|| *Comments on the 2012 Aaron's 499:* View the most recent comment <#296> | Post a comment <#post> 1. ii posted: 05.05.2012 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keep an eye on Jeff this weekend, he has something to show everyone. 2. JG24FanForever posted: 05.05.2012 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) f**k yes! 20 consecutive pole winning seasons!! 3. hyperacti posted: 05.05.2012 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 71st career pole for Jeff Gordon. 4. cjs3872 posted: 05.05.2012 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) You wonder if this might be a replay of the 2007 spring race. In that event, Jeff Gordon won from the pole to move ahead of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. for sixth on the all-time win list with his 77th victory. That win also made him the only four-time winner of the Talladega spring race. Fast forward five years to this year. As Hendrick Motorsports seeks it's 200th win as an organization, Gordon also seks another milestone win, his 86th, which would, in the eyes of many, myself included, move him into third on the all-time win list ahead of Bobby Allison. And as was the case five years ago, he'll try to do it from the top starting position. And before Earnhardt (and later his son Dale, Jr.) became the fan favorites at Talladega, that distinction belonged to the Allisons, each of whom won the spring race at least once, and both Bobby and Davey won it three times. If Gordon does win this week and give Hendrick his 200th win (and his 86th, which would move him into undisputed possession of third all-time), it will have some interesting parallels to five years ago. And Gordon has tied a long-standing record just by winning the pole, as he tied Daivd Pearson's record for winning at least one pole position for 20 consecutive seasons. Gordon's pole for this race in 2007 was his 60th, setting the modern-era record he extended today. 5. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.05.2012 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man, excited to see those two RPM Fords up the front! I know the race doesn't start until 20 to go, but it's still a good sign anyway! It's a public holiday tomorrow here, so the good news is I'll be watching the race live. The bad news is, I'll be up at 3:00am to do it... 6. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.05.2012 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, American racer Joey Hand was second fastest in practice for the DTM race at Lausitzring. Joey raced over here as a V8 Supercar co-driver last year at the Gold Coast 600 event and I quickly became a fan of his, due not only to his obvious talent and potential but his positive attitude and friendly personality. Whilst his BMW team mates locked out the front row in qualifying, unfortunately he was only able to put in a lap good enough for 14th on the grid for tomorrows race. All the best, fella. In other racing news from around the globe, can we all please spare a thought for German racer Tim Bergmeister, who was involved in a horrible accident in the Japanese Super GT race at Fuji yesterday. One of the rear tyres on Tim's Porsche let go as he was coming down the long front straight, sending the car spinning out of control with the car taking a heavy hit in the drivers side door against the pit exit. He's currently still in hospital, with his condition listed as serious but stable. He has a few broken bones, which are said to not be a big deal, but the good news is there are no head or spinal injuries. Unfortunately, he punctured a lung in the crash and doctors are working to try and save that. It's scary how quickly things can go wrong and this is another reminder that motor racing is dangerous. It's something in the back of my mind at all times, from when I'm watching on the TV or when I'm pulling on the helmet myself, so I'm always thankful for each day at the track that goes by without anything going horrible wrong. 7. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.05.2012 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Wrecks Weekly alert. 8. Baker posted: 05.05.2012 - 5:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Two weeks ago I asked for your Top 25 drivers of all time(Last week I was in a wedding so didn't have time) and this week I want to ask cjs3872, DSFF, Spen and anyone else who cares to respond what the Top 25 all time race tracks in Nascar are in your opinion. Reasoning would be much appreciated as well such as driver skill, driver fav, fan favorite, sports biggest events ect... 9. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.05.2012 - 5:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) John Wrecks Weekly alert again. 10. cjs3872 posted: 05.05.2012 - 5:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Baker, I can't give you 25 of them, but I'll give you the top ten in my estimation: 1. Daytona International Speedway 2. Charlotte Motor Speedway 3. Darlington Raceway 4. Indianapolis Motor Speedway 5. Martinsville Speedway 6. Richmond International Raceway 7. Bristol Motor Speedway 8. Pocono Raceway 9. Dover International Speedway 10. Atlanta Motor Speedway Also, let's hope that Michael Waltrip at least contends for the win, which he's capable of doing. Waltrip's car, which carries the #55, will be honoring the memory of Junior Seau. Turns out that, probably for sponsorship obligations, Waltrip was in San Diego when the news of Seau's passing first broke. And wouldn't it be something if Waltrip is up with the leaders when the checkered flag is near. And by the way, his team is, as it has been for the last few years in the spring Talladega race, been carrying a special paint scheme honoring one of the Alabama schools, this time the University of Alabama, as Clint Bowyer's car will be honoring the legendary Bear Bryant. 11. JG24FanForever posted: 05.05.2012 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Baker, here's a list for you 1. Darlington Raceway(all versions) 2. Daytona International Speedway 3. Bristol Motor Speedway(1992 fall event-2007 spring event version) 4. Martinsville(Paved version) 5. Daytona Beach and Road course(all versions) 6. Watkins Glen International 7. Charlotte Motor Speedway 8. Sonoma/Sears Point/Infineon(all versions,most technical ever for Cup) 9. Talladega Superspeedway 10. Langhorne 11. North Wilksboro 12. The Rock 13. Riverside 14. Indianapolis Motor Speedway 15. Atlanta Motor Speedway(both versions) 16. Richmond International Raceway(both versions) 17. Dover International Speedway(Concrete) 18. Phoenix International Raceway(original) 19. Bristol International Raceway(first version) 20. Pocono International Raceway 21. Homestead Miami Speedway(current version) 22. Lakewood Atlanta 23. Bowman Gray Winston Salem 24. Michigan International Speedway 25. New Hampshire Speedway(laugh if you want but this track is a driver's track) I hope this is okay 12. 18fan posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Vicious hit by Eric McClure. 13. Schroeder51 posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Worried about McClure. All the safety crews are gathered around his car...this could be very bad... 14. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't like the way this is looking for Eric. When the safety workers swarm the car like that, ir is just sickening cause it means they are worried. 15. New 14&88 Fan posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to NASCAR Eric is talking to the rescue crews, he more than likely got the wind knocked out of him. 16. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Horrible, horrible scenes. I felt physically ill seeing that impact and the following scenes. 17. Bronco posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Third hard hit for McClure that I can remember, he also had ugly wrecks at the final Memphis race in 2009 and the summer Daytona race last year. 18. Schroeder51 posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't have a good feeling about this one seeing as they cut him out of the car and put him on a stretcher...I just hope Eric's okay. At least they had the common sense to not show replays until just now in case the worst had happened. 19. JG24FanForever posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McClure's hit is impossibly hard that's a fatal hit on a concrete wall 20. Schroeder51 posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Without a HANS device or SAFER barriers that WOULD have been a fatal accident for sure. As I said, all we can really do is hope for good news. 21. jabber1990 posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I knew Logano was going to attempt to pull that stunt 22. JG24FanForever posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) it's a 2 race 18/54 54/18 quinella 23. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.05.2012 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse dodged a big bullet today by being in the right place at all the right times. I mean he has no teammates to speak of and his engine didn't overheat the way Sadler's did in the last 30 laps and sneaks a 3rd place out of Talladega. Good comeback by Sadler to get 10th. If Whitt and Stenhouse had moved down the backstrech, Earnhardt and Kurt Busch would have caught the the top four sooner as they were hauling the mail on the last lap. 24. cjs3872 posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jarrett88fan, I'm not sure you can say that Stenhouse dodged any bullets. yes, he didn't have any teammates, but then again, neither did Joe Nemechek, and look where he ran all day until the end. And how can you say he "dodged a bullet" by being at the right place at all the right times. To me, that proves he drove a smart and very intelligent race. Part of the strategy of racing at Daytona and Taladega is running at the back and staying out of trouble until you have to make your moves, and to me, Stenhouse drove a perfect race from trhat standpoint. Now his engine didn't overheat because Ford has a superior cooling system and he realy didn't race anybody all day until he had to, and he didn't put the front of his car in jeopardy. Darrell Waltrip had a strategy when it came to these high attrition races. He once admitted that his idea was to, in the first half of the race, let the cars that are going to blow up blow up, and the cars that are going run over each other run over each other, then he'd have more room to operate. In other words, why race 40 cars when you can race just 18-20. That's just smart racing when you know it's going to be hard to get to the finish. That's the kind of race that Stenhouse ran today. 25. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS, You mentioned blocking as a result of the RP rules package from 2002-2006. It seems NASCAR's solution to blocking was the development of the two-car tandem (which effectively eliminated blocking at Tally and Daytona in 2011) that "fans" disliked so much in 2011 and cried for return of the pack. Well now what we will see is more blocking and cutting off cars like what Harvick did to Annett and what Hornish did to Nemecheck in the pack late in the races. 26. Schroeder51 posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is there any news on McClure yet? 27. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse is a very intelligent racer and what I meant by dodging a bullet was in reference to the Nationwide championship. Sadler spent most of the race, prior to about 30 laps to go or so whenever he hit some on-track debris, up front running too hard. In the end, it cost Sadler more so than Stenhouse. "Part of the strategy of racing at Daytona and Taladega is running at the back and staying out of trouble until you have to make your moves, and to me, Stenhouse drove a perfect race from trhat standpoint." ~ A strategy my favorite Dale Jarrett, pulled every plate race between 2001 and 2008. I loved ABC/ESPN putting up the B-roll of DJ's last win in 2005 at Talladega because it has inspired Jimmie Johnson in 2006 to adopt the same strategy as Jarrett. 28. ii posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) When McClure hit the inside wall, the engine looked like it got pushed back into the cockpit. He also took a very hard hit to the inside wall. I bet at the very worst he got a couple broken bones, and maybe a concussion. He might have to miss a couple of races as well. I could tell right when the impact was made that it wasn't going to be good. McClure hit the wall at over 150 mph on the driver's side. We really have to thank NASCAR for improving the safety of the drivers for the past 10 years. We have escaped many incidents that could have been fatal, like this one. I tip my hat to those who helped contribute to the safety of the drivers in NASCAR. 29. Smiff_99 posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was it just me, or did it look like he GAINED speed approaching the wall? he was side-hooked on another car andwhen the seperated it seemed like McClure picked up a ton of speed.....that was one fo the hardest head-on impacts I think I've ever seen. Wonder what the black box will get for a G-force recording... 30. Schroeder51 posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think he did gain speed. I am watching replays on NASCAR.com and his car literally looks like a cruise missile flying towards the wall. 31. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You mentioned blocking as a result of the RP rules package from 2002-2006. It seems NASCAR's solution to blocking was the development of the two-car tandem (which effectively eliminated blocking at Tally and Daytona in 2011) that "fans" disliked so much in 2011 and cried for return of the pack. Well now what we will see is more blocking and cutting off cars like what Harvick did to Annett and what Hornish did to Nemecheck in the pack late in the races." NASCAR didn't develop tandum drafting, the drivers discovered it on their own at Daytona last year. Well actually they'd been doing it since 2006 when talladega was re-paved. I actually made a video about tandum (and pack) racing youtube. Dale Jr. was the first ACTUALLY tandum draft with Brian Vickers from turn 4 to turn 1. 32. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.05.2012 - 7:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Was it just me, or did it look like he GAINED speed approaching the wall?" A stuck throttle maybe? It was a sickening wreck and I'm honestly still distressed at the idea of two racers in hospital after those two wrecks (the other one I'm referring to is the Tim Bergmeister Super GT wreck - I thought one was bad enough). "We really have to thank NASCAR for improving the safety of the drivers for the past 10 years. We have escaped many incidents that could have been fatal, like this one. I tip my hat to those who helped contribute to the safety of the drivers in NASCAR." I know this comment will probably anger, annoy or frustrate people, but I really don't care - I believe NASCAR takes the safety of the car for granted. 10 years ago this would have been a fatality and so the work NASCAR has done in the way the cars have been built and developed is absolutely outstanding. Given the speed that they attain and the ferocity of some of the crashes, I would go as far as to say that the current NASCAR Cup and Nationwide cars are probably the safest tin-tops racing today. But there are certain things that make me feel as if NASCAR believes that because of this, they can take risks in other areas, knowing that it's very unlikely for a driver to be seriously injured these days. I'm honestly worried that one day they'll let things go too far. *sigh* My thoughts are with Eric and Tim, wishing them both a full recovery and as well with all of the other drivers around the world competing this weekend, hoping for them all to get through it safely. 33. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.05.2012 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Darrell Waltrip had a strategy when it came to these high attrition races. He once admitted that his idea was to, in the first half of the race, let the cars that are going to blow up blow up, and the cars that are going run over each other run over each other, then he'd have more room to operate. In other words, why race 40 cars when you can race just 18-20. That's just smart racing when you know it's going to be hard to get to the finish. That's the kind of race that Stenhouse ran today." A variation of this brilliant strategy played a defining role in one of my favourite moments in all of racing; the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans. The pre-race favourites were the three Scuderia Ferrari 250TRs, however, the factory Aston Martin team devised a cunning plan. Knowing that the Ferrari's were faster than their DBR1s, but also very fragile, the Aston Martin team decided to sacrifice one of their cars by playing it in the role of the "hare", setting a blistering pace in the early stages of the race and luring the Ferrari's into attempting to run a pace they couldn't keep up with. It worked. Even though the "hare" Aston Martin retired early, none of the 250TRs were to finish, as they all overheated, leaving the remaining two DBR1s to coast home to victory. 34. 18fan posted: 05.05.2012 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JarrettFan, Harvick's block of Annett was in a tandem draft on a restart. There were three tandems: Kyle and Brad, Nemechek and Harvick, and Annett and whoever was pushing him. They had opened up a small gap on the field and that's when the wreck happened. Also, I may be wrong on this, but it looked like Hornish got hit from behind the way he shot across into Nemechek, which was a real shame for Joe who had his customary strong run at Talladega. Then Hornish took Danica to the wall in the tri-oval on the last lap and Danica put Hornish in the wall in turn 1. 35. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 05.05.2012 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Golly. Any news about Eric McLure yet? I watched the race live, and it was sickening. I thought his Daytona crash last year was bad, but good lord, he had to have injured his spine considering how long it took to get him out, put him on a back-board, and have him airlifted out of there. Despite that, it was an Aaron's 312 that contained perfect racing. I think Pack fans, Single file fans, and tandem fans all enjoyed the race start to finish, again with the exception of Eric McLure's hit in the big one. I believe we can all agree that our thoughts and prayers go out to him and Tim Bergermister. Trouble usually comes in threes, so I'm hoping that doesn't prove true and everyone else leaves the Talladega speedway tomorrow in good condition. I'll also tip my hat to Joey Logano, pulling that sick move. I had, and still do, think that with the tandem stuff we have, when you have mutliple tandems, third position is the place to be. While the lead tandem will usually split up to battle, if the guy behind you is commited, you can breeze past them both. That's one of the beauty of said Tandems. Top 25 greatest tracks? Argh, that'd be difficult. I'll give you my top 10 though.: 1. Daytona International Speedway. Virtually the birthplace of Nascar. 2. Riverside International Raceway. No other road course challenged so many drivers that I can think of. There never was any one driver that ever got that track down to a perfect nack, not even Tim Richmond. 3. Darlington: Toughest oval Track to drive. Ever. Enough said. 4. Charlotte/Lowes Motor Speedway: Because two of it's three dates are ultra special, the All Star event and the Coke 600, it easily earns this. 5. Indianapolis Motor Speedway: History. Even with Indy 500 history aside, this track has provided some amazing moments before. Stewart's duel with KC Khane in 2005, the wild fuel mileage finish last year and in 1994, Johnson Vs. Martin 2009. That's just the finishes, I won't highlight other things concerning this. 6. Infenion/Sonoma: *Ties with Talladega* Most technical track in NASCAR, and it has put on some wild showings in the last 3 years along with other dates past. 7. Talladega: *ties with Infenion/Sonoma*: This is just Daytona...on steroids. 'nuff said. 8. Bristol Motor Speedway *2005-2012 Repave job, the one that provided great side by side racing consistently*: The last 7 years here have been wild, from Johnson wiggling his way through the field late in Spring 2009, to Martin Vs. Kyle in Fall 2009, to Keselowski Vs. Kenseth this year. This track earns this place. 9. Martinsville: No need for explanation. 10. Atlanta Motor Speedway *Old and New Configurations*: The Old configuration was nothing short of epic. It was like taking Daytona/Talladega speeds and putting it on a perfectly oval speedway. The New Atlanta is obvious due to the innumerable amount of amazing races, and finishes. Granted, it made it another 'cookie cutter', but It's the one of three such tracks that if anyone insults them, I'll bang them in the head. 36. cjs3872 posted: 05.05.2012 - 9:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jarrett88fan, Harvick did not block Michael Annett. If anything, Brad Keselowski pushed Annett into Harvick, initiating that wild crash on the backstretch. You could also blame Annett for trying to make a hole where there was none. But the plain truth was that the situation, Annett never having been so close to a win in the only race this year he'll have a chance to win, a double-file restart on a plate track so close to the end (which is an absolutely horrible idea, as late-race restarts should be single file), and drivers and cars near the front that aren't normally there, all helped, in some way or another, to lead to that crash. And yes, the drivers may be getting too comfortable with the safety of their cars, something Darrell Waltrip has mentioned numberous times in recent years. And as for McClure's crash, that was a fluke in that he hit the SAFER barrier and Annett's car at precisely the same instant, makin the impact worse than it ordinarily would have been. And as for McClure's car speeding up, it looked like either his car lost it's brakes after the first impact or the throttle stuck wide open, because it did appear to speed up. And also remember that they were not going a full speed when that accident started. And 1995 Subaru WRX STi, the drivers did not discover the tandem draft last year. They just figured out how to do it for laps at a time last year. In fact, it is believed that Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman discovered the effects of the two-car push draft during the 2008 Daytona 500, so when they got into position on the final lap, they used that to blow by the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas on the final lap. They can also do that because the bumpers line up. I've said it before, but if NASCAR truly wants to do away with that, they should make it so the bumpers don't line up. That will stop it faster than anything else will. And I also mentioned blocking came as a result of the more aerodynamic cars beginning in 1995, followed by the cold air box a year or two later which made the draft work in reverse. That's when you saw blocking become a major hinderance in the racing. Just look at the 1997 and 1999 Daytona 500s. And Jarrett88fan, the strategy of running in the back at Talladega has been going on longer than you think. In the 1996 DieHard 500, the race where Dale Earnhardt had the first of two vicious wrecks at Talladega in two years, three drivers, Geoff Bodine, Bobby Labonte, and Darrell Waltrip all employed that strategy, and they missed all the wrecks and all three finished in the top ten, which for Waltrip, was his only top ten of the year. But I still think riding in the back is a terrible strategy at Daytona, because you just don't have the room to maneuver through the pack like you do at Talladega. Just look at this year's Daytona 500. All those battling up front at the end were up front all night. 37. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.05.2012 - 9:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And 1995 Subaru WRX STi, the drivers did not discover the tandem draft last year. They just figured out how to do it for laps at a time last year. In fact, it is believed that Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman discovered the effects of the two-car push draft during the 2008 Daytona 500, so when they got into position on the final lap, they used that to blow by the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas on the final lap. They can also do that because the bumpers line up. I've said it before, but if NASCAR truly wants to do away with that, they should make it so the bumpers don't line up." I actually had to look at my video to find something else, Ryan and Kurt where tandum drafting at the race in 2007 at Talladega. There is onboard with Denny Hamlin that show Kurt pushing Ryan around the whole track. It takes Hamlin awhile to get to teh front but his camera shows Kurt and Ryan tandum drafting. JJ Yeley and Tony Raines were Tandum drafting too. There was an onboard with Raines but it got removed. You'll have to watch the finish of the race to see how they got into the fray because they where no where near the front until the end of the race. Dale Jr. gets credit for actually discovering it because he said on his radio "i could do that all the way around the track if NASCAR lets us push in the corners" at Talladega in 2006. Oh and CJS, the POSCOYs bumpers didn't line and they tandum drafted with it. The Truck bumpers don't line up and they tandum draft. 38. cjs3872 posted: 05.05.2012 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I forgot about that fall race at Talladega in 2007, but that was certainly prior to last year, and Denny Hamlin was the first to really use it. But the only driver I know of that consistently pushed through the corners prior to that was Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who started doing that in 2003, much to the consternation of the other drivers. But Dale, Jr. used that tactic to try to move others out of the way, not to help them move forward in the race. The idea to do that to help others and move them away from the rest of the field, if only briefly was, to my recollection, first used to that effect in that 2007 fall race at Talladega. Bump drafting through the corners had been used prior to that, but it almost always ended in disaster. 39. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 05.05.2012 - 11:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, I recall late in the 1991 Winston 500, Harry Gant and Rick mast were tandem drafting while trying to conserve fuel. And not to mention that Donnie Allison was Tandem Drafting somewhat with Cale Yarbrough in the famed 1979 Daytona 500. None of those ended in disaster from the tandem. I hadn't noticed that in the 2007 UAW Ford 500 it had been THAT widely used, allthough you are right about the 2008 Daytona 500 and how tandem racing truly took the win here. However, tandem racing was a commonly used factor at Talladega prior to the 2010 fall event. I recall that after the second big one in the 2009 Aaron's 499, we had quite a few tandems, and that the same year in the Amp Energy 500 drivers were trying to Tandem in lines of three and four down the backstretch. The Year afterwards in the 2010 Aaron's 499, which is best known for setting the reccord for most lead changes ever in a NASCAR race *88*, one forgets that tandems were used consistently throughout the entire event to push drivers to the front. However, because usually half the field or more were staying in pack-like formations, it was a bit...deceptive and seemed confusing to those who hadn't been paying attention to it. That was the race I ended up starting to love tandems. Then, that year's Hallow-Dega Amp Energy Juice had quite a few tandems, and that was when it finally got the recognition it has now. It wasn't practiced at Daytona until after the repaving, as the surface had been two uneven and rough prior to that, and it would result in multi-car crashes. So yes, the idea of using it to push others forward, or at least help push yourself forward, had been around for a while. In fact, it was done at Fontana/California speedway on the backstretch for years prior to it's full true start at Talladega. Basically put it, I'm trying to say that getting rid of something that's a phase in NASCAR is pointless, and if NASCAR officials would leave the cars in both series alone, we'd see more and more of the fusion thing like we saw in today's race. And on a side note, I think that due to all of these insane rule changes, tomorrow's Aaron's 499 will contain a big wreck. Not the big wrecks we usually see nowadays of 8-15 cars involved, but more like something out of the 2002/2003 Aaron's 499, 20+ car wrecks that we'll be talking about for some time. 40. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.2012 - 12:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) But Destroyahirismix666, in the 1979 Daytona 500, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison never actually pushed each other, and Allison was not the only driver that Yarborough hooked up with that day to break away from the field. He had done that with Benny Parsons around the halfway mark when he was still trying to make up laps. When you think of the tandem draft, you think about one driver just pushing another around the track. Even when Rick Mast and Harry Gant were doing it at the end of the 1991 Winston 500, there usually was space between the cars, but not always. And bumping and pushing a car down the straights has always been fair game at the big tracks. In fact, in the 1974 Daytona 500, Richard Petty was pushing A.J. Foyt down the backstretch so hard during the middle stages of that race that it actually damaged the rear bumper of Foyt's car significantly, so the two-car tandem draft has been around longer than anyone thinks. They only recently started pushing all the way around the track. 41. Eric posted: 05.06.2012 - 12:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Darrell Waltrip had 2 top 10's in 1996, not one. His top 10 at Talladega was his first of 2 top 10's for him that year. Darrell had a top 10 at Talladega, and at Phoenix. 42. Daniel posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using the fastest 43: #49 J.J. Yeley Out using the fastest 43: #47 Bobby Labonte 43. Baker posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, No North Wilksboro, Langhorne, Riverside, or Rockingham? 44. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 40. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.12 - 12:09 am 'But Destroyahirismix666, in the 1979 Daytona 500, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison never actually pushed each other, and Allison was not the only driver that Yarborough hooked up with that day to break away from the field. He had done that with Benny Parsons around the halfway mark when he was still trying to make up laps. When you think of the tandem draft, you think about one driver just pushing another around the track. Even when Rick Mast and Harry Gant were doing it at the end of the 1991 Winston 500, there usually was space between the cars, but not always.' Yes. That's what I was referencing. They had been going pretty fast when they were touching in the 1991 Winston 500, even if it was not all the time. Going back and re-analyzing, you are right, Yarborough and Allison never really pushed each other. 'And bumping and pushing a car down the straights has always been fair game at the big tracks. In fact, in the 1974 Daytona 500, Richard Petty was pushing A.J. Foyt down the backstretch so hard during the middle stages of that race that it actually damaged the rear bumper of Foyt's car significantly, so the two-car tandem draft has been around longer than anyone thinks. They only recently started pushing all the way around the track.' Amen. You speak the truth there. All though imagine how cool it would be if David Pearson and Richard Petty did push eachother all around the track the last lap at Daytona 1976, rather then that lead swapping which was just as entertaining. The only track larger then a 1.5 mile track that I've never seen such pushing would be Michigan. 45. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) No, I don't place those tracks in my top ten, Baker. Rockingham and North Wilkesboro miss the cut because they didn't have big races there, Riverside doesn't make the cut because it's a road course, and Langhorne was simply the most dangerous track that ever existed. And I decided to choose active tracks, and only Rockingham would even make the cut if it were still an active track in the Cup series. And remember that even though I only chose ten tracks, some have had more than one configuration. For instance, Martinsville was a dirt track before it was paved, as was Richmond beofre it was paved and later reconfigured. Bristol has had multiple configurations, as has Atlanta Motor Speedway, and the Darlington Raceway, which has been reconfigured twice, and had the track flipped once. I put Pocono on the list due to it's quirkiness (just three turns). And note that I did not put popular tracks such as Michigan, Texas Motor Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Homestead-Miami, and Phoenix, among others, as well. 46. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872 "Riverside doesn't make the cut because it's a road course" what?!? you think a road course isn't worthy? sorry mate, but I gotta disagree because road course racing separates the pure drivers from the pretenders better than anything except of course the great equalizer that being Darlington. and The Rock didn't have a big event? you remember that Rockingham was 500 miles for 30 years and in International racing terms that's big. 47. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here's my Top 10 favorite current race tracks in Cup 1. Darlington International Raceway 2. Infineon Raceway 3. Martinsville Speedway 4. Atlanta Motor Speedway 5. Watkins Glen International 6. Pocono International Raceway 7. Talladega SuperSpeedway 8. Daytona International Raceway 9. Bristol Motor Speedway 10. Indianapolis Motor Speedway 48. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Road racing obviously takes some form of talent. Notice that Danica sucks at road courses, proof she is talentless. 49. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.2012 - 11:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) No JG24FanForever, I think a road course does showcase a driver's skill to the ultimate. There's a reason why Jeff Gordon (9) and Tony Stewart (7) are, in terms of number of wins, the two best in history when it comes to racing on road courses. The thing with road courses is that, while it showcases a driver's skill to it's utmost, road courses rarely showcase good racing because you can't run side-by-side on a road course. That is why I don't consider road courses when I think of the best NASCAR tracks. In fact, I can't even think of the last really good NASCAR race on a road course, because the stock cars are not really a good car to run on a road course. But it does present a supreme challenge for the drivers, just not good racing, or the opportunity for good racing. 50. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.2012 - 11:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And by the way, JG24FanForever, the tracks you list in your top ten each have something in common. Jeff Gordon has won at least four times on all of them, and at least five times on all but two. Those two are Watkins Glen and Indinapolis, here nobody has EVER won five times, going back to 1911. That fact, along with the fact that Gordon has never won at a track more than seven times, despite owning 85 wins, is why he may be NASCAR's current "jack of all tracks and master of none", much like Bobby Allison was. He also won 85 times, but never more than seven at any one track. And the more you think about it, especially now when you look back, if there was one driver from the that list of egends from the mid-60s through the mid-90s, the one driver that Gordon is most like is not Richard Petty, not Dale Earnhardt, but rather Bobby Allison, because he was a dominiant force and a front runner no matter what kind of track you put him on, and the stats show it. Gordon's career is so much like Bobby Allison's that it's almost comical, from winning the biggest events at least three times, to their era's respective roles as the "jack of all tracks and the master of none", and even down to the vicious crashes they had in the latter years of their careers. 51. Mr X posted: 05.06.2012 - 12:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Racing doesn't have to be side by side to be good. Road racing is generally much more technical then oval racing, elevation changes, crests, gear changes, increasing/decreasing radius corners, multiple apex corners, off camber corners, getting into and off of the corners. Mistakes are much more common on these types of tracks, a one second lead can be eaten up with one small mistake, and generally the speed disparity is huge. These reasons are huge factors in why in my view the greatest race car driver to ever strap into a car in any disipline is Ayrton Senna. In fact Sonoma is the next race that I am really looking forward to, Darlington is still good, but the repave and the Saturday night race have really hurt that race, the Coca-Cola 600 is at Charlotte which last year was the tale of two race tracks, the 600 was pretty competitive, a generally fun race, but the fall race was absolutely pathetic, clean air and track position prevailed all night. It was the worst race I have ever seen at Charlotte, and that includes both 2005 races. Sonoma is the next race that really hasn't seen anything effect it in a negative way, and again road racing I find extremely fun, and on the subject of the most dangerous racetrack ever, I would say that the Nurburgring Nordschleife is the most dangerous track to ever exist. It is absolutely the longest and most difficult track in the world, at a mere 12.93 miles around, 984 feet of elevation change, depending on how you count them, 72-150+ corners. Over 200 people have died at the track, and the track was so dangerous that it was wiped off the formula one circuit after 1976. The single lap record for any type of car is 6 minutes, and 11.13 seconds. Bonus: With Michael Waltrip driving today we won't have to listen to him after the prerace ends. 52. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The track is ready. Let's go! 53. Spen posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The main difference between Gordon and Allison though, is that Gordon got a good ride at 21, and has stayed there ever since. Bobby's longest stint with a single team was his three and-a-half years at DiGard. If Gordon switched rides at the same rate Bobby did, his career numbers would probably mimic Ricky Rudd's. 54. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Okay. National Anthem and prayers completed. Again, I pray for the safety of out drivers, pit crews, fans, and officials. 55. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Go get em Tater Salad. 56. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.2012 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Maybe Spen, but the only reason that Allison switched teams so often was that he couldn't get along with anyone. That was Allison's only real weakness. But when you look at their success, and the diversity of their wins, as well as their knack of finding a way to win the big races, and even the bad crashes late in their careers, the careers of Allison and Gordon sem to have an uncanny similarity to them. 57. Anonymous posted: 05.06.2012 - 2:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is that some sort of record, starting 8th and leading lap 1? 58. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mikey, you might love your TV job, but we don't love you in it. 59. Spen posted: 05.06.2012 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Since Baker asked me for one, here's my list of top-25 tracks. 1. Darlington. NASCAR would never have become anything other than another small-time racing league if it weren't for this track. And the atmosphere at that track is incredible. Back in '85, I got to stand on turn one while the place was still mostly empty. Looking down that front stretch, it felt like Herb Thomas and Curtis Turner were about to come around the corner. The place just oozes history. 2. Rockingham. Nothing can beat it in terms of sheer good racing. 3. Daytona. It's *Daytona*. 'Nuff said. 4. Richmond Fairgrounds. My favorite short track. Cramped, difficult, and always entertaining. The remodel's okay, but it doesn't compare its predesceser. 5. Riverside. Ultimate test of road racing ability. You win a 500-miler here, you are officially a bada$$. 6. Matinsville. The hot dogs alone put it on this list. 7. Bristol. I don't remember the original configuration of this track. I'm sure I must have gone there, but it left no memory. But I do remember coming here in the spring of 1970, and seeing the new absurdly steep banking. That 'holy $hit!' feeling stayed with me my whole life. 8. Langhorne. Scary dangerous? Yes. Unbelievably awesome? Yes. 9. North Wilkesboro. Friendliest atmosphere of any track, and the racing's good, too. 10. Asheville-Weaverville. A track I was very sorry to see us outgrow. Always gave us a good show whenever we came there. Not to be confused with the shorter and less exciting New Asheville speedway. 11. Trenton. Proof that mile and-a-half tracks can be interesting. I still wonder why we stopped coming here. 12. Atlanta. Both configurations are quite fun. A track I always look forward to. 13. Sears Point. Very good road course, and my favorite of the modern era add-ons. 14. Occoneechee. Bill France's forgotten track. A good backwoods dirt track. (When I say backwoods, I mean it. There was a small forest outside of turn three. I got lost in there after a race in '67.) 15. Nashville Fairgrounds. Not the most unique of short tracks, but still good. 16. Pocono. Not very good with modern aerodynamics, but when we ran here in the '70's and '80's, it was fantastic. 17. Texas World. A Michigan clone, only better. 18. Bowman-Gray. Best quarter-mile in the country. (And I'm not just saying that because I lived next to it, honest!) 19. Charlotte. Much like Pocono, it's not the track it was. But I'm still attached to it. 20. Dover. Pre-concrete, anyway. 21. Talladega. I can only ignore it so long. 22. Homestead. A cookie-cutter that's risen above it's station. 23. Islip. You haven't seen cramped racing until you watch 30+ cars trying to squeeze onto this teeny track. 24. Columbia. Least dusty dirt track in history. 25. Indianapolis. 'Cause well, it's Indy. It wasn't really made for stock cars, though. (And as Cjs will no doubt explain, it wasn't made for today's Indycars, either.) And the pre-race is probably over by now, so I should probably get watching. 60. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Lol, love that speeding graphic. 61. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 2:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You lived next to Bowman Gray? Which road? That's my neck of the woods. 62. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) These Chevy motors look like Bud Moore engines. 63. jabber1990 posted: 05.06.2012 - 2:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmie lost an engine? sounds to me like Karma is coming back to bite the 48 team 64. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That 17 is STRONG. 65. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A long green flag run here in the middle of the race, but the racing has been exciting! Love the pack/tandem hybrid! 66. Spen posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF: Williamson. That was quite a while ago, though. We moved in '75. By the way, when exactly did Matt Kenseth become the driver to beat on plate tracks? 67. jabber1990 posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What Company is M.E? 68. weeeee posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) how is this pack racing better than tandem? BOring! 69. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was on that road last night leaving the race track, taking a spectator to the hospital. 70. FoxTrax posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Guys, I can honestly say that this is the most fun I've had watching a race in a long time. Sparse cautions AND close racing at the same time! Seriously, we need more plate tracks. 71. ii posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) jabber1990, watch Talladega Nights and you'll know. 72. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I prefer long green runs as long as the racing is good. This race has been good..... from 3rd on back. Nobody has anything for the 16 and 17. Obviously the ending will be wild, but until then nobody can race them. 73. 18fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #68, sorry there is no lead change every other lap like there was in tandem. I have enjoyed this race even if there have been relatively few lead changes. There has been a lot of good racing in this race. Also, a nice job by FOX coming back from commercial to give us a points update and then go back to commercial. 74. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race is turning into an attrition affair with the oil/water pressure/ air cooling systems. I fear this might lead to a situation where nobody makes any bold moves in the final laps to win due to fact that self-preservation, getting to the finish and points racing is more important than winning. 75. jabber1990 posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #71, i've seen Talladega nights, I saw it in theaters obviously you haven't... cause that was a line from said movie 76. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I do believe we're not going to see the big one today. Which is a good thing. Here's hoping they can go green all the way to the checkered. 77. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ///COMMERCIALS on FOX. Of course at the one race when something likely will happen during the break, they haven't bothered showing split-screen. Not suprising for a network owned by Mr Burns. 78. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @76 You almost just cursed the field... 79. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If these guys have to tip toe dance around Talladega all race long instead of racing hard due to the cooling system package... we won't see much. 80. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The "moderate one" has just happened and of course in typical fashion Gordon is wrecked in something that was no fault of his own. 81. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There is no way in hell now Jeff Gordon is going to make the Chase now. I have a feeling this run of bad luck will follow him the entire season. 82. jabber1990 posted: 05.06.2012 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) man, these cars rip like paper at 200MPH 83. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, let's see what happens to Jeff Gordon at Darlington that causes him to finish outside the top 20! 84. Arthur posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Aric Almirola is in WAY over his head in this series. 85. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What can I say? i'll be at Darlington to witness what comes next for the "curse of Gordon" 86. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hell, I'm REALLY starting to think he might not even make the top TWENTY in points this year. Disappointed even more because I was hoping we would go green all the way to the checkers... 87. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff said like I said, his luck this year is comical. Still sticking by my prediction. 22nd in points? No problem. A few wins and a hot summer streak can get you to the playoffs. See Keselowski, Brad. 88. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon said it best in his interview: "It's almost comical at this point." 89. 18fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 34 laps to go and still no split-screen from FOX. Horrible coverage today. 90. 18fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I like how the closer we get to the end of the race the less time there is between commercials. 91. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watching the 17 that is like watching the DEI cars '01-'04. His fender is bent all to hell and they still can't touch him. 92. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I said "thing are gonna get wild" then Mears spins 93. Spen posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cue insanity. 94. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "if you ain't first yer last" GWC time this race sucks 95. New 14&88 Fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn I hated to see that happen to Kurt, would of been nice to see that "Talladega Nights" car have a great finish. 96. jabber1990 posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) if Kenseth wins wont his car fail post-race inspection with the B-pillar? 97. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) worst restart in Dega history? 98. Bronco posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allmendinger wow.... 99. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What the hell was that? 100. NadeauFan91 posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This just keeps getting weirder and weirder... Boss wreck avoidance by Jr. 101. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why do I have this feeling that next week at Darlington I'm going to see Junior snap his winless streak...? 102. New 14&88 Fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Where did Denny think he was going? 103. Baker posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dinger just gift wrapped this for Kenseth. When is NASCAR ever going to ban these talentless hacks? 104. Spen posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At Darlington? I don't expect it. But the way this season's gone, who knows? 105. Bronco posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I will absolutely puke if the #17 ends up winning it. 106. New 14&88 Fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Who's to say Junior won't win today, the way things are going now everybody could wreck in front him and he'll weave his way through to the checkers. 107. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) More great driving by A.J. this year... 108. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cluster of an ending. People will be running out of gas. Just hope the best car can win to save this one. 109. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF I don't think #17 will win it'll be Jr.(awesome!) or D. Ragan 110. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And will somebody tell these idiots at FOX that Matt got that front damage from Casey Mears. 111. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rick's 200th win. Rick's 200th win. Rick's 200th win. I'm gonna jinx them. 112. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A Junior victory is probably the last thing I'd ever want to see...the fans would probably never let me leave. 113. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, I would've rather seen a longer green flag stretch to end the race, like last year, rather than a GWC, but it should be wild nonetheless! 114. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Restart crash #2? 115. JG24FanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats DSFF 116. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 117. Bronco posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Awful finish, at least the #17 didn't win. 118. beau posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) this has so far been the worst season ever. not even f***ing talladega can produce a good race. 119. hyperacti posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sigh.... 120. New 14&88 Fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) More like dega win #2 for Brad K 121. hyperacti posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Last year's package was perfect. 122. jabber1990 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) that was a fairly disappointing last lap 123. Baker posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think something happened to the 18 BC he never settles for second. 124. Generic NASCAR fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) No real big ones, a car didn't fly into the grandstands, and Dale Jr. didn't win. What a horrible race. 125. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was half expecting Kyle Busch to dump Brad coming to the checkered. Surprised he fell back. 126. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am very surprised how that last lap went. If that wasn't my favorite driver winning, I would probably be pissed. 127. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey, someone from NASCAR.com posted a comment! Dale Jr. should win EVERY race, right? Some fans should get squashed by a race car, right? There should be a few injuries every race, right? 128. FoxTrax posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was like the inverse of every race this year. This week, the first 140 laps or so were exciting, and then the last 40 became anticlimactic. (And frustrating to watch.) Most of the time, it doesn't get exciting until halfway through. Aw, well. Congrats to Brad, and great job by Ragan on not f**king up this time. On to Darlington! 129. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thank you fans for bringing back pack racing (cough...the big one) you loved so much, last year the package was great. 130. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought it was a good race, just a lame finish but great to see Brad win. 131. FoxTrax posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Packs, tandems, I'll take both. As long as it isn't a repeat of this year's race at California, I'll take it. 132. New 14&88 Fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Had he not lost Brad's draft Kyle certainly would of made a move on him in the triovel and gotten by him. 133. FoxTrax posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Admittedly, I was really hoping for Mears to win. That would've been a HUGE upset story. 134. joey2448 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man, I know alot of fans aren't going to like the finish, but man am I excited!!! I picked Brad to win! I thought for sure Kyle was going to slingshot his way past Brad in the tri-oval, but that was a different move he pulled...interesting. 135. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What a smart move by Brad. Nobody has even thought of that yet. He has been less like Earnhardt and more like The Silver Fox lately. Thinking of ways to snooker people on these big tracks. '74 Firecracker anyone? 136. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You know what the best thing about going to Darlington is? No "BOOGITY BOOGITY BOOGITY!", no having to hear the ever-annoying Waltrip brothers, and no having to hear constant coverage of Danica...although I wonder if MRN will talk about her as much as TV does... 137. murb posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought this was a really good race. Congrats to Brad on the win... What ruined the ending was AJ and Denny being stupid on the last restart... 138. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Thank you fans for bringing back pack racing (cough...the big one) you loved so much, last year the package was great." Your wrong, so wrong. ;-) 139. Flywheel89 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @#136 What are you talking about? FOX has the race next week. 140. Spen posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bronco: "I will absolutely puke if the #17 ends up winning it." What's wrong with the best car winning? Nice quiet run by Kasey Kahne. It seems like his season is finally starting to gain momentum. The chase doesn't look as impossible as it did after Bristol. I am officially counting Gordon out of the chase hunt, though. He still might win a race this year, but I don't think he'll get enough for a wild card spot. 141. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hopefully FOX coverage and Danica don't ruin one of the best races of the year next week. 142. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad K. flat out snookered Kyle Busch in turn three. It was similar to Pearson's fake of Petty in the 1974 Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Memo to Aric Almirola and Denny Hamlin, What the hell was that? Sincerely, Your competitors. 143. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, interesting to note Kyle made almost the same move today he made on Tony Stewart in the 2009 Daytona Nationwide race, and also lost after losing time then. 144. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon needs several things to make the Chase: 1. 2-3 wins 2. Enough good luck 3. A few top 10s to stay top 20 in points. 145. Rusty posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought this was a boring race honestly. It felt like the first 170 laps or so were meaningless then a two car breakaway that turned into a one car breakaway at the finish. One of the least memorable Talladega races in recent memory. Also bummed that Kurt's great run was ruined, he really needed to make this race count because he won't be very competitive at most tracks with that team. 146. 18fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought this was a really good race, just people who want the three wide photo finish in a race with 90 lead changes would prefer the tandems. The big one was caused by cars running out of gas, not the package. The restart crash could have very easily happened with tandems, and Mears lost a left-rear tire. And there wasn't a photo finish because of the superior driving by Brad. The combination of tandem and pack was great and produced a race that was fun to watch. 147. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #139, I know that, but the difference is that I will actually physically be at the race. That means I don't have to hear the annoying FOX broadcast. 148. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon wasn't too thrilled with the cooling system at Talladega in his post-accident interview. Honestly, there weren't many lead changes due to Kenseth's dominance while leading and the cooling system. The Hamlin/Allmendinger accident was caused by blocking and trying to get hooked up on the restart. I honestly don't care either way with this package because there is no way for Nascar to placate everyone. The only reason I prefer tandem to pack is the lack of blocking in the final two laps which you didn't see in 2011 when tandems hooked up. 149. 18fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I really didn't see blocking in this race, except for the obvious example of the the Hamlin/Allmendinger restart crash. 150. beau posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) i don't expect a 3 wide photo finish or 90 lead changes or a 20 car crash, i just want a good race. 151. bduddy posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch's "sponsor" was "ME", Phoenix wasn't on the car at all 152. Anonymous posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) GREAT race. I'm sure some of the cynical whiners will say it wasn't because y'know.. They're never satisfied .Not the best finish but a great move by Brad to win that. He is one smart driver. Going to be one of the all time greats one day. Great race for Kasey Kahne and Dale Jr, led laps and got top 10's for 4th week in a row! Can't wait to see all the Gordon and Allmendinger cry baby's posting on here. 153. 10andJoe posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #10 sponsor: TMone #15 sponsor: Aaron's/Alabama Crimson Tide National Champions #22 sponsor: Shell/Pennzoil/AAA #23 sponsor: Anadarko Dozer & Trucking/North Texas Pipe #51 sponsor: Armed Forces Foundation 154. LordLowe posted: 05.06.2012 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Earnhardt Described Restrictor Plate Racing Best By saying that it isn't real racing and it has become less and less real over the past few years and become more Science Fiction 155. Kyle posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #10 didn't run TMone logos on the car, the hood and sides were blank there was just a small "@TMone" logo on the bumper. p.s. that was a stupid move on hamlin's part. 156. JP88 posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I thought we saw a great race today...Kenseth and Biffle were just too good so lead changes weren't as often. Gordon has absolutely no luck...he summed it up perfectly by saying "Comical." I still don't understand what move Brad exactly made but that made the finish very anti-climatic...I was kind of shocked that it ended like that. Also great run for Ricky...err Kurt Busch...that scheme was awesome and I was rooting for Kurt because he is having so much fun @ Phoenix. Too bad he got spun. It also seems like the #22 car is making people go nuts...Allmendinger's interview felt like a less-volatile KuBu interview from last year...haha 157. 10andJoe posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >#10 didn't run TMone logos on the car, the hood and sides were blank there was just a small "@TMone" logo on the bumper. There was also a fairly large TMone logo on the rear quarter panel. 158. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spen, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was never designed for racing, even at 150 MPH, much less at 200 MPH. That's evidenced by the fact that the best races there happened from 1955-'61. But Indy is still Indy, and any driver that wins there, whether it's the Indianapolis 500 or Brickyard 400, will live forever. And why are people surprised that Aric Almirola, who did finish a resplectable 12th, and A.J. Allmendinger are having problems this year? I said before this season started that neither of those two drivers have proven worthy of the rides they're in, and it's being proven. Almiroa is a stop-gap driver for the #43 this year, which was proven by the hiring of Mike Ford. Ford is a championship-quality crew chief with big wins a many of the circuit's top-tier tracks, including wins in the Southern 500 and Brickyard 400, not to mention Pocono. Frankly, if Petty stays with Ford next year, I think he'll hire one of the Roush development drivers to drive the #43 next year. Given his relationship with the Wood Brothers, if they don't have enough sponsorship to run the full season next year, I wouldn't be surprised to see Petty hire Trevor Bayne to drive the #43 car, possibly even at the request of the Wood Brothers. Bayne, by the way, was eighth, his second top ten of the year in just five starts (and he didn't really get a chance to compete in the Daytona 500, because he was in that crash at the start of the ssecond lap). Almendinger has also proven to be the bust I predicted he'd be. Sure he was second at Martinsville, but that finish went down as one of the flukiest in NASCAR history. Other than that, he's ben terrible in that car, and surely not worthy of a ride in a Penske car. Of the drivers Roger Penske's had in NASCAR, Allmendinger is undoubtedly the worst, at least right now. Frankly, Sam Hornish, Jr. would be a better option tham Allmendinger. And speaking of Roger Penske, we all know he has a great history of winning big races in May, going back to 1972, the year of his first Indianapolis 500 win with the late, great Mark Donohue, but Penske's starting early this year with his first-ever win at Talladega, something even Bobby Allison, Rusty Wallace, and Kurt Busch, all NASCAR champions that drove for Penske, could never do. And it's the first plate win for Penske's #2 car, at the same event where it had it's worst crash in the 1993 Winston 500. Penske is auto racing biggest winner in May, and is favored to capture yet another Indianapolis 500 this year, but he's starting early this year, in terms of winning big races in May. And on the topic of the big, multi-car crash, I notice that nobody's mentioned that this was the 39th anniversary, to the day, of the crash that set the tone for the entire month of May in American racing. It occurred on the ninth lap of the 1973 Winston 500, and depending on who you talk to, anywhere from 18-22 cars were involved. While that was certainly the worst crash in NASCAR history to that point, it also served as a bad omen to the entire month in racing that May. That, of course, was the same month in which all the tragedies took place at Indy, not to mention the fact that the Indianapolis 500 took three days to complete because of rain, and they didn't even get the full race run on the third day, because it rained then. And there were three drivers in that Indy field that were also in the ill-fate Winston 500, Gordon Johncock and Bobby Allison, who were both in that massive ninth lap crash, and Dick Simon, who was in the horrific crash when they first tried to start the Indianapolis 500. But the other big race in May that year, the World 600, was not totally spared either. Early in that race, road racing star Peter Gregg had a bad crash on the backstretch in what was the last race for Cotton Owens' famous red #6 Dodge, and then rain struck that race as well in the middle of the event before Buddy Baker and David Pearson battled it out, ultimately ending in favor of Baker, as he becane the World 600's first three-time and first back-to-back winner. But it was a month filled with disastrous crashes and rain, and it all started with that Winston 500 in 1973, on this day. 159. RaceFanX posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor: #51 Kurt Busch- ME / Armed Forces Foundation Ironically Busch crashed at almost the same point on the track where Ricky Bobby crashes out in "Talladega Nights." His car had a stuffed animal cougar riding shotgun for this race, playing along with the movie theme. 160. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What a comeback by Trevor! Coach: hire him. Like right now. Put him in the #20. QUIT READING THIS AND HIRE HIM NOW! (Cause we all know Coach Joe Gibbs read forums like this one and listens to us). Meant to say earlier: classy move by Brad apologizing to Kurt in victory lane and mentioning what a great friend and teammate he was to him. Dang, all of us going to Darlington need to set up a meeting spot and time. Be cool to meet some of you guys. 161. MStall41 posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This race got off to a slow start, but once drivers started to figure out how to work the high line about 2/5ths of the way through the race the racing really picked up and became awesome. That led to great two and three wide racing, but the best cars were still able to stay up front and the tandem was just barely effective enough to pass. NASCAR just needs to make some minor tweaks to the cooling system and this package will be perfect. But nonetheless, great racing today that hearkened back to the eary 2000s plate races. As for the finish, Brad K made an absolutely brilliant move and when fans start to realize just how calculating and awesome his move was, they will appreciate that finish alot more. Brad may be the smartest driver in the garage. Overall solid race. 162. Kyle posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) where are all the people who at the end of last season said that brad was a one-year wonder? i think he's here to stay. 163. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I do believe this is the Captain's first win at Talladega and second points plate win, the first being with Newman at the 2008 Daytona 500. This is a good omen for Helio and Will Power ahead of the Indy 500. Honestly, if Power can win it all at Indianapolis given his street/road course prowess, the championship might finally be his. Once Nascar figures out the cooling system, this package would be reasonable as it combines aspects of the tandem and pack racing. 164. Mr X posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was much better then Daytona, but I stand by my reasoning over what I think is wrong with this engine and aero package. These cars are so stable on the current surfaces at Daytona and Talladega, the cars can race all day in very tight formation. As a result the only way to go faster is to pair up in a tandem. However the problem is with the cooling system, outside of Ford who have clearly designed some excellent water jackets into the block and cylinder heads of the FR9 allowing heat to be removed from the engine more efficiently, the rest of the cars overheat too quickly, the Toyota's, Dodge's, and specifically the Chevrolet's can barely gain 5-10 car lengths on the rest of the pack in a tandem before they get too hot. I'm not sure about Daytona but at least at Talladega this package could be an even better hybrid and produce a more competitive race from a manufacturer's standpoint if NASCAR were to the Chevrolet's, Toyota's, and Dodge's a ever so slightly larger grille opening. The Ford's could be left alone I think. Ford's led 90 of 194 laps today, and 97 of 202 in Daytona. One last question how many times do we think Danica Patrick will hit the wall at Darlington, and how many laps down will she finish? My guess is about 10 Darlington stripes and 6 laps down if she finishes the race. But unfortunately she will still get more tv time then the dominant car. 165. MStall41 posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race restored my faith in plate racing. This was the first "good" points paying plate race since 2010. 166. martin-n-rusty posted: 05.06.2012 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 164. She'll stupify us all, get a Top 10, and scrape the wall only once or twice 167. Cooper posted: 05.06.2012 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes. BK. Hell yeah. He's a strong contender for the championship this year. They are running better than they did last year and Brad should have more confidence. Too bad I missed this race. Darn it. Thought the rain would keep going in the morning. 168. ch posted: 05.06.2012 - 7:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Changes: 10 - Tommy Baldwin Racing / TMone 23 - Anadarko Dozer & Trucking / North Texas Pipe (Nice to see them attempt a full race) 33 - Black Cat Fireworks 51 - ME / Armed Forces Foundation 97 - AM FM Energy 169. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.06.2012 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And some words from Tony Stewert: "The racing was awesome," Stewart said. "It's fun to be able to race and have to watch the (overheating) gauges at the same time. It just adds that much more. Being able to make yourself run on the apron and everything to try to get clean air, it makes it fun." say what? "I'm just sorry we couldn't crash more cars today," he added. "We didn't fill the quota for Talladega and NASCAR." Tony what are you doing? "Honestly, if we haven't crashed at least 50 percent of the field by the end of the race, we need to extend the race until we crash at least 50 percent of the cars," he said. "It's not fair to these fans to see any more wrecks than that, any more torn-up cars. I mean, we still had over half the cars running at the end, and it shouldn't be that way." Hey, stop it. "That's what the fans want," he insisted. "They want to see that excitement. I feel bad that as drivers, we couldn't do a better job of crashing enough cars for them today." Tony you doing my job STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "I don't know if that's what they're looking for, but I feel like that's the show we deserve to give them," he said. "That's what's made Talladega, Talladega." Oh geez, your losing it Tony. "I think we ought to make it a Figure Eight (race)," he said. "I mean, if we could make it a Figure Eight, it would be perfect. It would absolutely be perfect here. It'd be better than what we've got." TONY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Or we could stop at halfway, take a break, then turn around and go backward," he said. "Then, with 10 to go, we could split the field and half of them could go in the regular direction and half could go backward." TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok i'm done, i tried to do something. Sorry Smoke your on your own here. 170. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 7:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs, I demand a dissertation on the 1974 Firecracker 400 as well as the greatest rivalry in racing history, The King vs The Fox, two great drivers who pushed each other to become legendary. 4 paragraphs minimum. I think that is the last time a driver who isn't a bum got snookered to that degree on a superspeedway. You are disappointing me :) 171. Thomas posted: 05.06.2012 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Like Brad or not, you have to admit he's one of the most creative drivers in the garage today--between the clutch move last year at Kansas and then today's move to beat Kyle at the end. I was shocked that it worked, to be honest. I thought it was a great race. It definitely beat Noah's Ark driving (I refuse to call that joke racing) of the past couple of years at the plate tracks. 172. Rob posted: 05.06.2012 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Best plate race ive seen in a long time. They were clean all day until the very end, and it wasnt boring. They acutally raced all day. 173. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) MStall41, you must be joking. Most of the plate races from 1995-2005, except for the five that had the package with the roof spoiler (which may be the ones you're reerring to), were duds, because the drivers were, in effect, stuck at 190 MPH, unable to make any moves since the draft was working in reverse. In effect, they were running in single file and stuck in place. One of the problems today was that there were six start-and-parks and three others that had engine problems by lap 60, so only 34 cars were running the last two-thirds of the race, and most of them were involved in wrecks with ten of them unable to finish for that reason. As a result, only 24 cars were officially listed as running at the finish. And DSFF, I think that Trevor Bayne may very well be in a Cup car full-time next year, but I don't think it will be Joe Gibbs' #20 car, though I don't think that Joey Logano will be there, either. My bets at this time that he'll either be in a Chevrolet for Ganassi or Childress, or in a Ford for either Penske (who wanted to hire him this year) or Richard Petty's team if the Wood Brothers can't find the sponsorship to run him the full season next year (he has gotten sponsorship ti run four more races). Roush definately wants to keep him in the Ford fold, and if Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. ends up in the #6 car, and if the Woods can't find the sponsorship, or don't want to run the full season, I look for Roush to try to hook Bayne up with the Petty team, either with the #9 or #43 cars, or to perhaps line him up with Penske, who will be a Ford team next year, and put him in the #22 car. A big question there is, will Petty stay with Ford, or will he move to Dodge next year? And again, if Petty stays with Ford and Almirola continues to struggle, especially if he continues to make errors, I wouldn't be surprised that, if Almirola is dismissed, the Woods recommend Petty hire Bayne if they don't run the full season next year. After all, Richard Petty has more respect for the Wood Brothers than he has for any other team, and the same is true regardng the Wood Brothers and Richard Petty. That's why I say don't be surprused if he winds up in one of Richard Petty's cars next year, or possibly one of Roger Penske's if the Allmendinger experiment continues to blow up, becaue Roger Penske has a history of cutting ties with drivers that make mistakes, and Allmendinger seems to be making them, one after another. And it doesn't bode well for Allmendinger that he continues finish back in the field and make mistakes, while Brad Keselowski continues to win races and run up front. I look for changes behind the wheel in both the #22 and #43 cars next year, along with the #20 if things continue as they are. 174. MStall41 posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The wicker bill races were the ones I was referring to 175. Spen posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs: I didn't expect Almirola to finish any higher than 24th in points, so in that respect, he's exceeding my expectations. And while Allmendinger's results have been dismal, I'd still take him over Hornish in a stock car. At least Allmendinger doesn't consistently wreck *20 times* in a season. I'd also rate Gaughan lower than A.J. 176. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was great for the first 140 laps. It was good for the first 165. I hated to see all of the stupidity and crashing that took place for the final 20 laps, however. Also, did anyone else listen to Tony Stewart's comments after the race? I have to say that I agree with him. 177. 10andJoe posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #23 sponsor: Anadarko Dozer & Trucking/North Texas Pipe (Anadarko on the hood, NTXP on the sides) #33 sponsor: Black Cat Fireworks #51 sponsor: Armed Forces Foundation (the Ricky Bobby scheme was to promote it, basically; the AFF logo was on the lower quarter panels) #87 sponsor: AM FM Energy/Pellet & Wood Stoves (the other cases where "AM/FM" is used should be changed) #97 sponsor: AM FM Energy/Pellet & Wood Stoves 178. Todd posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Loved this rules package! Don't touch it. 179. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats to Brad, Paul Wolfe and the Miller Lite team. I figured he'd be a solid top 5 pick for this track, but when he lined up on the inside for that last restart, I started thinking, "Brad can win this! C'mon, Brad!!" Ironically it was Kyle Busch (remember Bristol 2010?) who pushed him to the front where he was able to stay thanks to his move that broke the tandem between the two, something that McMurray and Burton failed to do at this track in 2010 and 2011. I still say give Allmendinger more time before chalking him up as a lost cause. It's not like he's a constant crashing ball like others. Not tearing up the car means a lot. I will say though, that was a bad move he made going into Turn 1 coming down on Hamlin. You don't ever try to block someone who has a run on you at a plate track (2009 Coke Zero 400 anyone?). If AJ goes the rest of the year without winning or showing a sign of running where Penske cars are capable of, then I'll be closer to call him a bust. 180. Baker posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @ 169 Epic Tony!!! Love him or hate him he always tells it like it is and some times teh truth rubs people the wrong way. 181. Anonymous posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What did Tony say? 182. Eric posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Bayne going to Childress doesn't make any sense based two things despite Trevor Bayne actually fits the driver mold RCR has in terms that organization being known as Really Conservative Racing since Earnhardt's death. I am saying that because the plan with Austin is him being a full time cup driver in 2014. That means I expect Austin to take over for Jeff Burton. The 2nd thing to look at is RCR has 3 cup teams, but Ty will need a team when he goes to cup. I see Ty going to cup in 2016 and that means Kevin wouldn't be ready to retire yet with turning 41 December of 2016. I wouldn't completely rule out Bayne taking the 20 car. It goes to the fact there is a rumor at this time according to Jayski that Kurt Busch will be with Furniture Row Racing with that organization being a 2 car operation and be a Dodge team. 183. John Royal posted: 05.06.2012 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So what was the epic move of Brad K in turn three? I saw nothing special but Kyle slowing down. 184. Dega77 posted: 05.06.2012 - 10:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was a good race. That was a very hard hit that Gordon had. Thank God and NASCAR for the Safer barriers and the HANS device. Looking forward to my first trip to Darlington next week! 185. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.06.2012 - 10:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I really enjoyed this, for the most part. It became harder to keep up with once things started getting silly, but I think the rules packaged worked out pretty good. Kenseth and Biffle were ridiculously strong, but couldn't put it together at the end. Excellent job by Brad Keselowski to take on the two strongest cars in the race and win and then outsmart Kyle Busch at the end there. A well earned victory. Disappointing to see that no one was willing to work with Marcos Ambrose at any stage through the day, but that's plate racing for you. A thought I had when cars started running out of fuel, which caused that wreck, was that the teams and crew chiefs still aren't planning ahead to the finish of the race, but instead they're still simply aiming to reach the next caution. With how clean the racing has been this year and with the lack of cautions, you just can't safely do that anymore. 186. cjs3872 posted: 05.06.2012 - 10:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) MStall41, I suspected those were the one you were referring to, because most of the others from 1995-2005 were dogs. And actually, the Nationwide Series uses that aerodynamic package on the plate tracks, and I think the Cup Series should run the wickers, not necessarliy at the plate tracks, but all the other tracks 1.5 miles or longer in length to bring drafting back at those tracks. The old-timers remember how good the racing was at places like Michigan, Pocono, Charlotte, and Ontario Motor Speedway, which was a duplicate of Indy, was back in the 1970s and early 80s when drafting was important at those places just as much as it was at Daytona and Talladega. For those that don't know, the existing records for lead changes at Charlotte, Pocono, Michigan, and even Darlington were all set in either 1979 or 1982. And who wouldn't want to see a Brickyard 400 with a lot of drafting and position swapping? And Eric, Roush wants to keep Trevor Bayne in the Ford fold, but the only places he can do that would be the Wood Brothers for a partial schedule, or Richard Petty Motorsports or Penske Racing for a full schedule. Yes, I've heard that rumor of Kurt Busch going to a second Furniture Row Racing team, but that would be a terrible mistake. Remember that team's based from out of Denver, so they're really on an island. But I think you may be missiong someone in relation to the #20 car, and that's Martin Truex, Jr. I bring up Truex because his younger brother Ryan is now a development driver for Joe Gibbs, so if Logano is replaced, I look for Gibbs to try to hook Martin with his younger brother, just as Michael Waltrip did a couple of years ago. Plus, Truex is already driving a Toyota. And as for calling RCR "Really Conservative Racing" since Dale Earnhardt's death, the fact is that they've ALWAYS been a conservative team, even when they were winning championships with Earnhardt. And RCRandPenskeGuy, I'm not calling Allmendinger a lost cause yet. I just said that he would never amount to much at Penske and that Penske should never have hired him. The fact is that his lack of performance may ne surprising a lot of people, but it's exactly what I expected, and now add making mistakes to that, and Penske's got a tough decision to make. And this wasn't Allmendinger's first mistake of the year. Remember that he also started that crash at Phoenix that involved Paul Menard and Jamie McMurray on the straightaway. If Allmendinger's lack of performance, especially compared to his teammate, continues, especially if he makes more errors, I expect Almendinger to be released at season's end. Richard Petty already made a big move, bringing Mike Ford, a championship caliber crew chief, to the #43 car (it won't matter because there's an underperforming, mistake-prone driver there, as well), and if anyone knows anything about Penske, it's that he won't be afraid to pull the trigger to get his second car closer to the first. Allmendinger can qualify up front, but he's proven that he can't finish there, and Penske's his third team in just six years. 187. MStall41 posted: 05.06.2012 - 10:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs, I have been saying for years that the key to improving racing at Cali, Michigan, Pocono, and Indy (and to a lesser extent the 1.5 milers) is to make drafting a usuable tool at those tracks like it was back in the 70s as you mentioned. You make a very very good point. 188. Eric posted: 05.06.2012 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, I didn't consider RCR conservative before Earnhardt's death because of the drivers Richard had. Dale Earnhardt was an aggressive driver that wasn't afraid to rattle cages on the race track. Richard really doesn't have a true aggressive driver since Dale's death outside of Robby Gordon. Robby Gordon always seemed to be an aggressive drive to me. Mike Skinner seemed to be an aggressive type who didn't know how to win on the cup level despite winning exhibition races and Daytona Qualifying race. Here the thoughts on the following drivers that RCR had riding for him in cup that made me call them really conservative racing. Kevin Harvick gets top 5's and top 10's besides gets despite him not being known as a good qualifier. Kevin really doesn't show what he has for a lot of the reason. Clint Bowyer most of the time is a Poorman's Terry Labonte and that means he's conservative despite what he did at Martinsville. Dave Blaney was another conservative driver. Jeff Burton was a student of Mark Martin at Roush and it shows by his conservative driving. Richard got Jeff at the wrong time though. Jeff was never quite the same driver since Dale's death and there was proof of that with him being involved with safety with NASCAR after Dale died. That said something since he never was an aggressive despite having 1 Coco-cola 600 wins and a Southern 500 before Dale died. Jeff did have 1 coco-cola 600 win in 2001. Jeff just know how to get to the front from 1997 to 2000 despite being a poor qualifier. The fact RCR was looking at Ken Schrader and Bobby Labonte show Richard was not after aggressive drivers. 189. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 11:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good call cjs on RCR always being Really Conservative Racing, even during Dale's championship seasons. Of course Dale was anything but conservative behind the wheel, but Richard never never pushed those cars. He knew the driver would make up for it. He also knew that of he tuned his equipment to the edge, it would break more often than not (see 1985). A big reason I have Dale as the #1 driver ever. 190. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.06.2012 - 11:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One last observation before I retire for the night: Br-Br-Br-Br-Brad Br-Br-Br-Br-Brad Brad 2 The Bone! 191. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.06.2012 - 11:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "What did Tony say?" Read what i posted. Last years race had 6 yellows for 24 laps. This race had 5 yellow for 24 laps. Should any of use be suprised at David Ragen finishing Top 10? Nope, i'm not. He has always done well at Plate races (tandum or pack) 192. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 05.07.2012 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) 83. Schroeder51 posted: 05.06.12 - 4:01 pm Well, let's see what happens to Jeff Gordon at Darlington that causes him to finish outside the top 20! I'm betting pit lane speeding penalty or some other type of violation like that. The first half of this race was almost like a Daytime-Repeat of the Daytona event, with that huge single line on the bottom and the slightly smaller line on the top, but alas, the last half of the event was better. We saw alot more side-by-side racing up front, and a somewhat return to the pack that all the crash-happy and nostalgia-sick fans wanted. Hopefully we'll have a better Daytona pack race in July that was more like today's event, and just save the fall 'Dega event for Tandem domination. Regardless, everything went to hell in the last 50 laps. Thankfully, no one was injured like I was afraid would happen, praise God for that. But two big ones, the second one being a slightly earlier replay of yesterday's Aaron's 312 big one, coupled with some minor spin/crashes. No one else has noticied this, but 6 of the last 7 races have been run with 5 or fewer cautions. This includes only one in the California event, two at Texas, Three at Kansas, and Five at Richmond, Talladega, and Bristol. Furthermore, Martnisville only had 7 cautions. The last time we had a single-digit number of cautions at Martinsville was back in fall of 1999, and the last time we had as few as 7 cautions there was back in fall of 1996. All of the above tells me that we are going to see a lot more great racing this year. I notice that a lot of us here on this site disagree on what 'great-racing' is, but I myself think that with the exceptions of the Daytona 500, Richmond, and Las Vegas, we have had a great year of racing. Even Vegas was better then it the crap-shoot it usually is. So looking toward Darlington, my question is how few cautions will we have? I'm going to say we'll have the most cautions *outside of Daytona and Vegas* this year there, with 8. I do believe we'll have another late-race restart in that event, maybe with 10-12 to go or something, but not a GWC. I'm also a bit worried this year about something I've never really feared before, and that would be a driver being severely injured at Darlington. Don't know why, but that is sticking in my craw. Now, let's review the drivers that qualify for this years All-Star race, and who are the likely last-minute picks to make it in with a win at Darlington, if there is a winner there that wasn't already qualified: All-Star race qualifiers: *Those that qualify after winning a race in 2012 thus far* Brad Keselowski Kyle Busch Denny Hamlin Greg Biffle Ryan Newman Tony Stewart Matt Kenseth *Those that qualify for winning a race in 2011, but not in 2012* Kasey Khane *I'm unsure of him, because it's not the same car or team that he won last year at Phoneix with* Clint Bowyer *Like Khane, I'm unsure, because it's not the same car/team he won last year's fall Dega with* Jimmie Johnson Kurt Busch *Like Khane and Bowyer above* Kevin Harvick Jeff Gordon Marcos Ambrose Paul Menard David Ragan *Again, Unsure because he is not in the same ride he was in last year* Regan Smith Carl Edwards Trevor Bayne *Those that qualify after winning one of the previous 10 all star races* Mark Martin If all of the above drivers qualify, we'll have a 23 car field *I added in three extra for the fan-vote and the winner/runner up in the All-star showdown* But if we are to see a 24 car feild, who is a good pick to get into it? I say that there are only a handful, as this is a tricky track. Amongst them would be Jeff Burton, who can never fully be counted out there, Dale Earndhart Jr, as his team has shown alot of uncharacteristic speed, and that's about it. Everyone else I'd give half a chance to there already is locked in. However, if you think you see someone else making it in on a Darlington victory, please do tell me. And before I depart on this topic, this upcoming fan vote for the All-Star race will be a good gauge to see just how much Danica Patrick is pulling in on the fan-base. If she gets in on fan vote, either the votes were rigged to be politically correct, or alot of closet fanboys and feminist females must be around in this sport. If Dale Earndhart Jr wins the fan vote, either it's been rigged to appeal to the fan-base or he is still more popular then Patrick. I find that unlikely, because Danica's ******** actions usually sell big. However, I'd like your opinion on which of these two will win the fan vote *Before you ask, I'm voting for Juan Montoya this year.* The last point I want to bring up is the Winston Million. Granted, since 1998, no one seems to remember it. I ask you to tell me who you think is more likely to win the Southern 500 and Coke 600 in the upcoming three weeks. Matt Kenseth, or Brad Keselowski. My pick is on Kenseth, as he has more experience at both tracks then Keselowski, and he has scored a win in the Coca Cola 600 before. Not to mention how deadly fast the Fords have been this season. But I want your opinion on all the above topics. 193. cjs3872 posted: 05.07.2012 - 12:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes Destroyahirismix666, David Ragan IS in the All-Star Race. Drivers automatically qualify for the event by winning a race the previous year, no matter what car he's in the following year. In the older days, not only did the driver qualify, no matter what car he's in the following year, but the team that won the previous year also got in automaticaly, no matter who that team's driver was the following year, but that rule has since changed. However, I'd like to see one change in the qualification format in the future, and it's something the PBA used to do in regards to it's Tournament of Champions (I don't know if they still do), and that's to give multi-year exemptions to winners of it's biggest events, to set them apart from the rest. For instance, a driver that wins any of the crown jewel events, the Daytona 500, the Southern 500, the Coca-Cola 600, the Brickyard 400, and the spring Talladega race gets in the next three All-Star Races. Right now, as far as qualification for the All-Star Race goes, guys who win prior to the All-Star Race gets in the next two All-Star Races, while a driver that win after the All-Star Race in a given year only qualifies for one. This way, a driver that wins one of the sport's biggest events gets justly rewarded for doing so by getting into the next three All-Star Races. After all, is it fair for the winner of the spring race at Richmond to automatically qualify for the next two All-Star Races, while the winner of an crown jewel, such as the Coca-Cola 600 or the Brickyard 400 only qualify for one All-Star Race, just because of where on the schedule it falls? I think not. 194. 18fan posted: 05.07.2012 - 12:16 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) What ride a driver is in has no impact on All-Star eligibility. It is strictly did you win a race in 2011 or 2012. So Bowyer, Kahne, Kurt Busch, and David Ragan are eligible. 195. 18fan posted: 05.07.2012 - 1:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenseth's 73 laps led was the most laps anybody has led at Talladega since Jeff Gordon led 139 in the spring race of 2005. 196. cjs3872 posted: 05.07.2012 - 2:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, that's not surprising, 18fan, because 2005 may have featured some of the worst, most lop-sided restrictor plate racing in the last 20 years. Tony Stewart led 107 laps in the Daytona 500 that year, including almost every green flag lap in the second half of the race until getting passed on lap 196, Jeff Gordon nearly set a Talladega record for most laps lad in one racde with those 139, then Stewart set every conceiveable record at Daytona in the Firecracker by leading all but nine of 160 laps. Those 151 laps led not only broke Cale Yarborough's record from the 1968 race, but his leading 151 out of 160 laps set a new laps led percentage record at Daytona for one race. Stewart led 94% of the laps in that race. Two years earlier with that same aerodynamic package, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. actually managed to lead EVERY lap of a Nationwide series race, which resulted in NASCAR going to the roof spoilers for the plate races in the Nationwide Series, which they still use in that series on the plate tracks. And in the fall race at Talladega in 2005, there were two horrific crashes caused by bump drafting while not in a straight line, and 19 cars ended up being involved in wrecks in the race's first 70 laps. 2005 was a terrible year for restrictor plate racing, and 2012 is not looking much better at this point in terms of restrictor plate racing. In fact, it's looking like 2012 might be even worse. 197. joey2448 posted: 05.07.2012 - 4:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was quite surprised Brad was able to get away from Kyle in turn 3 of the final lap. Going down the backstretch, I, along with probably everyone else, thought Kyle was going to slingshot his way past Brad in the tri-oval, but somehow Brad was able to make that move. This is the second time that Brad has used a move that no one else has, one that no one thought was possible. Like in the spring race 2009, when he tandem-drafted with Edwards to the front, he planned this move today. Reminds me of the "Silver Fox", David Pearson. Keselowski creates new ways to win. Seems like a smart, clever driver. 198. Rob posted: 05.07.2012 - 4:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This season is on pace to be one of the cleanest in NASCAR. It seems theres only 2-5 cautions for most of the races, with alot being for debirs. Kudos to the drivers for finally getting it together and actually racing, instead of wrecking all of the time. 199. irony posted: 05.07.2012 - 7:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Less bogus cautions, so the field isn't going to be bunched up. With 30-40 cars bunched up there's going to be wrecks. This wasn't the best Dega race, but it was a rare example of a driver's talent winning a plate race. 200. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.07.2012 - 10:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Had he not lost Brad's draft Kyle certainly would of made a move on him in the triovel and gotten by him." So you're saying that Kyle would have won if he wasn't outsmarted by Brad who intentionally broke off the tandem with Kyle Busch? Sure. It wasn't circumstance that cost Kyle the win, it was Brad's actions that got him to victory lane. It was a pretty smart move the way he pulled it off in 3 & 4. 201. cjs3872 posted: 05.07.2012 - 11:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, not taking anything away from Brad Keseolwski, but the way that he pulled away from Kyle Busch in turns three and four on the final lap tells me that Kyle actually had a problem, like an overheating problem that forced him to back off, because one car can't pull away like that at Talladega unless the second car has a problem, and that situation with Brad pulling away from Kyle like that just screams of a problem on Kyle's part, like overheating. Kyle never said anything about a potential overheating problem, but what happened on the last turn just tells me that he probably had a serious overheating problem, or some other problem that forced him to back off because you just don't do that unless you have a serious problem with your car. Either that or Kyle's car might have been starving for fuel and he might have briefly run out of fuel in turns three and four, because fuel was an issue in the closing laps. 202. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.07.2012 - 11:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) When you break off like that, the car behind who loses contact practically "hits a brick wall" and it literally is that dramatic. Kyle noted post-race that his lost momentum was simply because of unlatching. There's no need for excuses for Kyle, what the cars did there was not indicative of a problem for the 18... and he knew it too. I just watched the replay a few more times, and it's definitely simply him losing the lock. He didn't even get pulled that abruptly, but you DO pull the car like that when you break off of your pusher. We saw that a number of times in this race with various cars. 203. Ed posted: 05.07.2012 - 11:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #170: Does the name Ron Bouchard mean anything to you? By the way, that was NOT as hard of a hit for Gordon as it looked. He hit at a "good" angle with the right front taking the brunt of the impact. Plus there were only about 3 cars that drove away, and his was one of them. 204. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.07.2012 - 11:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) to add onto that, what usually is the case when that happens is that the car who was getting pushed will ride the brakes big time in hopes of reeling his pusher back in. However, there were a number of times where a car would get pushed up front and not care to drag the brakes for the guy who pushed him there, and the car who did the pushing would lose the leader quick and then once the pack got to him, he'd fall into the "sucker-hole" of the middle. I'm basically positive that Kyle didn't have a problem. 205. Ed posted: 05.07.2012 - 11:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To add to my previous comment, Brad's .304 MOV is the largest at Talladega since the 2001 EA Sports 500, where Dale Jr. beat Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton back to the line by .388 seconds. 206. cjs3872 posted: 05.07.2012 - 12:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What you say about the trailing car losing momentum when it gets unhitched from the lead car is accurate. Just look at the final few seconds of last year's Daytona 500 for an example. But there's no reason Kyle's car should have become unhitched to begin with, unless it had a problem, either overheating or starving for fuel. But what you say about the trailing car losing speed after becoming unhitched from the lead car is true. 207. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.07.2012 - 12:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm pretty sure that the reason his car became unhitched was because of Brad's unexpected line. Brad entered way higher than expected and Kyle had to correct his wheel after starting to turn in too much, and Brad going higher on the track basically made it impossible for Kyle to get back on his bumper. I don't think Kyle's car ever showed any real signs of overheating as far as blowing water out and whatnot, and I just assume he wouldve mentioned it if his gauges had been totally pegged or something like that. 208. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.07.2012 - 12:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) if not during his interview, at least on his in-car radio 209. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.07.2012 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Still don't consider the Spring Dega race a "major" unless it was a Winston 500. The Series sponsor sponsoring the race is what made it a big deal. And this is a Brad K fan talking. He won the 2009 Srping Dega race and now the 1974 Firecracker 400 2012 Spring Dega race (ironically both years Kenseth won the Daytona 500). 210. Woodbridge posted: 05.07.2012 - 3:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Jeff Gordon isn't completely out of it yet. He's got a good chance to get a Wild Card berth, I reckon. Don't write him off yet, folks... one of the best of all time driving for one of the best teams. He will win a couple this summer. I remember rooting against him in the 90's because he won all the time. Now I find myself rooting FOR him more often because I want to see the guy get to 100.. all this bad luck must be exhausting. Speaking of bad luck.. poor Regan Smith, I was actually expecting him to be in the mix at the end. I find it weird that the S&P teams still parked at Talladega, of all places. Traditionally it's been a great place for a crumbum program to steal a great finish. I'm especially surprised Nemechek and Elliott didn't try to draft their way to a surprise finish. I'm so sad to see Awesome Bill parking... Will Josh Wise finish a race this year?? And it's a dang shame Bayne doesn't have a full-time ride. He should definitely wind up in one next year, or so I'd hope... 211. Spen posted: 05.07.2012 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think Bill parked it outright. The car was absolute junk all day, and he had to take it to the garage three times. I think Joe told him to call it a day after the third time. 212. Daniel posted: 05.07.2012 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darlington entry list: -Danica Patrick in Tony Stewart #10 -Scott Riggs back in the Robert Richardson Sr. #23 -Reed Sorenson in the Frank Stoddard #32 -Stephen Leicht in the Joe Falk #33 -Mike Skinner in the Jimmy Means #52 -Cole Whitt in the Stacy Compton #74 -Scott Speed in the Archie St. Hilaire #79 -First race for David Reutimann not to attempt this year. 213. Kyle posted: 05.07.2012 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Reutimann will attempt the darlington cup race, a BK racing spokesperson said they were going to have washed up never-was reutimann drive the #93 this week instead of Kvapil, who's been doing a great job for them this year. 214. Watto posted: 05.07.2012 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Really Kyle? Last I checked, David Reutimann won a Cup race at Chicago straight up (obviously Charlotte too but we'll just stick with Chicago). To call him a washed up never-was but then to defend Kvapil is laughable. Reutimann won't run any worse than Kvapil has, unless you strictly look at Talladega's 16th place finish and disregard Kvapil running 30th everywhere because the team isn't that good. 215. MStall41 posted: 05.07.2012 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) When people look back at this race, I hope they all remember and appreciate just how calculating and awesome Keselowski's move was at the end of the race. You just don't see drivers making creative moves like that anymore, and since he was leading it wasn't readily obvious. I used to be indifferent to the guy but he is quickly becoming one of my favorite drivers simply because he is one of a select few (or perhaps the only?) driver(s) that are creative and think outside the box. He's one cool dude. 216. cjs3872 posted: 05.07.2012 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, I disagree on your saying that the spring Talladega race is not a "crown jewel", or enitrely your reasoning why it was made a crown jewel. When the Winston Million program was introduced in 1984, the four races that were chosen were each chosen for specific reasons. The Daytona 500 was chosen because it's the biggest race, the Coca-Cola 600 because it's the longest, and the Southern 500 because it's the oldest of the speedway races. The Winston 500 at Talladega was chosen, not just because Winston was sponsoring the race, but also because it was the fastest race and track. Each and every one of those is true, to this day, and with the Brickyard 400 at Indy added in 1994, that made it five crown jewels in one season. And Woodbridge, I think Trevor Bayne will have a full-time ride next season (if he doesn't, there should be an investigation). If not for the Wood Brothers, who I really don't think want to run a full season (running a full season overtaxed the Wood Brothers for many years, going back to 1985, the first year they ran all the races), then my candidates would be Childress (#31) or Ganassi if it was with a Chevrolet team, or Penske (#22, possibly) or Richard Petty Motorsports if Petty stays in the Ford fold. Bayne simply seems to have a calmness that even some of the top drivers in the Cup series don't see to have. And I think Eliott did S&P at Talladega. Remember that the start-and-park teams often have a competition among thenselves as to which of them will be the highest finisher. Because of that, you'll often see them make numerous trips to the garage area and return to the race only to complete enough laps to be the highest finishing S&P team. Because of that, Nemechek wanted his #97 car to complete enough laps to beat the #30 and #33 cars, which also S&P'd, while completing a comprable number of laps. And remember that Joe Nemechek is S&P'ing his Cup team to finance his Nationwide team, which does run the full race in that series, and is often competitve with the top 15 cars. And actually, Talladega is the ideal place to do a S&P, because of the extreme probability of being in a crash. Those teams can not afford such a thing, so they park it before wrecking it. 217. 18fan posted: 05.07.2012 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think it was unexpected to some people that Nemechek parked because he has run the full race several times at Talladega and Daytona in the last couple years. 218. 10andJoe posted: 05.07.2012 - 6:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm still trying to figure out why nobody has sponsored the 87 yet. That team has done "the mostest with the leastest" of any team over the last three to four years, and when they -do- try a full race they're surprisingly competitive. As for Bill, even if it was a S&P (some S&P teams have started the "in 'n out" habit I've noticed) it's understandable - he gets some track time so as not to get rusty, helps out a friend and makes a bit of cash. Yeah, it's sad that S&P has to be done, but whatcha gonna do... (And, as we've noticed with TBR and Cassill, every once in awhile a S&P team or driver manages to hit the jackpot.) 219. Eric posted: 05.07.2012 - 6:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Why are you still acting like the 31 car ride is going to open after this season, when Richard has 2 grandsons waiting in the wings for cup rides? What gathered at this time is Jeff's job is safe for the 31 car in 2013 based on what David Newton mentioned on his chat today. There is speculation that Austin will be taking over for Jeff in 2014 though. Before the season started, the plan is Austin will be racing full time in cup in 2014 according to Sports Illustrated with Austin being quoted. Ty Dillon at this time could be spending the same amount of years in the trucks and Nationwide series as his brother Austin. That means Ty would going to cup full time for 2016 if Ty doesn't have any problems with performance. If there is 4 cup already in 2016, a driver will be kick out of RCR. It isn't going to be Kevin despite him being 40 at the start of the 2016 season. It isn't going to be Paul Menard because Paul brings sponsor money on the table unless Paul thinks he can get a better ride. Austin isn't going to be kicked out a ride after 2 years in cup. 220. Kyle posted: 05.07.2012 - 7:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) the reason nemechek isn't looking for a sponsor in cup is because the only reason he runs cup races is to collect the higher purse money so he can run full nationwide races. last place in cup typically pays more than 20th place in nationwide. 221. Talon64 posted: 05.07.2012 - 7:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad Keselowski picks up his 6th career Sprint Cup Series victory and 2nd of 2012 which ties Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin for the most so far this season. After having 1 win in his first 65 Cup starts, he has 5 in the last 34; only Tony Stewart with 7 has more wins than Keselowski over that period. He has 5 wins in the #2 Penske car in about 1 & 1/3 seasons, versus Kurt Busch who had 8 wins in the previous 5 seasons in the #2. Keselowski becomes the 21st different driver to win multiple races at Talladega with his 2nd win. Brad Keselowski has 5 top 10's in 7 starts there, by far his most at any track; his next best is 5 tracks with 2. His 2 wins and 5 top 10's tie Clint Bowyer for the most at Talladega over the last 7 races (13.0 avg fin ranks 4th). Penske Racing get their first ever Cup win at Talladega. Their previous best finish was 3rd three times, one with Bobby Allison back in 1976 and twice with Kurt Busch in 2006 and 2007. Homestead, Watkins Glen, Indianapolis, Kentucky and Las Vegas are the only active tracks left that Penske hasn't won a race at. Kyle Busch has back-to-back top 2 finishes for the first time since a pair of runner-up finishes at Michigan and Bristol in mid-2008. However, his last 5 top five finishes have all been top 2 finishes; 2 wins and 3 runner-up's in the last 24 races. It's his 19th career runner-up finish, tying him with Tim Flock, Dick Hutcherson and Jack Smith for 37th all time. Kyle picked up just his 2nd top 5 and 3rd top 10 in 15 Talladega starts (23.3 avg fin), his other top 5 being his win back in 2008. Matt Kenseth led the most laps with 73, a new career high at Talladega; his previous best was 23 twice in 2005 & 2006. He moved past Benny Parsons to become the driver with the most laps led at Talladega without a win with 261. It's his first top 10 at Talladega in his last 11 starts, and just his 4th top 5 in 25 starts (18.6 avg fin). It's Kenseth's 4th top 5 in the last 5 races overall. For the 3rd time in the last 4 races, Kasey Kahne sets a new season-best finish with a 4th at Talladega. It's his 4th consecutive top 10 finish, the 2nd time in the last 18 races dating back to 2011 he's had such a streak; he's scored the 3rd most points over that span to go from 31st to 19th in the standings. Kahne also led his first laps of the season, leading twice at Talladega for 11 laps (new career high for a single Talladega race). He picked up his 3rd top 5 there, first that isn't a runner-up finish, and just his 4th top 10 in 17 starts (20.8 avg fin) but 2nd straight. Roush Fenway Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth are tied for the series lead in top 5's so far in 2012 with 6 in 10 races. For Biffle it's his 75th career top 5 in 340 starts. Biffle had no top 10's and a 25.2 avg fin in his first 11 Talladega starts, which at one point included 4 DNF's due to crashes in a 5 race stretch. In his last 8, he has 2 top 5's and 4 top 10's with a 9.1 avg fin and no finish worse than 19th. Clint Bowyer becomes the 67th driver in Cup Series history to reach 100 career top 10's. The next driver who can get there is Jamie McMurray who's currently at 98, and then next would be Martin Truex Jr. with 62. Bowyer's streak of consecutive top 2 finishes at Talladega came to an end at 3, but he extended his top 10 streak there to 5 races which leads all active drivers. It's his 7th top 10 in 13 Talladega starts overall (15.6 avg fin). David Ragan picked up his first top 10 of 2012, and first top 10 with Front Row Motorsports. More importantly, it was just Front Row's 3rd top 10 in 303 Cup starts. They've all come at plate tracks, 1 at Daytona and 2 at Talladega, and all have been by drivers named David: 2 by Gilliland, 1 by Ragan. It's Ragan's 4th top 10 at Talladega (11 starts, 17.1 avg fin), tied with Daytona for his most at any track; 8 of his 31 career top 10's have been at plate tracks. Since 2007, his 17.4 avg fin at plate tracks ranks 7th and his 8 top 10's are tied for the 6th most (with 7 other drivers). After having no top 10's in his 17 races following his Daytona 500 win, Trevor Bayne has 2 in his last 3 starts. It's his first top 10 in 3 Talladega starts (8.7 avg start, 21.0 avg fin). Bayne's 2 top 10's in 2012 are more than 24 drivers with as many or more starts, including 14 drivers who've started every race so far. Dale Earnhardt Jr. ties a career high with his 6th consecutive top 10 finish, during which he's scored more points than anyone, and picked up his series-leading 8th top 10 of 2012. It's the 3rd time he's had 6 top 10's in a row, 2003-04 and the first 6 Chase races of 2004. Dale Jr. picked up his 13th top 10 in 25 Talladega starts (14.8 avg fin). But in the 15 races since his last Talladega win, he has just 2 top 5's, 5 top 10's and a 19.8 avg fin. Jeff Burton picks up his first top 10 in 6 races; in the previous 5 he didn't even have a top 20 finish (25.2 avg fin, dropped from 12th to 20th in points). It's his 2nd straight top 10 at Talladega and his 15th in 37 starts there (18.2 avg fin). Despite just 2 top 10's so far this season, Jamie McMurray is sitting 16th in points versus being 21st at this point last season (ended up 27th). His 11th place finish ended his streak of 3 straight 14th place finishes. With David Gilliland finishing 13th, Front Row Motorsports had 2 cars finish in the top 15 in the same race for the first time ever. It's just their 5th and 6th top 15 finishes in 303 starts. Travis Kvapil got BK Racing their best finish to date in 16th, their 3rd top 20 finish in 20 starts. Jeff Gordon earned his 71st career Cup pole, tying David Pearson for the most consecutive seasons with a pole with 20. However, Gordon failed to lead a lap for just the 3rd time in his career when he's started from pole. Prior to 2012 (23rd in points), the lowest Gordon had been in the standings 10 races into a season was 18th in his sophomore season in 1994 (ended up 8th). 14th is the worst he's ever finished a season in points, back in his rookie season in 1993. Gordon currently sits 10 points out of 20th. 222. Talon64 posted: 05.07.2012 - 7:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To really point out just how much of a hole Jeff Gordon's in right now, he's 23rd. Mark Martin, who's missed 3 races, is 24th in points, 14 points back. Then you've got the single car/uncompetitive teams from 25th on down with Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, Regan Smith and Casey Mears. So as far as competitive drivers/teams go in the standings, Jeff Gordon is dead last. Fortunately he's only 10 points out of 20th, so a win at Darlington would practically give his season a complete 180; a win to put him in wild card contention and put him back in the top 20 in points. But just remember Matt Kenseth in 2005; he was 23rd in points after 14 races, 320 points out of 10th. That's equivalent to about 80 points under the new system. He went from there to 8th in points after Richmond to qualify for the Chase. Right now Jeff's 70 points out of 10th, and the wild card makes it much easier for drivers in Jeff's position to qualify for the Chase. So don't call his season dead just yet. 223. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 05.07.2012 - 7:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks for clearing that up about Eligibility folks. I do agree that there should be special defining things for the winners of the four Winston Million races. NOw my next question is, should the number be increased to five? Should it be used to Include Indianapolis? If it is, then there is only one more Winston Million winner, Jimmie Johnson in 2006 *Dayotna 500, Aaron's 499 aka Winston 500, and Brickyard 400*. 224. cjs3872 posted: 05.07.2012 - 8:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well Eric, I've only been mentioning that as a possibility because of how bad the #31 car has run the last couple of years, especially compared to the other Childress cars. If all three of Childress' cars had run so poorly, I don't think there would be a problem, but with one lacking so much compared with the other two makes it stick out like a sore thumb. That's another reason why the A.J. Allmendinger situation with Penske could also be one to watch for potential change, because something's lacking there, and it's not the equipment. Now compare that to the EGR situation, where they'd like just one of their cars to get competitve, and then work on the other, because neither EGR car is currently that competitve. Childress would like to have Jeff Burton stick around a couple more years to help mentor Austin Dillon, but I'm not sure Childress can wait that long if the #31 keeps lagging behind the other Childress cars. And Destroyahirismix666, let's not forget Dale Jarrett in 1996, when he won the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600, and Brickyard 400 that year. And yes, I've considered there to be five crown jewels since the Brickyard 400 was added in 1994. And remember that when the No Bull 5 was born in 1998, it was those five races that paid the extra $1,000,000 bonus for winning, though the race at Talladega that paid was the second one, not the first, due to the sponsorship switch between the races there. me, the most amazing feat where the crown jewels are concerned was what Jamie McMurray did in 2010. He won two of them (the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400) and finished second in the other three. In other words, with a little luck, he could have swept all five crown jewels in 2010. 225. cjs3872 posted: 05.07.2012 - 10:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, I'm not sure anyone's mentioned this, but this may have been the first race in memory in which no drivers starting in either of the first two rows even led a single lap. Neither of the front row drivers, Jeff Gordon or A.J. Allmeninger led a lap, nor did the second row drivers, Richard Petty Motorsports teammates Marcos Ambrose or Aric Almirola. It's certainly the first time I can ever remembering that happening in a NASCAR race, where no drivers in the first two rows led even one lap. 226. NASCAR Predictions OMG! posted: 05.08.2012 - 4:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I literaly fell asleep around lap 120 because I had a combined 5 hiurs of sleep over the weekend. i actually wanted to see the race. Did I miss anything good from 120-190? Gah I am still pissed about sleeping through this -_- 227. Rob posted: 05.08.2012 - 7:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) How come NASCAR "fans" seem to only care about wrecks??? Its supposed to be about racing. Thats why the only proper form of racing is open wheel or sports cars on a road course....... 228. Evan posted: 05.08.2012 - 8:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) * Matt Kenseth had a FAST car and probably one of the ones that could hang up front for a while, at some points you could not race Kenseth. Those engines are really getting strong and Kenseth is becoming a better plate racer because I never considered him a plate master. But at least he was in contention and being dominant instead of stroking it up for points. * Tandem drafts still exist, in which two cars can make themeselves faster than the pack, they will find a way to fix that. * Hendrick Motorsports was doomed from the start with overheating issues and Jimmie Johnson's engine failure is his first for a while, so he's always had some reliable power plants. * Ryan Newman drove Jamie McMurray's primary Bass Pro Shops scheme this week, any reason why they got a rival team's sponsor for this week? * Ricky Bobby aka Kurt Busch ran a Talladega Nights scheme complete with cougar on the hood and ME just like Ricky Bobby(Will Ferrell) drove in the final segment of the movie. * Alabama Crimson Tide made its way onto Clint Bowyer's car for this race to honor its National Championship season. 229. Kyle posted: 05.08.2012 - 11:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @#228 newman had bass pro as a sponsor because bass pro is an associate sponsor of both stewart-haas cars and they knew that talladega is a big race and newman didn't have a sponsor for this week. 230. TheTruthâ?¢ posted: 05.08.2012 - 12:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logic fail, Rob. Plenty of NASCAR fans are into any form of motorsport around and are into it for the racing. There's bad apple fans with any kind of motorsport, and that includes fans of your self-proclaimed "only proper forms of racing". 231. 10andJoe posted: 05.08.2012 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >Tandem drafts still exist, in which two cars can make themeselves faster than the pack, they will find a way to fix that. Actually, things seem balanced now between pack and tandem; you CAN tandem faster, but it's not REQUIRED anymore, it's no longer as insanely overpowered vs. the pack, and you have to break the tandem before you can haul well ahead. Now if they can just fix the overheating... >Ryan Newman drove Jamie McMurray's primary Bass Pro Shops scheme this week, any reason why they got a rival team's sponsor for this week? Because Bass Pro Shops wanted to sponsor two cars and thought the "seeing double" schemes would be cool. 232. JP88 posted: 05.08.2012 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The crown jewel races are, in my opinion: Daytona, Darlington, Charlotte, Indy, Fall Dega. I still wish the Southern 500 was in the Chase though 233. Woodbridge posted: 05.08.2012 - 1:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle, Reutimann is a good driver. His stats before this season should do enough talking. I'm the biggest Kvapil fan on these comment boards, and even I'm shaking my head at that comment. No matter who's driving it, I'm rooting for the #93 car. Reutimann and Kvapil are two of the most underrated drivers on the circuit. Would've loved to see what Kvapil could've done in the #28 a second year with better sponsorship and backing. 234. cjs3872 posted: 05.08.2012 - 2:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JP88 thank you. Finally someone agrees with me, at least on the location of all five of the crown jewels, even though to me, the spring race at Talladega will always be the one that's the crown jewel. And although as long as there's a Chase, I'd like to see the Southern 500 where it was in 2004, I also think that NASCAR should find a way to make the Brickyard 400 the Chase opener. Can you imagine the buzz about making such a big race not only one of the races in the Chase, but also the race that opens the Chase? The problem with the crown jewel races now is that you have three of them right in a row. The 10th, 11th, and 12th races of this season are the spring race at Talladega, the Southern 500, and the Coca-Cola 600. And frankly, NASCAR needs to have one of it's crown jewels late in the season to trump up some attention. With all of the sport's biggest events now being completed before August begins, there's virtually no attention being given to the sport by the media since all the big events will have taken place. Opening the Chase with the Brickyrd 400, or putting the Southern 500 near the end of the Chase would certainly bring some attention and needed notoriety back to those races, if not the sport itself. 235. Spen posted: 05.08.2012 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs: I can't see why anyone would hire an almost rookie as a one-year stopgap. There's no long-term potential in it, and all it results in is giving the #31 three drivers in as many years. That's not good for a team. If Burton's performance starts going *way* down (as in, 25th or worse in points, and wrecking every other week), then they *might* bring Austin up to Cup midway through 2013. But that's the only result that could happen. Besides, Caterpillar has sponsored the Burton family off and on for 14 years now. Do you think they'd take kindly to him being fired? And if they won't stay on board, that'd leave Childress with a new lame duck driver, and no sponsor. End result: disaster. Penske's a more likely scenario, but I expect that Hornish will get the nod before he'd consider Trevor. And as he's already got Kligerman waiting in the wings, I don't see where he'd want two development drivers. Plus, accepting Bayne would send off the signal that Penske's become Roush's lapdog. I doubt Roger wants that. Petty's probably his best hope, but that's sponsorship dependant. Richard couldn't possibly field him out-of-pocket. And it'd be a total career-killer for Bayne, since he'd get the reputation of being a 20th place driver. One option that you've dismissed which I think has a chance at happening is the #47 car. JTG has a past history with the Woods, and Brad would love having a media darling on his team. Yeah, there's the little hang-up of JTG being an MWR sattellite, but given how much Fox has been trying to make Bayne into a household name, I think Mikey would be willing to (publically, at least) bury the hatchet. I've gone over the EGR thing ad nauseum before, but one thing I've forgotten about in the past is that Theresa Earnhardt is still part owner. And I don't think Theresa would be quite as eager to bring back someone she's fired before. (Mikey's two-faced enough to pull it off.) 236. cjs3872 posted: 05.08.2012 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spen, who's to say that if Childress does decide to replace Burton, that Bayne would be the choice as a one-year stop gap. hiring a guy like Bayne would have to be a longer-tem solution. However, if he wants to make a change with the #31 car for one year, he's got an option within his own organization, and that would be Elliott Sadler, who already drives for Childress, but something does need to be done about the performance of the #31 car in comparison to the other two cars. Now if the other RCR cars stumble badly, then that would make Burton an awful lot safer over there. But I do agree with some of the other points you make sbout potential places Bayne would go, but we know the Wood Brothers would be smart not to run the full season. After all, that's when the organization started to fall off in the mid-80s. The Woods knew, even when they were one of the dominant teams in the sport, that they were always ill-equipped to run the full season, which is why they didn't, even when David Pearson dominated when he drove for them. And you forgot something. JTG does have a history with the Woods, but it's a bad one. It was the association they had with JTG that sent the Woods spiraling from 2005-'08. And as for your saying how DEI fired Bayne. They only released him for the same reason Michael Waltrip did later, and that was lack of sponsorship. And one other thing. JTG-Daugherty Racing is, from what I understand, is no longer associated with Michael Waltrip Racing, beginning with this year. They still get parts and pieces from there, but the organization itself cut all other ties with MWR. And actually, Bobby Labonte's not doing all that bad a job in the #47 car, all things considered. 237. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.08.2012 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "How come NASCAR "fans" seem to only care about wrecks??? Its supposed to be about racing. Thats why the only proper form of racing is open wheel or sports cars on a road course......." Your not supposed to put fans in quotation marks Rob. ;-) Anyway, OW fans are just as bad as NASCAR fan are. Except they aren't arrogent, smug and have a inferiority complex. Sports car fans from what i've seen aren't that bad to chat on boards like these, seem very even-keel. The Truth said it best, there are bad apples amoung each but NASCARs issue is listening to the bad apples the "majority" of the time. (yes Brian you listen ONLY to the bad apples). NASCAR is proper racing, just take away all whiners and complainers that make NASCAR cave in every 5 mins. then things would back to about 2002 or 2003. 238. Rob posted: 05.08.2012 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I mean honestly i used to watch NASCAR all the time, but it seemed to die at the end of 2006. In 2007 they brought in the COT(which might be safer but it sure as hell was ugly until they got rid of the wing and the front spliter braces), terrible tv package(ESPN), Benny Parsons died, the voices of reason for the sport retired, Rusty Wallace, Dale Jarrett, Terry Labonte, Bill Elliott, Ken Schrader, Ward Burton just to name a few. A 1/4 of the field started parking about 50-100 laps or less into a race, just because they cant compete with the big teams anymore. And thats just for the cup series, Cup drivers and cup teams killed the Busch/Nationwide series and the Truck series to the point where its almost comedic. 239. MartinFan55 posted: 05.08.2012 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Worst Season Ever: There is no fu*** Cautions except the fake debris cautions 240. MartinFan55 posted: 05.08.2012 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And too bad the #10 car isn't outside the top 35 in owner points, i would laugh so hard if Danica didnt make the race, that would be so funny and realistic because she cant drive 241. Spen posted: 05.08.2012 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs: Do you honestly believe that Childress would hire Bayne over his own grandkids? Even if he were to decide to expand to 4 cars for Austin, space would have to made for Ty. If Bayne is still floating around in Cup around 2020, he might have a shot at replacing Harvick. But that's a big 'if' right now. Actually, Childress' cars aren't really running all that well compared to last season. Sure, Harvick's in the chase, but he only has one more top five than Burton, and outside of the short tracks (which are more driver than car), he's been pretty much invisible. He just hasn't had much bad luck, so he stays high in points. But once we get to the high horsepower tracks like Pocono and Michigan, he might be in trouble. Of the eight drivers who seem more or less assured of a chase spot, he's the one who looks most likely to miss. Menard's just doing what he usually does: run midpack everywhere but the plate tracks, and basically stay out of trouble. Burton was out to lunch for five straight weeks, but if his engine had held together those last few laps at Pheonix, he'd stll be 15th in points right now, right behind Menard. So yeah, he's certainly not doing the team any favors right now, but the #31's not much worse off than every non-Hendrick affiliated Chevy team right now. 242. cjs3872 posted: 05.08.2012 - 7:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course not, Spen. What I am saying is that, if Burton is given the door, Childress will need a stop-gap driver. Now I said in my last post on this that a better option, especially for a one-year situation, would be Elliott Sadler, since he already drives for Childress and has 430 Cup starts under his belt, and is clearly Austin Dillon's mentor in the Nationwide Series. Childress could decide that, if Burton's not getting the job done, to give that car to Sadler until Austin is ready in 2014, or perhaps 2015. Ty's a little further away from being ready. Another option is that, with Kevin Harvick starting to get up there in years (he's 36 now), and with a driver-team lifespan of about 10-13 years (this is Harvick's 12th with RCR in the Cup series), by 2015, he'll be ready to turn 40, so there's also a possibility that Harvick may also move along at that time, which would open a car up for Ty in 2015 or '16. All this depends on the progress that Austin Dillon continues to make in the Nationwide Series. Childress would like to get him into Cup full-time in 2014 at the earliest, with some spot-starts as early as this year. With Paul Menrad doing okay, the #27 car is not a possibility for any changes in the next two years at least. And there have been races in which Paul Menard has run very well (he may have had one of the three or four fastest cars at Las Vegas, for example), but he's usually a 12th-17th place driver, and his conservative nature fits perfectly with Childress' racing style. He's just another driver that has had terrible luck this year (the accident at the end of the Talladega race is the second one he's been in because of a mistake by A.J. Allmendinger, who flat ran over him at Phoenix). 243. Rob posted: 05.08.2012 - 7:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I see everyone must agree with my last comment. As not one person has challenged it yet. lol 244. Eric posted: 05.08.2012 - 8:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, You could be off on Kevin Harvick when he will leave or need to be replaced. You failed to mention is Kevin will not be 40 years old during the 2015 season unlike Jimmie Johnson that year. Kevin turns 40 in December 2015. That means Kevin will be racing as 40 year old in 2016, not 2015 since there is no NASCAR races in December. While Kevin is getting older, not all drivers stop winning when they turn 40 such as Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart prove this year. Matt Kenseth was 39 won when he the Daytona 500 this year matter of fact. I hope you get my point the drivers in their early 40's doesn't mean they are doing winning races or by title contenders such Biffle being in the points lead right now. Kevin's season not being as good this year is caused by 2 things. Kevin has a new crew chief and does not have Clint Bowyer as a teammate. Clint is a step up from Paul Menard and Jeff Burton at Jeff's point in his career as a driver. 245. cjs3872 posted: 05.08.2012 - 9:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Correct about Harvick's age, Eric, but in Cup years, especially Cup years with the same team, it will be more like 42-44 by then. Remember that 2015 would be Harvick's 15th season with Childress in the Cup series. And I have a theory that Cup drivers begin to lose their effectiveness by the 550th start, and Kevin will be right at that mark at that time. I think one reason for Jeff Gordon's decline in recent seasons has to do with the fact that every one of his Cup starts has been with the same team, and this is his 20th year there, t to mention over 660 starts. History shows that when one a driver is with a team for 10-12 years, the team's performance starts to go downhill, as does the driver, and Kevin Harvick is at that point now, as by the way, is Jimmie Johnson. This is Harvick's 12th season at RCR and Johnson's 11th at Hendrick Motorsports, and we've seen signs of a decline with the Johnson-Hendrick combiation late in 2010 and certainly last year, though I haven't yet seen signs of such a decline from the Harvick-RCR combo. Their problem has been in the pits, but such a decline could start later this year, or next year, if history is an indicator. But I don't necessarily base a driver to be old just by his age, but rather the number of years and/or starts he's had in the Cup series. Now hwen a driver gets to 45-47, that's a different story, but I don't think 40 is old, if a driver started in his late 20s, but in the case of a guy like Jeff Gordon, or let's say, a Kyle Busch or a Trevor Bayne, I would consider 40 to be old for them, because of what age they started at. But watch the 500-550 start mark, because when a driver reaches thnat plateau, he'll start to lose his effectiveness. 246. 10andJoe posted: 05.08.2012 - 10:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >A 1/4 of the field started parking about 50-100 laps or less into a race, just because they cant compete with the big teams anymore. Correction: because, on account of the economy, they can't afford to risk tearing up their equipment. >Worst Season Ever: There is no fu*** Cautions except the fake debris cautions ...you're blind, right? 247. Bronco posted: 05.09.2012 - 6:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good on NASCAR for trying to curb tandem drafting, but they went overboard by essentially killing whatever cooling system the cars have. The only place you were safe was out front leading the race. As a result the outside lane was never much of a factor, since you couldn't push anyone to the front on the outside. What we really need is the 2010 RP rules package back. That resulted in the perfect blend of tandem drafting for a few laps, plus large pack racing, without the race turning into a complete wreckfest. That package also produced an incredible 88 and 87 lead changes, with anyone being able to drive to the front and snag the lead. In my opinion, I can't think of a single bad RP race from 2010. Carl Edwards hadn't had a DNF since April 2010 at Texas, but it came to an end when he got swept up in the wreck on the outside lane. In fact, the three drivers who went through 2011 without a single DNF all scored DNFs on Sunday (Newman, JPM, Edwards). AJ Allmendinger's mistakes are making Kurt Busch look better and better, because no matter what he was like on the radio, he had much better judgement as a driver than to try and block like that. And speaking of him, it was an absolute heartbreak to see that #51 wreck. This is Brad's first Talladega win without a car going into the fence on the last lap. I don't think he's a championnship contender until he can be consistent, something that the #88 team has seemingly mastered. Dale Jr ties Kurt Busch with 170 top 10s, while Harvick picks up his first Talladega DNF. 248. Rob posted: 05.09.2012 - 12:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @post 246. If they dont have the money to race, then dont race. or race in another series. This pipe dream NASCAR has about 43 cars in a race is unrealistic, Id rather see 33 or 35 cars willing to go the distance than 8 or 10 extra cars just getting in the way, causing caution flags, and scuffing tires for other drivers. 249. Spen posted: 05.09.2012 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) As Carl proved last year, consistency without dominance won't do the job. I agree that Brad won't win it, but Junior won't either. Way I see it, it's going to come down to Johnson, Kenseth and Hamlin. Johnson's the safe bet, but Denny could redeem himself from 2010. 250. Talk4Tar posted: 05.09.2012 - 1:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Worst Season Ever: There is no fu*** Cautions" That's a positive, not a negative, toolbag. 251. cjs3872 posted: 05.09.2012 - 2:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rob, the thing about the 43 cars in a Cup series race is that there's a clause in the TV deal that requires a full field, or NASCAR doesn't get a substantial portion of TV money for a given weekend if there's less than a full field. This actually reared it's ugly head as far back as 2002 when there was a possibility of less than a full field at Martinsville and other races in the first part of the year. So a couple of teams entered late, possibly at the request of NASCAR, to ensure a full field of cars, This came up again in 2004 when there were teams that S&P'd. Even the Daytona 500 had a record-low number of entries (45) that year (2004). But it really reached a head when a car driven by Andy Hillenburg was going too slow and spun out at Darlington and got T-boned by Jeff Gordon. Hillenburg's car should never have been on the track at that time. But later in that year, full fields returned, and we didn't see the S&P problem crop up again until 2009. Now if a car is not in the top 35, chances are that it could be a start-and-park, as no quality team is going to put itself in jeopardy of not qualifying if it isn't in the top 35. The economy created the start-and-park situation, but the top 35 rule, created in 2005 when fully funded teams missed a couple of races due to teams in the Chase entering extra cars to protect their drivers in the Chase late in 2004, have made it worse. That's why new potential teams with good equipment not in the top 35 try to purchase points instead of trying to earn them themselves in the first five races. 252. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.09.2012 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Boy, last year's week leading up to the Southern 500 sure seems like a long time ago from the perspective of a Brad K fan. Heading into Darlington last year, Bad Brad was just bad. He was 28th in points, and coming off a 2010 season that was simply never worth a shit. Worst of all, it seemed like all the promise that had followed him from his 2009 season had died. After his upset win in the 2009 Spring Dega race, and impressive NWide season in inferior NWide Chevys, he seemed to be the future of HMS. With his talent and HMS equipment, the sky seemed to be the limit. But then 2010 happened. It started at the end of '09. When Mark decided to extend his "one year comeback" it threw a wrench in the plans for Brad to take over the #5 car. He made what was a head scratching move at the time to go to Penske and the seemingly moribund #12 car. But at least Rick kept making quotes like "keeping my eye on Brad" and "not letting him stray too far". So at least he would be back at HMS at some point. Or so it seemed. I didn't have high hopes for Brad in 2010, and it turned out to be even worse. Quite simply never close to being a factor. A good race was to run about 16th-18th all day, then maybe catch a bit of attrition to get a 13th. A bad race was to finish about 28th just from being slow. Worst of all, Hendrick moved on and tabbed Kasey as Mark's replacement, so he was stuck at Penske which seemed like a bad thing. Although, in retrospect, I don't think Brad could thrive at HMS like he can at Penske. He finished 25th in points which seemed about right. Although he got the Blue Deuce for 2011, things did not improve. He was just as bad as the previous year. It all hit rock bottom after Richmond. Brad had yet another horrible day and ended up 28th in points at race's end. Plus teammate Kurt Busch had his epic radio blowup, incredible even by his low standards. Penske it seemed was going nowhere fast, and a promising career was fading. Fast forward one year, and not even Brad's most optimistic fan (me) could have forseen this. He has won 5 races since, and grabbed a Top 5 points finish. Only Smoke has been better since. He won a fuel mileage race at Kansas which kicked off the Summer of Brad. He broke his ankle in a practice wreck, tweeted its grotesque pics, then went out and beat Kyle outright at Pocono, damn near won a road course race, then won the Bristol Night Race, stormed into the cha$e, contended for a while before it came apart at the end of Martinsville. Then this year, despite inconsistency from fuel system issues, a Daytona wreck, and a 3 week stretch where he forgot how to make a freaking pit stop, he dominated the Spring race at The New Coke Speedway Bristol, and then once again went toe to toe with Kyle on a big track and once again beat him to win the 1974 Firecracker 400 Spring Dega race that left Rowdy shaking his head. I'm gonna take some time to reflect back on the past year and appreciate it. When I was pulling for Dale, I never stepped back to appreciate what I was seeing. I just wanted him to go get another one. In 2000, I never really stopped and thought about how I spent 1998 and 1999 thinking he was done as a Top 5 threat, let alone a championship threat. I never realized how good my fortune was to see him make yet another run at a title, I just wanted to see him get #8 and was mad that Bobby was immune to bad luck that year. This time around, I will try to balance appreciating Brad's success that I thought would never come as early as a year ago with hoping this is just the beginning. 253. cjs3872 posted: 05.09.2012 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, your point about Brad Keselowski is why I say, and said at the start of the year, that the situation with A.J. Allmendinger at Pesnke is a lot different than Brad Keselowski's situation was there two years ago. While it's true that Keselowski struggled badly there in 2010 and early in 2011, the plain truth was that the Penske organization, as a whole, was just plain awful, so it was impossible to see what Brad could do. We knew he had potential. We all know he won the spring race at Talladega, but what is forgotten is that he backed that up with a top 10 finish in the Southern 500, which proved the Talladega win not to be a fluke. Allmendinger, on the other hand, had showed flashes of promise in 2010, but had regressed in 2011 to a point that he was being outperformed by Marcos Ambrose on almost a constant basis. Now Allmendinger finished races last year more consistently than did Ambrose, which resulted in a higher points finish, but Ambrose performed better for virtually the entire year. Now his lack of performance with a top-notch team, and with an elite driver like Keselowski in the other car, is really beginning to show, and I think we've seen the results in the number of errors he's made. And if he isn't careful, Allmendinger could be headed for the same place as Joey Logano could be heading if his performance doesn't improve, because I think Logano's out of the #20 car at year's end unless something drastically changes there. Lack of performance can be tolerated, but not when combined with errors. 254. Rob posted: 05.09.2012 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @post 251. I know all that. That was when i used to watch on a regular basis. NASCAR has just become a joke now. The officals are not consistint and the fans whine about everything. I saw Tony Stewarts interview after Talladega bashing the fans and I honestly couldnt stop laughing. Once the U.S goes into a double dip recession, the sport will crumble even more. F1, Indycar, ALMS, Grand-Am(Which since NASCAR bought, there have been alot more full course yellows now) all will be affected. There may be a time where money is so scarce there will just be one openwheel series, one stock car series and one sportscar series. 255. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.09.2012 - 6:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @254 - Not sure if it will be as extreme as you're predicting, but I do believe NASCAR could do better to manage the finances and expenses that the sport has. I see NASCAR being too stubborn to break from tradition and make major changes if the time called for it, but at the same time, I don't think things will sink that low. 256. -Draco- (Candraco) posted: 05.09.2012 - 7:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wrote this in a blog yesterday but thought it would fit in here too. Personally I hated the racing, when a driver has to constantly watch a gauge and make sure he doesnt blow his engine, and ride around in one line that pretty much stays the same (bottom) or try to make it to the front in a constantly slower line (high) and 90% of the passes made could only be done tandem style, and when we finally get to the end of the race it becomes 1-2 tandems going for the win, which means its still a two person team for one guy to get a win... As for Danica, I know what she did was wrong, but I would be POed if the guy I was fighting decided to run me in the wall coming to the finish just to gain one spot near the bottom of the running order. Hornish instigated it and unfortunatley Danica retaliated after the finish. If it were under race conditions, no one would even be looking this hard at it. Also, what is up with Kyle Busch? He had a chance to sweep the weekend only to be snookered at the finish of the cup race, and basically giving up in the Nwide race (pulling onto the apron instead of blocking Logano doing a slingshot? Really??) Thats just my two cents though. 257. cjs3872 posted: 05.09.2012 - 8:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Draco, have you forgotten what happened to Kyle Busch the last time he tried to block someone going up high on the slingshot off the final turn? He got wrecked at the end of the 2009 Firecracker 400, then Kasey Kahne literally drove under his car. Kyle did the right thing there in making Logano beat him going the long way around, and Logano simply beat him. Also I heard soneone on Wind Tunnel say that Kyle got what he deserved by jumping that final restart in the Nationwide race and getting in front of Logano. But is it possible that Logano backed off on purpose on the restart to get Kyle Busch in front of him so he (Logano) could be in second place coming off the last turn for the slingshot, instead of the other way around? I seem to remember watching David Pearson do that exact thing at the start of the final lap of the 1974 Firecracker 400. And late in the 1986 Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt, who could have passed Geoff Bodine any time he wanted to, refused to do so, because he wanted to be in second place, which resulted in Bodine running an even slower pace, knowing Earnhardt was never going to pass him (Gary Nelson even quipped that Earnhardt might even follow Bodine into the pits). And had Bodine not run that slower pace, Terry Labonte would most likely have won that race. Kyle Busch is a lot like Buddy Baker was, in that he wanted to lead on that final lap and make the trailing driver pass him. And had there been a crash on that final lap, Kyle would have won the race. 258. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.09.2012 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR is still far away from where it was 20 years ago. I highly it'll even get that to that point. 259. Draco (Candraco) posted: 05.09.2012 - 9:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Still, pulling onto the apron and giving up valuable inches to logano baffles me. I do infact remember the 2009 Midsummer classic fondly, but this race was was somewhat of a different circumstance. Granted both times it was between two drivers, but in the Dega race it was like he wasnt trying to win . I dont know, maybd im reading into the whole apron thing a little too much... 260. cjs3872 posted: 05.09.2012 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, the reason I think Kyle pulled onto the apron was to keep Logano from side-drafting him and slowing him down even more, but by the time he pulled down to the apron, he was already beat. He just pulled down to get away from Logano, which most drivers would do under the same circumstance. Besides, there was the chance that if they stayed side-by-side, slowing each other down, that they may have let Cole Whitt, running third off the last corner, get a big enough run to beat them, so by getting as far away from Logano as he could, Kyle actually lessen the hole in the air for Whitt and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. to possibly nip them both at the line, much like Ron Bouchard beat Darrell Waltrip and Terry Labonte in the 1981 Talladega 500. As it turned out, Busch still finished second and Stenhouse edged Whitt for third. 261. Draco (Candraco) posted: 05.10.2012 - 2:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thats a sound theory. Ill take it, thank you. 262. 10andJoe posted: 05.10.2012 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darlington entry list update: Travis Kvapil will be in the #73, a third Burger King car. 263. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.10.2012 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did I hear something about Matt Kenseth changing his number? He has been #17 since 1997. Can't change now! Well, I guess if it gets him the sponsorship he should have had a long time ago, but whoever the new sponsor is needs to realize Matt Kenseth and 17 are together as a brand. But business is business I guess. 264. Talon64 posted: 05.10.2012 - 5:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A "new number", to quote it. Nothing about a number change, so it could be that the new sponsor has a # in it's name and that's the "new number" that'll be on the #17. 265. cjs3872 posted: 05.10.2012 - 5:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, I think that, just as was the case with Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson last year, it's just for the All-Star Race. For those that may not know, or don't remember, Johnson changed his car number to #5 as part of a promotion. Martin, in turn, changed to from #5 to #25 to honor a long-time sponsorship and ran a car painted like it was when Tim Richmond drove the car in 1986-'87, as well as when Ken Schrader drove it in 1988, when Folgers was that car's sponsor. The irony there, of course, was that when Folgers left Hendrick after 1989, who else did they sponsor but Mark Martin, though Martin's paint scheme in last year's All-Star Race had nothing to do with Folgers. I think Kenseth may be changing car numbers just for the All-Star Race. I suspect that he'll use the #6 (if Roush hasn't entered Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. in the Sprint Showdown, which he's allowed to do, if he so chooses), but I'm not sure. NASCAR needs to put a stop to this. Changing sponsors and paint schemes is one thing, but allowing temas to change car numbers is all-together different. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the reason that NASCAR doesn't issue out it's lowest numbered car numbers to the highest ranked drivers in the previous year's championship standings so that the fans can identify a driver and team with a specific car number? In fact, some IndyCar teams back in the mid-70s liked that idea so much that they wouldn't change their car number, even if they won the championship and the right to carry the #1. Dan Gurney's All-American Racers with Bobby Unser (#48, 1974), A.J. Foyt (#14, 1975), and Patrick Racing with Gordon Johncock (#20, 1976) all won the USAC title from 1974-'76, yet decided to stick with their traditional car numbers, instead of switching to the number their place in the championship would allow them to use the following year. 266. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.10.2012 - 6:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm ok with number changes for the All Star race (as long as it isn't #3). Outside of that, no. The biggest key is there is a multiyear sponsor for RFR. They need it. 267. Kyle posted: 05.10.2012 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) don't worry @DaleSrFanForever the #3 won't be used in cup again until 2014 when austin takes over for jeff burton and the #31 changes to the #3. 268. Eric posted: 05.10.2012 - 7:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, What is your take on Espn's top 10 current Crew Chiefs? Here are the honorable mentions: Jimmy Fennig, Richard "Slugger" Labbe, Rodney Childers and Mike Ford 10.) Dave Rodgers 9.) Kenny Francis 8.) Bob Osborne 7.) Matt Puccia 6.) Steve Letarte 5.)Steve Addington 4.)Alan Gustafson 3.)Darian Grubb 2.)Chad Knaus 1.)Paul Wolfe The list and Tim Brewer and Andy Petree's is found at http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/7913151/nascar-paul-wolfe-best-crew-chief-nascar 269. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.10.2012 - 7:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just for the record, I have no problem with the #3 being used again in and of itself. After all, it is just a number. To trivialize Dale by using a number to represent him is something I won't do. It is just the fact that whenever it is brought back, a big deal will be made about how it means something and represents the carrying on of Dale's legacy. And they will be wrong. 270. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 05.10.2012 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^ Yeah but who are most people going to remember when they see the #3 on track? Dale. 271. myothercarisanM535i posted: 05.10.2012 - 9:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This nonsense with Clint Bowyer and the Motorcycle company (see Jayski) is hilarious. Get over yourself man! 272. Eric posted: 05.10.2012 - 10:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I meant to type Dave Rogers instead of Dave Rodgers. Here is my take on the list. Jimmy Fennig is being underrated by not being on the list. I know Matt won races before Jimmy, but Jimmy actually revived Matt Kenseth by the fact Matt wasn't the same after Robbie Reiser stopped being Matt's crew chief. Matt only won 2 times from 2008 to 2010 with him playing musical crew chiefs despite the fact 17 team has been one of the best pit crew for a long time. Jimmy Fenning has been a very good crew chief for years and is still the same crew chief as he always been. If you give him a good driver that still is at his peak, he will bring the best out of that driver. I thought Kurt Busch was at his best with Jimmy Fenning matter of fact. Mark had his been year ever as a driver with Jimmy Fenning. Dave Rogers is a good Crew Chief. The problem is he has Kyle Busch. I think Kyle is one of the top 5 talented drivers out there, but Kyle's worst enemy is himself. I really think no one really knows how good Dave really is as a result since Kyle is at his worst during the chase even before Dave Rodgers. Kenny Francis belongs on the list. He has won races without having the best equipment. The other thing I look at is Mayfield made the chase with him as a Crew Chief besides having Kasey. Bob Osborne belongs on the list. Him and Carl Edwards are a very good crew chief/driver combination. There problem I have is this the 2 time they have been runner ups for the championship. I don't know if it is him or Carl. Matt Puccia shouldn't ranked 7th and he shouldn't be the list at all. Matt only has been a crew chief 28 cup races and Matt inherited a mess last year when he took over as a crew chief. The 16 team had problems on pit road last year. Greg is hot right now and is still at his peak despite his age and has a better crew. I think the chase is good to be a good test for Matt Puccia. I am saying that because Greg Biffle has been called a "wheel man" for years and has cup success despite not having a cup championship. I don't know about Steve Letarte being ranked 6th. Steve revived Dale Jr's career and that is a major accomplishment. Steve brings good cars to the track dating back to Jeff Gordon. My problem with Steve is he makes questionable pit calls and Jeff Gordon Fans have complained about Steve in the past by costing Jeff wins. Steve still had Jeff in his prime and I viewed he underachieved with Jeff. Steve Addington belong on the list. I really don't know how he didn't strangle the Busch brothers or still has his sanity for that matter. I remember Steve dating back to him having Jason Keller as a driver in the Busch series. My problem with Steve is his teams were not at their best in the final 10 races of a season and were at their best early in the season. Steve had that problem before the Busch brothers back when he was in the Nationwide series. That problem I mention is a reason I don't like Stewart in the Chase unless Stewart is able to overcome that. Alan Gustafson belongs the list. I think the 24 had some bad luck this year. Alan is a good crew chief. Alan did not get the best out of Kyle despite getting Kyle's best points finish in the chase, but it wasn't his fault. He got a raw Kyle Busch. That is a driver with a lot of talent, but wasn't the Kyle Busch you see today in the track because of cup experience. He did well with Mark Martin before Rick Hendrick made changes for trying to help the 88 team that didn't work. Alan not winning the championship in 2009 really can't be blamed on Alan a lot because Mark Martin has fall short winning cup Championships before with most of them caused by his conservative racing style. Darian Grubb is a top 5 crew chief. He made great pit calls during the chase. Him and Stewart didn't mix. Chad Knaus is going to the Hall of Fame when he retires as a crew chief since Junior Johnson is in despite being one NASCAR's biggest cheaters. Chad has to be the biggest cheater in NASCAR currently and has pushed the envelope the most. I don't know if Chad should be this high currently. His teams been off since part of the 2010 season for one reason or another. The 48 team lucked out in the 2010 chase despite the pit stops being so bad that they had to use Jeff's pit crew. I really question being a top 2 crew chief currently because the 48 team is the 48 team of old, but is a top 3 crew chief still. Paul Wolfe shouldn't be number 1 yet. I think Paul is a great upcoming crew chief and I think being an ex driver has helped him for what a driver wants. I remembered Paul racing in the Busch series. Brad struggled on the cup level with Penske before Paul. I don't have number 1 because this is his 2nd year as a crew chief on the cup level. 273. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.10.2012 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That is true SmokeFan. When seeing a black car on track with that stylized 3, you SHOULD think of Dale. But that is as far as it should go. Unfortunately many will make a big deal about "continuing Dale's legacy" or some nonsense like that. That is what worries me. As for the crew chief list, I definitely think Paul Wolfe should be at the top for curreent CCs. His pit calls were the spark that has lit Brad's career on fire. But I agree that Fennig should be #2 if not #1. You are right, he has rescued one of the 4 best drivers of this generation's career from mediocrity. One of the best leaders in the entire garage. A true stabalizing force at Roush. I have Darian next. He stepped into the CC role for the first time amid the turmoil of Knaus' 2006 Daytona suspension, and went out and won the Daytona 500, then followed that with another win and a 2nd, basically launching a dynasty. He then squeezed a win out of Casey Mears, help Tony bring SHR to life, led them through the greatest playoff performance ever, and has resurrected Denny Hamlin's career. 274. Eric posted: 05.10.2012 - 10:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know Dave Rogers had other drivers in Nationwide, but I was talking Dave in terms of his cup career as a crew chief. I know Dave had experience as a cup crew before Kyle, but that was not a long with him being the crew chief of Jason leffler for 11 races, but Jason was never going to be a good cup driver. 275. cjs3872 posted: 05.10.2012 - 11:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric, you mention Jimmy Fennig as one of the top crew chiefs, and ention what he's accomplished. You forget the fact that he's been a crew chief so long, that he was the crew chief for Bobby Allison's final victory, the 1988 Daytona 500, which ironically, was the first NASCAR race for Roush Racing, Fennig's home since 1997. As for my list of current crew chiefs, no. 1 is obvious, but here would be the list: 1. Chad Knaus (Hendrick Motorsports #48 Chevrolet) 2. Jimmy Fennig (Roush Racing #17 Ford) 3. Darian Grubb (Joe Gibbs Racing #11 Toyota) 4. Steve Addington (Steart-Haas Racing #14 Chevrolet) 5. Mike Ford (Richard Petty Motorsports #9 Ford) 6. Paul Wolfe (Penske Racing #2 Dodge) 7. Todd Parrott (Richard Petty Motorsports #43 Ford) 8. Bob Osborne (Roush Racing #99 Ford) 9. Donnie Wingo (Wood Brothers Racing #21 Ford) 10. Dave Rogers (Joe Gibbs Racing #18 Toyota) Note that only one Hendrick crew chief and no Richard Childress Racing crew chief made my list. In fact, only two current Chevrolet crew chiefs made the list. That's one problem the Chevrolet teams have been having this year. For instance, you look at the Hendrick crew chiefs, I never thought Steve Letarte was that good, and I think you'll see Dale, Jr. plummet in the second half of the season, Alan Gustafson (#24) is basically a one-year fix for a driver. That's been proven again this year, and Kenny Francis is overrated and possibly a reason for the struggles the 5/24 shop has had this year. On the other hand, some of th best crew chiefs are with teams that really don't have much of a chance for various reasons. Mike Ford and Todd Parrott are top-notch crew chiefs, but saddled with various problems at RPM. Ford has a bad driver and Parrott has a hot-and-cold driver, not to mention being saddled with Richard Petty as the car owner and a looming uncertainty about what brand the team will run next year. Donnie Wingo, who's been a crew chief almost as long as Fennig has been, is saddled with a part-time team, but has twice finished in the top ten in four races, and let's not forget how well they ran late last year, even threatening to crack the top five at Charlotte before fuel pressure problems dropped them back to 31st, and the Woods even threatened the leaders late in last year's Brickyard 400 before having to make a late stop for fuel. 276. Frank posted: 05.11.2012 - 7:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In my deep opinion, Steve Addington doesn't belong to top-10 crew chiefs. He need to thank Kyle Busch for making him famous. Look, Addington worked only with top dritvers: Busch brothers then Stewart. In 2008 it was all Kyle who unleashed his talent after being secondary team in HMS. In 2009 after Kyle missed the Chase and fired Steve, Addington stepped in Blue Deuce but don't be fooled - early success of 2010 based on what Pat Tryson has done. I think, there is a basement - is there anyone who think that Drew Blickensderfer is genious? He won his first 2 Cup races! Grubb won 2 of 3 but it was all Chad equipment and setups like it was all Reiser's in early 2009 (remember where #17 been at the end of summer). Now Addington is lucky again to get an invitation to championship team but record breaking early wins for Stewart are all from 2011-chase performance. Everything is in position and working nice and smooth - the only thing that Addington does all these years is "don't fix working". As Darian Grubb proved his education and abilities already, Addington even didn't start to do so. Expect struggles for #14 as the season progresses. In terms of top2 CCs I am totally with Cjs: Knaus and Fennig are way better than any other current crew-chief. 277. cjs3872 posted: 05.11.2012 - 11:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Frank, I may have put Addington a few positions too high, but he's still in my top ten. First of all, having to deal with both of the Busch brothers, and being sucessful with both, he has to be good. Having Tony Stewart as a driver has to be a relief for him after what he's been through, and their struggles in recent races is more symptomatic of a Hendrick and Chevrolet problem. And as for Blickensderfer, yes he won his first two races, but after that he did nothing, as Kenseth didn't find victory lane again until Jimmy Fennig became his crew chief. 278. Eric posted: 05.11.2012 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, I did not forgot about Jimmy Fennig about giving Bobby Allison his final win. I actually looked up Jimmy Fenning before the post I made on 274. The 2nd thing is You missed my point. I was not really talking about accomplishments as much as bringing the max out of of very talented drivers at their peak/ their prime as a driver. Bobby Allison was not at peak as a driver in 1988 and I didn't mention him as a result unlike Martin Martin, Kurt Busch, and Matt Kenseth. Matt actually still at his peak as a driver, his problem were the crew chiefs he had between Robbie Robbie Reiser and Jimmy Fenning. I don't care how good a driver you are, in today's NASCAR a crew chief is the difference how good the driver is on the track if that driver actually is talented. Bobby's Allison peak as a driver ended after 1983. Bobby was competitive after 1983, but he was on his downside of his career. Drivers are able to win past their peak like Richard Petty did through 1984 and Darrell Waltrip did the same thing as examples. Darrell was not at his peak as a driver in 1992 when he won 3 times that year. 279. Eric posted: 05.11.2012 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Frank, Drew Blickensderfer isn't a great crew chief. Matt won at Daytona and at Auto Club in 2009, but the 17 team was off after that and Matt had his worst cup season since 2001. David Ragan winning at Daytona isn't a lot on Drew. David won a plate race in the Nationwide series before and he knows to plate race. I thought Jimmy brought the best out of David Ragan in 2008. I can't blame how Jeff Burton is doing on Drew. Jeff's best years are behind him. 280. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.11.2012 - 2:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hell yeah, it's Darlington. People already scraping the wall. Super pumped for the rest of today and definitely tomorrow getting to go there for the first time since 1998. With pit passes! 281. cjs3872 posted: 05.11.2012 - 2:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric, my point about Fennig and that he was Bobby Allison's crew chief for his Daytona 500 win back in 1988 had to do more with how long he's been a crew chief than the fact that he won with Allison. I'm also sure the 24 years between wins in the same event is a record for crew chiefs. We all know Allison's days as a front runner were just about over by then, but the fact that his winning crew chief that day is still one of the elite crew chiefs today, nearly 25 years later, is what makes him one of the best ever, not just one of the best today, for to last that long, one must be able to make the necessary adjustments, and Fennig's been able to do that. The only other elite crew chiefs that have lasted as long as Fennig in that role that I can think of are Dale Inman, Leonard Wood, Bud Moore, and Harry Hyde. Junior Johnson, Herb Nab, Tim Brewer, Buddy Parrott, and his son Todd had or have had long and distinguished careers as crew chiefs. 282. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.11.2012 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Blast you DSFF; take me with you, please! 283. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.11.2012 - 3:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tragic news: Carroll Shelby passed away last night at 89 years of age. 284. cjs3872 posted: 05.11.2012 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NicoRosbergFan, how can you call that tragic news? Sad news? Absolutely, but hardly tragic. Tragic news is what happened to guys like Bill Vukovich, Sr., Fireball Roberts, Joe Weatherly, Eddie Sachs, Dave McDonald, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Ayrton Senna, and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. They were all killed long before their time. Carroll Shelby lived a full life and apparently died in his sleep at the age of 89. Shelby was probably the greatest force in the history of sports car racng in America, and equal to that of A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, Mario Andretti, and any other drivers in the big boom of American racing from the 1960s through the 1990s. The only figures I can think of right now that had a bigger impact on racing in this country were Bill France, Sr. and Tony Hulman. In fact, Shelby was such an icon, that for a couple of years, the NASCAR race at Las Vegas was named after him, and the 2009 running of that event was even lengthened to 427 miles, in honor of his famous car, the 427 Shelby Cobra. The entire racing world needs more men like Shelby, especially considering what it's going through now. Much as could be said about the passing of Hulman, Bill France, Sr. and Jr, and Dale Earnhardt, Sr., the racing world will never be the same without Carroll Shelby, the single greatest man in the history of American road racing. 285. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.11.2012 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs: You are right, that was an overreaction, but please check your facts. Shelby died in a hospital from pneumonia. It is too bad that they stopped doing the 427 at Las Vegas after one year. Would have made the race carry some prestige. 286. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.11.2012 - 6:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "My business is performance" Classic 287. cjs3872 posted: 05.11.2012 - 7:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks for the correction, NicoRosbergFan, but at 89, I'd say he still lived a full life. That extension of the race distance at Las Vegas was just for one year, though Shelby's name was also on that race in 2010 when it went back to it's 400-mile distance. And today, for the second time in Southern 500 history, there was a tie for the pole position as Greg Biffle and Jimmie Johnson ended up tied to the thousandth of a second. Biffle got the pole due to a higher position in the points. Biffle will, of course, be seeking to join a very select list of three-time Southern 500 winners. There was also a tie for the pole in 1968 when Charlie Glotzbach and Cale Yarborough tied. Glotzbach got the pole, though Yarborough got the last laugh by winning the first of five Southern 500s. 288. cjs3872 posted: 05.11.2012 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I want to make a correction on my last post. It was Johnson and Kasey Kahne that tied, not Johnson and Greg Biffle. In that case, Johnson got the higher spot (though not necessarily the better starting position) due to being higher in he points. By the way, winning the pole is not a good omen for Biffle. No driver has won the pole and the race in the Southern 500 since Dale Earnhardt, Sr. way back in 1990. 289. ch posted: 07.18.2013 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #26 Sponsor: MDS Transport (consistent with all 2012/2013 starts) 290. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 07.23.2015 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates #9 Stanley Proto/Dewalt Tools #15 Alabama Crimson Tide Natl. Champs/Aaron's #16 O'Reilly Auto Parts/3M #22 Pennzoil/AAA #27 Turtle Wax/Menards #42 Target/Kraft Macaroni and Cheese #47 Bush's Beans/Kingsford #88 National Guard #99 Metabo/Fastenal 291. Windows Millennium Edition posted: 05.16.2016 - 10:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor updates: #51 "ME" Talladega Nights Throwback #55 Aaron's Dream Machine "Color Your Way" #47 Bush's Beans/Kingsford/Scott Products #42 Target/Kraft Macaroni & Cheese #99 Metabo/Fastenal #9 Stanley Proto/DeWalt Tools #32 C&J Energy Services/U.S. Chrome #10 Tommy Baldwin Racing #16 O'Reilly Auto Parts/3M #88 National Guard #1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats/Allstate #18 M&M's/Win a New Car at M&M's.com #33 Little Joe's Auto 292. StenhouseFan17 posted: 06.22.2016 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bill Elliott records his lone start-and-park in his penultimate Cup race. 293. Jimmie4life posted: 02.03.2018 - 8:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) What i'm baffled about is how 9 cars got out with problems with the car. In 2011, only 8 cars went out, and they were locked together, and some went out because of crashes. And incredibly, 19 cars were out of the race. 294. Mr.Victory posted: 03.07.2018 - 9:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cars involved lap 142 Wreck: 36, 42, 20, 56, 24, 32, 99, 83, 38, 43. 295. Mile501 posted: 12.29.2019 - 8:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is one of two races I have found where every single driver who was running at the finish completed at least the scheduled distance of the race. The other was the 2018 Daytona 500. Is anyone aware of any other such races? This can happen more easily now than in the past due to better reliability, the wave-around rule, and green/white/checkered finishes. 296. Rich posted: 12.19.2020 - 10:38 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: