don't like phantom debris cautions at all, because it ruins the flow of a race and unjustly robs someone of a big lead that he built up (which is probably why you see those phantom debris cautions), but for there to actually be potentially dangerous debris on the track and for NASCAR not to have (justifiably) thrown a caution for it is just shocking to me. And Trevor Bayne is just a part of an unusual thing I've noticed about the new group of more conservative drivers to come into the sport over the last five to seven years, a group that also includes, but is not limited to Regan Smith, Landon Cassill, Paul Menard, and even Kasey Kahne (who came in eight or nine years ago). It used to be that new drivers would come in gung-ho, something like Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is, but most of the drivers have arrived in recent years seem to be of the more conservative nature. I even suspect that out of Austin Dillon, because he doesn't even seem to be running as hard as he can, but rather just try to get to the finish of races. Maybe some of these younger drivers are learning from their mistakes at a faster rate than before, but I'm just noticing that these younger drivers, as a group, seem to be driving more conservatively than those that came before them, even though they can be more aggressive with the equipment than they could be at any time in the sport's history, simply because things, like engines, don't break any more. 122. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was a hell of a race!!! Today was a major step in the restoration of this classic track to its former glory. Yeah Kasey won, but without the speeding penalty Piquet was going to make it very difficult for Kahne to win in the final 26 laps. I applaud everyone involved in rescuing Rockingham, fixing her up and putting on a display of sheer entertainment. In the coming years, many Cup drivers are going to get in on the action at The Rock. So in a way, Kasey Kahne winning might just get drivers from the two other top series involved and wait for it, wait for it....... sell more tickets. 123. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.15.2012 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If people continue to support Rockingham (which is the reason why NASCAR left in the first place), then i wouldn't have any problem with NASCAR bringing N'wide and Cup back. But lets do baby steps first. A double or a triple race weekend right now wouldn't be a good idea. If people show up for the Trucks, then just imagen people showing up for the N'wide races and maybe Cup races. Just remember, fans wanted Rockingham back. So don't ask for the Cup series right now, baby steps. I'm not going too comment on weither the Texas race was a "shitpile boring piece of shit" or "a great race." I'm self moderating myself. 124. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.15.2012 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, baby steps are needed, not a triple-header weekend. However, Cup guys like Hamlin, Harvick, Busch, etc. want to run the Truck race and that naturally its going to attract fans and so the next logical step is for a Nationwide race and eventually a Cup race within 5 years. The quality of racing is what attracted drivers like Hamlin tweeting his intention to race there in 2013 on Twitter. Social media along with the SPEED broadcast (which was better than average, a rarity with Mikey in the booth) has opened the door for additional steps in the near future. 125. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) OMG, here are my retro championship predictions as I remember them: 1995: Dale Earnhardt. Dale + Monte Carlo = Domination, right? 1996: Dale Earnhardt. Had he not been injured..... 1997: Dale Earnhardt. I thought he would recover fully from his injuries over the off season (whoops) and that him and Larry Mac would set NASCAR on fire (double whoops) 1998: Mark Martin. Any other year.... 1999: Jeff Gordon. Him and Evernham are gonna rule the sport for a LONG time together (whoops) 2000: Jeff Gordon: Still had speed in '99, just no consistency which they will fix for '00 (whoops) 2001: Dale Earnhardt. Sigh. 2002: Jeff Gordon. He can't be stopped and will be at 7 soon. 2003: Jeff Gordon. I specifically remembered thinking Kenseth would win a lot of races but wasn't consistent enough to win the Cup. 2004: Jimmie Johnson. I didn't get sucked into the Newman hype. 2005: Jimmie Johnson. How was I to know Tony would turn into Cool Hand Luke for once? 2006: Matt Kenseth. Had the momentum from the end of last season, plus the 48 team will be pemenantly scarred from the previous two seasons. 2007: Matt Kenseth: They'll bounce back. 2008: Jimmie Johnson. Yay me! I finally got one right. 2009: Jimmie Johnson. I'm on a roll! 2010: Jimmie Johnson. He'll run off with it, nobody is in their league! 2011: Jimmie Johnson. He can't be beat. 2012: Jeff Gordon. Y'all just wait. 126. Mr X posted: 04.15.2012 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree that baby steps should be taken to get Rockingham back as a symbol for good racing in NASCAR, I really hated when Mike Helton was in the booth and nobody thought to ask him what he thought Rockingham's future would hold, it would've been the first question I asked. Regardless I think the race today will attract numerous drivers from NASCAR's higher series, which will attract fans, and who knows after that. The only thing that hurt todays race IMO was the lack of experience between most of the teams and drivers. There just weren't as many fast trucks as I hoped, as evidenced by the fact that only 11 were on the lead lap by lap 55, but other then that it was 200 awesome laps. I really would love to see this place on the cup schedule in the next 3-6 years. There was more sawing on the steering wheel, playing with the gas peddle, and slipping and sliding in 200 miles today with only 36 drivers and 140mph then there were with 43 drivers, 500 miles and 180mph yesterday. My inspiration that this will happen for THE ROCK!(I love saying that, THE ROCK!) In 1996 Winnipeg lost its NHL team, the Jets to Phoenix where they became the Coyotes, however in 2011 the Atlanta Thrashers left for Winnipeg to become the Jets. Winnipeg has an NHL team again after 15 years, maybe the Cup series will get THE ROCK back after 10 or 11 years without. 127. Anonymous posted: 04.15.2012 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) mr x, i dont think we watched the same races this weekend... 128. Evan posted: 04.15.2012 - 4:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) * Good win for Greg Biffle and he'll keep the point lead, I think he needs win more to get in title contention though and Biffle will hit a few rough spots down the road(let's face it), its up to the team to weather it. * Michael Waltrip Racing(despite their owner in the booth)(nice idea, FOX...) Is having a good start to the season and Bowyer is not a disaster like I thought it would start out to be and Truex and Martin have really stepped up their game. Mikey's team has taken their lumps as a franchise over the years so its good to see them run well. * Michael Waltrip CAN be a good broadcaster when he actually is serious and talks about subjects that are important. 129. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 04.15.2012 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I admit, MWR did prove me wrong and they had a good race yet again this weekend. We will have to wait and see if this sticks, or is only a hot streak for them. I'd have to see a MWR car win this year and make the Chase to really be convinced they've improved. 130. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 04.15.2012 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Okay folks. I'm going to have to retract some things. After having watched the 1998 DieHard 500 and this Texas race over the weekend, I'm going to retract my thoughts that there is no way a speedway/superspeedway race can go 115+ laps caution free *Except for California. You could run that track for 72 hours and never have a caution*. Well, after the 200 and something event here and the early LONG green flag run at 'Dega back in 1998, maybe I was wrong about that 'special' 1998 Daytona 500 win being fixed by NASCAR. Maybe there was something special in the car, but then again, Earndhart had the same style of a race back in 1990. My theory is that he just accumulated all of his 'talent' that would of been spread out from 1997 and 1998 and congregated it in the 40th Daytona 500 or something, I duuno. Still, that aside, I found the race highly enjoyable all the way through. Only 10 laps of caution in a race of 334 laps? EPIC! Next up, lets see the fall Charlotte race go the entire distance with virtually no cautions! The only sour-ish part was that Biffle won. *Sigh* I still don't really like him after the stunt he pulled at Daytona this year. And before you say something, I think that Biffle indeed was going full throttle, but he was stuck on the low line. We had seen all day that he was good enough that if he went on the highline he probably would of passed Kenseth. And that leads me to retracting the statement about how 'lame' the Daytona 500 this year was. It was better then I had said, really. I was just angry at the Biff and took it out on the whole race. Nevertheless, great race at Texas! Can't wait for them to come over here to KANSAS! WHOOT WHOOT! 131. Eric posted: 04.15.2012 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is hard to say if Rockingham would be back on the Cup schedule in 3 to 6 years. It goes to how attendance is at the current cup tracks. Dover is the track in danger right now because the company that owns that track also been sell off other race tracks that used to be on the Nationwide Schedule. The thing with Dover is if dates are gone from that track, it would go to Iowa. That in return would mean there is too many race track dates in the Midwest. Right now the Midwest for cup races has 2 Michigan races, 2 Kansas races, 1 Chicagoland race, and Indy. What I see happening is Rockingham coming back for the Nationwide series in less than 3 years. I think Rockingham is a great indicator to see where a driver is at in driver development. 132. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.15.2012 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DaleSrFan you actually thought Gordon was gonna win in 2000 :O 133. Red posted: 04.15.2012 - 9:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "but most of the drivers have arrived in recent years seem to be of the more conservative nature." Could it be that young drivers realize conservative points racing is a great way to be successful in the Chase era? Modern race broadcasts feature constant mentions of the points standings, and how many points so-and-so is ahead/behind the final Chase spot. In previous eras, a driver's main goal was to win races, and especially win the big races. Nowadays, it's all about the Chase, which has little to do with winning, and where conservatism usually pays off. The NASCAR culture has bred a generation of points racers. 134. ch posted: 04.15.2012 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh yeah almost forgot.. 33 owner: Joe Falk 135. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.15.2012 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, I thought Jeff ws gonna win in 2000. He won 7 races the previous year, but finished 6th in points due to inconsistency. He was coming off seasons with win totals of 7, 10, 10, 13, and 7. I figured he'd get his 6-10 wins and re-establish consistency. Basically I expected him to do in 2000 what he did in 2001. 136. cjs3872 posted: 04.15.2012 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's a major part of it Red, but the drivers I've referring to, the younger ones coming up, generally aren't in cars capable of making the Chase in Cup, and in the lower divsions, don't seem to be aggressive either, with the exception of a rare few. In a way, it's back to the 1970s and 80s, when young drivers coming up were told not to mix it up with the more established drivers, even if they were in comparable equipment, and just learn from them. Just look at the drivers that finished up front at Texas, and many of them have something in common, and that is that they're almost all very experienced. In fact, of the top 14 finishers (the top third of the field), only two have fewer than 250 starts at the Cup level, and those two have 230 starts or more. But certainly the points system that rewards consistency over outright dominance has sometinhg to do with it, and the points system enacted last year even exaggerates that even more, with making moves late in the race not worth the risk if it isn't for the win, but there are other factors involved, including sponsorship and the lack of competitve cars. As I've said, the level of competition in the sport is the lowest overall in about 12-15 years, and that doesn't figure to change unless the top 35 rule is changed, because that rule is keeping potential new teams out of the sport, which in turn keeps potential new stars out of the sport. 137. Red posted: 04.15.2012 - 11:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I think another factor causing young drivers to be more conservative is money. In the last decade, the cost of racing has skyrocketed, while the financial payoff has flatlined. Return on investment is lower than ever, especially at the local levels, where it's very difficult just to keep a race team running. Given that environment, young drivers are probably learning that the number one priority is simply to bring the car home in one piece, rather than risking $50K worth of damage in going all-out for the win. If I were paying the bills for my own race team, I'd probably race conservatively, too. 138. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 04.16.2012 - 2:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It does seem to be about conservatism for the first 26 races of a season. Look how Jimmie Johnson won the 2008 and 2009 titles. He mainly did well enough to stay top 5 in points, then when the Chase started up he began winning like crazy because the #48 team knew that was how they were going to have to win the title. Heck, even Tony managed to squeeze his way in the Chase barely last year and go on a blazing streak to edge out the ultra-consistent Carl Edwards to win his 3rd title. Brad also just made the cut and finished top 5 in points (although to be fair he was also on a blazing streak going into the Chase). 139. Spen posted: 04.16.2012 - 6:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric: That is certainly a contributing factor, but I don't think it can explain everything. After all, 1999 had a very low number of cautions, even by '90's standards, and we had full 43 car fields with no S&P cars in each race, and we also had Michael Waltrip, "Geoffrey" Bodine (who generally wrecked almost as much as Todd), and Jimmy Spencer in the field on a weekly basis, plus Buckshot Jones running part-time. By all rights, there should have been a lot more cautions that season. However, we also had only two rookie drivers in the field, one of whom has generally been fairly conservative (Elliott Sadler) and one who has incredible car control (Tony). The other year during the '90's that had a really low caution total was 1992. (So low that Terry Labonte managed to go the entire year without a single accident.) We only had one rookie that season, and he already had twenty years of racing experience. So while all your points are valid reasons, having fewer rookies in the field helps to lower caution totals as well. I do think you're being a little unfair towards Montoya. Jet dryer incident aside, he really hasn't wrecked near as often these last couple of years. (Heck, he completed more laps than any other driver last season). I do agree with you about Dario's days in Indycar looking numbered. But I don't think Montoya would be a great replacement. He's been out of open wheel for six years now, and hasn't driven Indycars since 2000. And being only two years younger than Dario, you couldn't really get much long-term use out of him. NASCAR Predictions OMG!: Well, *I* enjoyed reading your predictions at least. And hey, you got it right that year! Nice to know I wasn't the only one who didn't see Jimmie Johnson being more than the new Jerry Nadaeu. DSFF: Thanks for sharing that list. Here's mine: 1965: Even at four and a half years old, I understood enough to realize that if two of the three drivers who were contending last year weren't running, that meant that the one left over had to win it. I started off my prediction career by correctly predicting a Ned Jarrett championship. 1966: Ford's gone, so Ned's out of the picture. Petty's gonna win this one without even trying. 1967: Petty can't win, he blows up every week. Pearson will win again. 1968: Pencil in Richard Petty for the next twenty years. He can't be beat. 1969: Now that they're both in Fords, Petty will win it easily. 1970: That Superbird is crazy fast. With Pearson out of the picture, Petty wins. 1971: He's the *only* driver with factory support left. How's Petty going to mess this up? I don't know how, but he will. James Hylton will win it. 1972: Petty only wins when he has no competition. Bobby Allison will wipe the floor with him. 1973: Hate to admit it, but Petty's team is practically perfect. I don't think they can lose. Cale Yarborough's no Bobby Allison. (I didn't even predict Benny to finish in the top 5.) 1974: Last year was a little funky, but things'll start settling back down now. Cale's looking better. I think he'll pull it off this year. 1975: Petty only won thanks to that stupid point system. Cale will get him this year. 1976: Petty's finally gonna do the three-peat. No one's even in his league right now. 1977: Cale was practically trying to give it away last year. Benny Parsons will get #2 this year. 1978: No one can win three in a row. The switch to Oldsmobile will kill them. I've got a good feeling about Dave Marcis' new team. I think they just might be championship calliber. 1979: Hate to say it, but that Darrell Waltrip punk. 1980: Cale. Only sensible choice, really. 1981: Waltrip's a proven choker. I'm going to bet on Earnhardt to repeat. 1982: Bobby Allison. He came so close last year. 1983: Terry Labonte. He just needs to win a couple times. 1984: Waltrip. Bobby can't stay at this level forever, and no one else in in their league. 1985: Bill Elliott. He was coming on strong last year. 1986: These new Monte Carlos are scary fast. Jaws will be back to usual form. 1987: Earnhardt or Richmond. I don't know who'll win, but it'll be epically fun to watch. (I did bet on Earnhardt, though. My first correct championship prediction since 1965.) 1988: Bill Elliott. Earnhardt can't stay on top forever. 1989: Rusty Wallace. He's carrying a lot of momentum. 1990: Earnhardt. Losing it like he did last year will make him step up his game. 1991: Wow. I got four in a row? Ha! I am the prediction master! So let's see. Earnhardt's due for a slump year, Mark Martin seems more like a 'championship hangover' guy than a 'runner-up momentum' kinda guy. So I'll go with Geoff Bodine. JJ's due. (Oops) 1992: Davey Allison. Those Fords are wicked fast this year. 1993: Bill Elliott. We can beat Alan and Davey with just a little more effort. 1994: Mark Martin. He seems to have his act back together. I don't trust swervin' Irvan, and no way can Earnhardt win seven. 1995: Terry Labonte. Earnhardt can't three-peat, the Monte Carlos are too fast for Rusty or Mark, and that Gordon kid has less chance of winning than Kenny Schrader. 1996: Close loss = invigorated Earnhardt. He could pull off #8. 1997: Jeff Gordon. I don't want to see it, but it's gonna happen. 1998: Gordon will succeed in giving it away to Dale Jarrett this year. 1999: Bobby Labonte. Pontiac's due. 2000: Ricky Rudd. If Dale freaking Jarrett can win a title in this car, Ricky can too. 2001: Tony Stewart. Just needs to work on consistency. 2002: Sterling Marlin. That Dodge is good. 2003: Kurt Busch. Came on strong last year. 2004: Ryan Newman. I bought the hype. 2005: Jimmie Johnson. No way they lose it this year. 2006: Greg Biffle. See earlier post. 2007: Tony Stewart. His head'll be back on straight after throwing it way last year. 2008: Jeff Burton. RCR has to win another one eventually. And it's not like Johnson can win three in a row, right? 2009: Johnson. Sigh. 2010: Don't even bother people, it's Johnson's again. 2011: Carl Edwards. Well, I was half-right... 2012: Johnson's gonna be back. 2013: Johnson wins for the seventh and (mercifully) last time. So thus far, I've been right eight times out of 47 attempts. Maybe Cjs is right, I should become a weatherman. 140. cjs3872 posted: 04.16.2012 - 9:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Red, money is certainly another reason, which is where the sponsorship angle comes in, as well as the fact that team owners are hiring drivers that can get he car to the finish of races. As I've said there are a number of reasons why the younger drivers coming up, as a group, seem to be more conservative than the last batch, and there are a number of reasons, money (sponsorship), the lack of quality teams now (the overall competition level is the lowest in a generation), and the points system, which rewards conservative driving even more than the previous system did, because it does not reward higher finishing positions like it should. Simply, there is no incentive to racing hard any more. As I've said, if I was a car owner and had a guy in fourth place, I would tell my driver to not take a risk on passing the guy in front of him for third place, just to make sure my car gets fourth place points, because the risk is not worth the reward. After all, when the difference between second and third place points is the same as the difference between 42nd and 43rd, something's very wrong. That may also be the reason you have so many start-and-parks in the Cup series, because racing all day is, for the smaller teams, simply not worth it in terms of money or points. After all, the last team that parks usually gets 5-7 points under the system currently used, and they likely wouldn't get more than one or two more points than that if they ran the full race, if any, plus they'd possibly lose money due to the tire bill alone, not to mention the possibility of blowing an engine or crashing, and the cost that either one or both of those things might incur. 141. Scott B posted: 04.16.2012 - 12:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Texas race was: A. First start for Reed Sorenson in the #32. B. First start for Tony Raines in the #33. C. First start for Scott Speed in the #95 (after a DNQ at Martinsville). 142. Scott B posted: 04.16.2012 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, this race was the first time for Mark Martin to be the highest finishing Toyota. 143. Talk4Tar posted: 04.16.2012 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gotta love short track season starting in the great state of Michigan. Didn't see a single lap of NASCAR racing on this Saturday evening. Instead I watched Terry Senneker take the win in the Icebreaker 100 for Outlaw Super Late Models at the Berlin Raceway. I can guarantee the race I saw was ten times better than what anyone sat in front of the TV saw. 144. Talon64 posted: 04.16.2012 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Greg Biffle picks up his 17th career Sprint Cup Series victory, tying him with Marvin Panch and Curtis Turner for 46th all time and ending a 49 race winless streak. He's the first points leader to win a Cup race since Kevin Harvick won at both Daytona and Michigan in 2010. It's his first top 5 in 4 races, after starting the season with 3 straight 3rd place finishes, but it's his 4th straight top 5 and 8th straight top 10 at Texas (6 top 5's, 452 laps led, 5.1 average finish). Texas now ties Michigan for Biffle's most top 5's at any track with 7 and is his 4th track with 10 top 10's. Roush Racing picked up their 127th career Cup win and 9th at Texas (tied for their 3rd most at any track). They're the 2nd team with multiple wins this season, along with Stewart Haas Racing who have 3. Jimmie Johnson finishes 2nd for a second time this season and for the 37th time in his career, tying him with Bobby Isaac and Ned Jarrett for 15th all time. Jimmie now has just 3 wins over his last 62 starts, a span which includes 9 runner-up finishes and 19 top 3's overall (52 wins in first 308 starts). Jimmie finishes 2nd for a 5th time at Texas, tied with Fontana for his most at any track, and his 3rd in the last 4 April races. Mark Martin picks up his first top 5 with Michael Waltrip Racing. After having just 4 top 5's in all of 2011, MWR already has 5 top 5's this season between 4 different drivers. In fact, they're the only organization through 7 races that have 4 different drivers with a top 5 finish (Mark, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers). HMS will join them whenever Kasey Kahne gets a top 5 finish. Mark picks up his 5th top 10 in his last 7 Texas starts, and his 8th top 5 (6th top 3) in 23 starts there. Jeff Gordon finishes a season-high 4th, his first top 5 of 2012. It's his 2nd straight top 10 at Texas, after having an avg fin of 26.0 in his previous 4 starts there. It's the first time Gordon's gotten a top 5 finish after starting outside of the top 30 since he came from 36th to finish 4th at Homestead in 2008. He also came from 31st or worse to finish top 5 twice in 2007, winning at Talladega and finishing 2nd at Las Vegas. Martin Truex Jr. earned his 7th career Cup pole, his 4th straight season with at least one, and his 2nd at Texas. Truex led 69 laps, his most in a race since he joined MWR in 2010 and his most since he led 135 at Atlanta in 2007. Truex picked up his 4th consecutive top 10 finish, a new career high. He also picked up his 7th top 10 at Texas, his most at any track and 2 more than the next best (1 top 5, 16.1 avg fin). Kasey Kahne finally gets his first top 10 finish with Hendrick Motorsports. He does share one thing with points leader Greg Biffle so far in 2012: A 7.4 avg start, and they lead all drivers in that. But Biffle's avg fin is 6.0, while Kahne's is 25.4. Kahne picks up his first stand-alone top 10 finish at Texas (16 starts, 4 top 5's, 18.8 avg fin). Carl Edwards picks up his 4th top 10 through 7 races in 2012, but still hasn't led a lap this season (along with Kasey Kahne). 28 drivers have led a lap through 2012, including the likes of Mike Bliss, Terry Labonte, David Ragan, Aric Almirola and Dave Blaney. Despite being a 3 time winner at Texas, this was only Carl's 7th top 10 in 15 starts there (15.0 avg fin) but his 3rd straight. Since starting the season with back-to-back finishes, Kevin Harvick has 2 over the last 5 races. But he's finished 11th twice and his worst finish was 19th at Martinsville. Harvick picked up his 9th top 10 in 19 Texas starts (12.7 avg fin), including 4 in the last 6 races. Dale Earnhardt Jr. made it 4 Hendrick cars in the top 10 by finishing 10th, his 3rd straight top 10. It's also his 3rd straight top 10 and 4th in 5 races at Texas (11 in 20 starts, 13.9 avg fin). Kurt Busch picked up his 3rd top 15 finish of the season, but has 3 finishes of 33rd or worse to go along with them. 145. Cooper posted: 04.16.2012 - 6:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My disappointing driver of the season was Martin Truex Tr. Predictions are meant to be proven wrong. But, I love going back and checking old predictions to see what people thought was going to happen. Even if they are hilariously awful. Keep em' coming NASCAR Predictions OMG! 146. Red posted: 04.16.2012 - 6:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "After all, when the difference between second and third place points is the same as the difference between 42nd and 43rd, something's very wrong." I don't know how NASCAR doesn't realize how problematic their points system is, and the type of conservative racing it creates. Every other major series in the world uses a more top heavy points system, giving drivers incentive to race hard for positions at the front of the field. It just seems so blindingly obvious to everyone except the suits in Daytona. The other no-brainer for improving the racing is to insist that Goodyear bring a softer tire compound to EVERY track. Yes there might be a few extra tire failures, but it would be more than worth it to see cars sliding around on worn tires, and the separation of the men from the boys that goes with it. Again, it would make too much sense to ever happen. 147. Cooper posted: 04.16.2012 - 7:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Since we're talking about old predictions and looking back at things with retrospect, does anyone else go on google news and search up old articles on NASCAR. I love reading reports on old stuff, but knowing the future. It's pretty awesome. Like 2002 with Sterling. There were so many articles on him going to win the championship, how his career was at an all-time high etc. Like this one: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/04/sports/auto-racing-marlin-holds-lead-at-midpoint-of-season.html Also, a lot of my history knowledge on NASCAR is learned through reading old newspaper articles. Its' rally cool. Anybody else do this/know about this? 148. Red posted: 04.16.2012 - 7:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As far as predictions gone wrong, last fall I predicted that Kasey Kahne would win the 2012 Cup championship. Theoretically it could still happen, but it ain't looking good. Given how Kasey has always overachieved in medicore equpiment, I thought he'd be lighting it up at Hendrick. Perhaps a divorce from Kenny Francis would do him some good, as Francis-led teams have always been riddled by inconsistency. 149. Daniel posted: 04.16.2012 - 7:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kansas entry list: -Sam Hornish Jr. in the #12 for Penske -Reed Sorenson in Frank Stoddard's #32 -Tony Raines in Joe Falk's #33 -Stacy Compton in his #74 -Mike Bliss in Mark Smith's #19 -Tim Andrews in Go Green Racing's #79 150. 10andJoe posted: 04.16.2012 - 7:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did Speed S&P or was he genuinely overheated to the point it cooked the engine? (Normally it'd be obvious but a lot of cars were having overheating problems at the start.) 151. 10andJoe posted: 04.16.2012 - 11:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In other news, Travis Pastrana and MWR might 'borrow' the 09 from RAB Racing for the Richmond NNS race, it appears. 152. Daniel posted: 04.17.2012 - 12:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #150, I haven't heard, but I assume it was an actual issue. The #95 didn't S&P any last year and are running a limited schedule to avoid S&P. I may be wrong though. 153. Rusty posted: 04.17.2012 - 4:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) RAB didn't have sponsorship for the #09 at Richmond, so having Pastrana use the car helps keep them above water. It makes sense for everyone. It just sucks Kenny Wallace got kicked out of that car (I know he'll be back, but for like 3 races, it sucks). 154. Scott B posted: 04.17.2012 - 1:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Has Robby Gordon made any formal schedule announcement? I see he's skipping another week, I suspect we may only see him at the plate races and road races for the rest of 2012 if a sponsor doesn't step up. 155. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.17.2012 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spen that is pretty cool you that you had that presence of mind towards racing at such a young age. My earliest memories of NASCAR begin in the second half of 1989 when I was 5 pulling for Earnhardt cause my Dad did. I didn't start my predictions until 1995's preseason (I was 10, just about to turn 11). All my predictions from 1990-94 would have been Dale Earnhardt. Because he drove that awesome black car, was The Intimidator and The Man In Black, and I liked him. That was my reasoning. And the best part? I would have been right in 4 of the 5 years! The glaring exception was 1992 when aliens abducted Dale for a year to study how to make their master race more badass Dale had a really bad year. It wasn't until the end of 1994 that I realized driving talent and driving acumen, not awesome public personas and kickass mustaches and sunglasses, are what win races and championships. So then I began predicting Dale cause I knew he was REALLY freaking good. 156. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.17.2012 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Has Robby Gordon made any formal schedule announcement? I see he's skipping another week, I suspect we may only see him at the plate races and road races for the rest of 2012 if a sponsor doesn't step up." He said show up at Sonoma but nothing other then that. Since he is good at plate racing, i would like to see him try those but i think he isn't willing to have his car bought back on the garage on a flatbed by something not of his own doing. 157. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.17.2012 - 9:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man at first i thought this was going to be a total flop. Man, you people actually like this. I'm happy. Aight here's 2001 (yes this was before Big E's death) 1. 24- Jeff Gordon (Comeback Kid) 2. 3- Dale Earnardt (#8 at 50?) 3. 99- Jeff Burton (New #1 Roushketeer) 4. 20- Tony Stewart (Fireball of Talent) 5. 18- Bobby Labonte (Defending Champ is overrated) 6. 88-Dale Jarrett (Can he deliver a big year?) 7. 28-Ricky Rudd (I GUARNTEE he will this year) 8. 2- Rusty Wallace (Rusty can win, but he ain't a title contender) 9. 17- Matt Kenseth (Unflappable but needs more speed) 10. 8- Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Little E can win big but can he finish consistently? 11. 6- Mark Martin (Too much chaos. He won't extend to 13 Top 10's in a row) 12. 1- Steve Park (This year's breakout driver possibly) 13. 22- Ward Burton (Needs to adjust to new Car) 14. 10- Johnny Benson (Valvoline will propell this team even further) 15. 25- Jerry Naedeau (Finale win was asign of things to come) 16. 9- Bill Elliott (Could win for Ray) 17. 12- Jeremy Mayfield (Has the most bizarre and ill-fated luck) 18. 31- Mike Skinner (LarryMac was the glue that held this team together) 19. 5- Terry Labonte (Does Ice Man still have a bite?) 20. 33- Joe Nemechek (Front Row Joe finished well alst year) 21. 36- Ken Schrader (Will Schrader stop crusing and start racing?) 22. 40- Sterling Marlin ( Ganassi won't stand for mediocrity) 23. 26- Jimmy Spencer (He can run well, but rarely finishes at the front) 24. 55- Bobby Hamilton (The man can race. Petree might have the horses to help) 25. 43- John Andretti (Petty is expanding to 3 cars. Andretti's will still DNF) 26. 93- Dave Blaney (Improved the last few races dramatically) 27. 19- Casey Atwood (Has potential but may be too young) 28. 97- Kurt Busch (Roush should have chose Biffle instead of this young gun) 29. 77- Robert Pressley (Penske will help this team improve) 30. 15- Michael Waltrip (Earnhardt will have a busy fabrication shop) 31. 21- Eliott Sadler (Might be worse young driver in the series) 32. 32- Ricky Craven (Tide Ride needs stability. Crave needs good health) 33. 4- Robby Gordon (Will this even last the whole season?) 34. 14- Ron Hornaday (Talented Minor-Leaguer is in over his head) 35. 7- Mike Wallace (Likely won't be anything above mediocre) 36. 27- Kenny Wallace (Badly needs sponsor) 37. 66- Todd Bodine (Replacing DW. Obvious upgrade) 38. 01- Jason Leffler ( Rookie has no business in Cup) 39. 96- Andy Houston (Good sponsor, bad team) 40. 45- Kyle Petty (Needs good season to keep faith if anything) 41. 92- Stacy Compton (Renumbering proves "second-rate" status) 42. 44- Buckshot Jones (Can he lasta whole season?) 43. 11- Brett Bodine (Owner-driver is understaffed and udnerfunded) 44. 75- Wally Dallendach (Needs a miracle) Tell me what you guys think :P 158. Cooper posted: 04.17.2012 - 10:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sterling Marlin....was dynamite in 2001. But I can definitely see why people didn't expect him to do much in 2001. Oh and Steve Park, was supposed to be so darn good. Shame what happened to him. Good Call with Jeff. That means you picked the '01 and '02 champions correctly!. Great Job. 159. JG24FanForever posted: 04.17.2012 - 11:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Most positions gained at Texas 1. Jeff Gordon +30 2. Kurt Busch +14 3. Carl Edwards +12 4. Juan Montoya +9 5. Tony Raines +8 Biggest loser's 1. Bad Brad -28 2. Ryan Newman -15 3. David Ragan -14 4. Marcos Ambrose -13 5. Trevor Bayne -9 Fastest Laps 1. Jimmie Johnson 47 2. Greg Biffle 45 3. Jeff Gordon 35 4. Brad Keselowski 29 5. Mark Martin 28 6. Matt Kenseth 24 7. Carl Edwards 19 8. Martin Truex Jr. 17 Kasey Kahne 17 10. Kevin Harvick 11 160. JG24FanForever posted: 04.17.2012 - 11:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spen "1995: Terry Labonte. Earnhardt can't three-peat, the Monte Carlos are too fast for Rusty or Mark, and that Gordon kid has less chance of winning than Kenny Schrader." Gordon dethroned Earnhardt at the Southern 500 and for the Championship 161. Spen posted: 04.18.2012 - 3:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And I'd like to meet the person who thought *that* would happen. 162. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.18.2012 - 7:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You know I beevr thoguht Johnson was going to do bad in Cup. I felt like Naedeau was about done in 02. He had so much bad luck that It was starting to wear on him. Plus Naedeau was just too aggressive, too out-of-control. Johnson was smoother and could just drive better. He didn't do much in Busch but he didn't have a great Busch team either. With Hendrick he had all the resources in the world. 163. Scott B posted: 04.18.2012 - 12:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #157... Steve Park in my opinion was well on his way to a breakout season in 2001 up to the time he was injured in a flukey wreck. He had just reached that point where he seemed capable of contending for a win at any track on the Cup schedule. Though he hadn't had much success at plate races, that was probably just a matter of time and luck, the latter of which he never had much of. Road courses, intermediates, and short tracks he had showed he could get it done. 164. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.18.2012 - 12:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I can't remember place by place predictions for the years, in fact I don't even do those to this day. Last year, once the cha$e was set, I did "chance of winning it all" power list, but that is about it. But here are some predictions I have made about specific drivers or happenings in the sport over the years, some of which were right, some were wrong. 1995 Bristol Spring race: Gordon won on a short track? Uh oh, that could be trouble for the rest of the field. He might be putting it together. 1995: Morgan McClure and Sterling will win a Winston Cup championship before the decade ends. End of 1995: Yeah, Dale got beat this year, but look at that look on his face. He'll be back with a vengeance and kick everyone's ass next year. 4 races in to 1996: Was I right or what? 1996: No racing at North Wilkesboro? Yeah right. It'll be back on the Winston Cup schedule by 1999. 1997 Labor Day: Dale really needs to retire. He obviously hasn't been the same since that wreck last year. And now we can see it has really affected his health. Besides, he isn't really competitive anymore. This year, he has had no major bad luck after Daytona, and no DNFs. Yet he is still way behind Gordon and Mark who have had issues. He will never outrun Gordon again ever. 1998 Daytona 500, 10 laps to go: Ugh, what heartbreaking thing is gonna happen to Dale this year to keep him from winning it. How am I gonna get my heart ripped out again? End of 1998: Jeff is going to shatter every major record. He is simply untouchable. He won't reach 200 wins due to schedule constraints, but he'll easily pass 100 and obliterate the championship record. He's just 27! He has got at least 16-17 more years of prime ahead of him. That is at least 7 championships in that stretch alone! Meanwhile, Dale really needs to announce 1999 is his last year. He has his Daytona 500 win, there is nothing left to prove. He won't win championship #8 or come close to it. His son just kicked the shit out of everyone in his first Busch season. So he obviously has inherited much of his Dad's talent (I was right) and desire (I was VERY VERY wrong). He'll carry the Earnhardt name proudly in to the future. Now get out before you become an embarrassment like Darrell. 1999: So let me get this stright: Bobby Labonte needs a teammate and JGR needs to run two cars to share information. So for his teammate, you put in somebody with zero Winston Cup experience, and only a handful of Busch Series starts, an Indy car star. Why would you do that to Bobby and the organization? 1999: Richard, will you get rid of Skinner already! He is worthless to your organization and Dale hates his guts. You need teammates that compliment each other, he is not worth a damn to Dale. Why would you keep this up? Bristol 1999: Like the announcers said, they'll be talking about this one for a long time! Late 1999: Never mind, Tony is actually a great compliment to Bobby, I think he'll help push Bobby over the hump to the 2000 Winston Cup championship. Also, why do I have the feeling that DJ will not compete compete for any more championships. May 2000 (right after The Winston): Was I right or what? Bobby is flawless. He'll cruise to the Cup. And how bout Little E? That Richmond win was pure guts and heart. And then he made a statement in The Winston. Most importantly, glad to see Big E is Top 3 again. He might get #8 sometime after all. But not this year. Not against Bobby. Oh yeah, this "rookie rivalry" between Little E and Kenseth is a joke. Matt will never be able to do what Dale Jr is doing. 2000 after the first Loudon race: Never mind! Dale is gonna win this thing! Only 45 points back? He is gonna beat Bobby! The Intimidator is back! End of 2000: Ugh. I was right to start with. So glad to see Dale relevant again. But it still stings knowing he was close at one point, then fell behind badly. 2001 will be his year though. He has his health back, his spirits are way up due to the success of his son and his company. Plus he has Dale Jr and Steve Park to bounce ideas off of. Also, it is obvious Gordon is good, but without Evernham, he is just a Top 6 driver. 2001 "The Day" after seeing Schrader's live post race interview, well before "The Announcement": Dale's gone. More coming, need some sleep now. 165. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.18.2012 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I never thought Skinner was ever any good. How he ever finished in the Top 10 in points is beyond me. Anothey guy who I always thought couldn't drive was Andretti. He got so much hype because he was in the 43. Never lived up to any of it. He always whined and wrecked people for no reason. Never liked John. 166. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.18.2012 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I never thought Skinner was ever any good. How he ever finished in the Top 10 in points is beyond me. Anothey guy who I always thought couldn't drive was Andretti. He got so much hype because he was in the 43. Never lived up to any of it. He always whined and wrecked people for no reason. Never liked John." Mike was great in Trucks and decent N'wide but for crying out loud wasn't cut out for Cup. But as for the dude who replaced him? Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 167. Daniel posted: 04.18.2012 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) -Tony Raines now in the #74 -#33 driver TBA 168. ii posted: 04.18.2012 - 7:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think that at this rate the #55 owner (Michael Waltrip) will make it into the Chase, and the last non-wild card team (unless they are 11th and 12th without a win) will not make it into the owner's Chase. I would love to see the #55 win the owner's points this year, that would be pretty cool. 169. Bronco posted: 04.19.2012 - 12:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Mike was great in Trucks and decent N'wide but for crying out loud wasn't cut out for Cup." How was he not cut out for Cup? He finished top 10 in points in 1999, he won races against Cup drivers at different tracks (Suzuka, Motegi, Bud Shootout, Winston Open) and led a decent number of laps in only a short amount of time. The only thing missing was a Cup win, which he almost got in 2000 at Atlanta (dominated the race, engine expired )and Talladega (made a great pass and led with two to go, Dale Jr and Labonte bumped him taking the white, cost him the win). Those races ended up Dale's last two wins. 170. cjs3872 posted: 04.19.2012 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Bronco, you forget about the race at Watkins Glen in 1998 when Skinner had about a 20-30 second lead late in the race and was told to slow down and conserve fuel he coudl make it to the finish by crew chief Larry McReynolds, which he did, though it cost him the win. After the race it was revealed that Skinner could have run harder near the end and still had the fuel to make it to the finish and possibly beat Jeff Gordon, who won that race, the third of four consecutive Gordon wins Gordon had in the summer that year on his way to 13. As we know, Skinner never won a Cup race. In addition to the close calls you mentioned, Skinner's best finish was second in the 2000 spring race at Talladega, a race notable for a couple of reasons. Most notably, it was Gordon's 50th career victory in the Cup series, but interestingly, he led a top four, which included Skinner, that was the same exact top four from the 1999 Daytona 500, though only Gordon finished in the same position in that race as he did in the '99 Daytona 500. The other two common finishers in the top four of both of those races both lost their lives from the same injury in the next nine months. They were Dale Earnhardt, Sr. and Kenny Irwin, Jr. Also, Bud Moore brought back the white #15 car that had won three times in a row with Buddy Baker at Talladega. That paint job was raced a few more times that year, including the Southern 500 at Darlington, a race Moore won three times from 1957-'66. And I rate Skinner as one of the ten best, and probably one of the five best Cup drivers never to have won a race onthe Cup level. And let's not forget that he almost won a qualifying race at Daytona in 2005 in a Bill Davis Racing Dodge. (That would have been his second qualifying race victory after his thrilling 2001 qualifying race photo finish win over Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) So Mike Skinner was a quality driver. He just never got the breaks to go his way at the right time to win a Cup race. And I think John Andretti was a better Cup driver than many gave him credit for. After all, you don't win at Martinsville if you're a bad driver, and the last of John's two Cup wins came there. And let's not forget that it was Andretti's performances in the #43 car late in 1994 during his first stint there that made it an attractive ride for Bobby Hamilton in 1995. And when Hamilton left, Andretti returned and did not fare badly, winning a few poles and that race at Martinsville, as well as nearly winning at Bristol in 2001, losing to the Wood Brothers on a truly nostalgic day that brought back memories of the classic Petty-Pearson duels in the 70s (the #21 beat the #43 for the win). Sure, Andretti didn't have the superstar genes that his uncle Mario and his cousin Michael had, but he was a pretty good driver that never wound up with a top team. If he had, I believe he would have won more races. A current day counterpart to John Andretti for comparison's sake would be a guy like Clint Bowyer or Martin Truex, Jr. Both are competent drivers that are one notch below star quality (Bowyer is much closer than Truex is in that regard) that a team can stay afloat with, but will never win consistently with, and John Andretti was that kind of driver, as well. 171. Bronco posted: 04.19.2012 - 10:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And I rate Skinner as one of the ten best, and probably one of the five best Cup drivers never to have won a race onthe Cup level." I'd say he probably IS the best, I can't think of anyone else who led more laps than him without winning a Cup race. Don't forget he even led the points in the opening weeks of the 1999 season. I'd even rank Skinner way ahead of guys like Smith, Logano, Mears, Ragan, who have won races just because he seemed to be in the mix more often. Had he not had those injuries in 1998 at Texas and in 2001 at Chicago we could have seen more out of him. 172. cjs3872 posted: 04.19.2012 - 11:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well Bronco, Skinner's six poles and 1,029 laps led both both records for drivers that never won in the Cup series, but there are certainly other very good drivers that never won in the Cup series. For instance, former Truck Series champions Ted Musgrave and Todd Bodine each won five pole positions and Musgrave finished second at Darlington in 1997 to Dale Jarrett in the 400-mile race and always seemed to do his best at the driver's tracks (Darligton, Dover, Pocono). Another driver that was a top competitor that never won was Joe Ruttman. Ruttman finished second three times and legitimately had chances to win three Daytona 500s (1982-'83, '91) and led the most laps in the 1983 Daytona 500 with 57. But luck never went his way at the right time to find victory lane. The most glaring examples came at Richmnond in spring races in 1982 and '86. He cut a tire while leading in the '82 spring race just before the rain hit and looked like victory might fall in his lap in the spring race in '86 when Dale Earnhardt hooked Darrell Waltrip in turn three, but Ruttman was unable to avoid the aftermath and got swept up in that accident. If he had been able to avoid that wreck, he would have won that race, instead of Kyle Petty. In fact, Ruttman's 807 laps led was the standard for non-winners until Skinner became the only non-winner to lead more than 1,000 laps. 173. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.19.2012 - 12:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Speaking of that 2000 Atlanta race, everyone talks about the thrilling finish by Dale and Bobby and how Skinner dominated but blew up. What people don't mention is the absolutely incredible saves both Dale and Bobby made entering the high speed Turn 1 when Skinner blew up right in front of them. At the time he blew, TV was on Bobby's roof cam, and suddenly it is covered in oil, and if you look hard enough you can see that 3 car ahead of him fishtailing like hell. Dale even mentioned it in his winner's interview. He said "I thought we was history when that worthless son of a bitch Skinner blew up in front of us Skinner blew up in front of us which was a shame for those guys." 174. Sean posted: 04.19.2012 - 2:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I don't think Mike Skinner was talentless. Earnhardt himself was not dominant in those years, and especially from late '98 to the end of '99, Skinner was in the hunt for wins almost as much as Earnhardt...he just didn't get them because he always made the wrong move every time on plate tracks. Deserving of an RCR Cup ride? Maybe not, but we've seen worse drivers with full-season major team rides (Wally Dallenbach, Jr. - should have been a sports car road racer/Cup road course ringer his entire career, Chad Little, Kevin Lepage, Joey Logano, David Ragan, Brian Vickers, Casey Mears, Paul Menard, Kenny Irwin, Jr., Elliott Sadler, Michael Waltrip...) I think even DaleSrFan will admit that he's being too hard on Skinner after considering the performances of some of the names I just listed. Even though Skinner never won an official Cup race, he contended for wins more than any of those other guys I think... But I wouldn't take Skinner as the best non-winner. I would take Dick Trickle, who was considered at the Rusty Wallace/Mark Martin level on Midwestern short tracks in the '70s. He had pretty AWFUL rides and usually overachieved in them in the '90s (that 3rd at Bristol in 1997 behind only Jarrett and Martin in the #90 Donlavey car - AMAZING for that car and his age). His only problems were that he was a rookie at age 48 when he was already starting his decline and he never drove anything remotely decent as a result. Put him in something like a Harry Ranier car ten years earlier and he would have at least 10 Cup wins... People like Skinner and Musgrave had very real chances with major teams and didn't get it done. Trickle never drove anything at that level. Neither, in my opinion, did Joe Ruttman (except that one year in the Roush truck where he finished 3rd in points and got fired for being too old - THANKS, JACK!) Dick Trickle, Joe Ruttman, and Buddy Arrington - I guess those might be my top three non-winners, in that order. Glad to see some love for John Andretti. I think he was one of the most underrated drivers in EVERYTHING HE DROVE for years. Usually, having a marquee name gives you opportunities greater than what you deserve, but it surprisingly didn't hold true in that case. People go on and on about Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon's versatility, but HONESTLY I think John Andretti was as versatile as either of them, perhaps more. John Andretti won a 24 Hours of Daytona (which Stewart and Robby DIDN'T...well, Robby won in class but an overall win is more significant). He won a CART IndyCar race on the streets of Surfer's Paradise in 1991, giving car owner Jim Hall his only win between Johnny Rutherford in 1981 and Gil de Ferran in 1995 (and by the way, they were both Indy 500 winners and CART champions, though this deserves a bit of an asterisk since Hall wasn't active in many of the surrounding years). Andretti himself got four straight top tens in the Indy 500 driving for Hall and A.J. Foyt, and neither of those teams were powerhouses at those times (any race won by a team other than Penske or Newman-Haas at that time was a colossal upset). He never had anything CLOSE to the Penske/Newman-Haas/Ganassi/Green/Patrick level in open wheel, so who's to say what he could have done or whether he was actually mediocre? His Cup career was the same way. He got a couple nice, surprise wins for Cale Yarborough and Richard Petty (the last two wins EVER for those teams) at Daytona in 1997 and Martinsville in 1999 (I do NOT consider Kahne's wins in 2009 as part of the Petty legacy since that was still a residual Gillett-Evernham Motorsports team). Again, he drove nothing CLOSE to Hendrick/Roush/Gibbs/Childress/Yates/Penske/etc... I think it's DAMN impressive that he was able to win in both IndyCar (with what was probably about a 10th place team) and Cup (with what were probably about 15th-20th place teams). Could he have won a title in one of the superior rides? Probably not, but people have always massively underrated him. He even made it to the finals in an NHRA top fuel event if I'm not mistaken, another realm of racing that Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon haven't participated in. So versatile and marginally successful everywhere, a very nice guy, seemingly marketable, and with a legendary last name, and he couldn't find any decent ride in any series in his entire career? Oh well, but I'm glad to see him getting love here nonetheless. If he spent as long at Newman-Haas as his cousin Michael did, he would have quite a few wins I think... And even now John Andretti is not completely worthless. I was laughing my butt off when he after years of NASCAR qualified on the first day of Indy last year while his Andretti Autosport teammates (Marco Andretti, Mike Conway, Ryan Hunter-Reay, and Danica Patrick) were all scrambling around trying to make the show in the last hour or so of Bump Day, and Conway and RHR ended up missing (even though Andretti ended up buying A.J. Foyt's qualifying spot for RHR later...poor Bruno Junqueira, having his qualified Indy 500 ride ripped out from under him two out of three years, not to mention his gruesome 2005 crash there. He is the most unlucky driver in motorsports right now.) 175. cjs3872 posted: 04.19.2012 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sean, Joe Ruttman did have first-class equipment in his NASCAR career. After all, his first big break came in the early 80s when he got in Jim Stacy's car after Dale Earnhardt left and had some great runs in it. Of course, having Dale Inman calling the shots didn't hurt, either. But Ruttman was released from Stacy's car in 1982, and he landed in Ron Benfield's car, where he led the most laps and finished fourth in the 1983 Daytona 500. Benfield's cars never did better than when Ruttman drove them, and he had guys like Johnny Rutherford and Morgan Shepeherd, among others drive for him. He was also the first driver for Morgan-McClure Motorsports (1985) and Kenny Bernstein's team (1986-'87) and helped build both of those teams up to where other drivers could take over and win. And when he returned full-time to NASCAR in 1991, he did so in the RahMoc car, rewarding them with a third in the crazy 1991 Daytona 500. And when the Truck Series started, Ruttman was always a front runner, driving successfully for Jack Roush and Ernie Irvan, among others, making Mike Skinner, Ron Hornaday, Jr., and Jack Sprague earn everything they got. And while John Andreti was nowhere near his uncle Mario and cousin Michael in driving ability, he was more than just serviceable. Like I said, bad drivers don't win at Martinsville, and he did. In fact, his victory in that race at Martinsville is, to this day, the last win for the #43 car in NASCAR's top series. And of course, there was that near-win at Bristol in 2001 when he finished second to the Wood Brothers in that nostalgic finish. And let's not forget that he also scored the only win Cale Yarborough ever had as a car owner, in the final daytime Firecracker 400 in 1997, doing so in dominating fashion. And I had forgotten about Dick Trickle, who had some great runs, especially with the Stavola Brothers, as well as Junie Donlavey And though Trickle doesn't outrank Skinner, Ruttman, and Ted Musgrave in that group of best drivers never to win a Cup race in my mind, he would certainly rank in the top 7-10 in that regard. And all four of those drivers were probably better than several of the recent drivers to score their maiden Cup wins in the last six years. 176. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.19.2012 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Andretti actually won in the NHRA. 177. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.19.2012 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I never said Skinner was no good (I did back then, but that was different). But the fact is him and Dale didn't get along. At all. That is as much Dale's fault as Skinner's, but it was one of the many factors that brought RCR down in the late 90's along with falling way behind the technology curve, not doing the "one team fielding two cars" thing right in the first place, and Dale's injuries. Another thing from that Atlanta race, Dale going to pass Skinner on a restart, and Skinner blocking him all the way down to the white line, eventually flattening Dale's fender. On the next caution, Dale drives up beside Skinner and points angrily at him. They obviously didn't like each other, yet Richard wouldn't do anything about it. 2001 would have been their 5th year together. You have 3 choices in a situation like that. 1) keep things exactly the way they are despite its obvious counterproductiveness (which is what Richard did). 2) get rid of Dale and build your future around Skinner (where do I even begin with that one?). 3) get rid of the guy who can't close races and give your 7 time champion, the guy who lifted your organization into the stratosphere, a teammate he respects and can bounce ideas off of. Which one would you guys choose. That is my point, although I do think you guys are giving Skinner a little too much praise for his Cup efforts. The best never to win? You have to look at guys who never had good equipment, but grinded out good finishes. Dick Trickle is an excellent example. Hut Stricklin had some really good runs for some teams that were either way past their prime or never worth a shit to start with. He damn near won the '96 Southern 500. How about Rick Mast? And that isn't even getting into the independants that had no sponsor or factory support, built their own stuff, drove their stuff to the racetrack, had volunteers for a pit crew (translation: their pit stops suced), and had one car so they couldn't practice it hard. Would you rank Skinner ahead of JD McDuffie? Jimmy Means? Buddy Arrington? 178. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.19.2012 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I should have said no major sponsorship. I'm guessing Rumple Furniture wasn't paying as much as Budweiser was. Just a hunch. 179. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.19.2012 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Coo Coo Marlin. Should have mentioned him. He also once said he'd like to take Earnhardt out behind a barn and beat the hell out of him. That has to count for...... something, right? 180. LordLowe posted: 04.19.2012 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF you going to talk about your predictions on Drivers and happenings in NASCAR from 2001 to the Present Day 181. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.19.2012 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How about Cecil Gordon? So consistent that in 73 he was mathematically eligible to win the title in the finale at Rockingham. 3rd in points in 71 and 73. That is impressive. Other examples of that kind of ability were Larry Thomas and Curtis Crider in the 60s. 182. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.19.2012 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Excellent point about the second best driver ever named Gordon to drive a #24 Chevrolet. He did outstanding as an independent. Plus he became a crucial part of the legendary Flying Aces. 183. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 04.19.2012 - 10:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "That is my point, although I do think you guys are giving Skinner a little too much praise for his Cup efforts. The best never to win? You have to look at guys who never had good equipment, but grinded out good finishes. Dick Trickle is an excellent example. Hut Stricklin had some really good runs for some teams that were either way past their prime or never worth a shit to start with. He damn near won the '96 Southern 500. How about Rick Mast? And that isn't even getting into the independants that had no sponsor or factory support, built their own stuff, drove their stuff to the racetrack, had volunteers for a pit crew (translation: their pit stops suced), and had one car so they couldn't practice it hard. Would you rank Skinner ahead of JD McDuffie? Jimmy Means? Buddy Arrington?" Perhaps i was too harsh on Mike about him "not being cut out for Cup." I wouldn't rank Mike ahead of those guys you named. Might was well name the people who have driven the #31 (since Richard has used the number): Mike Skinner: 0 wins, 10 top 5's, 38 top 10's, 5 poles (sat on the front row for the 500, first rookie to ever do that, not named Jimmie Johnson) Robby Gordon: 3 wins (swept the Roadys and won NHIS in typical Robby fashion) 8 top 5's, 23 top 10's, 0 poles (still holds most RC wins for Richard) 'the mayor' Jeff Burton: 4 wins, 39 top 5's, 92 top 10's, 4 poles. (lead the points at the 2006 talladega race before the wheels fell off) 184. Daniel posted: 04.20.2012 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) -Jeff Green to drive Joe Falk's #33 185. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 04.20.2012 - 5:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I stand by what I say about Skinner. He simply wasn't good enough. Thank you for leaving out the real reason to his success too- Larry Mac. DSFF I love ya man.... but Stricklin had as much talent as did Arrows in F1. Mast eh no. A guy who could have done more in cup witha good opportunity in my opinion? call me crazy but Steve Grissom. He ran well at Petty when they were awful. He had a great start to 95. Musgrave is the best to never win in my book though. 186. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.20.2012 - 9:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Steve Grissom is another good example. I remember that incredible start he had to 1995. I think Hut is better than you think. I agree he was no (fellow new wave Alabama Gang member) Davey Allison by a long shot. But he had some respectable runs for Bobby Allison Racing, the version that was started up after Bobby's awful Pocono '88 accident and was never worth a shit. He also had a few good runs for a badly fading Junior Johnson team that Bill Elliott was struggling with. And he had some good runs with the Stavolas in their fading days (not saying much seeing as how their heyday in the mid 80s wasn't great by any means), highlighted by his domination and heart breaking runner up in the 1996 Southern 500 to Jeff Gordon who won his 2nd of 4 consecutive Southern 500s and 3rd consecutive Darlington race. Again, he wasn't great, but he was alright IMO. I think Mast did alright with the rides he had. Would definitely rank him ahead of Skinner. But ultimately my pick is Dick Trickle. To enter Winston Cup in his late 40s after a lifetime of running short races on short tracks in the Mid West, to adapt to the Cup marathons and post respectable finishes in some really shitty equipment, that is really good IMO. I'll do my 2001-present predictions on the Kansas page tomorrow. The wrong ones (2001: Harvick will be the driver of the decade), the right ones (2007: The COT is gonna be a disaster), and the horribly wrong ones (Ricky Rudd + Wood Brothers = success!). 187. 10andJoe posted: 04.20.2012 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looking at the Kansas practice times, the biggest surprise for me is that Tim Andrews and Go Green aren't nearly as far behind the curve as I expected. Two-tenths off being 'eighth of eleven' in the first practice, and only four-hundreths off in P2. 188. JG24FanForever posted: 04.21.2012 - 6:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is for the stat geeks Winningest Chevy driver for each season since 1972 1972 Bobby Allison 10 of 10 1973 Cale Yarborough 4 of 7 1974 Cale Yarborough 10 of 12 1975 Cale Yarborough 3 of 6 1976 Cale Yarborough 9 of 11 1977 Cale Yarborough 9 of 21 1978 Darrell Waltrip 6 of 10 1979 Darrell Waltrip 7 of 18 1980 Dale Earnhardt 5 of 22 1980 Darrell Waltrip 5 of 22 1981 Bobby Allison 1 of 1...incredible 1982 Bobby Allison 2 of 3 1983 Darrell Waltrip 6 of 15 1984 Darrell Waltrip 7 of 21 1985 Dale Earnhardt 4 of 14 1986 Tim Richmond 7 of 18 1987 Dale Earnhardt 11 of 15 1988 Dale Earnhardt 3 of 8 1989 Darrell Waltrip 6 of 13 1990 Dale Earnhardt 9 of 13 1991 Dale Earnhardt 4 of 11 1992 Darrell Waltrip 3 of 8...really?over Big E? 1993 Dale Earnhardt 6 of 9 1994 Dale Earnhardt 4 of 11 1995 Jeff Gordon 7 of 21 1996 Jeff Gordon 10 of 17 1997 Jeff Gordon 10 of 11 1998 Jeff Gordon 13 of 16(single season Chevy record) 1999 Jeff Gordon 7 of 12 2000 Jeff Gordon 3 of 9 2001 Jeff Gordon 6 of 16 2002 Jeff Gordon 3 of 10 2002 Jimmie Johnson 3 of 10 2003 Jimmie Johnson 3 of 19 2003 Jeff Gordon 3 of 19( record 9 consecutive) 2004 Jimmie Johnson 8 of 22 2005 Tony Stewart 5 of 17 2006 Jimmie Johnson 5 of 23 2006 Kevin Harvick 5 of 23 2006 Tony Stewart 5 of 23 2007 Jimmie Johnson 10 of 26 2008 Jimmie Johnson 7 of 11 2009 Jimmie Johnson 7 of 18 2010 Jimmie Johnson 6 of 18 2011 Tony Stewart 5 of 18 Most Chevrolet wins Top 3 1. Jeff Gordon 85 2. Dale Earnhardt 73 3. Jimmie Johnson 55 189. JG24FanForever posted: 04.21.2012 - 7:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watching Q3 for Bahrain, Schumacher was KO'd after just Q1 with a technical failure again,that man has no luck. 190. Spen posted: 04.21.2012 - 8:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was never quite sure what to make of Hut. He had some really impressive moments (the '96 Southern 500, his stint at Junie Donlavey) mixed in with a lot of underwhelming results. Yes, Bobby Allison's team wasn't top-notch, but Jimmy Spencer and Derrike Cope got equal or better results compared to Hut (leading one to wonder if Allison's team was really as mediocre as it looked. They *did* have Jimmy Fenning after all.) And his year with Travis Carter in '94 was completely forgettable compared with what Spencer did both before and after. (Fun fact: Jimmy Spencer replaced Hut Stricklin four times during their careers.) And Southern 500 aside, Hut really didn't do that great at Stavola's. He only had one other top ten finish in his 2 1/4 years at the team. (Which makes that one race look almost as out of place as Michael Waltrip's '91 Rebel 500 run.) To add insult to injury, after being fired from the team after an atrocious start to the '98 season, his replacement driver pulled off an instant top-ten. The replacement? Buckshot Jones. And his 2002 season at Bill Davis, even by thier standards for second teams, was quite lackluster. He succeeded in making Dave Blaney and Kenny Wallace look good. (Or in Kenny's case, marginally adaquate.) I do agree totally about Grissom and Trickle. If Steve had been given even the same chances as fellow Busch champion Joe Nemechek, he could have put up a similar win total. But no one was willing to take a chance on him after Hedrick imploded. And the only real black mark on Trickle's record is his '95 season with Bud Moore (when the only real highlight of the season is crashing under caution while trying to light a cigarette, you've had a bad year.) Other than that, he constantly outperformed the teams he drove for. 191. cjs3872 posted: 04.21.2012 - 9:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, you said that your predictio of Ricky Rudd and the Wood Brothers being a success was horribly wrong. I'm not sure how you can say that. The Woods ran consistently better with Rudd than they have with anyone else since Morgan Shepherd drove for them from 1992-'95. Sure, Rudd never won for them, but he ran up front quite a bit for them, including finishing second at Sonoma, Kansas, and California. And the Woods have not truly been competitve at the mid-sized tracks since Rudd's departure in 2005, with Trevor Bayne's ninth place finish at Las Vegas their first top ten since Rudd's ninth place finish at Kansas in 2005 (I don't count the Charlotte tire debacle race the following week). So given the circumstances, I think Rudd was a pretty qualified success in his three years with the Wood Brothers, especially if you consider the two drivers that the Woods had before Rudd got there and all the drivers they've had after Rudd left, and you'll see that Rudd ran much better more consistently than any of them. Sadler ran good at times for the Woods in 2001-'02, even winning at Bristol for them in 2001, but was not good at all in 1999-2000, so I even place Rudd ahead of Sadler in terms of Wood Brothers drivers since 1996. Rudd's the best one they've had since Morgan Shepherd, who was their most consistent driver in the years they ran the full circuit (1985-2008). 192. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.21.2012 - 10:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) By "success" I meant like Top 7 success. Yes he really raised their profile, but was rarely a front runner. I thought they would be. 193. cjs3872 posted: 04.21.2012 - 12:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well DSFF, what I was referring to was how competitve the Wood Brothers were in the time Rudd was driving compared to how competitve they've been, especially since then, but they were more more consistent with Rudd than they were, even with Elliott Sadler for the duration of Rudd's time there (2003-'05). Remember that, even when Rudd drive for the Wood Brothers (and that wasn't that many years ago), that if they ran in the top third of the field (the top 15), that would be considered doing very well, for them. Especaly when you consider that in most of the races, everyone tried to go the distance, or you had just one or two start-and-parks, not five to eight like you do now. And Rudd was never one to go out and be a dominant force in races anyway, even when he was in the best equipment in the sport. So even though he never won for the Woods (Rudd was the first driver the Woods had never to win for them), I would consider Rudd's tenure there a very sucessful one, especially when you consider what they were up against, as well as what has become of them since then. Any top ten run (except for road courses) was considered a major accomplishment for them in the years when Rudd drove there. 194. NASCAR predictions OMG! posted: 04.21.2012 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Trickle did wonders for Donlavey. His equipment and age are why he never got a good shake. Had he been given good equipment at 30..... he would have been a champion. 195. JG24FanForever posted: 04.22.2012 - 6:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #194 Trickle has 1200+ Short Track wins throughout the U.S,he easily ranks among Ray Hendrick,Jack Ingram,Richie Evans and Richard Petty as the best Short Track driver's and even one of the best driver's of all-time. 196. the_man posted: 05.06.2012 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Ragan on a 35th place finish: "We had a pretty good Scorpion Truck Bed Liners Ford. But the wind just made it impossible to run any consistent laps or to make any changes that would stick. And then we lost a bunch of laps having to go to the garage. I could hear the window net taking a beating all night and it finally gave. Jay Guy did a good job to fix it pretty quick, but we were too many laps back to make it up." 197. ch posted: 07.18.2013 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #26 Sponsor: MDS Transport (consistent with all 2012/2013 starts) 198. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 04.24.2014 - 12:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew 37 TBA Ford TBA Larry Gunselman 199. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 07.23.2015 - 5:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates #11 March of Dimes/FedEx Office #16 Filtrete/3M #23 North Texas Pipe #33 WellSeals.com/Little Joe's Auto #38 Modspace/United Rentals #42 Target/Clorox #47 Bush's Beans/Tom Thumb/Scott Products #98 Phil Parsons Racing 200. Flywheel89 posted: 07.23.2015 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 234 consecutive laps of green. Wouldn't see that today, and this was only three years ago. 201. NASCARLover22 posted: 12.24.2015 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates: #16 Filtrete #24 DuPont #88 Diet Mountain Dew/Natl. Guard/7-Eleven #51 Phoenix Construction 202. Maverick19 posted: 11.19.2019 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) As long as stage racing remains it looks this will be the longest green flag run we'll ever see again at 234 laps. The only way this can be topped under the current format is if the final stage of Bristol goes green the entire way. 203. BOBO83329521 posted: 03.29.2020 - 5:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Ryan Newman vs. Hendrick's 200th Win, Part 2. Why are you always such a problem? 204. danny posted: 08.04.2020 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race had the first 200 Lap green flag in the 21st century as they mentioned in broadcast homestead 99 was the last time a long run like that occured for a SuperSpeedway track. They mentioned that near the end of the race. 205. Rich posted: 12.19.2020 - 9:55 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. Jeff Hammond was the roving reporter. Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip were in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: