|| *Comments on the 2013 Food City 500:* View the most recent comment <#489> | Post a comment <#post> 1. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.15.2013 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) If Scott Riggs hadn't messed his lap up, Danica might have missed the show. That would of been huge! 2. b4il3y posted: 03.15.2013 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 500-1 odds. LOL. 3. The Final Gear posted: 03.15.2013 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats to Kyle! I hope to see a weekend where the 18 car is up front. I have a feeling that Danica's going to miss a race at this rate. If she gets in based on OP every race then there needs to be a rule change where you could only use so many provisionals like in the past. 4. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.15.2013 - 4:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Alright NASCAR suits, you may exhale now, princess sparkle pony squeaked in. All those years of the retchid top 35 rule that scared off people who may have tried to start new teams have paid off. 5. joey2448 posted: 03.15.2013 - 5:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow the Rocketman's 10-year-old lap record is history! That was a killer lap from Kyle! 6. Jim Davis posted: 03.15.2013 - 5:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If Scott Riggs hadn't messed his lap up, Danica might have missed the show." How does that work? If Riggs qualifies in the top 36 isn't Cassill the guy who DNQs since Labonte can fall back on the past champions provisional? What am I missing? 7. Kenny posted: 03.15.2013 - 5:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Jr 32nd son of a f**king BITCH >:( 8. murb posted: 03.15.2013 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Danican't Qualify Very Good. 9. Talon64 posted: 03.15.2013 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Even if the #44 had qualified in the top 36, that would've knocked the #19 out and they would've gone home. It's going by this year's owners points now, and the #93, #87, #35 and #33 are all below her in the owners points so she had no chance of missing this race. It's going to be virtually impossible for any team that runs every race and runs the full distance to DNQ for a race this season, since there's only 45 cars at most attempting to qualify per race and the S&P and part-time teams will always be the first on the chopping block to go home. 10. Daniel posted: 03.15.2013 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 43: #44 Scott Riggs Out using fastest 43: #32 Terry Labonte 11. 83andJoe posted: 03.15.2013 - 6:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This just in: KBM has signed Snowball Derby winner Erik Jones to run five Truck races this year, starting at Martinsville. 12. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.15.2013 - 6:56 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) They need to make these cars less stable on the smaller tracks. These cars are GLUED to the racing surface. Less stability like we saw last week leads to better racing. I'm thinking they should take away some rear spoiler and also making them lose some nose weight, shift it to the rear. 13. 83andJoe posted: 03.15.2013 - 6:57 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I, personally, think the splitter should go - how often do you see it on a street car (especially on these models) and back in the '90s they did just fine without it. 14. Anonymous posted: 03.15.2013 - 7:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (11) there is a racing reference forum guys 15. 83andJoe posted: 03.15.2013 - 7:59 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) ^ Your point? 16. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.15.2013 - 8:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I love that the troll who keeps ordering us to use the forum which no one ever used anyway is a nutless anonymous poster... Shrubby was FAST! Stenhouse looks more disastrous than cjs predicted. 17. We need more Onion posted: 03.15.2013 - 8:54 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Paul Menard 5th, Nice. 18. cjs3872 posted: 03.15.2013 - 9:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Actually NicoRosbergFan, Stenhouse has had a pretty good start to the season (currently 11th in points), much better than I thought he'd have because he's finishing races. Now his qualifying effort for this race wasn't very good, but for him, it didn't matter, since he has to start at the back anyway due to a blown engine in practice. If Stenhouse can get past Martinsvlle still in the top 15 in points, he may end up having a far better year than I thought he'd have. Remember that a key strategy in the points race early in the season is to be conservative and just finish races, especially for a rookie. Just look at what just finishing races has done for Aric Almirola, as he's currently 10th, and Paul Menard is curently 12th with his usual conservative style of finishing races. And I think Menard could b a surprise this weeken, because Bristol, despite it's nature (and maybe because of it), actually rewards conservative drivers that stay out of the wrecks, which usually involve about half the field by the time the race is over (last spring's race was an acute anomaly). So just finishing races in the first 4-6 races of the season can be more rewarding than being aggressive and going for wins, because not finishing even one race is more damaging, especially early in the season when the field is bunched in the points. The top teams will separate themselves, beginning in late April and early May, when the field becomes a little more settled in the point standings. 19. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.15.2013 - 9:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) So sorry dook. Ok, not really. 20. cjs3872 posted: 03.15.2013 - 9:50 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) DSFF, you must be either a Tar Heel (UNC) of Wolfpack (N.C. State) fan. Of course, they (Duke) probably weren't going to win the ACC Tournament anyway, since Miami has dominated the ACC all year. And 83andJoe, do you think that Kyle Busch hiring Erik Jones is retribution for what happened this past off-season (wrecking Jones to win the Snowball Derby). But that's one advantage that someone like Kyle Busch has in running these lower-level races against these much younger drivers, in that by competing against them, a driver of Kyle Busch's cailber can assess their ability better than other team owners and possibly hire them, thus giving them a shot at the big time. That's always been a reason why it was always good for the Cup drivers to run against the Nationwide and truck Series drivers, because it gives the lower-level drivers a cance to get noticed against the best in the business. After all, I've never had a problem with the Cup drivers coming down to race in the lower divisions. It's the Cup TEAMS doing so with their Cup drivers that I've always had a problem with. 21. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.15.2013 - 10:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Post 14: Stop hiding behind the shadows of Anonymous & don't post here again until you reveal your true user name. 22. Eric posted: 03.15.2013 - 10:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Why don't you have a problem in the past with cup driver going for the series/nationwide championship? 23. Bronco posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Don't know what the spotter of the #5 Nationwide car was doing, or how Brad didn't see a car just stopped in the middle of the track, but that kind of ugly crash should not have happened. 24. Paul posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Totally agree with what Cjs said about Cup drivers running lower series races. I have no problem with guys who drive either for their own teams like Dale Jr. in Nationwide and Kyle and Brad in Truck because at least they're competing in their own equipment, and guys like Kasey who compete for non-Cup teams because they don't have the competitive advantage that Cup drivers in Cup teams have. I think Cup drivers are best suited for developing smaller teams and helping develop their young teammates in the process, as opposed to the JGR method of winning regularly with Cup drivers and not developing any young ones. Of course, the analysts will always bring up drivers like Earnhardt, Allison, Gant, Waltrip, and Labonte competing in lower series back in the '80s and '90s as if that's supposed to make us shut up about Cup drivers racing in lower series. What they won't tell you is that those drivers were often either driving for their own teams, or for small teams like when Gang and Earnhardt used to run a few races for Ed Whitaker in the '80s. The younger drivers of the Busch Series could compete against the Cup guys and learn from them on the track, but still have a shot at winning because their equipment wasn't so far off, if even worse than that, of the Cup drivers'. And I'm so glad that Cup drivers can no longer compete for the Nationwide title. That five year period of Cup drivers winning Nationwide titles absolutely killed that series' identity, while basically serving as a "Jimmie Johnson Rehabilitation Tour" for the talented, yet mentally inconsistent Cup drivers who needed another series to win in because they were tired of getting their asses kicked by the #48 team. And it may not be coincidental that JJ's five year run as champion began when Cup drivers began winning Nationwide titles, and ended once the Nationwide title was no longer possible due to the new points eligibility rules. 25. murb posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) "It's the Cup TEAMS doing so with their Cup drivers that I've always had a problem with." Definitely agree with this, CJS. I've never minded the Cup guys running in NNS because there's always been Cup guys in there (like Irvan, Gant, and Earnhardt back in the day). But when they are doing it with their own Cup teams, it's ridiculous. That's why I admired what Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch did by running their own teams, just like how a lot of the Cup guys used to do. It's too bad though that both of those guys are now once again running for their Cup teams in NNS. 26. murb posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I have no problem with guys who drive either for their own teams like Dale Jr. in Nationwide" Forgot to mention Dale Jr in my previous post. But yeah, kudos to him for running his own deal. 27. JG24FanForever posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:23 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) 1st 40th 37th 41st What a Joke What a Joke What a Joke What a Joke What a Joke What a Joke 28. 83andJoe posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) >And 83andJoe, do you think that Kyle Busch hiring Erik Jones is retribution for what happened this past off-season (wrecking Jones to win the Snowball Derby). Not quite sure what you mean there, since Jones won the Derby. But I wouldn't be one bit surprised if Jones dueling Busch at the Snowball is what got him the ride. As has been mentioned in the past, scrubs don't win the Derby (Steve Wallace possibly excepted), so I think this is a great move by Busch. Now if only he can get and keep sponsorship for the kid to run full-time next year; the last drivers Busch tried to develop (Tayler Malsam and Brian Ickler) ran afoul of the fact potential sponsors wanted /Kyle/ in the truck... 29. cjs3872 posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wasn't there an incident between Kyle and some real young driver in that event this past off-season? And if there was, I think it might have been Jones. I heard about a controversial incident in the Snowball Derby involving Kyle Busch in the last off-season or two. Maybe I got the wrong driver, but I do remember hearing about an incident. Maybe that was in another race. And murb, it is somewhat sad to see guys like Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick back rnning in the Nationwide Series for their Cup teams, though there are different sets of circumstances involved. Harvick sold his Nationwide team to Childress, mainly so that Childress could develop his grandsons. Kyle Busch's situation is a bit odd, since he still fields a team while driving for Gibbs, not unlike what Dale, Sr. did in the Cup Series from 1998 until his death in the 2001 Daytona 500. 30. 83andJoe posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Well, the 2012 Snowball Derby did see Steve Wallace throwing a hammer at Kyle's car after a wreck... 31. murb posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:52 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) "Wasn't there an incident between Kyle and some real young driver in that event this past off-season?" All I know is that he started a wreck in the Snowball Derby that took out a bunch of the younger guys (I think Ross Kenseth was one of them). And then apparently Steven Wallace threw a hammer at Kyle after the race. I've made the joke before, but I guess it was basically a tool throwing a tool at a tool... 32. 18fan posted: 03.16.2013 - 1:11 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kyle wrecked T.J. Reaid in the Snowball Derby. 33. cjs3872 posted: 03.16.2013 - 1:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) So I did name the wrong driver on the other end of Kyle Busch's bumper. Sorry for the mistake. 34. JG24FanForever posted: 03.16.2013 - 1:30 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I bet i'm the only Board Member watching F1 Qualifying. 35. Jim Davis posted: 03.16.2013 - 1:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "...scrubs don't win the Derby..." I don't know about that. Few Derby winners went on to become names in NASCAR. "Harvick sold his Nationwide team to Childress, mainly so that Childress could develop his grandsons." That may have been why Childress bought the team but I think the Harvicks sold it because they planned to have a child and didn't feel they had enough time for both the team and the baby. 36. AveryNH posted: 03.16.2013 - 1:49 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Nah JG24fanforever My pup and I are both eagerly awaiting. It's quite soggy down in Melbourne apparently. Should be great! 37. JG24FanForever posted: 03.16.2013 - 2:07 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Message to Danica Patrick: Jeff Gordon has never qualified outside the Top 36 three straight races and once qualified in the Top 25 100 straight races! 38. JG24FanForever posted: 03.16.2013 - 3:07 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Here is Jeff Gordon's first 8 seasons vs Kyle Busch's first 8 seasons vs Jimmie Johnson's first 8 season's by superficial numbers. Jeff Gordon: 52 wins--24 2nd Place--33 Poles--41 Races Led Most--129 Top 5's--257 Starts Jimmie Johnson: 47 wins-27 2nd Place-23 Poles-33 Races Led Most--117 Top 5's--291 Starts Kyle Busch: 24 wins--21 2nd Place--10 Poles--33 Races Led Most--93 Top 5's--293 starts Jeff Gordon: 3 Championship's(1995,1997-98,2001)--1 Runner-Up(1996) Jimmie Johnson: 4 Championship's(2006-09)--2 Runner-up's(2003-04)--2 5th Place finishes(2002,2005) Kyle Busch: 1 5th Place finish(2007) 39. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.16.2013 - 3:42 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) I am a fan of the Heels, I can't stand NC State. I hate dook the most, but certainly have no love for State. They want so bad to be a part of the Tobacco Road rivalry, but they are an after thought behind the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of New Jersey at Durham. As far as the NWide deal, let me know when it is Texas, that is when Johanna races again. Until then the Cup guys can play with themselves over there (and yes, that includes Brad). I don't care. 40. The Great Dave posted: 03.16.2013 - 9:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Sponsors for the race #1 Cessna - A Textron Company #5 Great Clips #15 Napa Filters #30 Swan Energy #33 Moonshine Attitude Wear / Little Joe's #36 UME / Pittlite #38 A&W All American Food #39 Haas #43 Smithfield / Helping Hungry Homes #47 Bush's Best/ Kingsford / Scott #51 Guy Roofing #83 Burger King / Dr. Pepper #99 Kellog's Frosted Flakes / Cheez-it 41. kup posted: 03.16.2013 - 11:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #38 JG24FanForever posted: first 8 seasons for Kyle-B, Jeff-G, Jimmie-J ... So what? You kinda forgot to mention the main "facts": - Kyle had 8 years in Hendrick cars with crew-chiefs Ray-E & Chad-C - Jeff & Jimmie had 8 years in Gibbs cars with other crew-chiefs than Ray-Chad Eureka? Wanna "compare" 8 years for Kasey Kahne, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth -over- JG/JJ ?? (: 42. The Final Gear posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anybody watching practice? Look at that #38 car. Gilly is 3rd on the board right now. 43. Mr X posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:33 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) It's amazing how different the fox crew is during practice vs the race. It almost makes practice a better show then the race. 44. murb posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "It's amazing how different the fox crew is during practice vs the race. It almost makes practice a better show then the race." Notice how MW is missing from the practice coverage... 45. Sean posted: 03.16.2013 - 12:52 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) "The last drivers Busch tried to develop (Tayler Malsam and Brian Ickler) ran afoul of the fact potential sponsors wanted /Kyle/ in the truck..." THIS is the problem and why I loathe Cup drivers in Nationwide/trucks, even in their own equipment. Sponsors want name drivers and will basically now refuse to sponsor underfunded drivers in the minor leagues, so the only drivers that end up making it are those who get aligned with the powerhouse Cup teams, so Joey Logano because he's well-funded automatically makes it to Cup while [insert driver here] isn't given any sort of opportunity to EVER drive anything good... And now it seems the powerhouse Cup teams (and especially their sponsors) want drivers with Cup experience (Bayne, Sadler, Smith, Vickers) rather than actual development drivers (okay, Bayne probably still counts because he hasn't been given a full-time Cup ride yet, but still...) I know there's a long history of Cup drivers in Busch/trucks but at this point I think those series have outgrown that, much like Formula 1 drivers once competed in Formula 2 races but stopped doing so in the later iterations of that feeder (F2000/GP3) and Nationwide/trucks should go completely solo. The one-series rule helped, but it wasn't enough, because sponsors want STARS... I know that would mean short fields for a while but it would be better in the long run as there would probably be more actual talents emerging. One of the less professional things about NASCAR in my opinion was allowing Cup stars to mess around in the minor leagues. It's not as bad as any of NASCAR's points systems or most of the iterations of restrictor plate racing, however... 46. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.16.2013 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The Fox Crew during qualifying/practice is similar to how the race crew was from 2001-2005 or so. 47. cjs3872 posted: 03.16.2013 - 1:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well DSFF, the "Tobacco Road" rivalry used to be UNC vs. N.C. State until the mid-80s, when Duke got involved and replaced N.C. State as UNC's main rival. Not to mention that UNC and N.C. State won the title in successive years in the early 1980s (UNC in '82 and N.C. State, which won it in 1974, followed UNC's '82 title with one of their own in '83). And Sean, your point is exactly why I dislike the Cup teams running their Cup drivers in the Nationwide Series, because the development drivers really don't have a chance. It's different when the Cup drivers ran their own stuff, and a perfect example is Kyle Busch last year, because he didn't win any races at all in the Nationwide Series last year in his own stuff. But having the Cup drivers has always been important since the Nationwide (and since 1995, the Truck Series) drivers have been able to measure themselves against some of the best the sport had to offer, but when the Cup teams became heavily involved, the playing field became as uneven as it gets. But prior to that, the playng field was actually pretty even on an overall basis, and the Nationwide (then-Busch) Series drivers actually held their own, except on the superspedways where the vast experience of the Cup drivers really showed. And let's not forget that DEI started as a Busch Series team in the early 1980s and didn't move to the Cup Series until 1997, when it ran a couple of races and didn't fully go to the Cup Series until 1998, and the same is true of Bill Davis Racing. Some other successful Busch Series teams of the 80s and early 90s actually started out as low-budgeted Cup teams (such as Ed Whitaker's and Charlie Henderson's teams), and when the Busch Series came into being as we know it in 1982, some of those teams left the Cup series and moved down to the Busch Series, where they found success, so it can go both ways. 48. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.16.2013 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs, I don't know where you got that Tobacco Road info, but dook has been our number 1 team to beat for a long time. Yes NC State was a much more difficult opponent over the '70's and early '80's cause they had some really good teams, winning the NCAA twice (might have been three if State wasn't banned from postseason play the year before Thompson's title year where they ended UCLA's streak). And there is certainly no love lost between the Heels and the Pack. But dook is just 7 miles away and so diametrically opposed. Carolina is the public school with a large percentage of NC natives and has the mascot of our heroic Revolutionary War group who refused to give ground to the point the British officers noted "they must have tar on their heels" while dook is the small private school that is mostly rich kids, mostly from the North, and has architecture completely modeled after the snoody Ivy League schools from the North and whose mascot is named after a FRENCH war unit. How anyone fron North Carolina can pull for dook is beyond me. So yes dook wasn't much of an opponent for the late '70's leading them to hire an obscure coach at Army who played for and coached under Bobby Knight at West Point, but we weren't much of an opponent for the late '90's and early '00's when they won 13 of 16, Maryland was their biggest foe. But we were the ones they cherished beating the most. 49. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.16.2013 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @post 27: At Daytona she clearly outdrove Gordon in quallifying, taking a higher line through one and two which caused her to lose ground through those corners and the first half of the straightaway, but that allowed her to get that super boost on the second half. It totally defies the laws of physics, but suddenly plate qualifying is all driver >_> 50. Kubica Fan Ireland posted: 03.16.2013 - 3:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think nascar should go a little further and restrict the number of starts you can make in a series that you are not competing for the title. I would put it at 10 starts. 51. murb posted: 03.16.2013 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) You know, it's really hard to believe, but ten years ago today (March 16th), my 8 year old mind was blown by Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch's finish in the 2003 Carolina Dodge Dealers 400. I CANNOT believe that that finish was ten years ago. It's crazy how fast time goes. And it's also crazy to look at how different the sport has become in ten years. Classic tracks like Rockingham and Darlington have been screwed over in favor of borefest tracks like California and Kansas because they are in "big" markets (by the way, I used to live in Southern California, and trust me, Fontana is anything but a big market). Not only that, but also gone are the days where driving talent mattered. Nowadays, if you have big bucks and have a phony personality that can be plastered all over the place, you get a good ride. And I won't even get into the ridiculous point systems that have been implemented. Bottom line, I think 99.99999999999% of the sport's downfall should be blamed on "Brainless" Brian France and his stooges. Thanks for taking what was once a great sport and spitting in its face, sir. Have fun with your yachts and DUIs, you prick. 52. Schroeder51 posted: 03.16.2013 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, since it's Bristol, and Bristol is (sort of) back to its old self...how many cautions do you think tomorrow's race will have? I'm going to guess 12. 53. Schroeder51 posted: 03.16.2013 - 5:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #51 I was actually AT that Darlington race. That was the first NASCAR race I ever went into my life. I was just shy of 11 years old. You couldn't really pick a better first race to go to! Boy, I can't believe how much NASCAR has changed since then either. Is this REALLY the same sport? 54. Kenny posted: 03.16.2013 - 6:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm also gonna say 12 :) 55. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.16.2013 - 7:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No it isn't the Same Sport Schroder51 NASCAR has become the auto racing version of Enron. 56. cjs3872 posted: 03.16.2013 - 7:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, when I was referring to the "Tobacco Road" rivalry, I was referring to the on-the-court competiton, and Duke rarely provided any until the mid 1980s. Until that point, N.C. State was the main rival for UNC on the court, and a big reason why UNC hated N.C. State for so many years was that UNC always had problems closing the deal (even Dean Smith's two titles were decided by poor judgement by the opponents than by how his teams played in the title games), while N.C. State closed it when they got there, though they didn't get there nearly as often. But when I was referring to the rivalry, I was referring to the competition on the court. Apparently being from the Carolinas, you'd forget more about the other ins-and-outs about that than I'll ever know. But virtually every ther classic ACC team has enjoyed success since N.C. State was last relevant, even Maryland (which won a national title), Georgia Tech, and even Wake Forest have had success since N.C. State was last relevant. To me, the greatest thing for that rivalry would be if all three of those teams were relevant at the same time, which I can never really remember happening. 57. 83andJoe posted: 03.16.2013 - 7:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) >Few Derby winners went on to become names in NASCAR. Well, part of that is because, oddly, the Derby is more closely aligned with the Midwestern late model scene than the East Coast one - Super Late Models are much like the old ASA cars, which are very different beasts than the Late Model Stock Cars that run the SC-NC-VA circuits. So that generally puts them outside the orbit of the track to Cup. But if you look at the list of Derby winners from when they were back running Pro Cup or All-Pro style cars (or even running as part of those series), you see Jody Ridley, Butch Miller, Ted Musgrave, Rick Crawford, Rich Bickle, and Jeff Purvis - all drivers who had decent NASCAR careers. The big exceptions out of that bunch? Gary Balough who killed his career with drugs, and Gary St. Amant, the ASA legend. St. Amant and Bobby Gill never really tried to run with the big dogs (well, Gill did in Trucks with Spears, and got inexplicably canned even as he was running fairly well), and nobody wanted to sponsor Tammy Jo Kirk for some reason. Now if you look at the more modern Derbies, after Hooters stopped sanctioning them and they drived to the more SLM-like cars, you actually still have some pretty famous late model names there - Wayne Anderson, Charlie Bradberry, Eddie Mercer, Clay Rogers and Augie Grill are all titans in LM racing. And then you have Steve Wallace in the middle of those for the "?!" moment. 58. Kyle L posted: 03.16.2013 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What I would do to stop the Cup guys from running all the Nationwide races (because I don't mind them running some) is make a rule where drivers can only earn points for the first 45 point races they start a year in the Cup, Nationwide, and Truck series combined. Cup drivers can earn points in the races they start in the two lower divisions, but if they make more than 9 of them, the Cup races at Homestead, Phoenix, and Texas etc. will mark more than 45 starts on the season and they will receive a big FAT ZERO in their point column for that race. Doesn't matter what series it's in - If you make start #46 on the year, you get no points. That will force drivers to pick and choose the Nationwide and truck races they compete in. 59. cjs3872 posted: 03.16.2013 - 11:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Anyone hear about the terrible tragedy that occurred tonight at a sprint car race in California? From what I've been able to gather, a car had problems in the pit area and got into an area where there were spectators (not a grandstand area), and as of now, two were killed with numeours others injured. With this incident, combined with what happened at Daytona at the end of the Nationwide race there, spectator safety, whichwas at he forefront of conversation after the Daytona incident, will become an even bigger topic. It's one thing for drivers and pit crew members to be seriousy injured at a race, because they assum the risk since it's part of their job descrpiton, but when a spectator goes to a race, he/she does not assume that risk, and that's two incidents so far this year where spectators have been hurt. At Daytona earlier this year, we got lucky because nobody was killed, but unfortunately, those at Marysville, CA were not so lucky tonight because at least two spectators were killed. The event has been postponed and hopefully everyone else pulls through. 60. 83andJoe posted: 03.17.2013 - 12:39 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) Kyle L - I still think my suggestion is the simplest and best: if you're registered for Sprint Cup points, and in the top 35 in Sprint Cup points standings, you are not allowed to compete in NASCAR-sanctioned national touring series events (N'wide and Trucks) if you are entered in that weekend's Cup race, with an exception made for replacing an injured or sick lower-series driver for a single race. 61. Jim Davis posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "From what I've been able to gather, a car had problems in the pit area and got into an area where there were spectators (not a grandstand area), and as of now, two were killed with numeours others injured." "It's one thing for drivers and pit crew members to be seriousy injured at a race, because they assum the risk since it's part of their job descrpiton, but when a spectator goes to a race, he/she does not assume that risk, and that's two incidents so far this year where spectators have been hurt." The reports I've read say the fatalities were crew members. No less tragic, of course. 62. 1995z71 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is Johnson really a 5-1 over a 7-1 Kyle Busch? You crazy Vegas. 500-1 lmao, thats about right. 63. JG24FanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:00 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Vettel is chasing Alonso in what has been a fine Grand Prix:) 64. Mr X posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:11 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) This looks like a good year for Kimi. God this looks good for Lotus. 65. JG24FanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:43 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Great win for Kimi. who just simply beat the best as Alonso and Vettel finished 2nd and 3rd respectively. and a good run for Adrian Sutil who succumbed to degrading tires late in the race,after leading and running in the Top 3 most of the race. 66. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yea excellent race 7.5-8 out of 10 in my opinion with the 3 best drivers in the world finishing in the top 3. The first of many 5th 6th and 7th type performances from Hamilton. Also many people are considering Kenseth for the title but no mention of his crew chief, considering how important Wolf and Knaus are how do you rate Jason Ratcliff as a crew chief guys. Only has 1 year as a cup crew chief 67. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 8:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) The odds are fascinating, especially given that guys like Biffle and Kahne, who are beyond useless and worthless at this track, are given better or equal odds to guys like Jeff Gordon, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who have all won here before. 68. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 12:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "how do you rate Jason Ratcliff as a crew chief guys" I think he's good. But I still think a better match would be to put him with Kyle on the 18 (as they've had a ton of success together before in NNS), and put the mild mannered Dave Rogers on the 20 with the mild mannered Matt Kenseth. 69. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 12:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Waltrip, you are outta here! 70. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 12:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ha! Tony Stewart just referred to Kyle Busch as Michael Waltrip's twin brother. 71. JG24FanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 12:48 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Message to Danica Partick: Dale Earnhardt didn't qualify below 36th until the 420th start of his career. 72. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 12:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This pre-race show is terrible as usual and FOX makes all NASCAR fans look like dumb Soccer moms who watch CMT all day. NBC Sports F1 blew it out of the water in professionalism as I have said. 73. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is it just me, or are the prerace shows getting shorter? 74. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Are you serious? The #24 had inspection issues AGAIN?!?! 75. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course, Butch Jones would give the command to fire engines. I'm hoping he surprises me with the Big Orange this season. 76. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tony Stewart blows out a tire and spins into the wall. 77. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tony Stewart cuts a tire. 78. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There goes Stewart. 79. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McDowell also spun. 80. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica ran right into the back of McDowell and spun him out. 81. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "NBC Sports F1 blew it out of the water in professionalism as I have said." Supposedly they are getting Nascar coverage in 2015. I hope so. Can't wait for it. 82. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @81 F1 race was really well done, that's one of the better broadcast teams I've seen in my entire life. I'm really looking forward to the F1 season. 83. jabber1990 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (5) I am getting tired of people complaining about Cup drivers in nationwide races the sponsors make all the decisions, if the sponsor wants a certain driver in a certain car for a certain race if you have a problem with that, who are you to say a sponsor has no right to be in NASCAR 84. jabber1990 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) also...there has ALWAYS been cup drivers in nationwide races... these cuppers are actually doing good things for the nationwide series, they make the nationwide guys try harder to get their rides, and look at the success Ricky and Trevor had in 2011 cup races..thats the result of cuppers in the races in 2012 the cuppers ran a record low number of races...look how lousy the cup races in 2012 were 85. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 98 heading to the garage. Why tear up equipment even more than you have so far? 86. jabber1990 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) is Danica going to finish ahead of Stewart? 87. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton crashes. 88. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton pounds the wall. 89. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn it. 90. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Who wants to bet the caution will come out every time Danica has just been lapped? 91. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) She got that because she held up the leaders enough when she ran the high line when Kyle and Kasey tried passing her. 92. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I don't know about you guys, but I am really enjoying this race so far. 93. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 18 car speeding on pit road 94. JG24FanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm enjoying the race very much myself. 95. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree David. This Bristol definitely isn't as good as the original, but it's far better than the 2007-2012 version, and its so far shaping up as the best race thus far this year. 96. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There's gonna be a ton of cautions today it looks like. 97. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Aw man. Too bad for Jamie. He was running 3rd! 98. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Aw, man! You were doing so well, Jamie. 99. jabber1990 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I ONLY want to see a wreckfest to see if these cars take any damage the COT never showed any damage, 100. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) On second look, he barely got any damage. 101. joey2448 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The good thing about Bristol is...the action happens so fast that I think it forces the FOX crew to be on their game and not be acting like a bunch of jabronis. By the time you start to mention how bad Danica is doing, there's something else going on elsewhere on track. Also, it seems like that high groove that drivers were using back in the summer race last year won't come into use today? It was the part if the track that was ground down, which created a ton of grip right up against the wall. I wonder if drivers will be running up there eventually. I hope so cuz it sure created an exciting race last year. 102. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did anyone see Fox's ticker's malfunction of epic proportions just now? 103. 18fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yep, I saw that ticker going crazy. 104. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) J. J. Yeley's (I think?) name was just flying all OVER the Fox ticker. What the hell was that? 105. Anthony posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't get it how come in Nationwide he's start and park (Josh Wise) & he's running full distance in cup not running for points. Jeff Gordon bout to get 3rd from Busch (Kurt) 106. JG24FanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Badass! 107. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is good stuff. 108. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Too bad for Gilliland. He was running great all weekend. 109. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn, that was pretty intense racing up front! Tough break for Gilliland, he was running pretty well. 110. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Hey Brian, see the crowd? Censor the drivers all you want, we know what the deal is. And most of us are checking out. 111. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bobby Labonte blows up. 112. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kudos to Stremme for holding his own against a Hendrick car while driving for his own underfunded team. 113. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch had a tire going down, and came to pit road. 114. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Radio Sweetheart has tire issues. 115. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Landon Cassill slaps the wall. 116. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Landon Cassill hits the wall. 117. Jim Davis posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That #33 is one ugly car. 118. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt regained one of his laps on the track, and will probably take the wave around to get back on the lead lap. Lucky break for that team, and certainly one he wouldn't have gotten prior to the inclusion of the "wave around" rule. 119. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Almirola has trouble. 120. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #43 in the wall, though break for that team as they were 10th in points coming into this race. 121. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Aric Almirola just spun, but Fox insists on doing their stupid "mid-race report." 122. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rough day for Almirola. 123. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ...and crashes. 124. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks for telling us the reason for the caution Paul. Obviously Fox has more important things to do than cover what is going on in the race. 125. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think there was something wrong with that #43 car, as it started spinning before it got to the turn. 126. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looked like the rear bumper came off his car before he spun... 127. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:44 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) The mid race report is very important guys. It let's us know things that we already knew. We all need reminders. Thank you FOX. 128. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I hate that for Almirola and I hope that crash doesn't de-rail his team's great momentum to start this season. Solid lead lap runs for A.J. Allmendinger, Casey Mears, and Dave Blaney so far. 129. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Almirola said in his PRN interview that Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. got into him coming off pit road, and that cut the left rear tire down. 130. joey2448 posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terrible coverage of that Almirola crash. The viewers didn't know what the caution was for until about 30 sec after it happened because FOX was doing their midrace report. 131. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff has been diving to the inside on every restart today. This time, it cost him. 132. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse hit the wall. 133. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's Swervin' Stenhouse for ya... Also Special K is coming. 134. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) And of course that smack into the wall won't show up on his "accurate" crash frequency data because it didn't knock him out of the race or bring out a caution. I bet Bruton Smith was pretty pissed that Bowyer let Gordon go without dumping him in the next turn. 135. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Fox Coverage Ladies and Gentlemen Fox Coverage. 136. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man, Blaney was running well too! This is obviously going to be a bad year for underdogs... 137. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) I'm not so sure about Gustafson's pit call. 138. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Gordon might get hosed on this restart. He's the only one in the top ten that took two tires. 139. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I actually rate Ratcliff in the 5- 10 range in the crew chief order and think he will do very well with kenseth.Think Grubb is the best cc at gibbs hence why I think Hamlin has the best chance of the gibbs guys winning a championship.My hunch that Logano makes the chase more my strange feeling that I cant explain looking reasonably decent over these couple of weeks. 140. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:10 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) Logano for the lead? Wow... I've given him a lot of grief, but he's had a nice start to the year. 141. 18fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:13 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) You mean the zero top 10s Logano had in the first three races. 142. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Go Jeff!!!!!! 143. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Hamlin got into Logano and spun him out. 144. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Jeff, you're a genius and I love you! 145. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Joey Logano goes from battling for the lead to in the wall. 146. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:15 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Also onthe tv debate the Fox crew present it as a "show" and the 3 commentators consider themselves also part of the show they were really good 10 years ago. Tnt box does not have great chemistry but Kyle boosts it in that he does not kiss nascars ass and calls it as he sees it and sometimes goes against the grain. Espn blow everything out of proportion and spoil their broadcasts by obsessing over the chase and chasers instead of broadcasting each race in its own rigth and let the championship chase take its course. I think Andy Petree is a really good co-commentator. 147. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "You mean the zero top 10s Logano had in the first three races." He had one going at Phoenix but he ran out of gas. And he had one going here but he just got spun. His results haven't been indicative of how he's run. Okay, I'm done defending him now... 148. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Whoa, Hamlin!!! 149. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was a crazy save... 150. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Murb that is exactly what I meant results have not accurately reflected how he has performed in the races so far 151. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Hamlin nearly pulled off a Romo right there. 152. Anonymous posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) That was a real douchebag move by Hamlin on Logono 153. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Hamlin nearly spins out and leaves skid marks on the track trying to pass a car that only changed two tires. Over-driving much? 154. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton has taken his car back to the garage and is probably done for the day. 155. JG24FanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looking strong, boy! 156. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Holy shit. 157. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ...Dammit! 158. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh, no!!!! 159. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What the hell... 160. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry guys. 161. Anonymous posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DAMN!!!!!!!!!!!! 162. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks a lot, JG24. You jinxed it! 163. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If they'd only have taken four... 164. Kitts posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No no no no!!! But..... WOOHoO Kasey Kahne for the win!!!!!!!! 165. jabber1990 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "2 races in a row the 2 leaders wreck themselves out, the common denomnator: Matt Kenseth"-Doug Rice did he just say what I think he did? 166. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What happened 167. JG24FanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes I did. See you guy's next week. 168. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Well at least the #24 team took a chance and got tired of racing for 9th all freaking day long. It's better to find out about this stuff in this Bristol race than five months from now when it's Chase time. 169. Mr X posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's good to see the EGR cars with speed after two years without any. If Jamie Mac can find any luck they can run well, he'll likely finish in the top dozen today. 170. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Two of the three top drivers that I actually like taken out in the same crash. Hopefully someone like Brad can pull this win off instead of a prick/hack like Harvick, Johnson, Hamlin, or Kahne. 171. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Some small teams are going to luck into some top 15-20 finishes because all of the accidents. Danica might get a top 25 at this rate, in a fully funded Hendrick car... 172. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think I'll pull for Jamie McMurray now. He's been running well. 173. Peter posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Git ur done BK! 174. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) The Fox graphic said Kenseth led 85 laps. Did I miss something? 175. Anonymous posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Wow Paul Menard! 176. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @jabber1990; I don't remember anytime last race when Matt Kenseth was in a wreck, considering he won. What was he talking about? 177. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) 18 car is coming to the front!! Go get em Kyle. 178. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) LOLogano is looking for the 11 car. He's going to punt him. 179. 18fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Doug Rice was talking about the last 2 races at Bristol. 180. jabber1990 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) he said at bristol 181. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh alright. That makes sense then. 182. poopiepants posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) lol @ Kitts 183. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "2 races in a row the 2 leaders wreck themselves out, the common denomnator: Matt Kenseth" Yeah, because it was totally Kenseth's fault that the 24 blew a tire. 184. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nice run so far by the Dinger and Casey Mears. Both have spent some time in the top 15 and AJ is currently there. 185. Peter posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't really like Logono, but I hope he gets to the 11 186. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know why so much is being made of Doug Rice's comment. It's pretty elementary to me: In the night race last year, the two leaders Stewart and Kenseth crashed, and today the two leaders Gordon and Kenseth crashed. No one was blamed, but it's a fact that Kenseth was involved in both incidents. 187. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So who is going to logjam the leaders this time? 188. 18fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) So they go side-by-side under caution 10 laps into the race, but there's a great battle for the lead with 60 laps to go and they don't. Great job FOX. 189. cjs3872 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) It looks like the black cloud that followed Jeff Gordon through most of last season is following him again, because it struck him again, taking Matt Kenseth with him this time. And for those that wondered why he tok tw tires on his last stop, it may have had something to do with the problems his team was having on their pit stops. And what is it with all the blown tires in this race? I thought this would be a problem last week, but it's really been a problem today. Gordon's was about the fifth or sixth tire failure in this race. 190. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I'd love to see Logano turn Hamlin. Hamlin has always seemed to have a very cocky attitude. Like he is better than everyone. Just my opinion though. 191. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Sure, let's go to commercial during the best racing all day. That stupid side by side thing is a joke. They only use it during the first ten laps of the race. 192. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (5) (1) Jimmie Johnson smacked the wall. 193. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) 48 car blows a tire. 194. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) JJ in the wall. 195. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Johnson goes into the wall! 196. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Well, if Jeff goes, Jimmie should have to go too. 197. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Thank goodness for RaceView. Otherwise I'd have missed everything today. So sorry 48. 198. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Mr. Hendrick won't be very happy about this... 199. Peter posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Woah Kasey, that was impressive! 200. John Royal posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This is just awesome race. Man. 201. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) I'm all in favor of having cars that can break down if the drivers are too aggressive on their equipment, but this is getting ridiculous now. 202. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) Their side by side is ridiculous. When they use it, nothing is going on and the screen that has the racing is incredibly small. 203. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (6) (0) AND THEN THEY USE THE SIDE BY SIDE UNDER CAUTION NOW? WHY COULDN'T THEY USE IT FIVE MINUTES AGO?!?!?!?! FOX, YOU ARE f**kING OUTTA HERE!!!!!!! 204. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kahne did his best "Tony Stewart in the 2007 Daytona 500" impression by hitting the apron while leading. The only thing missing was him taking out the #2 car, who was running in 2nd. 205. cjs3872 posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Yes Paul, because the last two drivers that have had tire failures are drivers that just don't have them. Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are not drivers that are that hard on their tires. However, like Gordon's last pit stop, the last time Johnson had his tires changed, they just changed left side tires, so it might be a situation where they're putting too many laps on their right side tires. 206. Mr X posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Look who is restarting 2nd and 3rd outside row. 207. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Keselowski, you are outta here. 208. I'm not JG24FanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 3:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I want Kyle Busch to win this race. 209. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 55 is making some moves from the back of the lead lap. He's gotten at least 5 positions since the restart. 210. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, Pretty Boy Kasey currently leads the Emotional Juggernaut. 211. We need more Onion posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:01 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) While others are pulling for Kasey, I'm like GO CASEY! 15th atm, hope he gets a top 10. 212. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kurt Busch is back in the top five all of a sudden, lol 213. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Great rebound for Kurt Busch, as he's in the top five after that unscheduled pit stop. 214. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt is driving that car for all it's worth. 215. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin brushes the wall. 216. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin's hit the wall. 217. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin's done. 218. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The only way Kasey will lose is if someone shoots out his tires. 219. We need more Onion posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Hamlin's bent suspension driving reminds me of the noobs playing NR2003... 220. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I don't know who I'm more upset with: Denny Hamlin for not pitting and trying to bring a caution out as he limped around the track, or NASCAR for not throwing the caution and/or black flagging Hamlin for being a moving chicane for those final 10 laps. Either way, major fail on both sides. 221. We need more Onion posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) Seeing how underfunded Germain Racing is, that 15th is GREAT. 222. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) Seemed pretty obvious Hamlin was trying to bring out the caution to help out Kyle... 223. 18fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Now it doesn't seem like the track type matters, Hendrick domination continues. 224. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) Also, Logano got into Hamlin on that final restart, which sent Hamlin into Brad and almost spun him out as he started to go. What a moron. 225. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:10 pm Rate this comment: (2) (14) I officially add Bristol to my list of tracks that any hack can win on. 226. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) At least Kasey Kahne won, Hamlin was clearly staying on track to force NASCAR to throw a caution. 227. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Oh boy... 228. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:12 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) The Twitter lovers got into a little spat. 229. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) lol, What a pussy. Logano pulled a Biffle by trying to get to him before he even gets out of his car. 230. Peter posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (3) (3) Hamlin is so full of shit his breath stinks! 231. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Kurt Busch showed more excitement in his 2004 championship interview at Homestead than Kasey Kahne showed in victory lane. 232. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) David Stremme got a top 20! 233. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) Hamlin obviously races online. 234. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Hamlin is gonna get himself wrecked. He just continues to take shots at Logano. If Logano wasn't advertised as the next big thing, he wouldn't seem so bad. 235. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Good race, but FOX sucks. 236. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Solid top 15 runs for Dinger and Mears. Nice 20th place finish for David Stremme. 237. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (2) (3) Logano did a slide job on Hamlin, and then gets mad at him for dumping him. Idiot got what he deserved. 238. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (3) (3) What jackass keeps thumbing down every comment? Do you need to do it to make up for personal things? I knew this crap would happen would thumbs up/down comments... 239. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Don't look now... but after a terrible start, Kyle Busch is inside the top 10 in the standings. 240. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Nice 8th place recovery for Brian Vickers. Ryan Newman's 7th place finish proves it isn't the equipment that's wrong at SHR. 241. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Now how would Kyle do without a damn penalty in every race... 242. New14 & 88Fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Don't care for Moldy Bread or Diva, but Joey mostly screwed himself by sliding up in front of the 11. 243. cjs3872 posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Paul, I think Denny Hamlin was just trying to finish the race once he knew he had a problem and running next to the wall was the safest thing he could do, because trying to get down the track and to the pits would have been about he worst thing he could have done, so he actually did the smart thing. I believe NASCAR did black flag him for not meetin minimum seed, but that black flag came with two or three laps to go, and the procedure is to normally give the driver three laps, but by that time, the race was over. And it seemed Kasey Kahne's win was one of those things that was meant to be. His was the fastest car almost the entire race, but the one time it wasn't ended up being the one time it was good for him not to have been the fastest car, because had his car been as fast as Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon, Kahne would likely have been in that mess when Gordon suffered a blown right front tire. And speaking of tires, what was up today, because the last three right front failures were on the cars of Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Hamlin, and they're usually among the best at saving tires, and all three of them had problems, so there's a problem with these tires, or at least there was today. 244. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TeamPlayersBlue beat me to it. It must be the same guy that told me to perform a sexual act for what I said about Kahne and Hamlin. 245. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This track reminds me of Winchester now, minus the lack of safety. 246. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Chris Meyers - "Its not Twitter, its Bristol." LMFAO!!!! Race re-names: Twitter Buddies 500 The Bitch Fest 500 Presented by Twitter 247. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) P.S. Ironic a person who is a fan of Nico Rosberg, one of the most overrated and mediocre F1 drivers on the Grid calls Kasey Kahne a "hack." Get your ass down to the dirt track whenever he is racing and them call him a "hack" 248. jabber1990 posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joey Logano's response to when the reporter said "Denny said he's sorry" "yea, ok" 249. The Final Gear posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey guys, look at those powerhouse Front Row Motorsports trio outrunning that SHR car that didn't wreck... oh wait Danica was driving that car, nevermind. 28th LMAO!!! 250. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) LOL the thumbs down Jackass is in rage right now. Please show yourself? 251. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) I love how that #11 crew member who was at the window didn't even bother with that skirmish. 252. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (5) (1) Ugh. Logano vs Hamlin. Another rivalry between two unlikeable guys. I hope they wreck each other out of every race. 253. Kenny posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) I'm happy with today's race Kurt Busch 4th and Dale jr with yet another top 10 in 6th man I'm loving this season so far :D 254. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The speeds are going to be insane next week. 255. Peter posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Wow, Kurt has really changed, I've never heard him congratulate anyone on winning a race 256. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Why did we even NEED this thumbs-up/thumbs-down feature? It gets abused to death on Youtube with likes/dislikes...I just KNEW the same would happen here the moment I saw this feature. 257. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Sorry TeamPlayerBlue I don't think he has the guts to show himself 258. Dalejrfan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) Gude run by junor jimmiy jahnsn fun see him half falyur 259. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:29 pm Rate this comment: (6) (1) Two takeaways from this race for me. 1. Bristol is back. It may not be as good as the old school Bristol, but it's still great. Great race today. 2. What a bunch of shitheads all of these current drivers are. Currently in the sport, we've got robots (Johnson, Kahne), ungrateful douchebags (Kyle), pussies (Logano, Biffle), hype machines (Danica, and Logano again), and just plain dicks (Hamlin, Newman, Montoya, Kurt). As I was saying on here yesterday, it's amazing to see how different our sport is from ten years ago. We used to have great drivers that had great relatable personalities (like Marlin and Rusty for example), but now it's just depressing to see this current crop and the way they display themselves. 260. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Wow, Kurt has really changed, I've never heard him congratulate anyone on winning a race" You must be a new fan. Listen to his interview at Darlington 2003 after he and Ricky Craven had that great battle for the win. He was so happy for Craven and being a part of the closest finish in NASCAR history, and was truly a gracious winner. He's not the sore loser that the media portrays him as being just because he's had his radio meltdowns. 261. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I'm almost scared to think what the NASCAR drivers 20 years from now will be like...if there's even still a NASCAR! 262. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The drivers of the future will be better. Guys like Bayne, Piquet, the Bueschers, Kligerman, Coulter, and Ty Dillon are all likable drivers with good heads on their shoulders. Just because the current generation of drivers are bad doesn't mean the next generation will be. 263. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "I'm almost scared to think what the NASCAR drivers 20 years from now will be like" Fortunately, there are a lot of young guys that have good heads on their shoulders. Parker Kligerman, Trevor Bayne, and Ryan Blaney all come to mind. And luckily it looks as if Brad Keselowski will be stepping into that "ambassador" or "garage leader" type role over the next few years. Thank goodness, because like I said, lots of tools currently involved in the sport. 264. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Yeah David, that #11 crew member kept calm and rejected little Joey. Logano, you're outta here! Overall, this felt like a Salem/Winchester-esque ARCA race. Some drivers with fresh tires really made some good moves in the final 100 laps. 265. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) lol, I know, the comment rating thing was cool for like five minutes. But now it's just annoying because we can see when trolls are in the house. 266. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:35 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) I go to SportsCenter to catch some post race coverage and all I get is a 5 minute sililoquey from Ricky Craven on princess sparkle pony and why her 28th place 5 laps performance isn't that bad and she doesn't need to be judged yet. He literally made every excuse in the book that you can make in today's PC environment (still waiting for the "she may have been having lady problems" excuse). Pitiful. 267. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I actually prefer the likely next generation of NASCAR races to the current ones, there are some really interesting characters coming up through the ranks right now. 268. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Way to go Murb! "2. What a bunch of shitheads all of these current drivers are. Currently in the sport, we've got robots (Johnson, Kahne), ungrateful douchebags (Kyle), pussies (Logano, Biffle), hype machines (Danica, and Logano again), and just plain dicks (Hamlin, Newman, Montoya, Kurt). As I was saying on here yesterday, it's amazing to see how different our sport is from ten years ago. We used to have great drivers that had great relatable personalities (like Marlin and Rusty for example), but now it's just depressing to see this current crop and the way they display themselves." There is another category of old-school racers who don't fit the other labels: old School racers like Bowyer, Martin, Kenseth, etc. They are unfortunately, few and far between. 10 years ago you had respectable personalities like Marlin, Jarrett, Rudd (unless you cross him = Rooster) the Labontes. 269. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) If the nascar championship was decided over 36 races as it should Juniour would be a genuine threat to win it all. The chase definetely hurts his chances. Keselowski is the real deal this year as well ford may end up being a one man band with Edwards for support on the intermediates. Toyota might have 5 or 6 drivers that can win races but Keselowski can win the championship. He might walk away with it if he keeps this up.If he performs really well at martinsville and runs top5 all race it will be categoric proof that he has the flats sorted, which were his weak races last year in the chase in comparison to Johnson and Hamlin. I mean Martinsville and loudon as opposed to phoenix with its quirky dogleg layout meaning some non flat track drivers can perform well there. The blue deuce is going to victory lane next week and he is now the benchmarl along with the 48. There is a chance of genuine rivalry developing something nascar badly needs. Johnson has only had spats with Kurt Busch.No rivalry has developed because as soon as the 48 stomps over its opposition it leads that team to have a hangover. Keselowski should seize the upper hand and call out jimmie and chad because like when Johnson wrecked himself trying to wreck Kurt at Richmond the 48 does not act well to being pressurised. AND ITS fair game as Johnson has used the media to throw a few cheap shots over how Keselowski should act as a champion. 270. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's the opposite for Open Wheel now with most of the next generation being robot Rich Kids, thanks to the poor economy. This is coming from an Open wheel fan as well. When guys like Kimi, Fernando, Kanaan, Hunter Raey ect retire its going to get real boring. 271. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ricky Craven was also making remarks about how Jeremy Clements deserved his 2-race suspension two weeks ago because of how hurtful his words were (while Brad Daugherty, a black man, was sitting right next to him). He's a good guy and was one of my favorite northeastern drivers back in the day, but he's totally PC when it comes to analyzing the races. 272. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:43 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "When guys like Kimi, Fernando, Kanaan, Hunter Raey ect retire its going to get real boring." I agree. That's why Wheldon's death a couple years ago was so depressing for me. He was one of the greatest personalities in open wheel, for sure. 273. Kenny posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (2) (5) Why dose everyone hate FOX? Hell if I had my way the cup races would come on FOX all year like all NNS races are on ESPN and trucks on speed 274. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't consider Bowyer to be an "old school racer" like the media portrays him as being. Sure he might be old school in the sense that he has a hobby of collecting and racing old cars in his spare time and grew up racing on dirt tracks in the Midwest, but he is one of the biggest whiners in the garage area, has a personality that comes of as fake and forced ever since joining MWR, and rivals Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick as being one of the worst over the radio when they get frustrated at their crew. 275. David posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The race report says that Matt Kenseth led 85 laps, but for the life of me, I can't remember him being out front at all today. 276. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kenseth took the lead from Mayne after a round of yellow flag pit stops midway through the race. Those that didn't notice were probably confused because Fox as usual didn't show much of Kenseth during the race, instead focusing on Kahne and Hamlin. 277. Bronco posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Good to see Kahne after losing out on a well deserved win last week. Who was it that said Kahne can't win on smaller tracks since he can't race in traffic? Jeff Gordon crashes in this race for the second straight year and is yet again off to a bad start in the points. Jamie McMurray gets his 100th Cup top 10, his first since the June Pocono race last year which was also a 10th place finish. Dale Jr picks up his first Bristol top 10 in 3 years, giving him 5 straight top 10 finishes. He's by far the most consistent HMS driver but its frustrating that he rarely starts off a race fast and doesn't contend for the win much. Allmendinger continues to prove his worth with his finishes in the #51. 278. 18fan posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Did anybody else notice how many times the FOX crew said that the initial Denny Hamlin-Joey Logano feud was after Phoenix when it was after Daytona. 279. Eric posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Based on the tires today, I would concern about Martinsvile more than Auto Club for tires. I think NASCAR should have brought out the caution for Denny. 280. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:17 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Denny Hamlin is a prick, the guy does his best to make Logano and Busch likeable 281. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In both of Matt Kenseth's interviews, on Fox and on PRN, the interviewer told Matt that Jeff Gordon apologized for the incident. While that was true that he did apologize, I don't think it was necessary to mention that to Matt since that incident was nobody's fault. I think driver apologies are mentioned far too often in driver interviews nowadays because apology or no apology, intentional or unintentional, both drivers were knocked out of the race in that one incident and no words are going to change that fact. 282. 83andJoe posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #20 sponsor: Husky Tools #33 sponsor: Moon Shine Attitude Attire #36 sponsor: United Mining Equipment/Pitt Lite #87 sponsor: Maddie's Place 283. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Personally I like both Busch brothers. Kurt has been one of my favorites since I started watching NASCAR in 2002 (the year he became really good), and I'd like Kyle a lot more if he focused more on Cup and didn't run so many Nationwide and Truck races. I just like their aggressive driving styles and their ability to take a car from the back to the front when they have a great car, such as what Kurt did today. Plus I appreciate their honesty in their interviews. I don't always agree with what they have to say, but I can respect the fact that they don't sugarcoat anything or act like robots either. If Kurt can pull out a win at a restrictor plate track, short rack, or road course before the Chase starts, don't be surprised if he's in contention for at least a wildcard spot in the Chase. 284. Kubica fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Great performances by Mears Kurt Busch and Allmendinger. I will do a miny report on all the teams after next weeks race. Bristol is a classic case of nascar growing too fast too soon. Look up phoenix for a similar comment I made. It built up to a unsustainable level. 160,000 seats in a rural error with a state that is not densly populated. Don't know how many were at the race today but probably about 75,000ish During its heyday both races automatically sold out and the night race could have sold 350,000 tickets if could cater for that many. But I reckon one of the reasons the spring date sold out constantly was so people could "keep"their ticket for the night race,therefor the lure of the night race at bristol was actually maintaininh both race dates. 285. Anthony posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tsk Tsk Tsk How many times does Jeff have to have bad luck every start of the season. 286. cjs3872 posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, the problem with a number of the guys coming up is that most of them are conservative drivers, and I'm not sure in today's NASCAR, a car owner would want that. Bayne, Piquet, the Dillon brothers, and others are not the kind of drivers that will win very many races because they likely won't push it hard enough during a race to be up front when it counts. Sure, they'll push hard late in a race (Piquet's move on Matt Crafton at Vegas last year was the best move of the year), but their style or racing relies too much on late caution flags, and if they don't get them, they have precious little chance to win, except for Piquet on road courses. That's why so many guys are so high on Kyle Larson and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., because they're not afraid to take chances, and Stenhouse might have been in the top ten today if not for one mistake he made, and he's still 11th in Cup Series points. Conservative racing can only get you so far because car owners want guys that can win races, and I don't think that guys like Bayne, the Dillon brothers, and others that race like them can win very often, but they'll finish in the top 5-10 enough to consistently put them high in the points. Larson, Stenhouse, and Alex Bowman may be ones to watch in the future beause they'll take the chances during he race that others seem hesitant to. 287. Jim Davis posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Patrick is definitely in over her head. Just look at all those poverty row teams that finished ahead of her. She only gained positions by attrition. The only silver lining is that she managed to avoid trouble and bring the car home. Tony Gibson really has a project on his hands. 288. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:38 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Oh, look who is 9th place in the standings... 289. b4il3y posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) My only problem with Fox is just when racing is getting good..commercial. Waaaaay too many to even get into a groove of watching the race. Used to be a break about 13-18 min, now its under 10. Sometimes, just 2-3 minutes of an update, then back to break again to talk about how much Nationwide Insurance is a family thing. I've never minded DW and Larry Mac all that much.. sure DW gets Homer every now and then for different people, but he does know what he's talking about when it comes to the cars. Larry has never bothered me, and Mike Joy is just Ken Squire light, which is just fine since Squire could make even a California race seem like the most epic race ever. 290. cjs3872 posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:47 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) And Jim Davis, look how it's dragging the organization down, just as has been the case with every other team she's been on. There's not been a team she's been on yet that she hasn't adversely effected, and Stewart-Haas Racing is just the latest casualty of Danica being racing's version of Skip Bayless' "Team Obliterator", because she is. Is it any accident that Tony Stewart, one of the three greatest drivers of this generation, began to struggle mightily with the same team he carried to a championship when Danica got there, because I do not. Just as I don't think it's an accident that JR Motorsports and Michael Andretti's IndyCar team began to do better after she left, because they no longer had to deal with the albatross that Danica Patrick is. Had Rahal-Letterman Racing not gone under, I believe they would have had the same resurgence after Danica left that the other teams she left experienced after her departure. Andretti's team has won a championship and JR Motorsports is back to being front runners in the Nationwide Series, just the way they were before Danica Patrick got there. Heck, Rahal's team nearly won the Indianapolis 500 last year with Takuma Sato (?). She's the biggest cancer any racing team has ever had that I can remember, because of how she negatively affects the entire operation. Other drivers have poisoned just the team he/she drivers for, but Danica has always adversely affected the entire operation of every team she's been with, and Stewart-Haas Racng appears to be her fourth victim, just as I had predicted. And I can't think that Tony Stewart will stand for this much longer. 291. Kenny posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) It was grate to see jemmie and lose the points lead I was like yessssssss :D 292. ch posted: 03.17.2013 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Changes: 19 - Humphrey Smith Racing 20 - Husky Tools 33 - Moon Shine Attitude Attire 36 - United Mining Equipment / Pitt Lite 42 - Target 87 - Maddie's Place 95 - Surrender the Sponsor 99 - Kellogg's Frosted Flakes / Cheez-It 293. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Danica was literally the lowest finishing car of those who didn't encounter trouble. 294. Matt L posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Didn't get to watch the race. - Nice run by Casey Mears and David Stremme! - Holy s***, Danica was beat by Terry Labonte driving the FAS Lane turtle?!? And all three Front Row Motorsports cars?!? I can only imagine the excuses DW made for her. - BK Racing is a mess this season. Maybe Landon Cassill made the right decision leaving. - Hopefully Bobby Labonte finds a decent part-time Truck or Nationwide gig this season that he can continue with next season and leave JTG. That team makes him look really bad. 295. poopiepants posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) when is NASCAR gonna figure out that w/50 laps to go, side-by-side cam should be in full effect. 296. Kubica Fan Ireland posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just looked at the standings for both series and wanted to ask has any team won nationwide and cup in the same season. Penske and joe gibbs or roush [long shot] could both do it this year. 297. ch posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, Danica beat Nemechek , who I believe didn't have any issues. 298. ch posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) But, still.............. 299. Anonymous posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:33 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) great to see danica get the results she deserves 300. Anonymous posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Terry Labonte had no clutch during the race...and still beat Danica. 301. Talon64 posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Just looked at the standings for both series and wanted to ask has any team won nationwide and cup in the same season. Penske and joe gibbs or roush [long shot] could both do it this year." Hendrick Motorsports is the only one to win two national touring series championships in the same season, and that was Cup and Trucks in 1997 and 2001. It's never been done in Nationwide and Cup in the same year. 302. TS1420 posted: 03.17.2013 - 6:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica is nothing but a drain on resources and a distraction. And SHR needs to remove her ASAP. One of the Labonte's would be better in the #10 car than her, at least they might be able to give the team usable feedback. 303. poopiepants posted: 03.17.2013 - 7:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nice post, 3872. As a fan of the 29 car, it'll be interesting to see what his presence in the S-H garage will do next year. Stewart/Harvick/Newman can be a solid line-up. Regarding the lady, the one year experiment is over. She'll go back to the Busch series full-time. JMO 304. cjs3872 posted: 03.17.2013 - 7:07 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ch, Nemechek was actually in that crash with Burton, Ambrose, Almirola, and Edwards. And Anonymous (#300), add that to the fact that Labonte is 56 years old, and he still finished 25th without a clutch. That shows how stern of stuff he's made of, not that he hasn't proved that over he years, especially at the tougher tracks. AndTS1420, I would agree that Bobby Labonte would be better than Danica (who wouldn't be?), but I don't think that at this stage in his career, that he would be that big an improvement. And I'm not sure how he and Tony would get along now anyway. But I can't agree with you more on Danica being a distraction. In fact, I think that's too kind of a term for Danica, given her history with other teams and how every team has plummeted with her as one of the drivers. I prefer the term "cancer", because that's what she's been to every team she's been on, because Stewart-Haas is the fourth team she's raced for, and it's the fourth team for which the fortunes have plummeted while she was there. 305. RCRandPenskeGuy posted: 03.17.2013 - 7:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Slept through most of this race, but saw the battle between Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski, saw Kurt Busch pass cars on fresh tires for a Top 5 finish, and saw Logano storm over to Hamlin's car after the race, prompting FOX to show a replay of the incident that Logano was mad about. Then during Brad's interview I saw where Joey hit Denny forcing him into Brad, so Joey might have had that coming. In any case, this will be a feud that goes into the same category as Kevin Harvick vs. Kyle Busch for me, since I don't like either driver involved. 306. Eric posted: 03.17.2013 - 7:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I told cjs3872 before this cup season that Tony Stewart would have a very difficult time to get into the chase because of Distractions and I see that CJS3872 is changing his tune. I warned about Stewart getting a team ready for Kevin for 2014, besides Ryan's contract is up after this year. That doesn't even count the "Danica factor" I mentioned before the season being a big hurdle for him. The Godaddy.com sponsorship is up after this year and she is making the organization worse like I expected. Cancer is the right term for Danica like CJS3872 said. 307. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I too predicted that Stewart would miss the Chase. Remember, not only does he have the albatross bringing him down, but he also has distractions in having to get Harvick's team assembled for next year, and he has to figure out if Newman is coming back. Plus, that organization is always having sponsorship instability, so I'm sure that's another thing he has to worry about. So yeah, I don't think Tony will make the Chase this year, mainly because of all these distractions. But then again, this is the same guy that went on an absolute tear for the 2011 championship when everyone expected him to be a non-factor, so you never know... 308. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Oh, look who is 9th place in the standings..." Nardy!!!! 309. cjs3872 posted: 03.17.2013 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Eric and murb, Stewart getting a team ready for Kevin Harvick should not be a problem, especially if Ryan Newman leaves. Harvick could simply take Newman's ride, so that shouldn't be a problem. Now if Stewart's talking about starting a fourth team for Harvick, then I could see where you're ciming from. The bigger problem is Danica and the cancer she is to the orgainzation. That being said, Stewart should make the Chase, just based on how good he is, but he won't do anything when he gets there if things continue going the way they've been going. And about Danica being a cancer, I've known that for quite some time. Just look at what happened to the organizations she's been at, what became of them during her time there, and in the case of at least two of them, what's happened after her departure. What she did a few years ago at Michigan by storming from her car when she drove for Bobby Rahal probably said more than any words ever could. If it was a male drier that did that, Rahal would probably have rung her neck because he wasn't brought up that way. Back when guys like Rahal were coming up, drivers actually showed respect for their competitors and their team, but that seems lost now. 310. Eric posted: 03.17.2013 - 8:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, I also knew about Danica being a cancer for a long time. I told you in the past that follow different forms of racing for many years outside of NASCAR. The fact I actually got info about Danica Patrick at the race track from a family member. I have a family member that knows a person that works at a racetrack that the Indy Cars go to. The shouldn't be a shock because the person knows people that work at a race track through connections. The information I go months ago was Danica isn't that nice to put it nicely without using the exact wording the family member used based on what the track employee told the family member. 311. Jim Davis posted: 03.17.2013 - 9:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "...Stewart getting a team ready for Kevin Harvick should not be a problem..." Especially if Budweiser comes along as part of the package which may not be unlikely. 312. Alex posted: 03.17.2013 - 9:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm pretty sure Stewart-Haas already has an extra team that solely will focus on testing in 2013 that could be used for Harvick if needed in 2014. 313. poopiepants posted: 03.17.2013 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Didn't Bud extended Harvick's contract last year? 314. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) Between FOX and BSPN, we will be hearing excuses for The Marketing Machine all year. Ii don't know if any of you guys saw SportsCenter after the race, but poor Ricky Craven had to go on and on and on making excuses for her. He'd make one, then whoever the host was would look at him like "keep going", and then he'd make another one, and this went on for five long ass minutes. For NASCAR, Talladega can't come soon enough. The "face" of their sport is gonna give them nothing but a lot of excuses to make until then. And Martinsville for her is gonna be U-G-L-Y 315. Schroeder51 posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) If Danica doesn't crash out of Martinsville or drop out due to mechanical problems, she's going to finish 10 laps down or more... And this is our "Face of NASCAR", ladies and gentlemen! 316. Daniel posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:18 pm Rate this comment: (5) (0) 5 laps down in a Hendrick car. Stremme gets a top 20 in a Brandon Davis car. Ragan only finishes two down in a Bob Jenkins car. Gilliland is only 4 down in Jenkins car that crashed. T. Labonte is only 4 down in a Frank Stoddard car that lost a clutch. What a joke. 317. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) There was a rumor that Scott Riggs would be a test driver for SHR, who might run a few races in a 4th SHR car in 2013. I'm not sure if that rumor came to fruition, but he would at the very least automatically be the third best SHR driver if he were to join the team. There's no excuse for an excuse to be made for a Cup driver in terms of how much experience he/she has/lacks. If they're in Cup, they should belong there. If excuses have to be made for them, they don't belong. It's that simple. If Danica needs more experience in these cars and on these tracks, then let her do it in another series on somebody else's time and payroll. 318. Paul posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) And now Morgan Shepherd is being forced to reduce his schedule even further due to a lack of sponsorship. Yet, the driver of the GoDaddy car is keeping her ride, despite running around outside the top 30 every week while her engine and chassis teammates are consistently battling for the win. I don't care that Morgan is 71 years old, he would do a much better job in that #10 Cup car than Danica is right now. At the very least, he would provide enough good information on the car to relay to his more competitive SHR teammates, and wouldn't be a cancer within the organization either. Put him in that car, and GoDaddy sees what it's like to be in the top 25 for once. 319. Anonymous posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 2nd place took a higher purse than the winner 320. murb posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:32 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) At least today they didn't really talk about her much on the broadcast though. Someone made a good point earlier about how maybe it's because they need to be more on the ball when it comes to calling the race because so much happens at Bristol so fast. Unless of course when it comes to updating cautions, in which case they just went on with their asinine Mid Race Report. But yes, her coverage sickens me. And it's a shame to see Ricky Craven (one of the few knowledgeable analysts left) making excuses for her. BSPN's whole idea of her being made up to be the only female driver to ever exist has to be the biggest scam in sports broadcasting history. And CJS, you are absolutely right about her being an albatross. In IndyCar, she absolutely was a team obliterator because of her stupid little beefs she had with Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan at Andretti-Green (or Andretti Autosport - whatever it was called then). And remember last year in NNS? In the first race of the season, she called out and bashed her FELLOW ROOKIE teammate Cole Whitt because of a mistake he made. Cole Whitt may not make it in Nascar, but I guarantee you he has more wins in his open wheel career than she does in all of her series she's raced in combined. Overall, she may act like she's a sweetheart, but behind the scenes, I think her attitude sucks, and the tag of "Team Obliterator" is perfect. I don't think it will be long before she starts feuding with either Ryan Newman, or Kevin Harvick when he gets there next year (she won't pick a fight with Tony since he's the boss - she has to kiss his ass). 321. 12345 Dude posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Carl Long's fine still hanging over his head: #11-Denny Hamlin's recent refusal to pay his $25,000 fine has reawakened the plight of Carl Long, a driver who lacks the financial resources to settle his debt with NASCAR. Long's career as a Sprint Cup Series driver essentially ended when his team was penalized for having an illegal engine at the 2009 All-Star race. Long's crew chief was fined $200,000, an amount he was unable to pay. Under NASCAR rules, the fine was reverted to the car owner, which was Long's wife, DeeDee. Unable to drive until the fine is paid, Long was still able to work in the Sprint Cup Series garage because his wife was technically responsible for settling the debt. But last year, Long said NASCAR transferred the fine to his name and he's no longer allowed inside the Cup garage. "Last year at Daytona, they issued me as the driver the fine, and I couldn't pay $200,000, so I was escorted out of the Cup garage," Long said at Bristol Motor Speedway. "NASCAR basically let me know that anybody on the crew roster could be held responsible for the fine, all the way down to the tire guy. Anybody on the crew roster, they can leverage the fine against him, no matter who. Actually, no matter what, if you are signed in on a crew roster, you are hanging by a thread." Long is allowed to work in NASCAR in any other series, and he's currently a jack of all trades for Rick Ware Racing in the Nationwide Series. He's also a part-time Nationwide driver, and has made 37 starts since the All-Star race incident. But he said he's clearing just over $35,000 a year after paying all his expenses, which means he'll likely never be back in a Sprint Cup car because he lacks the means to clear his debt with NASCAR.(Associated Press)(3-17-2013) Let me make this clear. I'm the biggest NASCAR fan you will find. I love watching every second of it on TV. I just can't stand the people who run it. At all. Let me make that clear. I don't sit in front of the TV and complain about everything. I really do enjoy it a lot. But, I really need to get this rant off my chest. I was never going to make this post. But this article drove me insane. I know everyone is going to say "stop complaining about NASCAR, your just a baby. You couldn't do better" & "if you hate it so much why don't you stop watching it" All that stuff, I love every second of NASCAR. I really do. I never complain about it. But this article has just made me too mad. Don't you just love the guys who currently run NASCAR? Creating 2 of the worst cars for racing in the history of motorsports (Gen 6 & COT) filling up the Cup series with AWFUL race tracks just because they can make more money from them (Las Vegas, Auto Club, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, Chicago, Texas) getting rid of amazing NASCAR tracks because they didn't make enough money from of them. (North Wilksboro, IRP, & Rockingham) Not adding amazing tracks onto the cup schedule because they don't make them enough money. (Rockingham, Iowa, & Montreal)Taking dates away from tracks because they don't make them enough money (Darlington 2 to 1, Atlanta 2 to 1). If you talk bad about NASCAR you get fined 25,000 at least. Sometimes it's done secretly. Instead of actually talking to the drivers to see why they are upset, or working hard to make the sport better. Allowing no new comers to cup into the cup series in 2006-2011 because cup guys dominated. They did nothing about it. And after they did all that they still allowed the cup drivers to run as many races as they wanted. (they got lucky the series went back to what it was! A lot of people don't realize how lucky they got) We have this awful chase system. Is the chase a good idea. Yes! But how they run it is AWFUL!! - Regular Season means NOTHING...NOTHING. - The chase is the only thing that matters during the whole season. Yet they keep the same tracks in it every year. If the chase is the only 10 races that matter, can we at least change the tracks every year? Your making 13 tracks that aren't in the chase completely useless and pointless. Carl Edwards tries to KILL someone at Gateway. Punishment: Nothing vs. Carl Long's Punishment When ever the field get's too spread out they throw a fake caution to "bunch up the field". There is no reason for the caution. There is no debry or no wreck. The amount of guys this helps and hurts. For no reason. Who knows if they play favorites when they throw them. Guys are allowed to run 5 laps quit the race and then get a $60,000 check. They do this every race for the whole season. And there beating out guys who deserve the spot. Explain this to a new fan to NASCAR. After hearing this they would automatically think NASCAR is the biggest joke in the world. And let's not forget about Danica. Someone who drivers 30th every week get's more coverage than last year's champion! /Rant over 322. cjs3872 posted: 03.17.2013 - 10:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And murb, let's not forget the incident that really told me what kind of person she really was, which was the one I referred to when she was racing for another racing great, Bobby Rahal, when she just stormed from her car on pit road. As I said, if sh had been a male drver, it's likely that Rahal would have rung her neck, because he wasn't brought up that way. The drivers that were brought up when Rahal was, such as Rick Mears, Danny Sullivan, and of course, Earnhardt, Labonte, Rudd, etc. actually had respect for their competitors and their team. The other competitors saw to it, as did the car owners and crew chiefs of that time. Do you think that someone like Bud Moore, A.J Foyt, Dan Gurney, Junior Johnson, and the other top owners of that period would have put up with such nonsense? Not in a million years. But the drivers of today don't seem to have that respect, and it's not just Danica. Does A.J. Allmendinger's seeming lack of respect for none other than Richard Petty, the King himself, a few years ago at Daytona ring any bells? 323. Eric posted: 03.17.2013 - 11:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Did you hear anything from any race track employee like I did about Danica? What the employee to a family member did was confirmed what I saw in her Indy Car days on television. That employee actually to deal with Danica when she was in Indy Car at a race track off camera. The employee according to the family member told him that Danica with a monster or something acting like something that rhymes with witch. The fact is Danica disrespecting people goes is more than drivers and owners. 324. Eric posted: 03.17.2013 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I mentioned Employee of a racetrack for a reason. The fact is employees of a race track do encounter people from officials, drivers, owners etc. when they at the track. I am saying because I have a family that used to worked for a race track he was in his teens/early 20's. That was at time when A.J. Foyt was still in his prime. The Family member saw drivers eating at the same time as he was since the race track grounds was offering all you can eat pancakes for breakfast. 325. Watto posted: 03.18.2013 - 12:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "There was a rumor that Scott Riggs would be a test driver for SHR" He has tested for them for a while 326. Kenny posted: 03.18.2013 - 12:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Csk3872 what did AJ say/do to disrespect Richard petty? 327. Paul posted: 03.18.2013 - 12:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) There was footage of Richard Petty talking to Dinger at the 2010 Firecracker 400 (I think it was after the race, but it might have been during practice), and Dinger was in no mood to talk to King at that time, and started walking away from him. Of course, King did grab him and finished what he was saying to him, but it was an odd moment caught on film. There was a similar incident between Clint Bowyer and Jeff Burton a few years ago. I can't remember which year or race at which it took place (I do know it was between '06-'08 because Bowyer was in his Jack Daniel's driver suit), but Burton was talking to him, Bowyer said something and began to walk away with a smirk on his face, and Burton grabbed him and finished aying whatever he was saying to him. These are just two examples of drivers not giving respect to their far more experienced owners and teammates, but I'll guarantee you there is a lot more of this going on. We already heard Danica call Travis Kvapil, a NASCAR champion and a driver with a lot more NASCAR experience than her, an idiot over the radio after the two had a run-in on the track. Dale Jr. had two incidents last year where he intentionally hit Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte and knocked them into the wall after they slid up in front of him on a speedway track (and we all know they wouldn't have done the same to the less experienced Dale Jr.). And we all have heard the reports than Kevin Harvick was making a deal with SHR behind Richard Childress' back and without his knowledge. And speaking of Harvick, we all remember his infamous "fight" with NASCAR great and legitimate tough guy Ricky Rudd at Richmond '03. Those three come to mind right away. I'm sure there's more examples of a lack of respect amongst the drivers of today towards the drivers of the past that were caught on camera, and I know there's more examples that haven't been caught on camera. 328. cjs3872 posted: 03.18.2013 - 12:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenny, they had an argument in the garage area a few years ago, and if I remember the story right, Allmendinger even pushed Petty slightly. And you don't do that to the King of stock car racing, especially if he's your car owner. And Eric, all you're doing is validating my point on how toxic Danica is to the race teams she's been on. I can only speak from what I see on the broadcasts and the highlights, but in her case, that's all I need to know. But add to that what's happened with the teamns she's left after she left them, and you can see what happened after she left and took her attitude with her. They returned to their former form. And if murb's right about her getting into it with Marco Andretti when she drove for Michael Andretti's team, I can't believe Michael would ever stand for that. All I was stating was that the drivers from when her previous team owners, who happened to be ex-drivers themselves, could not be disrespectful because the other competitors and their car owners would put them in their place if they disrespected them. But you seem to have a deeper background about this than I do. 329. cjs3872 posted: 03.18.2013 - 1:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, the race you refer to where Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer had that little incident was the 2007 Daytona 500, because something happened late in the race while Burton was leading, and he was none too happy about it. But if what you say about the way Bowyer smirked at Burton was true, then what happened between him and Jeff Gordon last year may not have been such a big surprise after all, cause that showed a pretty deep lack of respect on Bowyer's part. And didn't Burton do the sam with Kyle Busch after the Coca-Cola 600 a couple of years ago? There are several reasons why Burton is called "The Mayor" in the garage area, and one of them is the respect that he both commands and demands from his competitors. And I don't recall Travis Kvapil calling Danica Patrick an idiot last year. I do remember his then-teammate Landon Cassill calling her out at Kansas when she tried to retaliate against Cassill and wound up spinning herself out. And Cassill's another one of those guys, like Trevor Bayne and Regan Smith among others are, that is almost impossible to get riled up, but she even got Cassll angry at her. That might be the incident you're referring to. 330. Paul posted: 03.18.2013 - 1:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, Kvapil didn't call Danica an idiot, it was the other way around. It happened during practice earlier this year. I think one reason why Landon Cassill is so level-headed or someone his age is because he already knows what it's like to be out of NASCAR, having lost his ride at JR Motorsports following the 2008 season, despite winning Nationwide Rookie of the Year. To his credit, he accepted his role as a test driver for JRM, got an opportunity with Phoenix Racing late in the season and finished in the top ten, ran a partial Nationwide schedule in 2010, a few times in the #7 car while Danica was out of it, made the most of his start-and-park entries in Cup that same season (another reason why he's so humble, as there's nothing more humbling for a driver than having to pull into the garage after a few laps), and has now driven for three of the smallest Sprint Cup teams since 2011 (Phoenix, BK, Circle Sport). And if Danica is indeed a "team obliterator" (which I think she is, given her history both in IndyCar and now in NASCAR), could you imagine how worse off those three teams that Cassill has driven for would be if she was driving for them? For all we know, she might have driven them straight into the ground. Phoenix Racing almost folded after last season when champion driver Kurt Busch drove for them, and I can't imagine them being in better shape if Danica drove for them last year instead. Jeff Burton might be the most old school driver in the garage area, not just because of the way he drives (conserving his equipment), but the way that he acts and commands respect from his peers in the garage area. I don't know what he was talking to Bowyer about at the 2007 Daytona 500, but it didn't make Bowyer look good walking away with that smirk on his face the way he did. And the incident at the 2010 Coca-Cola 600 is only further proof of the maturity that Kyle Busch lacks (or lacked), as he was smiling, talking back at, and seen rolling his eyes while being talked to by one of the most experienced drivers in the garage area. I find it hard to believe that a mild-mannered guy like Jeff Burton was shouting at Kyle to begin with, but Kyle was obviously doing something that he didn't like that caused Burton to start yelling at him by the end. And of course there was that incident at Martinsville fall 2010 when Kevin Harvick made contact with teammate Jeff Burton out of frustration under caution after he felt Burton cut him off at one point. Harvick of course had a rant on the radio about Burton being "out of mulligans" for racing him too hard, and Burton gave a great interview after the race about how Harvick basically should look in the mirror and change the way he acts around other drivers and on the track, rather than constantly point the finger and start fights with people about on-track incidents It doesn't matter that Burton may not be as talented as some of these drivers who he's had incidents with (although Burton does have a higher career best points finish than Kyle, and tied with Harvick with a career best of 3rd), you don't act that way towards those who have been around longer than you. I grew up having been taught to "respect my elders," and it's obvious that Kyle Busch, Clint Bowyer, and other drivers of today don't do that. One of the few newer full-time Cup drivers who I've seen show a great deal of respect to their more experienced counterparts is Paul Menard. I've seen a lot of footage of Menard hanging around Jeff Burton in the garage area and after the races, and he's doing a lot of listening and hardly any talking. Ever since he joined RCR and began working closely with Burton, Menard has improved as a driver, winning his 1st race in 2011, having his first serviceable PEER rating in 2012, and currently in the Chase through four races in 2013. Plus, he seems to have adapted a Jeff Burton-like mindset of conserving his equipment, doing a lot of give-and-take on the race track, and always being very calm in his interviews. He's not as talented as Burton was back in his day, but it's clear that he respects Burton and has adapted some of his elder teammate's qualities for the better. Heck, Menard even had an incident with Harvick at Charlotte last year. (You know, the teammate he (un)intentionally assisted at Richmond the year before by spinning out and giving Harvick one last chance at the win.) Harvick did a slide job on Menard (not unlike what he did to teammate Brian Scott in the Nationwide race at Bristol), Menard got into him a little bit, and Harvick went ballistic over the radio as usual. Meanwhile, Menard basically shrugged it off in his interview, saying that he shows Harvick nothing but respect, but isn't surprised that Harvick didn't show it back to him. Of course, this respect that Menard shows on the race track could be due to the fact that his dad has owned IndyCar teams that fielded cars for the likes of Gary Bettenhausen, Al Unser, Nelson Piquet, Tom Sneva, and Tony Stewart, so perhaps all of that rubbed off on Menard when he was younger. 331. murb posted: 03.18.2013 - 1:54 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "And I don't recall Travis Kvapil calling Danica Patrick an idiot last year." Danica called Kvapil an idiot this year in practice for the Daytona 500. Danica tried to pass him on the low side, but Kvapil sort of shut the door on her. Still though... Travis Kvapil - Truck Series champion, reliable Cup driver for mediocre teams Danica Patrick - Hasn't done jack squat other than the 500 pole in a superior race car. 332. murb posted: 03.18.2013 - 2:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And if murb's right about her getting into it with Marco Andretti when she drove for Michael Andretti's team" All I know is that they had a shouting match with each other after a race one time. Marco himself is quite a piece of work when it comes to personality, so it's not really surprising to see that him and Danica got together as teammates. 333. Mr X posted: 03.18.2013 - 2:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) All in all I would say that so far the gen six car is doing pretty well after four races, considering the different tracks we've been to. I never mentioned this but I was particularly stunned by the race at Vegas just because it wasn't a complete aerofest as it has been for the last two years. The 2011 race there was memorable to me for all the wrong reasons. I've said for two years that Fontana can be exciting if under sunny conditions, see the fall 2010 race there, and for two years I have questioned NASCAR for putting it in March under cloudy skies, but after Vegas I think Fontana may produce a good race almost regardless of the conditions, obviously hotter will be better but this car seems to be much harder to drive on intermediates then the 2012 car, which I believed was the biggest factor in the mostly crappy racing in 2012, and the tires this year apear to be marginally softer then in 2012 or 2011, which is also a good thing. On a sidenote, I think I need to move south, as this winter just will not end. Generally here snow is starting to melt pretty quickly around this time. However 6 inches of the stuff is forecast to fall in the next 24 hours and temps will be -10 to -20 celcius all week. Joy! 334. murb posted: 03.18.2013 - 2:22 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) lol, Apparently Logano and Hamlin are continuing this stupid feud over Twitter. Logano says that Hamlin is the worst teammate he ever had, and that Denny's lucky he kept his helmet on in the post race deal. To which Denny responded, "Why? What are you gonna do about it?" Obviously, all you of you who are regulars on here know my feelings on Logano, so I'll spare you more verbage. As for Denny, I've said it before. I can take or leave him. He doesn't infuriate me as much as he does to you guys. He's a championship caliber driver, without a doubt. And he's ever so slightly been showing signs of maturity the last couple years. I think the 2010 title fiasco sort of humbled him. But I think his biggest problem (and it is the biggest thing that irks me about him) is just the fact that he can't let things go. Like, in this whole feud bullshit with Logano, he should have just said something like "You're welcome for all the advice I gave you when we were teammates" or "After my fourth full time Cup season, I had four times as many wins as you did after your fourth full time Cup season". Why continue to egg him on by saying "Whatcha gonna do about it?" DENNY!!!! YOU HAVE THE TEAM AND THE TALENT TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! STOP WORRYING ABOUT SCRUBS LIKE LOGANO AND GO AFTER THAT CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! 335. Mr X posted: 03.18.2013 - 2:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm almost worried I might have to start liking Logano. Chills just went down my spine. 336. Paul posted: 03.18.2013 - 3:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I just went through this "feud" between the two former JGR teammates, and I'm not impressed. Basically Logano called Hamlin a coward for keeping his helmet on, (Didn't Logano grow up a Jeff Gordon fan, who kept his helmet on at Bristol '06 when he confronted Matt Kenseth?) and they went back and forth a little bit with no real conclusion. Hamlin then tweeted that Logano could have spoken to him directly about the incident, but instead chose to tweet it so everyone could see it. I wouldn't look too much into this. Just a meaningless feud between two underachievers in two different leagues of talent. I doubt anything will happen on-track between them, and if something does, I more than likely won't care. 337. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.18.2013 - 3:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Its funny that Hamlin said Logano should have talked to him directly. That's what he tried to do after the race only to be held back by Hamlin's pit crew. What makes that even funnier is the fact that in a Nationwide race a few years back, Hamlin blasted Keselowski for having his crew "fight his battles" after the race. I really hope Logano dumps him sometime in the future. 338. Watto posted: 03.18.2013 - 3:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "then what happened between him and Jeff Gordon last year may not have been such a big surprise after all, cause that showed a pretty deep lack of respect on Bowyer's part" This is going to be a pretty long post in regards to my feelings about the Bowyer/Gordon deal... I don't think Clint Bowyer had this deep lack of respect for Jeff Gordon which initiated the whole 2012 nonsense. Clint and Bowyer raced fine with each other for years, and the catalyst for their little rivalry was the Martinsville spring race. In that situation, the two Hendrick cars making up the front row had EXTREMELY old tires and were not going to win the race no matter what. As a driver who races myself, that has also worked in the Cup garage with some big and not so big names, I can tell you with complete confidence the type of mentality in that situation. Clint wanted to get by FAST because it was going to be a cluster"mess" with how much slower Jeff and Jimmie were going to be running. They were not going to win this race. On the restart, Ryan got into the back of Clint shortly before the braking point for turn 1 (which often will make you drive it in deeper to avoid getting wrecked), and Clint went for the aggressive 3 wide move on the cars with older tires. Now, we've seen 3 wide moves work at Martinsville all the time whether people want to remember them or not, I can pull up video after video after video. It was a late move, but it was not a banzai move. Bowyer was not overdriving the actual corner and was going to be able to hold it against the curb. However, the room wasn't there, and stuff happened. We've seen similar restart wrecks quite often (mostly a few rows behind the leaders). This was not a new situation for something like this to happen at Martinsville. This is racing- mistakes happen. As Jeff Gordon among others have been open about, the bulk of that animosity towards Clint was because of Martinsville. I kept track of how they were racing each other following the spring Martinsville race, and if anything, I saw a clear difference in how Jeff raced Clint. He was racing Clint pissed off basically, all the time... whether justified or not. Clint was racing how Clint races everyone (which is pretty hard, and yet no one else had the grudge with clunt), and Jeff was angry about Martinsville (which he wasn't going to win anyway, the tires weren't going to hold on). A great example of Jeff driving Clint like a real douche came at the fall Martinsville race in the closing laps. Clint got a nose on Jeff at some point for position, and Jeff came down like Clint wasn't even there. So they made contact, and it was entirely Jeff's fault, and for the rest of the race, before Clint could clear Jeff and drive away, Jeff was just turning hard left into Clint on the straightaway repeatedly and needlessly doorslamming him. Stuff like this went on repeatedly, but with generally less contact because aero doesn't matter too much at a place like Martinsville. Fast forward to Phoenix, and after Clint barely touches Jeff's LR quarterpanel on a tight exit for T2 (something we saw probably 30 times that race between different cars), Jeff tried to hook Clint into the wall in turn 3 via his right-rear, failed, and subsequently waited around until successfully pulling it off and getting innocent bystanders involved. Not only did Jeff's actions show an incredible lack of respect for Clint Bowyer at that point, but it showed an incredible lack of respect for all of the guys who got involved who were having good runs and were not a part of that battle. And, while it's not spoken about much, it showed a lack of a respect to the championship battle and notably Brad Keselowski, who was RIGHT BEHIND this wreck as it happened, but was able to avoid it by jumping low quickly. If you want to talk about a deep lack of respect, I think we should talk about Jeff Gordon more than Clint Bowyer. With that being said, Jeff is the type of driver who doesn't just get even... he gets far beyond even when he pays someone back. I'm sure most of the posters here recall the rivalry between Kenseth & Gordon from some years back, and it's easy to remember that Kenseth was on the losing end for quite a while all because he accidentally got into Gordon at Bristol. He was wrecked by Gordon a bunch of times that year, including for the win at Chicago? I believe. Now I'm not a Gordon fan, and I'm not a Bowyer fan, but between their battles last season, I look at Gordon as being more of the tool. 339. Paul posted: 03.18.2013 - 3:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I only remember Gordon and Kenseth getting together five times (not including yesterday). At Bristol '06, Gordon moved Kenseth out of the way because it was the old surface with only one groove and Kenseth was holding him up, and Kenseth repaid the favor in the next corner. Then at Chicago later that year, Gordon got into Kenseth and dumped him in the middle of the corner. While it looks like Gordon dumped him on purpose, it could be that he just got back in the gas quicker because Kenseth had Casey Mears on his outside and might have not wanted to accelerate too quickly and risk getting into Mears, so that might have just been a racing incident (or it might not have). At Michigan '07, Gordon was battling a really tight race car and accidentally slid up in front of Kenseth and got dumped. He even said in his post-race interview that he had the steering wheel all the way to the left when he was exiting the corner. At Las Vegas '08, Gordon once again had a tight race car late in the race, but was forced to the inside after Dale Jr. spun the tires on a restart, made contact with Kenseth exiting the corner, then wound up spinning himself out to avoid Kenseth and hit the non-SAFER barrier in a crash that pretty much killed his back and ended his 2008 season just three races into the season. And at Martinsville 2010, Kenseth drove straight into Gordon going for the lead in turn 1 on a G-W-C, but was immediately punted back by Gordon and wound up a disappointing 18th. By my count, Kenseth has a 3-2-1 advantage over Gordon, as he has been on the better end of the deal in their incidents more often than Gordon has. (I consider their incident yesterday to be a tie because they both crashed out.) So the idea that Gordon supposedly wrecked Kenseth a bunch of times isn't accurate. 340. Watto posted: 03.18.2013 - 4:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If that's all then I'm not remembering their incidents right in 06 & 07 then. I forgot that Kenseth got moved by Gordon before getting into him. At Chicago, Jeff had time to react and didnt at all, so while I don't think he planned on dumping Kenseth, he certainly didn't race him with any respect at all in that one. But in regards to the greater point and this supposed deep lack of respect Bowyer showed for Gordon, I stand by everything. Gordon did a whole lot more wrong last year than Bowyer did, and Gordon was not some guy Bowyer targeted but rather just a victim of a messy finish where Bowyer was overaggressive and I guess Jeff was never gonna move on from the Martinsville spring race until he intentionally mounted Bowyer for it since he raced the 15 like an idiot all year, so maybe it's over now. 341. Paul posted: 03.18.2013 - 4:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As far as Gordon not racing Kenseth with any respect at Chicago '06, Kenseth did the same to him at Michigan '07, as he too had time to react, but chose not to lift and instead ran Gordon over exiting the turn. I'm not blaming Kenseth for the incident at Michigan, but I'm not for the same reason why I'm not blaming Gordon for what happened at Chicago a year earlier. And you're right about Gordon running into Bowyer at fall Martinsville 2012, as he did swerve into him on the straightaway. I'm not positive, but I think Bowyer got into him the corner before that and moved him out of the way, and Gordon was just retaliating (although it did more damage to his own car than it did Bowyer). I think Gordon did overreact at Phoenix as he got into the wall after getting into Bowyer, then of course taking himself out once he turned Bowyer head-on into the wall, but in his mind he was just standing up for himself and was finally tired of this cocky guy that had very limited Cup success entering that season running into him, a four-time champion, and not showing him the proper respect on the track. It's one thing to race another driver hard, but in Gordon's mind he was being raced dirty and felt used by Bowyer on the track, and finally had enough of it at Phoenix. 342. Hotdogger posted: 03.18.2013 - 4:19 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Another solid run for Allmendinger in the #51. What a bauss! 343. Watto posted: 03.18.2013 - 4:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "As far as Gordon not racing Kenseth with any respect at Chicago '06, Kenseth did the same to him at Michigan '07, as he too had time to react, but chose not to lift and instead ran Gordon over exiting the turn. I'm not blaming Kenseth for the incident at Michigan, but I'm not for the same reason why I'm not blaming Gordon for what happened at Chicago a year earlier." Usually a slidejob is looked at differently than a guy who is holding his line at the bottom. When Gordon turned Kenseth at Michigan, Gordon literally slides up in front of him as the contact happens. In Chicago's situation, it's more avoidable. "I'm not positive, but I think Bowyer got into him the corner before that and moved him out of the way, and Gordon was just retaliating" I spoke about it in that long post I made, but there was contact... Bowyer got low on Gordon, and Gordon entered the corner like Bowyer wasn't low after blocking down the backstretch. So basically, Gordon was retaliating for something that he caused in the first place. "It's one thing to race another driver hard, but in Gordon's mind he was being raced dirty and felt used by Bowyer on the track, and finally had enough of it at Phoenix." Well he spent a lot of 2012 racing Bowyer dirty, so it's only fair that Bowyer occasionally gets away with casual contact that is so minor that it has no effect. 344. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.18.2013 - 7:29 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Jamie MacMary (I love your announcing, BP) gets his first top-10 since last June at Pocono. 345. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.18.2013 - 10:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Post #314 and #315. I said from the get go watch her at Martinsville. Heck, she wouldn't get out of the way while beeing lapped at Bristol. Expect brake failure or crash at Martinsville. Fontana will be challenge for her too. And don't forget Pocono. Of course she will be a favorite at the Brickyard with the media again but will dissapoint again. I still think she will finish about 28th or 29th in points this year in her top notch equipment. I don't think Smoke will make the chase this year either. Tony Gibson and crew sure had a feel good Daytona 500 but nothing since. Will the kid gloves come off soon ?? 346. cjs3872 posted: 03.18.2013 - 11:09 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Paul (#330), you bring up an interesting point in why Paul Menard has respect for other driver, and you bring up some of the drivers that drove for his father. Let's also not forget that Scott Brayton was killed in one of John's cars, so Paul Menard, from a family perspective, has also had to deal with tragedy. And I believe that incident between Burton and Kyle Busch happened after the 2011 Coca-Cola 600, though I might be wrong about that. And Watto (#338), what I referred to in regards to Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon last year in comparison to what Clint apparently did with Jeff Burton after the 2007 Daytona 500 had nothing to do with his actions on the track, but rather him flatly lying to Gordon's face after the spring race there last year, because Bowyer apparently had more of a habit of doing things like that than I thought. The on-track incidents between the two speak for themselves, but I was referring to Bowyer's lying to Gordon after the first Martinsvlle race last year. That's something nobody forgets. 347. David posted: 03.18.2013 - 12:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, the Jeff Burton-Kyle Busch incident occurred at the 2010 Coca-Cola 600, not the 2011 race. 348. Anonymous posted: 03.18.2013 - 12:12 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Solid Top-25 for Labonte and FAS Lane, it's always good to see new sponsorship. 349. biffle16 posted: 03.18.2013 - 12:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (6) Too bad Kasey Kahne had to win, instead of Biffle, who really deserved it :( 350. David posted: 03.18.2013 - 12:26 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) "Clint and Bowyer raced fine with each other for years" Well, I hope so. A driver ought to race fine with himself. 351. cjs3872 posted: 03.18.2013 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Okay David, I wasn't sure which one it was. I thought it was the 2011 race, so thanks for correcting my mistake. 352. Eric posted: 03.18.2013 - 1:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I see Biffle16 showed up after being gone for a while as a poster. Greg Biffle didn't deserve to win at Bristol because his car at Bristol wasn't a top 5 car to me at this Bristol race at any point and is the reason Biffle didn't win. Biffle to me had a good care at times of the race, but didn't a car that was capable of being a top 5 car. Biffle did fade during the race. The fact is better cars than Biffle's had problems during the race such as Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth. Kasey Kahne had top 3 car for most of the race and I can't say that about Biffle. I thought Kahne, Kenseth, Kyle Busch, Hamlin, Kurt Busch had the best 5 cars of the race. At times I thought Brad and Jeff Gordon did also. 353. JG24FanForever posted: 03.18.2013 - 2:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Fun" numbers for JG 53rd career Crash Out 73rd time he's led at least 66 laps and failed to win 26th time he's led at least 11 laps and failed to finish 14th time he's led at least 11 laps led and crashed out of the race 11th time he's led at least 66 laps and failed to finish 6th time he's led at least 66 laps and crashed out 354. Daniel posted: 03.18.2013 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only 43 entered at Fontana: -Timmy Hill in the #32 -Scott Riggs in the #44 -A.J. Allmendinger in the #51 -Mark Martin in the #55 -#95 not entered. 355. Cornys posted: 03.18.2013 - 3:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I can't wait to see Danica at Darlington again :x At the night race (in person) last year Danica basically screwed Martin Truex Jr. from the lead in the middle of the race (not sure if ABC showed that on TV, but they should have). She was like a high speed chicane out there until she got dumped off of 4. Pretty good race in all yesterday, and for once I think I am looking forward to Cali. It's wide, but it's going to be FAST this year. Hopefully that leads to some better racing (so long as there aren't a ton of tire failures). Melting the bead or was it due to tire wear this week? I don't think it was really ever stated. 356. cjs3872 posted: 03.18.2013 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes Cornys, just like Danica will be a moving chicane at every road course and non-restrictor plate track she goes to. And as for the tire failures, from what I understand, both melted beads and excessive wear were involved. Jeff Gordon's and Jimmie Johnson's tire failures were the result of excessive wear, though Johnson's team blamed a melted bead, and we don't know what the reason for Denny Hamlin's tire failure in the closing laps was. As for the failures of Dave Blaney, J.J. Yeley, Landon Cassill, and David Gilliland, I don't know since the reason were never given, though I suspect melted beads in the case of the TBR cars which had problems at the same time. I think Gilliland's problem may have been connected to his prior crash. Gilliland and Johnson recovered from their problems for decent finishes. And the tire failure of Aric Almirola was damage-related, as his failure was caused by the fender rubbing the tire, much like what happened to Brad Keselowski in the Nationwide race. That's why I don't count the tire failures of Gilliland and Almirola as actual tire failures, because those were race damage related, but that still leaves six other faliures (Blaney, Yeley, Cassill, Gordon, Johnson, Hamlin). 357. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.18.2013 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My thoughts on some of the recent threads here: Denny Hamlin: You guys know me, I really can't stand this guy. But the fact is he is a championship caliber driver. Yet there he is, once again getting into it with somebody who will not be a factor in his ultimate goal. His interview will only serve to rile up Joey even further, as are his Twitter comments. Although, in all fairness, Joey was having a great race, Joey will mostly struggle this year as he is simply a 20th place driver while his teammate and good friend continues to be a Top 5 machine, racks up wins, and shoots for a second consecutive Cup championship (you know, when he isn't knocking the shit out of the wall in meaningless NWide races). Actually, when it comes to Joey and Denny, Paul put it best: "just a meaningless feud between two underachievers in two different leagues of talent." So why does Denny even care? Because he is an insecure little boy who uses being an asshole as a defense mechanism. He has to give an arrogant interview then fire back at him on Twitter instead of just ignoring him. He has to look down on others to feel better about himself. Until he gets his head straight, he will never live up to the potential of his talent and equipment. He already pissed away one championship in 2010 (remember, he was still LEADING the points after Phoenix) due to complete lack of any mental strength. Damn, now I feel bad for Joe Gibbs. I wonder how many times he is at the track, looks at Denny and Kyle, then thinks "I miss John Riggins, the guy was insane, but the lovable kind of insane, and most importantly, the productive kind of insane". 358. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.18.2013 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) @338, Watto, you summed up the Gordon-Bowyer feud perfectly IMO. To me, that whole deal was so out of on track character for Jeff. To let somebody get that much inside his head is not the Jeff Gordon that tortured me throughout the late 90's and early 00's. Incidents like the one at Martinsville would happen (which, again, Gordon's goose was already cooked and Clint did nothing wrong except brake a bit too late) and he would make people pay by ripping them to shreds in that stat column. A young Gordon got pushed around quite a bit in his first two years by vets like Michael Waltrip (Darlington '93), Earnhardt (Phoenix '93), and Rudd (Charlotte '94). Jeff spent the next five years making Dale and Ricky look OLD and making Michael Waltrip look like...... well, I guess Michael Waltrip. Rusty blatently dumped him at Richmond '98 while the Commonwealth cheered wildly. Jeff made Rusty and NASCAR fans pay by going on a tear of 7 wins in nine races, following that with 3 runner ups before laying an egg at Charlotte, only finishing 5th, then winning 3 of the last 4 races faltering only at the rain shortened Phoenix race where he REALLY sucked, finishing 7th (Hendrick should have fired him after that one). Honestly, my very first though when I saw him turn Bowyer last year was "that's it, Jeff has officially lost it". And here is what I mean by that: If you guys remember, I picked Jeff to win the 2012 Cup championship. What always set Jeff apart from the pack wasn't his talent, it was his supreme mental toughness. After 3 years of dealing with back issues that prevented him from doing what he could ('08-'10) he won 3 races, all in throwback form. He won the "I will rough you up to win" race at Phoenix, the "My car isn't the best, but I have 500 miles to work my way to the front while the rest of you falter, and I am not gonna falter" race at Pocono, and the GODDAMMIT I AM NOT GONNA LOSE THIS F***ING RACE win at Atlanta which I may have spoken about at some point. Have I ever discussed that race and my feelings about it? So 2012 starts and Jeff wasn't so much "snakebit" as "snake mugged, beaten, kicked, and pissed on, then bit just for the hell of it". He was counted out of the cha$e by everyone except one guy: me. He was in striking distance, and having a front row seat for the Rainbow Warrior Gordon years, and feeling like that guy was back after rounding back into shape in 2011. He gets his "this is the racing karma gods totally repaying you for the past 6 months" win at Pocono, has more bad luck, but gets in with his epic GODDAMMIT I AM NOT GONNA MISS THIS CHA$E, I DON'T CARE IF MY CAR SUCKS OR NOT run at Richmond. So who was crowing like a rooster for never counting Jeff out afterwards? Yeah, me. And who was definitely picking Jeff to win the title after Richmond? Yeah, me (I may have said JJ, but that was to jinx him, btw JJ is my 2013 championship pick). But Jeff brought back his Crash Stache for Chicago and did just that and endured the only blemish on his resume: yet another disappointing end of season performance in a career full of a surprisingly high number of disappointing end of season performances. Then he scrapes fenders with Clint again, twice in 3 weeks. He then just flat out loses it. That is the only way to put it. He let the frustration get to him and didn't have the mental strength anymore to truly make Bowyer pay, and didn't feel confident enough to know he could make Bowyer pay by beating him repeatedly in the future (even though he wound up doing just that the very next week in yet another throwback performance, the "nobody wants to see me win, so I am gonna win" victory at Homestead. So to me, here is what Gordon is in my opinion: First off, a living legend. And he is still one of the most talented drivers out there. And still one of the mentally toughest out there (Joe Gibbs would sell his soul to get Jeff on his team, but he already sold it for those once in a lifetime performances from Doug Williams and Timmy Hill in that Super Bowl against the Broncos, both of which appeared suddenly and disappeared just as quickly). But he has lost that "it" factor that made him a legend. First off, he doesn't seem to have that NEED to dominate everything in sight anymore. After Danica outdrove him to win the pole for the Daytona 500 >_> he said "I'm glad I didn't beat her and ruin the story". While I am 100% positive he didn't really want to lose to her that he was just pulling the company line, when Dale finally broke through to win the Daytona 500 in '98, Jeff stated that he was happy to see Dale get that win and that it was well deserved, but not after he made about a 10 minute disclaimer saying he wished he was the one celebrating. And that was the absolute most appropriate response for any true competitor. He certainly didn't say "I'm glad I didn't beat Dale and ruin the story". No competitor should ever feel that way. But the fact it even came to Jeff's brain to say what he said raises a red flag for me. Secondly, he just doesn't have the week in, week out Refuse To Lose attitude anymore. He can bring it out every so often, and when he does, nobody on the tour right now can even think about beating him (ask the most successful driver out there, JJ, after Atlanta '11 or the most talented driver out there, KyBu, after Richmond '12). He will win more races, undoubtably pass the 90 mark. And you know what? Due to the cha$e, another championship isn't out of the question. If we have a really whacky final 10, and Jeff pulls the Rainbow Warrior off the shelf for a few races, he can finally complete the Drive For Five. But the truly great Jeff is done. Of course even 60% of Rainbow Warrior Jeff never needs to be counted out. 359. Eric posted: 03.18.2013 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know for sure if Danica will be a move chicane at road course unlike what cjs3872 mentioned. I am going by the fact she was competitive at the road courses in the Nationwide Series. I am going be Elkhart Lake and Montreal. The fact is she was a top 5 driver in both races last races despite what her finishes say. I know that Danica wasn't that good at road courses in Indycar. What needs to be looked at is Road Racing skills isn't a must at NASCAR and that is why Matt Kenseth still has a job and Macros Ambrose doesn't win more races than he does. That means Danica has a chance to do well for road courses in NASCAR. In Indy Car, there is a more of an importance on a driver being good at road racing than in NASCAR. That means the talent level in Indy Car is more high at that skill than most of the cup drivers. 360. Eric posted: 03.18.2013 - 5:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I am not a Danica fan at all and I don't think highly of her, but in Road Course racing you have to guess what her road course abilities to would translated in cup based on what she did in the Nationwide series. What Danica is going so far outside of Daytona so far is what I expect out of her because the competition is deeper in the cup series than in the Nationwide Series. Danica struggled to get a top 10 at most of the races in the Nationwide series to get a top 10 and that should raise a red flag. The fact Danica was in the top 5 for a good amount of the race for 2 out the road course races in the Nationwide would translate to her running in the top 10 or the top 15. 361. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.18.2013 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric , That was last year in the Nationwide. Her fans and all the announcers say she always does better on her return trips etc, etc. This year it's a new ball game. She will struggle with these new Cup cars along with the talent level she faces plus the fact she is running against 43 NASCAR drivers , not 26 or 28 in the Indy series. I don't think I am wrong either. 362. seyb32 posted: 03.18.2013 - 7:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) All I ever seem to read any more is "Why does Danica have a Cup ride. She's so terrible. There are more deserving drivers...." And so on and so forth. That may be true. But you may as well get used to Danica being around. At least for the next several years. It doesn't matter if she finishes 40th every week and is running laps slower than Brad Teague on Saturday (ok, NO ONE is that slow), she will have a Cup ride. The reasons are simple. A. She has a sponsor that will stick with her no matter what. That's 90 percent of the battle right there. Danica (and her ass) can secure the big bucks of GoDaddy. While someone like Travis Kvapil or the like may be a more talented driver, they aren't getting that seat without a sponsor. B. She gets people to talk about NASCAR. Even if they are just bashing her "lack of talent"they are talking about her. I refuse to bash her for two reasons. One she's been driving stock cars for about 10 percent of the amount of time as the other 42 drivers in the field and two, she'd kick each and every one of our asses on the track and we know it. Bitch and moan about Danica (or Danicant or Danicunt or whatever wonderfully witty names you can come up with) if you want. But get used to her. Because like Brad Teague at Bristol, she ain't going nowhere. 363. seyb32 posted: 03.18.2013 - 7:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF- Love Dale Sr. as well. But as far as college hoops go, all your taste is in your mouth. LOL! DUKE! Season sweep and a no. 2 seed. I will take that over a meaningless trip to the ACC Finals anyday. Enjoy the tournament. I expect both Duke and UNC will be out by the Sweet 16 unfourtuantely. Pretty tough field this season. 364. seyb32 posted: 03.18.2013 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) did anyone notice Tom Logano down by Denny's car trying to stick his nose into his bratty ass kid's fight. Why is that tool still allowed in the pits. I may be wrong but I'm pretty sure that was him involved near the front of Hamlin's car when the camera panned over 365. Watto posted: 03.18.2013 - 8:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) " I was referring to Bowyer's lying to Gordon after the first Martinsvlle race last year. That's something nobody forgets." Was the lie when Clint told Jeff that he got hit by the 39 before that all went down? Because I don't think he was flatly lying as you described. When the 39 starts to look low on the 15, the 15 gets a little defensive and got a shot that gave him momentum that probably made him think that he should attempt to go for the win now, and that there was a good chance that he would've run over Jeff under braking or get run over by staying off Jeff if he didn't look low. The replay shows that Clint actually gets below Jeff at his left rear quarterpanel before either car began braking, but it was still overaggressive and fairly risky nonetheless. I really do believe that Clint, at the time, thought that Ryan Newman put him in that box. Honestly he still might feel that way, because it's arguable. Was it something else or was that the lie that shows disrespect? 366. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.18.2013 - 8:30 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I hate people who say "NASCAR drivers would kick our asses on the track" especially when talking about Danica Patrick, for one reason. NONE OF US HAVE EVER DRIVEN A NASCAR BEFORE! Most of us are poor white males who don't have a silver f-ing spoon in our mouth. God only knows. For all we know any one of us could hop in a racecar and turn out to be the next Jeff Gordon. 367. Eric posted: 03.18.2013 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) seyb32, They is one thing that you forgot about with Danica. Dodaddy.com sponsorship ends for Danica after this year ends unless there is a contract extenuation. That means your claim Godaddy.com sticking with her isn't a given at this point. The fact is if Godaddy.com ending the working relationship, Danica is going to need a new sponsorship. That means Danica has to find a sponsor that doesn't car about on track performance like Godaddy.com currently does with her. 368. JP88 posted: 03.18.2013 - 9:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Got a scary feeling about the race on Sunday...just feel like someone is gonna blow a RF going 210 into 1 or something...I hope not but I don't know 369. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.18.2013 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Seyb32, remember this: yes dook swept us this year, but they would need to sweep the next FOURTEEN consecutive seasons against Carolina just to even the series score. 370. Paul posted: 03.18.2013 - 9:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Speaking of scrubs, ten of the felony burglary charges against Jeremy Mayfield have been dropped. And speaking of Mayfield, Denny Hamlin should have taken notes from Dale Earnhardt's interview after the 2000 Pocono race and used them in his interview in regards to Joey Logano. That's how you end a feud before it even starts with a driver not in your league. Eh, who am I kidding, a "big-time star" like Denny Hamlin doesn't have time to take notes on this sport's history and the drivers that helped it grow to what it is today so that he can have these silly feuds. As for Gordon and Bowyer, I'm mostly disappointed not that Gordon would retaliate on-track with another driver, but that he would do so with someone not even in his league like Clint Bowyer, who is basically this generation's Jeff Burton/a poor man's Terry Labonte (very good driver, but usually performs at equal level to his equipment). At least Dale Earnhardt took out the defending series champion Darrell Waltrip at Richmond '86, and Ricky Rudd took out the next season's champion Jeff Gordon at Charlotte '94. All Gordon did was take out a mediocre Nationwide Series champion who was getting outperformed by Martin "freaking" Truex, Jr. for most of last season. It's bad enough that he lost his cool and intentionally wrecked someone, but the driver that he happened to take out makes him look even worse in that situation. GoDaddy's management has undergone a lot of changes in the past year. For one thing, it's now being run by a woman who isn't exactly interested in airing the tasteless ads that her predecessor loved doing. It wouldn't surprise me if they dropped sponsorship from her after this season because of that reason, and hopefully they stay within the sport and move on to another more talented driver in need of TV coverage. They certainly got a lot of TV coverage when Brad Keselowski was running top five on a weekly basis in the Nationwide Series four years ago. 371. murb posted: 03.18.2013 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Paul, I agree with everything you said in that post except for the thing you said about Bowyer getting outperformed by Truex. To me, Bowyer has no doubt the number one driver over there ever since he arrived. And at least he was able to close out three wins last year (and finish 2nd in points) unlike the 11th place finishing Truex, who should have had at least three wins but had ended up with none. But I agree with everything else though. I'm not nor have ever been an official Gordon fan, but I've been hoping (and predicting) that the whole Bowyer incident will sort of catapult him into one of those old school "Refuse To Lose" seasons, kind of like how it happened after Rusty wrecked him at Richmond in 1998. He was able to carry over the fire over to Homestead by winning there, and through the first four races of this year he's run good for the most part (except for Vegas where it looked like he was driving one of Wally Dallenbach's old 25 cars). So I'm continuing to hope that we'll see one more classic Gordon championship run. It's mainly because I've seen so many of them before and I want to see just one more before he retires. Like I said, I've never official been a 24 fan, but I grew up watching that rainbow car dominate during their original "Refuse To Lose" days. So it would be great to see one more of them just for old times' sake. Plus, they are much more fun to watch than one of those robotronic 48 championship runs that we've gotten so damn tired of... 372. murb posted: 03.18.2013 - 10:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry for all the grammar errors in my post 371. I just finished typing up an essay, so I'm all typed out!!! 373. Paul posted: 03.18.2013 - 10:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Bowyer has no doubt the number one driver over there ever since he arrived." Bowyer was only ahead of Truex in the points for two weeks during the regular season, and was behind him in points prior to the points reset following the 26th race, despite winning two races and clearly being the No. 1 driver at MWR. Obviously he outperformed Truex during the Chase as he went on to finish 2nd while Truex finished last among Chase drivers who started all 36 races, but his pre-Chase season was a little disappointing considering how he didn't hardly run into any bad luck and won two races, only to finish behind his far less-dominant teammate in the pre-Chase standings. 374. Cornys posted: 03.18.2013 - 10:43 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I enjoy speaking about Danica because I hope that she can show the mass of people who typically don't turn on NASCAR that not just anybody can do it. Of course, knowing the way most American's are, they probably don't care to know anything about what they are watching and they have about a 30 second attention span. This is why Daytona's ratings were much higher than normal for the 500 and then normal again. My generation (15-19 years old) has such a small number of race fans in it that if I bring up racing I get looked at like complete idiot unless it's about Danica (heck if I know why). The only fans that I really know are the ones that I have turned into fans (that being my immediate friends who I have convinced to go to races with me). I was hoping that Danica would attract a few more fans, but with attention spans in my generation so low it was a mute point. I have just also explained why I feel the need to post online about racing as well. I have no friends otherwise other than the sim-racing community (No, not iracing, I can't afford that!). 375. Cornys posted: 03.18.2013 - 10:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) (For clarification, no racing friends that is. I have friends :) ) 376. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 12:12 am Rate this comment: (4) (0) "So I'm continuing to hope that we'll see one more classic Gordon championship run." It would be fun to see. It would certainly be just like the first 4 from my perspective. I'd be bitching about it the whole time, but later be bragging I was there to see it (like I am doing now for his '95-'01 run, the whole time I was saying "For the love of God, will somebody else PLEASE win", yet I can't deny I was watching pure on track brilliance) in the near future. Unfortunately, with the exception of '98, a "classic Gordon championship run" involves him kicking all sorts of ass in the first 2/3 of the year, building up a huge points lead, then sliding in the last part of the year and either allowing his final victory margin to be much closer than it should have been ('95, '97) or should have allowed somebody to get close had his closest rivals not self destructed ('01, the end of that season set up the looney as hell '02 points "battle", much like '91 had a goofy ending that set up the wild '92 race). I guess in a number of ways we saw a "classic Gordon championship run" in 2007 where he should have won his 5th championship (I know he had the most season points in '04, but were it not for the cha$e, the 48 team never experiments over the Summer and walks off with it). He actually closed that season much stronger than '95, '97, and '01. Oddly enough, I think the cha$e has wounded both Gordon and Johnson historically. Without it, Gordon wins it in '07 and joins Earnhardt and Petty as guys with lots of championships spread over a long period of time. He would also join Dale as the only guys to win titles with 3 different crew chiefs. The fact Jeff got all 4 of his titles in a 7 year span, as well as over 2/3 of his career wins hurts him a tick. People will have tendency to look at it and say "what happened starting in 2002?". And Jimmie presently has all of his championships consecutively. What if he wins it in '04, loses to the runaway Smoke in '05, regains his throne in '06, gets waxed by his teammate in '07, wins it again in '08 (I think without the cha$e they have a better Spring and Summer) then finally gets back to back titles with his dominant all the way around '09, then gets the second 3peat in NASCAR in 2010 (again, without the cha$e the 48 would have done better earlier and put pressure on Hamlin and Harvick, two very mentally weak drivers, much earlier causing both to crumble). Given that Jimmie has the "front runner" tag, isn't it more impressive to have 5 over 7 years than to have all 5 in a row? Doesn't that help him historically? And wouldn't him having proof he can regain the throne once losing it make him more of a threat this year? This is such a mental sport, some people can draw confidence from him losing last year's title as proof he can't get something back once he's lost it. 377. Paul posted: 03.19.2013 - 12:43 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) The Chase has done nothing but add unnecessary excitement to the points battle while hurting the legitimacy of the championship, as well as the champion. I agree with DSFF that Jimmie probably would have won the '04, '08, and '10 titles if not for the Chase, even though he didn't score the most overall points in those seasons. Really it's just that '07 title that bothers me, not just because my favorite driver got burned because of the Chase (although Jimmie did a hell of a job winning four in a row during the Chase and stealing the title away from his teammate), but because of how the whole Chase and points reset changed history and crowned an undeserving champion (who happened to win 10 races). I mean, Gordon had a 312-point lead heading into the Chase, and was 410 points ahead of 4th place Jimmie Johnson. But because he had fewer wins that Jimmie entering the Chase, the points reset makes him 20 points BEHIND Jimmie Johnson, thus ending his momentum and handing it over to the #48 team? Pure bullshit. Gordon also had an average finish of 7.3, the second highest of his career (after his 5.7 average in '98) and one that was almost FOUR whole positions higher than that of his '01 season. Heck, his average finish was 3.5 positions better than the champion's that season. It'd be one thing if Gordon would have lost the title or if Jimmie would have just straight up beaten him, but he lost that title because of the points reset. Yeah I know, he had 10 races to regain those 20 points. But when you work so hard to get a 312-point lead over 2nd place and a 410-point lead over your 4th place teammate, losing a net worth of 430 points due to a points reset has to take a lot out of you. And given Gordon's history of finishing the final 1/3 season weaker than the first 2/3 of it, he had no chance. Worse yet, Johnson is looked at as a paper champion for '07 as a result. Were it not for the Chase, he would probably be a 5-time champion anyways and there would be no question about it because there would be no points reset. But instead, he gets five straight titles and three of them have an asterisk next to them because he didn't score the most overall points. It's truly a shame that the best NASCAR driver of the past decade has that many asterisks next to his name not of his making. It'd be one thing if he and his team won those titles by cheating (which isn't unlikely, given his team and crew chief), but it's another if the sport's point system is so flawed that the champion doesn't even have to score the most overall points to be crowned champion. It's bad enough that the President of the United States can get elected that way thanks to the electoral college (2000 presidential election anyone?). But when it's done in a sport for the sole purpose of mimicking the NFL and trying to add unnecessary excitement at the end of the season at the expense of the credibility of the champions and the championship, that's going too far. 378. murb posted: 03.19.2013 - 12:57 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I've never liked the points reset and reseeding stuff either. And I can't believe that after all these years, they still haven't come up with a way to reward the driver who "won" the regular season by leading the points after the 26th race. I'm telling you, I think a Formula 1 style point system would be the way to go. The point battles over there have been great the past few years (with the exception of 2011 when Vettel just ran off with it), so I can only imagine that the same thing would happen in Nascar if they ran it, given the much closer competition in Nascar. Too bad it won't happen though. We're stuck with the Chase as long as the Brainless Administration is in town. 379. 83andJoe posted: 03.19.2013 - 1:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) -David Reutimann's 200th start -AJ Allmendinger's 175th start -Aric Almirola's 75th start -Jamie McMurray's 100th top 10 finish 380. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 1:51 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) In a perfect world JJ is the '04, '06, '08, '09, and '10 champ, Jeff is the '95, '97, '98, '01, and '07 champ, Kurt Busch is the ZERO time champ, and neither Carl nor Tony is the '11 champ. Let's wipe that one completely from the record books, or give it to Brad for his incredible turnaround for a Top 5 and winning Pocono on a broken ankle on the old surface in a 500 mile race. And while we are at it, we will give the '96 title to Dale for winning the pole on a road course with a broken collarbone and sternum, but he will still be a 7 timer, we will wipe the '91 points race from the record. And let's definitely give the '02 title to Sterling Marlin. I want to live in a world that had a season where Ward Burton won the Daytona 500 and Sterling was Winston Cup champion. Ok, I was kidding for most of that, but I am serious about '04 and '07. I didn't go off the rails until I started talking about 2011. 381. Paul posted: 03.19.2013 - 2:38 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) "I want to live in a world that had a season where Ward Burton won the Daytona 500 and Sterling was Winston Cup champion." You're preaching to the choir on that one, DSFF. Along with Bill Elliott winning the Brickyard 400, it sure would have been nice to see three "good ol' boys" win NASCAR's biggest titles in the same season before the invaders from the west coast and northeast finally took over the sport. The 2002 season truly would have marked the end of an era in NASCAR had Sterling Marlin not gotten hurt. And while you may have been joking around with some of those, it's not so unbelievable to think Dale might have had something or Gordon and Labonte in '96 had he not gotten hurt just because of how inconsistent Gordon was that season. Of course, if we went hypothetical in that case and thought of what might have happened had Dale not gotten hurt at all, then who knows what his '97-'00 seasons would have looked like as well. Darrell might still hold the record for modern era wins in a season had Dale been in better shape in '98, DJ might have had another challenger for his '99 crown, and maybe Bobby Labonte's magical 2000 season would have turned out the same way Mark Martin's '90 season did. I do think Carl Edwards was most deserving of the 2011 title as he basically had a repeat of Matt Kenseth's '03 season (including the one win at Las Vegas). And while he didn't really deserve it based on his overall points total, in a perfect world, Mark Martin would have won the title in '09 after being the runner-up four previous times, would have the title of "NASCAR Champion" to go along with his Hall of Fame resume, and would walk away John Elway-style and retire as the champion. (I know that Mark would have won the title in '90 if you minus his early season point penalty, but I agree with DSFF that his team might have gone too conservative too early and lost the title anyways.) Also in a perfect world: Bill Elliott would have won the '85 title, which would have gone down as one of the greatest championship seasons in NASCAR history. David Pearson would have run the full '76 schedule and given us an epic championship battle with fellow legend Cale Yarborough. Ernie Irvan would have never gotten hurt and would determine whether or not he was truly championship material in Davey Allison's former ride, and would have determined whether '89 was a fluke year for Dale, or if he really could be beaten in a season-long battle for the championship. Jeff Gordon wouldn't have had that awful month of August in '03 that sent him from 2nd in points to out of the championship hunt, and might have given Kenseth a serious challenge for the title. Oh, and Speedy Thompson would have heard voices in his head telling him to get out of the car in the 1956 season finale, allowing Herb Thomas to become the first 3-time NASCAR champion. Lee Petty would have never gotten hurt in '61 either. And Neil Bonnett would have survived his '94 Daytona 500 practice crash, immediately retired and went back to broadcasting, and NASCAR would have immediately went to work on taking proper steps in their safety advancement program, and no more deaths would occur in the sport because NASCAR would have been ahead of the curve for once in the name of safety. This also means that Adam Petty would still be caring on the Petty name in NASCAR today, we would have found out whether Kenny Irwin, Jr. just needed a few years in Cup before he finally showed his true potential, and Dale Earnhardt would just be a normal guy from Kannapolis, North Carolina that just so happens to be a 7-time NASCAR champion, rather than the "Saint" that he's portrayed as being today. I like this fantasy world much better than reality. 382. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.19.2013 - 5:04 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Am I the only one who thinks there was something fishy about the fall Texas race in 2007? Here's Jimmie farting around for 5th or 6th, and suddenly, without a pit stop, he's the fastest car on track, and as soon as he pulls along Kenseth for the lead, Kenseth just lets him go without a fight. WTF? I want somebody to do this analysis (I don't have the time nor the brains): Look at Jeff's 2007 season. When comparing all the major factors, including more stacked fields in the present era, is Jeff's 2007 season the greatest in the modern era? Also remember folks that one person has outright said and others have insinuated that the 48 team conspired and sabotaged the 24 team in the 07 Chase. 383. Watto posted: 03.19.2013 - 8:25 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Am I the only one who thinks there was something fishy about the fall Texas race in 2007? Here's Jimmie farting around for 5th or 6th, and suddenly, without a pit stop, he's the fastest car on track, and as soon as he pulls along Kenseth for the lead, Kenseth just lets him go without a fight. WTF?" The track was under darkness for the last 50 or 60 laps, maybe Jimmie Johnson's car was better in those track conditions. It's not like it was a rarity for him to make runs late in races. Also, to say Kenseth let him go without a fight would be ridiculous. That was a seriously great race for the win, and Kenseth clearly gave it his all despite having the noticeably slower car. "Also remember folks that one person has outright said and others have insinuated that the 48 team conspired and sabotaged the 24 team in the 07 Chase." Yeah, the 48 team sabotaged the 24 team and as a result the 24 team had a dreadful 5.1 average finish in the chase (which was better than his year's average) with 2 wins in 10 races after winning 4 in the first 26. The 48 didn't sabotage anything. They did, however, have an AMAZING chase... much like how Tony Stewart had an AMAZING chase in 2011. It's not a big giant conspiracy like you've tried to argue multiple times. 384. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.19.2013 - 10:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now compare his average finish to Jimmie's in the Chase. Doesn't compute when Jimmie couldn't do shit head-to-head with Jeff prior to Jeff passing Jimmie on the last lap at Talladega. From that point the resources were shifted to Jimmie's car, although that shop as a whole was kick-ass all season. Let's put it this way: you have $10. You can give each one $5, or you can give one of them $8 and the other $2. 385. cjs3872 posted: 03.19.2013 - 10:21 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) NicoRosbergFan, the 48 team did not sabotage the 24 team late in the 2007 season. What happened, according to that unnamed crew member was that the "information spicket" between the 48 and 24 teams was stepped on by Chad Knaus and information was no longer being passed on. I also think this happened during the Chase in 2004. Remember that Johnson won four times during that Chase while Jeff Gordon, that season's winningest driver through the first 26 races, did not win at all during the Chase and rarely even challenged for a win. It's obvious that when it comes time to race for a championship, Knaus comes from the Mark Donohue school of not sharing information, and he'd rather see another organization win a championship than an HMS team other than his win one. 2004 was proof of that. When Knaus stepped on the information sharing spicket in 2007, Gordon had an 80+ point lead halfway through the Chase, and lost by about that much. 386. David posted: 03.19.2013 - 10:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Smith's PEER rankings are finally out. Here are the top 10: 1. Brad Keselowski - 7.000 2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 5.000 3. Jimmie Johnson - 4.875 4. Matt Kenseth - 4.750 5. Carl Edwards - 4.500 5. Kasey Kahne - 4.500 7. Denny Hamlin - 2.625 8. Kyle Busch - 2.250 8. Ryan Newman - 2.250 10. Clint Bowyer - 1.875 There were 17 serviceable drivers out of 36 who ran the first four races. 387. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.19.2013 - 1:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Those PEER numbers are darned impressive. I think we know who the most talented driver in the sport is, assuming there is talent left to this. 388. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) As for Texas '07, to me, there is something fishy about EVERY Hendrick win. With their history, I don't trust hardly anything they accomplish. 389. 18fan posted: 03.19.2013 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Remember Jimmie had 4 fresh tires and Kenseth only had 2 in that battle at Texas in 2007, which was a great battle. I also find it interesting that Kasey Kahne has clearly had the best Hendrick car in the last two races. 390. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.19.2013 - 2:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Perhaps Hendrick is passing the gauntlet from one emotionless juggernaut to another 391. Benjamin Lowe posted: 03.19.2013 - 2:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Happy Birthday DSFF only one year away from the big 30. 392. Paul posted: 03.19.2013 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Happy birthday, DSFF! I think it's cool that you are turning 29 (one BKR Truck number) on the 19th day (another BKR Truck number) of the 3rd month (Dale's number). Your parents planned you out perfectly haha. 393. David posted: 03.19.2013 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Happy birthday, DSFF. As one fictional character said, "It's the big 2-9". 394. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks guys. 395. jabber1990 posted: 03.19.2013 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) today is my birthday too 23 damn im old 396. The Final Gear posted: 03.19.2013 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, you are the same age as Matt Kenseth ;) 397. Mr X posted: 03.19.2013 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Happy birthday DSFF and jabber1990, hopefully your birthdays are going better then my 20th is today as for the last 2 days at least I'm at home sick. My voice is half gone at the best of times, and as I mentioned earlier winter here just won't end. 398. David posted: 03.19.2013 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I just heard on the radio that left-handed people get angry quicker than right-handed people. I wonder if this applies to any NASCAR drivers (cough...Tony Stewart...cough cough). DSFF, according to Jayski, you share a birthday with Wyatt Dallenbach, Chris Graves, and Tom Umscheid. 399. jabber1990 posted: 03.19.2013 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) isn't Jr left handed? 400. seyb32 posted: 03.19.2013 - 5:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF- fair point about UNC-Duke. We shall try our best to sweep the season series for the next 14 years. Though I doubt it will happen. Duke's biggest problem is and will always be they live and die by the '3' If they are hitting 3's they could win a national title this year. If not, they could fall to Albany. But enough about that, this is a racing forum. Nico- Hopefully you don't truly hate the people who say that nascar drivers would kick our ass. I'm perfectly ok with you hating the comment, but if that's all it takes to hate someone I'd be a little worried. Especially because that would mean you hate me. I do, however, understand your point. One comment that I hate you can find almost weekly in this forum or in the comments under any racing story. That comment is from people who feel the need to write in every post that "Danica is talked about way too much." I'm not saying it's not true. She is talked about too much. Especially for someone who runs 30th every week. But don't people realize that they are just as guilty as the media when they go out of there way to complain about how much attention she gets. Yes, they are talking about her. So are you. Those people can't make the media stop, but they do have the power to stop talking about her themselves. 401. murb posted: 03.19.2013 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Happy Birthday DSFF, Jabber, and Mr X!!!! It is really hard to appreciate any Hendrick accomplishment without thinking of all the asterisks that go along with them. It's a shame, but they've done it to themselves. 402. murb posted: 03.19.2013 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) One other thing too... I'd like to send a very special "Screw You" to Kasey Kahne right now. I heard a radio clip from Sunday's race that really bugged me. When he was in the lead, he was pissed off at the 32 car (Terry Labonte) as he was lapping him, and Kasey said "I wanna slap that guy in the 32 in the face!!!!". Just because Terry wouldn't roll over for him. Granted, there have been many drivers in that 32 car recently, so he might not have known it was Terry. But I don't know, that really bugged me. It's like I was saying the other day. A good 85% of the current drivers are just assholes. I'm tired of the whining they do when someone won't roll over for them. I used to like Kasey, but now it seems as if he's falling into the category of "Hendrick Primadonna". And speaking of Terry Labonte (one of the few non-primadonnas Hendrick had), I hope Kasey doesn't accomplish half of what Terry did in that 5 car. 403. Mr X posted: 03.19.2013 - 6:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks murb 404. Smiff_2 posted: 03.19.2013 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How does everybody know DSFF's birthday? lol 405. jabber1990 posted: 03.19.2013 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) just a wild guess there was a 1:365 chance we would get it right 406. Paul posted: 03.19.2013 - 6:41 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Kasey made a similar comment about Terry's brother Bobby Labonte last season. I forget which race, but one time the two of them had pit stalls right next to each other, with Bobby's in front of Kasey's. Kasey pulled too far into his pit stall and Bobby, who came to his pit stall after Kasey, apparently didn't pull up too far in his own pit stall enough to satisfy "His Royal Highness" (probably because there was a car in the pit stall ahead of him who managed to enter his pit stall just fine). So Kasey said over his radio "Why don't you tell old Bobby Labonte to wake the f*** up!" Disrespectful little punk. 407. MStall41 posted: 03.19.2013 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (2) (2) @murb, Do you REALLY think the drivers in the 70s and 80s didn't yell similar things over the radio when they were frustrated with lapped traffic? At a tough and physical track like Bristol no less? Of course they did. You would get pissed too if you were trying to maintain your lead and guys who were much slower than you were holding you up. I get so sick of reading about how the drivers of today are this and that and the drivers from the 70s/80s/90s were "OMG SO MUCH NICER AND BETTER PEOPLE DURRRRRRRR!!!!111". Every era has its asshole drivers, it's nice guys, etc. This era is no different. For every Trevor Bayne theres a Kurt Busch, and for every Richard Petty there was a hothead like Darrell Waltrip or Rusty Wallace (who were both roundly despised in there day). 408. Mr X posted: 03.19.2013 - 6:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @404 a few weeks ago we got onto a discussion about famous NASCAR moments that happened on or near our birthdays at which point we discovered that me, DSFF, and jabber1990 all have the same birthday on March 19th. 409. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) The cool thing is the last Cup race run on March 19 was Spring Darlington race won by Ward Burton which is a great thing. Paul, good call on mentioning Awesome Bill's Brickyard win in '02 when Ward won the Daytona 500. Also Mark won the World 600 that year. If Sterling had won the Winsto Cup and Terry and Jeff could swap their '02 and '03 Southern 500 wins (it would have been more fitting had Jeff won the final Labor Day Southern 500 since Cale, Bobby, and him are the best ever in that race) it would have been THE banner year for sentimental faves. The '06 Spring Atlanta race was supposed to be run on March 19, but it was rained out and moved to Monday, ironically won by Kasey. Murb, the ironic thing about Kasey saying that is Terry is the one who won a championship with the 5 car and revived it after 4 non descript years with Ricky Rudd. The highlight? 1991 when he won at Darlington in the Spring (any Darlington win is a big deal) and finishing 2nd to Dale in one of the worst points battles ever. But overall I don't put too much in radio traffic unless it is directed at their own crews. Honestly, it is hard to really gauge Kasey personally. He might be the most vanilla driver out there. He makes on camera Jimmie Johnson look like Tim Richmond. And while I am on the irony train, I think Dos Equis should sponsor Kasey and let him do The Least Interesting Man In The World commercials. I don't always get breakthrough wins at Bristol, but when I do, my victory lane interview puts insomniacs on Red Bull, coffee, and cocaine to sleep. Stay boring my friends. 410. murb posted: 03.19.2013 - 7:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Do you REALLY think the drivers in the 70s and 80s didn't yell similar things over the radio when they were frustrated with lapped traffic? At a tough and physical track like Bristol no less?" I never said they didn't. But growing up through the years, I've heard time and time again stories about how guys would wreck each other on the track, beat each other up after the race, and then help work on each others' wrecked cars afterward. There was clearly a level of respect held back then that obviously isn't being practiced today. I'm sorry, but I don't think that someone like Kasey Kahne or Jimmie Johnson or Joey Logano or *insert about 7 or 8 other drivers here* would go help fix someone else's wrecked race car like that. It would cut into their manicure time. I give guys like Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman a hard time because of their tendency to come off as douchebags sometimes, but I admire their old school mentalities when it comes to the respect type stuff. I wish a lot of the other drivers would learn from them in that area. 411. Paul posted: 03.19.2013 - 7:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Landon Cassill is suing BK Racing for $205,000 in unpaid wages and race winnings. This explains why he didn't re-sign after last season, and might explain why that team's performance has declined since last season. 412. Paul posted: 03.19.2013 - 8:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Had Terry Labonte won the '02 Southern 500 instead of the '03 race, Bobby Hamilton won the '02 spring Talladega race instead of the '01 race, Rusty Wallace not been such a bad teammate and actually worked with Ryan Newman in the '02 Firecracker 400 instead of throwing a block on him and having a chance at winning, and Sterling Marlin not getting hurt and winning the 2002 Cup title, the 2002 season would have gone down as one of the greatest NASCAR seasons of all-time just based on the winners of the biggest races. Here's a quick rundown of the big race winners in this "perfect world" situation for anyone confused: Daytona 500: Ward Burton Darlington spring: Sterling Marlin Martinsville spring: Bobby Labonte Talladega spring: Bobby Hamilton Coca-Cola 600: Mark Martin Sonoma: Ricky Rudd (I always considered the Sonoma race to be the biggest NASCAR road course race.) Firecracker 400: Rusty Wallace (?) Brickyard 400: Bill Elliott Bristol night: Jeff Gordon Southern 500: Terry Labonte Richmond fall: Matt Kenseth 2002 Winston Cup champion: Sterling Marlin Best. Season. EVER! 413. JG24FanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 8:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And while we are at it, we will give the '96 title to Dale for winning the pole on a road course with a broken collarbone and sternum" How about Gordon gets co-Championship with Dale for winning at all four short-tracks,and sweeping Darlington and Dover,and winning Talladega and Pocono,and having two separate streaks of 6 straight Top 3 finishes, and a streak of 3 straight wins leading into that fateful fall Charlotte race. Earnhardt 7 Time Champ Gordon 6 Time Champ "When comparing all the major factors, including more stacked fields in the present era, is Jeff's 2007 season the greatest in the modern era?" Maybe. Why? 353 points ahead of Johnson(who had a career best 20 Top 5's and 10 wins)speaks for itself. Gordon had a Top Ten finish at every race track. Gordon had 3 separate streaks of 10 straight Top 12 finishes,including an era best of 7 straight Top 4 finishes,and an era best 21 Top 5's and 30!! Top 10's. He would have locked it up after Texas with two races to go having a 400 point lead. His wins make his season look even better. Southern 500(with a dying engine) Talladega sweep(12 career Plate wins) Phoenix race 1(76!) Pocono race 1(epic strategy+epic driving) Fall Charlotte(How the hell did he win this!?!) Gordon's two runner-up seasons are better than most other drivers Championship seasons. Especially 1996,in which he had better season than he had in 1995, but due to multiple car failures and NOT mental mistakes,he lost. 414. Paul posted: 03.19.2013 - 9:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "but due to multiple car failures and NOT mental mistakes, he lost." Bingo. Heck, he might have won the '96 title had the current welfare system been in place back then, as he had a fast race car by the end of the Rockingham race, but couldn't get his lap back because it was actually really hard to get laps back in the pre-Lucky Dog/wave around years. He finished 12th (first car one lap down) and Terry finished 3rd. Is someone going to tell me that Jeff Gordon, in his "Refuse to Lose" years with Ray Evernham and the Rainbow Warriors in his corner, couldn't gain nine positions and pass his ultra-conservative teammate for 3rd place had he been on the lead lap? I'm saying it right now. Under the present-day welfare system, Jeff Gordon wins the '96 title. It would have been very close (about 8 points), but he would have won it and would have broken Cale Yarborough's record of four straight overall points championships. 415. JG24FanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) This past race is another classic example of WHY Gordon doesn't already have a Hundred+ wins. I hate that Matt Kenseth was involved as well. Hoping California makes up for what has been a garbage start to the season for Gordon. Gordon has now led 7957 laps on Short-Tracks. Tony Stewart has an active second best of 3,513 and Johnson is third with 3,187. That's a gap of 4,444 laps led! 416. cjs3872 posted: 03.19.2013 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Murb (#402), I heard that communication on last night "NASCAR Race Hub" and thought "did he say what I think he just said", because Terry is not someone you want to mess with. Even if he got mad at him, Dale, Sr., arguably the toughest driver of them all, would never do anythng like that. Sure he would get into him on the track, but not in any other way. And Kasey is not like that at all, but anyone could make a comment like that in the heat of the battle. And it's not like Terry could get completely out of the way at that moment. If he had not gotten in Kasey's way, he would have gotten in Brad's. And I also think his crew chief, or maybe even Rick Hendrick himself might have told him who it was in the #32 car afterward. And DSFF, you say that Terry brought the #5 team back after four non-descript years with Ricky Rudd. I think you should keep counting because it was more like nine non-descript years after 1984. In fact, other than his 1986 Daytona 500 win, Geoff Bodine accomplished next-to-nothing in that car after the 1984 season, and then Ricky Rudd did his usual one win per season routine in that car for four years, so after the 1986 Daytona 500, that car won seven times in eight years prior to Terry Labonte's arrival in 1994. And MStall41, you talk about drivers who are (expletive deleted) back in the 70s and 80s, and you forgot the biggest one of them all, a guy named A.J. Foyt, who nobody really liked but everyone rightfully respected and knew they could race with. Of all the real jerks in the sport, Foyt easily tops them all. And Bobby Unser and Gordon Johncock weren't especially liked either, but both were highly respected competitors who everyone that raced against them knew the could trust at high speeds when they ran near them. 417. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, '02 is still the best year for sentimental favorites in modern era Grand Slam (Daytona 500, World 600, Southern 500, Winston 500 pre '94, Brickyard 400 '94 to present) races with Ward, Mark, and Bill winning Daytona, Charlotte, and Indy. Here is another interesting topic: Most surprising year. Easily 2011. Daytona 500 had 1st time winner in his 2nd race Trevor Bayne, the Southern 500 went to first time winner and tiny FRR driver Regan Smith, the World 600 wasn't a huge surprise as big race specialist Harvick won (no driver with wins at least 3 Grand Slam events has less career wins), then first time winner and running punchline due to his family connections Paul Menard won Indy. But I think 1986 is the second most surprising. Geoff Bodine, winless the previous seson and with 3 total career wins entering the Daytona 500 (2 on short tracks, one road course) won and outran Bill Elliott who was the runaway pole sitter again who killed the SuperSpeedways the previous year. Although it might not be a surprise the legendary Bobby Allison won his hometown Winston 500, the fact it was nearly 2 years since his previous win (the '84 World 600) and he was with the lightweight Stavola Brothers was surprising. It might not seem surprising points leader Dale Earnhardt won the World 600, but those were his bulldozer years, so him holding up for 600 miles, and winning it by patiently letting the race come to him, I doubt he was the favorite in that one. And then the toughest race, the race which requires the most finesse, was won by Irvan before Irvan, Tim Richmond. Least surprising: 1979.the races were thrilling, the list of winners was not surprising. Petty wins his 6th Daytona 500, Bobby Allison who wins everywhere wins the Winston 500 for Bud Moore who won 3 in a row at Dega with Buddy Baker a few years earlier, Darrell won his second consecutive World 600 continuing a 3 year stretch where he won Darlington twice, Atlanta once, and Michigan once, and David Pearson won his 3rd Southern 500 in 4 years substituting for an injured Earnhardt which allowed him to be reunited with Jake Elder whom he won the '68 and '69 championships with. 418. JG24FanForever posted: 03.19.2013 - 11:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My Top 25 favorite Racing drivers of All-time! t1. Jeff Gordon t1. David Pearson -3. John Force -4. Dale Earnhardt -5. Fernando Alonso -6. Jim Clark -7. Jackie Stewart -8. Richard Petty -9. Don "The Snake" Prudhomme 10. Terry "The Iceman" Labonte 11. "Big Daddy" Don Garlits 12. Curtis Turner 13. Tony Schumacher 14. Bobby Allison 15. Tim Flock 16. Michael Schumacher 17. Kyle Busch 18. Red Byron 19. Ned Jarrett 20. Bob Glidden 21. Lee Shepherd 22. Junior Johnson 23. Larry Dixon 24. Blaine Johnson 25. Matt Kenseth This list is flexible and is likely to slightly change over time. 419. Paul posted: 03.20.2013 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Haha JG24, didn't you have Jimmie Johnson ranked 2nd on your favorite drivers list the last time you posted this? Here's my Top 25 all-time Favorite Drivers list (subject to change): 1. Jeff Gordon 2. Sterling Marlin 3. Ward Burton 4. Dale Jarrett 5. Tim Richmond 6. Bobby Allison 7. Bill Elliott 8. Lee Petty 9. Curtis Turner 10. Bobby Labonte 11. John Andretti 12. Michael Schumacher 13. Richard Petty 14. Terry Labonte 15. Tim Flock 16. Matt Kenseth 17. Kurt Busch 18. Dale Earnhardt 19. Lewis Hamilton 20. Trevor Bayne 21. Brad Keselowski 22. Fernando Alonso 23. Sam Hornish, Jr. 24. Mark Martin 25. Jenson Button 420. David posted: 03.20.2013 - 12:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, aren't you forgetting that Bobby Hillin, Jr. won the summer Talladega race in 1986? 421. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.20.2013 - 12:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Glad I'm not the only one who loves John Force. His personality and passion for the sport is infectious. And he is a FIFTEEN time champ, 10 of which were consecutive, and won his most recent one after his 60th birthday. That is a MAN. "I think you should keep counting because it was more like nine non-descript years after 1984." That is true. Geoff never clicked with HMS. Actually he never really clicked with anyone. He went to Junior Johnson in '90, won 3 races and finished 3rd in points then was shown the door a year later. My racing/beer drinking buddy went to school with Tim Brewer and has kept in touch through the years. He said Tim hated Geoff as much as anyone he ever worked with, even more than Jeff Hammond (he said he enjoyed working with Bill but Tim Richmond was his favorite to work with). So yeah, Terry took the #5 from mediocre to three elite level years in a row ('94-'96). "Terry is not someone you want to mess with" Not so sure about that one. Seriously, how could Terry go the rest of '99 and all of '00 without planting Dale once? After the Rockingham '96 incident where Dale knocked the piss out of Bobby Hamilton who was driving for The King, Dale went to Dale Inman (still a high ranking Petty Enterprises member at the time) about a month later and asked "how much longer you gonna be mad at me?" to which his fellow HOFer replied "How much longer are you planning on living?". Coo Coo Marlin threatened publicly to kick Dale's ass after an incident with Sterling in the Spring '87 Bristol race (patience in traffic?). Even Ward Burton admitted years later that he bumped shoulders with Dale in the 2001 Daytona 500 pre race and that he planned on wrecking him at some point that season for the Homestead '00 race, an underrated "Man, Dale is a real jerk out there" race. In that race, the second to last race of the year, and needing a good performance to keep Bobby from clinching a week early, his car was pitiful, he got lapped a lot, and got frustrated, ultimately wrecking Ward and his old rival Rudd, getting the final shot in their rivalry. That showed Dale still cared about not losing (the asshole is half full take) or was still as much of a jerk on the track as ever (the asshole is half empty take). Screw it, here is the Top 5 "Dale, did you really need to do that?" races. 5) Rockingham 1996: A feel good underdog driver Bobby Hamilton and the re-emerging Petty Enterprises and famous #43 had an outstanding run sent down the commode. 4) Homestead 2000: See above. 3) Bristol Night 1999: I didn't mean to wreck him, I just meant to hit him in the bumper hard enough that he would spin out rattle his cage. 2) Bristol Night 1995: The intention was still the same as it was 4 years later. Just cause it didn't cost Terry the race this time makes it no less of a dick move. Throw in that he started the evening wrecking his buddy and toughest rival Rusty (and getting a water bottle upside his head for it afterwards), and also wrecked the struggling Melling #9 car (I think Lake Speed was driving), and that was a bad night. 1) Richmond 1986: Yes it was the less than lovable Darrell, and yes it was a slow short track on the old Fairgrounds, but hooking somebody head on into the wall is THE biggest asshole thing you can do in racing. Why didn't he just slow up and wreck him in the corner? Because he was sending a message. For better or worse, that moment and the rest of that season marked the end of Darrell's era and the start of the Earnhardt dynasty. And Dale knew he could shove Terry around like that and never have any consequences. Is that part of the reason Dale has 5 more championships and over 50 more wins than Terry? Of course. In racing, for the most part, nice guys finish last. Look at the dominators of the sport. Petty, Earnhardt, Gordon, Johnson, and hopefully Brad in the future, they are not nice guys on the track. 422. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.20.2013 - 12:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "DSFF, aren't you forgetting that Bobby Hillin, Jr. won the summer Talladega race in 1986?" That came after Bobby's win that year. I should have specified: those were surprises at the time. Looking back, knowing that Hillin would win that race and Bobby would win two more SuperSpeedway races for the Stavolas, and knowing Dale would win two more 600s, it doesn't seem so surprising. But they had to be somewhat surprising at the time. I should have specified that. "ou talk about drivers who are (expletive deleted) back in the 70s and 80s" I just gotta ask: have you ever seen Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back? 423. murb posted: 03.20.2013 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ah man, temptations... My 25 Favorites of All Time 1. Alex Zanardi 2. Bobby Hamilton 3. Dan Wheldon 4. Jeff Burton 5. Terry Labonte 6. Tony Kanaan 7. Bill Elliott 8. Mark Webber 9. Scott Sharp 10. Johnny Benson 11. Randy Lajoie 12. Alan Kulwicki 13. Jamie McMurray 14. Kevin Harvick 15. Helio Castroneves 16. Mark Martin 17. Patrick Carpentier 18. Ward Burton 19. Ron Hornaday Jr 20. Matt Kenseth 21. Bryan Herta 22. Kyle Petty 23. Rusty Wallace 24. Steve Park 25. Casey Atwood 424. murb posted: 03.20.2013 - 12:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I just gotta ask: have you ever seen Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back?" lol, Good movie. I've always liked Clerks better though. 425. cjs3872 posted: 03.20.2013 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, all the crown jewel wins in 2011 were major surprises, except possibly for Jimmie Johnson's win in the Talladega spring race. Sure Bayne's, Smith's, and Menard's wins were shockers, but Kevin Harvick's win in the Coca-Cola 600 was a big surprise as well. Sure, Harvick's always been at his best in the big races, but he's always been terrible at Charlotte, which was what made that such a big surprise, though it came as a result of seemingly everyone running out of fuel on that last GWC. Let's not forget who else finished in the top five. Do the names David Ragan, Joey Logano, and A.J. Allmendinger ring a bell, because they all finished in the top five in that race due to all the top guys running out of fuel on that last GWC. And when I said that Terry Labonte isn't someone you want to mess with, I was referring to outside the car, not on the race track. He was, more or less, a punching bag for Earnhardt, as was Bill Elliott to a lesser degree. It might have been different had Labonte had the attitude of fellow Texan A.J. Foyt. 426. Talon64 posted: 03.20.2013 - 1:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "This past race is another classic example of WHY Gordon doesn't already have a Hundred+ wins. I hate that Matt Kenseth was involved as well. Hoping California makes up for what has been a garbage start to the season for Gordon. Gordon has now led 7957 laps on Short-Tracks. Tony Stewart has an active second best of 3,513 and Johnson is third with 3,187. That's a gap of 4,444 laps led!" That puts Gordon 11th all time, 5th in the modern era and 2nd during his career (1993-present, Rusty Wallace ranks 1st at 8,544 so he's certainly within reach of being the leader in short track laps led for his era). 427. Paul posted: 03.20.2013 - 1:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, making a top 25 all-time list is tough. I saw a few guys from murb's list that I always really liked (Steve Park, Randy LaJoie, Dan Wheldon) that I forgot to include on my list. Should have done a top 50 list just in case haha. The only time I ever saw Terry Labonte fight back on the race track was at the '03 June Pocono race when he flat out dumped Jeff Green (who was oddly enough driving for DEI) on the second straightaway after Green threw a block on him, sending Green head-on into the dirt bank that was put in place to add support to the inside guardrail after Steve Park (also driving the #1 DEI car) pretty much destroyed it the previous July. I believe that wreck resulted in a broken tailbone for Green, and I don't think he's been the same driver since that crash. Speaking of Geoff Bodine, I was watching the end of the 2002 Firecracker 400 earlier today and I saw that he and brother Todd ran into each other and almost wrecked in front of the field with about five laps to go. We need more exciting on-track drivers like those guys in NASCAR today. Other than Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., there aren't any big name drivers with that "bring back the steering wheel or the trophy" mentality nowadays. And although Bodine's tenure in the #5 car wasn't great, you've gotta admit that that Levi Garrett car that he drove from '85-'89 was one of the most recognizable paint schemes of the '80s, and perhaps in the history of the sport. Whenever I see that car, I think of Geoff Bodine, even though Ricky Rudd drove that car in '90 before Tide came on board as primary sponsor. 428. Sean posted: 03.20.2013 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "There aren't any big name drivers with that "bring back the steering wheel or the trophy" mentality nowadays." Like them or hate them, I don't see how the Busch brothers don't fit this... 429. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.20.2013 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The CroMax scheme is finally out. It is the DuPont black with orange flame scheme exactly, only it says CroMax Pro where is used to say DuPont. Seeing as how CroMax apparently has no logo, just its name, I guess it is a good thing they didn't bring out the rainbow scheme. It worked because of the oval DuPont logo which went with the contour of the rainbow. So had they brought out the classic, but put "CroMax Pro" underneath the rainbow stripes, that would be pretty lame. I can live with this. 430. Paul posted: 03.20.2013 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I should have specified that there aren't many drivers today with that type of mentality to avoid confusion. Also, rainbows are more badass than flames (or at least in NASCAR). 431. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.20.2013 - 5:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Rainbows are more successful than flames lol. I actually like the black with the orange and bright red flames. It only accounts for one of Jeff's wins (Pocono '11) but still looks great. 432. cjs3872 posted: 03.20.2013 - 8:57 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) And DSFF, that was the win that tied him for the modern-era record in wins with Darrell Waltrip. Yet it semed that nobodyelse was concernd about him in that race, even Carl Edwards who was in the pit studio after mechanical problems knocked him out never mentioned Gordon, even when it was obvious he was coming to the front. But to paraphrase what Keith Jackson said about Bobby Unser in the 1975 Indianapolis 500, Jeff Gordon became an "ominous figure to those running up front", because he had not spent any time up there, yet when it was time, there he was. If you recall, shifting returned to Pocono in that race, and it seemed that Gordon was using that as a trump card, because he was keeping pace with the front runners without shifting, so he had an extra 1-2 MPH for the end of that race he didn't show in the first 400 miles, and when he needed it, he used it to basically overwhelm the field when it counted. And about the only person that thought Gordon would win was Wally Dallenbach, Jr., who knew of Gordon's road racing prowess, since they were teammates for a year and a half at Gordon's absolute peak. He apparently knew that Gordon had a trump card in that race, a fact that became clear when he was keeping up without shifting, and also knew that with shifting returning to Pocono, Dallenbach felt Gordon and the others who benefitted when they shifted at Pocono would be at an advantage, and of course, he was right, proving once again that he may be the best analyst in racing today (I think he is), and the best since the passing of Benny Parsons. 433. Paul posted: 03.20.2013 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) TNT has probably the two best color commentators in the sport on their team, them being Wally Dallenbach and Kyle Petty. They also have a really good pit reporter cast with Ralph Sheheen, Marty Snider, Matt Yocum, and Chris Neville, as well as Larry McReynolds who acts in a similar role as Jeff Hammond on Fox. TNT's problem is that they don't have a very good play-by-play man to call the action. Adam Alexander is very good on SPEED Center and does a good job during TNT's pre-race show, but he's just not very good at calling the action as it happens. I don't know why they don't just make Sheheen the play-by-play man, as he's already on their crew as a pit reporter. He does a great job calling the action on SPEED's Supercross coverage and I though did a good job back in 2009 when he replaced Bill Weber as the play-by-play man. Seems pretty logical to just have he and AA swap roles, but for whatever reason they haven't done that. 434. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.21.2013 - 6:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's a shame to watch the road courses deteriorate into an everyday oval race. I used to love watching the aces take turdmobiles (like the 32 Frank Stoddard car) and drive to top-10s and top-5s. It's a shame because these current guys aren't that good; they run another series and are as good as field-fillers. I hope this new car puts the "ringer" back in "road racing." 435. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.21.2013 - 8:27 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Gordon wins by scheme The rainbow scheme: a friggin shit ton The blue car with pink flames: not quite a shit ton, but still a lot The AARP car: 3 Any Pepsi scheme: 3 or 4 The underrated silver National Guard scheme: 1 Black with orange flames: 1 That silver 20th anniversary DuPont scheme that should have been the rainbow throwback: 1 I did a lot of research for this one. 436. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.21.2013 - 10:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Every single one of those wins in the AARP car, the National Guard, black and orange DuPont, and the 20th anniversary were all, interestingly, great "Jeff Gordon: I never say die" moments. 437. Bronco posted: 03.21.2013 - 11:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The underrated silver National Guard scheme: 1" Even more underrated was the green/yellow Nicorette scheme, which may have been the only primary sponsor for whom he didn't win a race. 438. cjs3872 posted: 03.21.2013 - 11:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wonder, NicoRosbergFan, if the fact the ringers don't seem to be more competitive has something to do with the full-time Cup drivers simply being better on the road courses now, as a group, than they ever have before. And remember that the "ringers" or hired guns, so to speak, are at a disadvantage because they're not used to the cars, and especially the weight of the cars. I don't know who it was, but about 10-12 years ago, a road race veteran once said that the hardest thing he ever tried to do was race a stock car on a road course, simply because of the weight of the car and how slow it was, especally turning, not to mention the fact that NASCAR cars still use the old style stick shift. I just think the NASCAR drivers are better road racers now than ever before, and I think Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have something to do with that, because the others could no longer let Gordon and Stewart destroy them on road courses, so they had to get better, which they did. And as for the fact that these road course racing specialists can't run higher in the field in cars that usually don't contend, I think that's an indictment on the teams more than the drivers. But there's another side to this. With renowned road course aces Juan Montoya and Marcos Ambrose now full-time in the Cup Series, other teams realize that hiring a specialist may not have as good a chance because of the experience they have. After all, you would think that having a road caouse ace in one of thecars that usually runs at the back of the field would help that team in the point standings and help it get into races later on that they might otherwise fail to qualify for due to their low standing in the owner points. But also, there's not as much need for that since there's not that many good cars in the series any more and there's not usually more than 44-46 cars that even attempt to qualify for a race any more. And also, I make it that there are only 20-24 competitve cars in the series now, compared to the 30-35 cometitive cars there were when you had more road course specialists that would give the lower teams a boost. In short, there's not much need for the road course specialists any more because the teams that would benefit the most have no interest in hiring them. And by the way, I would hate to see someone like Ambrose get in the Chase just because of his road racing prowess, because if he or Montoya win both road course events, they're almost an automatic qualifier for the Chase, because they're almost assured of being in the top 20 (the other Wild Card qualification), if for no other reason because there are just not that many good teams any more. For instance, as bad as Jeff Burton and Jamie McMurray were, they were battling for 19th last year, with Burton getting 19th and McMurray tying for 20th. And Montoya was worse, finishing in 22nd and Ambrose wasn't much better, finishing in 18th. But once you get beyond about 15th, there simply isn't much any more, so finishing in the top 20 in the championship standings isn't the accomplishment it was even 5-7 years ago. 439. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.21.2013 - 2:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Remember the in car shots of Ricky Rudd's footwork on the road courses ? Those were cool !!! 440. joey2448 posted: 03.21.2013 - 2:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Soooo...how's everyone brackets doing on day one? 441. NicoRosbergFan posted: 03.21.2013 - 3:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I did point out, cjs, that NASCAR drivers run worse than ever before in history when running a different series on a road course. 442. David posted: 03.21.2013 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Soooo...how's everyone brackets doing on day one?" Not too good, I'm afraid. I whiffed on all four of the play-in games. Not only that, but I picked Middle Tennessee to advance to the round of 32 and Pittsburgh to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. The only consolation for the Pittsburgh loss is that they lost to Wichita State. I live near Wichita, relatively. 443. cjs3872 posted: 03.21.2013 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not sure I agree NicoRosbergFan. Here's why. You have guys like Stewart, McMurray, Johnson, and even Dale, Jr. that have at least held their own when they ran in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Jeff Gordon didn't do very good (which is putting it mildly) because of the rainy conditions that plagued the one running of the 24 Hours of Daytona he was in. And several NASCAR drivers have run in the companion races with the Grand-Am series at Watkins Glen and even Indy last year, and I think they didn't do that bad, except for Juan Montoya at Indy, when he ran over everything but the kitchen sink. Saying that, when the NASCAR drivers of the 60s and 70s went to Indy, they generally fared poorly, though there were exceptions. Paul Goldsmith had some good runs (5th in 1959 and the most forgotten about 3rd place in race history, in 1960), and we know how good Donnie Allison did. But Donnie was the only one that had a good team behind him (A.J. Foyt Racing). LeeRoy Yarbrough did not fare very well in his Indy starts, Cale Yarborough was competitive only once, running as high as fifth in 1967 before spinning out twice (once under caution) and taking a total of three cars out with him, and Bobby Allison drove for Penske before they became the Penske we know (though we never knew what he would have done in 1973 since he went out on the very first lap with a broken connecting rod bolt). I actually think the NASCAR drivers would do okay if they had competitve equipment, something the NASCAR drivers that did the Indianapolis 500 through 1975 rarely had. 444. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.21.2013 - 6:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fan voting for the Allstar race has started . Don't forget to vote as many times as you like. They have a nice list of drivers to choose from . Who knows , the winner may be a surprise for a change . Boy oh boy oh boy and jeepers , it's gonna be a long year. 445. cjs3872 posted: 03.21.2013 - 7:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They may as well not have the voting this year, Richie61NYfan, because we all know who's going to win it, not that I think it should matter, because it doesn't because nobody should ever be voted into an All-Star Race. It should be, as Sid Collins referred to Indy in the 1965 Indianapolis 500 film, "only for the best". The drivers that should be in the All-Star Race are the winners of the previous year's races, as well as that year's coming up to the All-Star Race, all drivers from the previous year's Chase and the top five in that year's point standings prior to the All-Star Race, previous All-Star Race winners from the previous ten years, and any fully active series champion, with extra spots coming from the top finishers from the preliminary race, with the winner automatically qualifying, and if the starting field hasn't reached 20, then the next-highest finishers until the field reaches 20, though that would be highly doubtful under my system. And any crown jewel race winner since the 2010 Coca-Cola 600 would also be eligible, though that might clutter the field this year, given the upsets that occurred that occurred in these races in 2011. (Two of these drivers are not even competing in the Cup Series full-time this year.) For instance, here would be the group of eligible drivers for this year's event under my system and their most recent qualification: 1. Brad Keselowski (2012 champion) 2. Clint Bowyer (2012 race winner) 3. Jimmie Johnson (2013 race winner) 4. Kasey Kahne (2013 race winner) 5. Greg Biffle (2012 race winner) 6. Denny Hamlin (2012 race winner) 7. Matt Kenseth (2013 race winner) 8. Kevin Harvick (2013 race winner) 9. Tony Stewart (2012 race winner) 10. Jeff Gordon (2012 race winner) 11. Martin Truex, Jr. (2012 Chaser) 12. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (2012 race winner) 13. Carl Edwards (2013 race winner) 14. Kyle Busch (2012 race winner) 15. Ryan Newman (2012 race winner) 16. Joey Logano (2012 race winner) 17. Marcos Ambrose (2012 race winner) 18. Kurt Busch (2010 Coca-Cola 600 winner, All-Star Race XXVI winner) 19. Paul Menard (2011 Brickyard 400 winner) 20. Trevor Bayne (2011 Daytona 500 winner) 21. Regan Smith (2011 Southern 500 winner) 22. Jamie McMurray (2010 Brickyard 400 winner) 23. Bobby Labonte (2000 NASCAR champion) 24. Mark Martin (All-Star Race XXI Winner) So as of now, under my qualification system, 24 drivers would currently be eliglble, with a 25th coming from the preliminary to the All-Star Race, with possibly more to come. Even so, there would be big-name drivers not eligible. Officially, all those drvers listed above are eligible, execpt for Menard, Bayne, Truex, Smith, and Labonte, so by my count, 19 drivers are in. And we already know that Danica's going to win the fan vote, so she will join the winner of the preliminary race along with the 19 already eligible in the All-Star Race, as long as she dosn't wreck in the preliminary. 446. joey2448 posted: 03.21.2013 - 7:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yea, David, I had no. 11 Bucknell over no. 6 Butler, and no. 13 New Mexico St over no. 4 St. Louis (you gotta pick a few upsets), and hasn't worked out quite as well, but there's still a lotta games to play, and at least my Final Four isn't ruined! I have Oregon over Kansas St. and Miami over Kansas in the Final Four, and I have the U winning it all, 76-70! 447. murb posted: 03.21.2013 - 8:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree CJS, the fan vote doesn't need to exist. I first realized it was phony when Logano (someone whose fan base is made up of 25 teenage girls and no one else) won it. It's just a way for them to get in all of the people who are their cash cows (which Logano was when he was sponsored by Home Depot, which was one of Nascar's top sales partners). 448. David posted: 03.21.2013 - 8:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) joey2448, it's a good thing I am not the kind of person to place bets on this, or to enter pools, because I would be losing big-time. I don't follow college basketball outside of March (though I do research before I make my picks). I actually picked Pittsburgh to advance all the way to the Elite Eight (ouch), picked Davidson over Marquette, and Oklahoma State over Oregon. 449. The Sound posted: 03.21.2013 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) Well, I just discovered this site a couple of months ago, and I am extremely impressed. I thoroughly enjoy reading all the conversations on here for every race, and it doesn't hurt to see such a high proportion of Gordon fans on here. I've been a NASCAR fan since 2002. I remember watching the Daytona 500, and I distinctly remember Jeff Gordon having the best car but getting spun out near the end. Maybe that's why I ended up rooting for him. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe I jinxed Jeff. He hasn't won a championship since I began rooting for him. Anyways, I'll enjoy these last three to five years of his career. It's a shame for me to admit, but at this point there's almost no question that he's not the same driver he once was. However, I still hold out hope that he will embark on a championship run, one that I can actually experience as an active fan. Oh, and when he races his final race, and I don't care what the sponsor is, he must do the rainbow paint scheme. There is no question. 450. David posted: 03.21.2013 - 9:31 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) The Racing-Reference community should band together and vote for Bill Elliott or Terry Labonte. That was a very Benjamin Lowe-esque statement. 451. Matt G posted: 03.21.2013 - 10:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So since we're coming up on Fontana, a track I absolutely HATE, I was wondering what tracks would get everyone's vote as the worst on the current Cup schedule. I'll start... 1)Fon-fooking-tana. I really dislike everything about this track. The racing is boring, the market is terrible, and the track is like a less exciting version of Michigan in every way possible. I'm also still not thrilled with the idea that this track deserved the Labor Day weekend race more than Darlinton (How did that idea work out Brian?) The only good thing about this track is that they no longer go there twice. I hope that someday soon when there's nobody around to get hurt, a nice big earthquake splits this piece of trash in two. 2) Kentucky. Once again the racing here is boring enough to give people narcolepsy, but this track gets a special spot on my list because of the 2011 parking disaster that occured during the 2011 race. How a facility begging for a Cup race as long as they were can so totally and completely screw something like that up so bad is beyond me. 3) Chicago. It's certainly possible that I'm being to hard here because this track has had some exciting finishes but overall I'm not impressed with the racing here. In addition, I think this track illustrates some of the biggest problems with the current schedule. "Oh what's that? - This track is near a big market? - Let's give it a date. That didn't work out? - Give it a night race? - That still didn't work out? - Have it hit leadoff in the Chase!" It just feels like more of a marketing event than a championship event. The track isn't even in Chicago (It's in a farm field an hour away) but Nascar goes out of it's way to make you more aware that they are in that market while they do nothing to spice up the racing on the track. Like Fontana and Kentucky, it's part of a run of seven consecutive tracks added to the schedule (Texas, Fontana, Vegas [which very nearly made my list], Homestead, Chicago, Kansas, and Kentucky) that are that underwhelming, unimaginative, cookie cutter type. Speaking of this, when's the last time a TRULY GOOD TRACK has been added to the schedule? That's pretty sad to think about. In any case, that's my top (bottom) three. What's yours? 452. cjs3872 posted: 03.21.2013 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well murb, at least Logano won't have to rely on it this year, as he won a place in it this year's race last year with is win at Pocono. Actually I think the fan vote was orignially intended to get popular veteran drivers, such as Kenny Wallace, Ken Schrader, and Bobby Labonte in the field, but unfortunately, it has become a way for guys who have never really been successful to get in the field, usually through connections to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (In fact, that's how Kenny Wallace got the fan vote, if I remember right.) Other than the year that Kasey Kahne got it, there's never been a good car that got in the All-Star Race via that route. But even so, if a driver got in via the fan vote, that means he didn't deserve to get in. I can remember when 4, 5, 6 cars got in through the preliminary in the mid-90s, and even the fourh, fifth, and sixth place finshers in those years deserved it more than the driver that gets he fan vote does now on most occasions. That being said, if someone like Martin Truex, Jr. doesn't get in and Danica does (unless she wins Talldega), that means that she will knock a deserving driver out of the race by basically doing nothing. Truex deserves to be in the All-Star Race because he made the Chase last year, since I think every driver in the Chase should automatically get in the following year's All-Star Race, because he proved that he was one of the best, whether or not he won a race. That's seen in the list of drivers who would currently be eligible using my eligibility format in post #445. Any driver that makes the Chase should get rewarded, and getting an automatic berth in the following year's All-Star Race is certainly a way to reward making the Chase. In fact, on that eligibility list of mine, the 12 Chasers are listed over all the others for specifically that reason. I don't like the Chase, never have, and never will, but getting into that exclusive club for that particular year mean you were one of the best and that should be rewarded. 453. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.22.2013 - 12:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fontana has actually improved in recent years due to the surface wear and shortening the race to 400 miles (I'm not one of those "all the races are too long" folks, I just think a few are, and I would actually like to see Dover go back to the 500 mile marathons). But they did have some of the worst racing for a while. I'm actually very in terested to how the new cars works there. It seems to be a better big track car. 454. cjs3872 posted: 03.22.2013 - 1:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, I'm for somewhat longer races, but only at certain tracks. For instance, I don't mind the idea of 500-mile races at places like Fontana or Michigan, but please, not Dover because it took forever and a day to run 500 miles there. 400 miles is good for places like that because the race pace is slower. That was one of the problems with running 500 mile races at Pocono. The track size is good for 500 mile races, but the race pace there has always been too slow for a 500-mile race. Except for Darlington, there should never be another 500-mile race on a track shorter than 1.5 miles in length. And as for the racing at Fontana, it's never really been that good and it was absolutely dreadful last year. In fact, if not for the rain, it might have run caution-free, and without much action. And I think it's going to be worse because of the new car. I think there may be another spate of blown tires, but this time, they'll be blowing out at 200-205 MPH, instead of 140-145 at Bristol last Sunday, which could prove to have devastating consequences, and they'll be going to fast to produce any competitve racing after 3-5 laps of the restart, and they'll be pitting every 35 laps/70 miles for fuel, even if there aren't any tire problems. 455. Paul posted: 03.22.2013 - 1:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I won't be able to see the Cup race at Fontana this Sunday, but from what I've seen so far this season with the new car, I predict that it will be a matter of survival for the drivers. It won't be enough to have a fast race car, track position will be crucial and we may see some teams with 7th-15th place cars gamble on pit strategy and get to the front because of how hard it will be to pass with these cars at these speeds. The racing will be much closer than typical races at Fontana, but I think some teams will find that passing won't be as easy as it looks because of the way cars react to the car in front of them due to the air and the size of the rear spoilers. And getting back to my point of this being a survival race, we've already seen teams blow out tires on an intermediate track (Las Vegas), short track (Bristol), and a "tweener" track (Phoenix). Fontana as we all know is bigger than all of them (about the size of Las Vegas and Bristol put together, as a matter of fact), but has unusually small corner banking than tracks of its size, with 14 degrees of banking in the corners (six degrees less than Las Vegas, about 12 degrees less than Bristol, and only two degrees more than the largest banking of the relatively flat Phoenix track). With all of these factors heading into Fontana, with the unusual number of tire blow outs this season, the questions still lingering with the new car, the high speeds, and the relatively small banking for such a large track, we may see even more tire blow outs than we have already. What's even more confusing are the drivers that have been taken out due to tire blow outs. We saw last week three of the best drivers at not wearing out their equipment suffer tire blow outs, those being Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Denny Hamlin; and that was on a shorter track at slower speeds with more degrees of banking than Fontana. Don't be surprised if more top teams with (relatively) non-aggressive drivers suffer the same fate this weekend. Of course, don't be surprised if the opposite happens, with some of the top teams taking extra precautions in their car setups to ensure nothing fails in the suspension of the car. One thing is for sure though: This may be the most anticipating race at Fontana since it first came onto the NASCAR schedule because of the unknowns that it has with the new car. It might not be a great race, but it could have some interesting moments depending on how well the cars hold up, if the cars can pass each other at these high speeds, and if pit strategy plays any part in the final running order. As for 500-mile races, I always though Michigan should be a 500-mile race, as it may be the most difficult race to finish without suffering a mechanical failure due to the high speeds and horsepower that it takes to run up front. We saw last August that the HMS cars of Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, as well as their satellite teammate Tony Stewart couldn't make it the full 400 miles without suffering a failure. Making Michigan a 500-mile race would only increase the odds of mechanical failures and show which teams have the best driver/crew/engine shop members in the sport, because finishing that 500-mile race, let alone being one of the front runners at the end, would truly be an accomplishment. I would even put that race in the Chase just so teams wouldn't use that race as a throwaway race/test session as they prepare for the Chase. And just to assist them, I might even keep the June race as a 400-mile race just so they wouldn't have to prepare for 500 grueling miles at Michigan twice a year, and would try to give teams a week off before the 500-mile race just to give them extra time to prepare their engines and cars for such an event. 456. murb posted: 03.22.2013 - 1:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fontana definitely used to be on my least favorite tracks list. But since about 2010, the racing there has been tolerable. I actually enjoyed last year's almost caution free race. It was nice to not have a shitload of deBriS cautions faking up the race. And the 2011 three way battle with Harvick, Jimmie, and Kyle was a pretty epic race too. In response to Matt G earlier, here are my top five least favorite tracks (in no particular order): 1. Chicago (I just don't like it at all. Terrible. It has to be the most generic cookie cutter track they go to.) 2. Kentucky (In a perfect world, Iowa would have its' Cup date. You would think Kentucky would be a good track because it has some character with the bumps and stuff, but for whatever reason, the racing in the first two Cup races has been lukewarm at the very best... Just kidding. It's actually been absolutely dreadful at the very best.) 3. Kansas (Much like Chicago. It was finally starting to get some character, but then they repaved it. Last Fall's race was actually pretty decent though if I remember correctly.) 4. Las Vegas (The 1998-2006 version was awesome!!!! But once again, Bruton "Let's Have Halftime Breaks" Smith screws it all up.) 5. Charlotte (I respect its' legendary status, but other than maybe the All Star Race, I've just never really enjoyed watching races there.) Honorable Mention: Texas and New Hampshire 457. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.22.2013 - 2:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hell yeah cjs, I loved watching those day and a halfs at Dover. It seemed like those last 100 miles everything went straight to hell as tires, chassis, engines and drivers all fatigued from The Monster's grueling banks. 458. Paul posted: 03.22.2013 - 2:38 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Here are all of the races at Charlotte that I can remember since I started watching NASCAR back in 2002: '02 All-Star Race: The #99 team finds a massive loophole in NASCAR's mandatory green flag pit stop rule, forcing NASCAR to amend that rule for the following year's race. '02 Coca-Cola 600: Mark Martin wins his only race of the season and gets the No Bull 5 bonus. I'll always remember when he was following that big truck on his parade lap as they tossed fake money at him. '02 fall race: Jamie McMurray holds off the likes of Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, and Jeff Gordon to win his 1st Cup race in only his 2nd career start. '03 Coca-Cola 600: Jimmie Johnson wins his first of three straight 600s in a special "Power of Pride" paint scheme (one of my favorite paint schemes from the past decade). '04 fall race: Jeff Gordon finishes 2nd without a rear bumper. '05 All-Star Open: Brian Vickers wrecks Mike Bliss for the win coming to the line, then acts like he has no clue what just happened in his interview. '05 All-Star Race: Kevin Harvick acting like an ass to Joe Nemechek, once again doesn't do a thing to Joe once Joe stood up for himself and an official got in the way. '05 Coca-Cola 600: Five hours and 22 cautions later, Jimmie Johnson spoiled what would have been Bobby Labonte's most recent Cup win. '05 fall race: Lots of blown tires. '06 Coca-Cola 600: The Emotionless Juggernaut passes the torch to the "Pretty Boy" Emotionless Juggernaut. '06 fall race: All I remember is that boneheaded move that J.J. Yeley made when he turned down into Mark Martin in the middle of a turn, and that head-on crash that Mark took as he entered the race 2nd in points. '07 Coca-Cola 600: Maybe the most random top five running order in NASCAR history. I remember pulling so hard for Mears and Yeley to run out of gas so Kyle Petty could get his first win in 12 years. '07 fall race: The last race for Jeff Gordon as being the No. 1 driver at HMS before Chad and his receding hairline had finally had enough. '08 All-Star Race: I never saw this race, but it was the first race at Charlotte with the COT and I remember hearing so many fans over the radio and internet pretty much shit all over it. '08 Coca-Cola 600: A tire coming off Brian Vickers' car and bouncing all the way to the infield and landing on a camper. '08 fall race: Jeff Burton's most recent NASCAR victory. '09 Coca-Cola 600: It may have been rain-shortened, but I was so happy for Reuti to win his 1st Cup race. '10 Coca-Cola 600: Jeff Burton getting pissed off at Kyle Busch and his smart ass attitude in their post-race confrontation. '11 Coca-Cola 600: NASCAR's refusal to throw the caution after an incident involving Burton spinning out and sitting in turn 1, and Brad having significant damage to his left front that might have dropped some debris on the backstretch, because Dale Jr. was in the lead and didn't have enough fuel for a G-W-C finish blows up in their face as he winds up running out of fuel in turn 3 of the final lap. '11 fall race: Jimmie Johnson over-correcting the car after getting sideways, turning himself head-on into the wall, and basically ending any hope his team had of six straight titles. '12 All-Star Race: Worst. Race. Ever. 459. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.22.2013 - 4:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ha, that pit strategy by Frank Stoddard in The 2002 Winston was epic. The best part was the ROX announce team (this was before they devolved into self parody) wondering what in the hell was going on before it hit them right as it was about to happen and they were beside themselves that somebody had figured that out. I was at the 2005 Coke 600. That was a long night. In this millenium I was also at the '01 600. I remember the third lap, being in the crowd and EVERYBODY holding up 3 fingers no matter what shirt they had on. A very powerful moment. I was also at the '04 600 which was as remarkable for Johnson's dominance as Gordon's stunning struggles in the midst of an outstanding season. Then I went to the Fall '04 race, froze, and watched Jeff rebound for his second most heroic runner up of his legendary career (Richmond last year blew that one out of the water). I also went to the '06 600. Also a long night. Haven't been back since despite being a little over an hour away. 460. JG24FanForever posted: 03.22.2013 - 7:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Updated Edition: My Top 25 favorite Racing drivers of All-time! t1. Jeff Gordon t1. David Pearson -3. John Force -4. Dale Earnhardt -5. Fernando Alonso -6. Jim Clark -7. Jackie Stewart -8. Richard Petty -9. Don "The Snake" Prudhomme 10. Terry "The Iceman" Labonte 11. "Big Daddy" Don Garlits 12. Curtis Turner 13. Tony Schumacher 14. Tazio Nuvolari 15. Tim Flock 16. Michael Schumacher 17. Kyle Busch 18. Red Byron 19. Ned Jarrett 20. Bob Glidden 21. Lee Shepherd 22. Jimmie Johnson 23. Kyle Petty 24. Blaine Johnson 25. Lewis Hamilton 461. cjs3872 posted: 03.22.2013 - 11:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, the thing about the attrition at Dover is that often tmes that strikes very early in a race. At least twice in the last five years, thee's been a huge crash in the early stages of a race there. And the current 400-mile ditance is long enough there, especially because it's 400 laps and usually about three and a half hours. Remember last fall's race there was such that cars as high as 12th place finished three laps behind the winner. Also, the drivers and cars are in such good shape that things don't break late in races any more. That's why they can run the Coca-Cola 600 as hard as they can from start to finish. They're no longer afraid that mechanical things will break, even in the longest, toughest races. The Southern 500 at Darlington is the same way. Even the 24 Hours of Daytona has become a series of sprint races between the pit stops. Murb, that 2011 race wasn't very good, and the finish wouldn't have been very good if Kyle Busch didn't overuse his tires as he always does because he was far and away superior to everyone else, but he overused his tires and gave that race away. Actually, I think the best racing at Auto Club Speedway may have occurred in the first 3-5 years there. And Paul, you mention some of the more memorable (or infamous) races at Charlotte over the past decade. Well, I'll give you some interesting thoughts on some of those races. First, you mention Mark Martin's winning the No Bull 5 Bonus at the 2002 Coca-Cola 600. You forgot to mention that his car was deemed to be too low after the race and the team was fined $50,000 for the infraction. Then you mention Jimmie Johnson's first Coca-Cola 600 win. The thing about that was that he came from 37th position due to not being able to make a qualifying attempt (he blew his nine on the warm-up lap), and passed everyone to win a rain-shortened race. There was ere also lots of tire failures during that 2005 Coca-Cola 600, as well, not to mention the fact that the track came apart in turn three and damaged the car of Jeff Gordon (who else?) during that event. There were also scores of tire failures in the 2004 fall event there, and those failures occurred because the cars were simply going too fast, a problem I worry about this year in the speedway races. You also bring up the 2007 Coca-Cola 600. Of course, remember that there were two huge crashes in the first 100 aps of that race that really dwindled the field down, and then whe fuel mileage was added into the equation, it really gummed up the works, leading to the bizarre top five. And Mears' victory came on the same date (May 27) that his uncle Rick won his first Indianapolis 500, 28 years earlier in 1979. In the 2007 fall race there, Gordon was in a position to win only because of mistakes the #48 team made in that race, both by the crew chief and the driver, and Gordon almost threw that race away twice himself, but Ryan Newman's flat tire and the inexperience of Clint Bowyer helped his cause. And in the 2008 Coca-Cola 600, not only did you have Vickers' bouncing tire (which was a shame, since he had the best car in that race), but also the bizarre nature of the finish when Tony Stewart had a tire failure three laps from the finish after not changing tires on his final stop, which gave the win to Kasey Kahne, who did change right side tire on his last stop. The 2009 Coca-Cola 600 was one of the most forgettable races in the sport's history, as you had contant rain, which postponed the race to Monday, stopped it twice on Monday, and then ended it with three teams using the strategy of not pitting to steal positions from the teams that ran up front. That 2011 Coca-Cola 600 finish was one of the goofiest in history, as no less than seven drivers looked like they would win, only to run out of fuel, whjile Richard Childress had his drivers literally push Kevin Harvick under caution to give him enough fuel to get to the checkers. And that crash by Jimmie Johnson in the fall race of 2011, as bad as it was, as would be the case with the race itself that night, would be completely overshadowed by the events that took place at Las Vegas the following day. Two events that certify why nobody should ever wish anyone to crash, Jimmie Johnson's head-on crash in that race at Charlotte and then the worst crash in IndyCar history that took the life of the reigning and 2-time Indianapolis 500 champion, Dan Wheldon, and nearly took the lives of up to three others the very next afternoon. 462. 18fan posted: 03.22.2013 - 12:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think the best racing at Fontana, at least that I remember, was the fall race in 2010, which was the first 400 mile race there and also the most recent race run in the sunshine. 463. AveryNH posted: 03.22.2013 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey don't overlook Kyle Petty's final top five in 2007 edition of the 600. He came home in third and was so funny but really quite grateful in his interview post race. As a whole that was a wild race. First that huge wreck when Johnson lost a tire which sent people behind him scrambling. And add to that Gordon's brutal crash at the start/finish. Then it's all out fuel millage at the end and Mears shocks us all. Certainly a memorable race. 464. cjs3872 posted: 03.22.2013 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) AveryNH, when I mentioned the bizarre top five inthe 2007 Coca-Cola 600, that would certainly have included Kyle Petty. Funny how nobody on that telecast mentioned when he was moving up the leaderboard that he had won the race in 1987. I know that if I had been on the telecast, I would have mentioned him as the 1987 winner, which he, in fact is. But the entire top five was odd, because none of those that finished up there were predicted to be anywhere near the front. Not Casey Mears, not J.J. Yeley, not Petty, or Reed Sorenson. None of them. But as the leaders had to pit for fuel, there they were, right up front. And it is ironic that the last time a Petty finished in the top five was in one of the biggest races on the circuit near their home in a race both Kyle and his father Richard won. 465. jabber1990 posted: 03.22.2013 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I need to stop stepping away, I miss great conversations my Bracket sucks, I had Southeast Missouri as my winner but I dont follow Football, so to be honest I dont care I have a few tracks i've designed, one of which, picture either Bristol or Dover, with 45 degrees of concrete banking and I was thinking Wyoming or Utah would be a good place for it I have numerous Road-course Designs, if your interested in seeing them let me know and ill share the hyperlinks and 1.5 mile, but with a longer backstretch, more enlongated turns, but the frontstretch is on a right turn, kind of like a DogBone shape, I dont know how much banking would work and Picture homestead, just twice as long, and they run plates (sorry) 466. Daniel posted: 03.22.2013 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh my goodness, Darrell Waltrip just basically called out Danica during practice. Too bad he doesn't commentate like this during the race. 467. cjs3872 posted: 03.22.2013 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jabber1990, I'm not sure you know this, but back in the first big auto racing boom in this country, back in the 1920s, they had board tracks all across the country with banking of 40, 50, 60 degrees in the turns. But like seemingly everything else, the Great Depression put an end to that. But it's quite possible that when Bill France thought of banking the turns at Daytona the way he did, he probably had the old board track days of the 1920s in mind, much like he had the 1-mile true circle dirt track in Langhorne, PA in mind when he thougt of creating a mini-turn where the start-finish line is so that more people could see the finish. And when France built Daytona with these things in mind, he created the first big track building boom since the board tracks of the 1920s, and most successful speedways built since then have had at least one of those two eccentric attributes, high banked turns for greater speed and competition, and/or a dogleg at the S/F line so more people can see the finish. 468. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.22.2013 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kyle Busch in a Nationwide Gibbs car: zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz 469. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.22.2013 - 5:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Patrick said it's a matter of getting the setup right on her No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet. 'I just feel like in general we are working on a pretty small window of grip where it's easy to push it over one way or the other,' Patrick said. 'We just need to have a bigger platform to work around so that we can be decent more of the time instead of only when we hit it perfectly. To me grip is always the answer if we can just widen that platform we will be better off much more of the time.' Fontana sure is rougher than heck. The Biff done blowed up big time too !!! 470. murb posted: 03.22.2013 - 5:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) NNS practice at Fontana is like The Kyle Larson Show. 471. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 03.22.2013 - 5:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fontana track seems really rough this weekend. 472. 13 posted: 03.22.2013 - 5:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why are they talking about Kyle Larson nonstop? 473. cjs3872 posted: 03.22.2013 - 6:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TeamsPlayersBlue, the Fontana track has been dangerously rough for several years now. Now I'm for having little bumps and other quirks in a track to give it personality, but the tracks at Fontana and Kentucky badly need to be repaved because they're so bumpy that they're actually dangerous, and have been for several years. Just imagine a situation where a car breaks a suspension piece at 200+ MPH because of the poor track surface and sends it into the wall because they can't maintain the track correctly. And if I'm in charge, I would order those two facilities to either repave and at least smooth out the straightaways, or risk losing their dates. Having a track with personality is one thing, but those two tracks are so bumpy, especially at these speeds that they're actually dangerous. 474. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.22.2013 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great post cjs. That's also why Daytona was repaved as it was also very rough. Did you ever get to Langhorne by any chance ? I went in 1964 when it was dirt and 1970 after they paved it.That was a rough track too as I walked around it once. Closest finish for the modifieds was in 1970 when Merv Treichler beat his cousin Roger Treichler by inches . Will never forget that finish. 475. DaleSrFanForever posted: 03.22.2013 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I, to, was surprised to hear Darrell say it is time for Danica to perform. He actually sounded like an analyst. 476. cjs3872 posted: 03.22.2013 - 7:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The first time Daytona was repaved (after the 1978 Firecracker 400) or the most recent time, Richie61NYfan? Because in both instances, the track came apart in that respective year's Daytona 500. And Langhorne, PA was before my time, as I was born in 1972. But I did see films of old races from there on SpeedVision's Victory Circle and ESPN's "The Glory Days" 20 years ago, so I know of the track at Langhorne, the most dangerous track in history. So dangerous that Rodger Ward, a one-time fighter pilot and one of the most fearless and successful drivers o his generation refused to race there the second half of his career, a fact that led to Jimmy Bryan's death at Langhorne in 1960. In fact, here's a little story about that incident and it's aftermath. After the 1960 Indianapolis 500, Bryan wanted to return full-time to the USAC championship trail, but didn't have a car to race at Langhorne. So he struck a deal to run Rodger Ward's car for Leader Card Racers. As mentioned, Ward refused to run there and was actually racing stock cars elsewhere that weekend while Bryan raced at Langhorne. Bryan was fast, as usual, and actually started up front if I remember the story right, but early in the race, possibly even on the first lap, Bryan's car hit a rut, not uncommon on dirt tracks, and the car flipped and killed Bryan, probably the greatest IndyCar driver of his era, though you might get an argument from fans of Bill Vukovich, Sr. This upset Ward greatly, so greatly in fact that he had car owner Bob Wilke and chief mechanic/crew chief A.J. Watson get rid of it because Ward was never going to race that particular car again because Bryan, who everyone at that time respected had lost his life in it. And Ward had won the USAC champinship in it in 1959. Of course, they did and Ward was a front runner for several more years, racing the likes of A.J Foyt and Parnelli Jones head-to-head, and duplicated his 1959 perfomance in 1962, winning both the Indianapolis 500 and the USAC title for the second time, becmong the first drver ever to win both in the same year twice. 477. cjs3872 posted: 03.22.2013 - 8:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, it appears that Ford has inherited the problems that the Toyota teams had earlier this season with engines. Last wek, it was Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. and David Ragan that had engine problems. This week, it's already hit Greg Biffle, and the champion, Brad Keselowski. That's not a promising sign for the Ford camp, especially consiering Auto Club Speedway is the toughest track on engines the teams have raced on so far this year. Las Vegas was easier than expected because of the warm condtions for the race, which slowed the race pace down. I wonder if the engine problems for the Ford teams are going to spread even more. Also, I do find it a bit odd that the Wood Brothers aren't competng his week, since they like to run the big speedways and that only 43 cars showed up, meaning nobody will go home, and the race is in the biggest media market NASCAR goes to. Of course, that might be a good thing, considering the engine problems the Ford teams are having now because they won't get hit by a potential engine problem this week. 478. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.22.2013 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race is going to be hard on all engines I believe . Dang , Denny put up a fast lap quick and it stood up.The Biff and Bad Brad have to go to the rear but will get to the front fast. 40th again for Tony Gibson's machine ??? Come on Tony , you can set up a car better than that. cjs, I got a few years on you as I was born in 52 but you do know your history for sure. And yes, Langhorne was a bad fast dangerous track as in 1964 a few cars ended up in the trees. I know as a 12yr old I had never seen so many race cars in the pits before.Those good ole days are long gone though. Dang,I feel old now. 479. cjs3872 posted: 03.22.2013 - 9:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well Richie61NYfan, it all depends on how the race goes. If it goes the way it did last year (no cautions until the rain hit on lap 125), Biffle and Keselowski will never get to the front and will even have to be careful about getting lapped because of how fast the field spreads out, even if their cars are good. If there are early cautions, then they should get there by halfway if their cars and strategy are good. And yes, Tony Gibson can set a car better than that, but the fact that he has possibly the slowest driver in NASCAR's Cup Series certainly hampers that effort. And yet, that driver, Danica Patrck, will almost certainly be in the All-Star Race in May due to the stupid fan vote. 480. Richie61NYfan posted: 03.23.2013 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The real reason for Danica's 28th at Bristol, per Bob Puckerazz,aolsportingnews. Her crew realized after the race the car had suspension damage from contact with another car early in the race.That damage likely impacted the teams ability to get her tucked in and comfortable so she finished 5 laps down in 28th.------------------- Also, her team, she believes , has a car that runs decent in practice but fails to improve it during the weekend while other teams tend to make significant gains. Wow , Ya can't make this stuff up. What a team player. Bummer !! 481. The Long Shot posted: 06.26.2013 - 7:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Withdrew: none 482. 83andJoe posted: 08.04.2013 - 9:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #9 sponsor: DeWalt/Stanley Tools (order reversed for this race and race #7 at Texas) 483. edwards19 posted: 03.06.2015 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thankfully Brad Keselowski leading the points standings was nothing more than a façade. 484. chevyfan98 posted: 10.04.2016 - 1:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry Labonte's final non-plate race. 485. Sandy posted: 06.30.2020 - 7:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Terry was dealing with clutch problems during the race but he came home 25th it was the only time Oxy Water sponsored Frank Stoddard's 32 car That Timmy Hill wasn't driving in. 486. Rich posted: 08.07.2020 - 10:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators were Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip. The pit road reporters were Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda. The roving reporter was Jeff Hammond. And in the Hollywood hotel were Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip. 487. ShinyMew151 posted: 12.04.2020 - 12:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The 5 car won in what ended up being Terry Labonte's last non plate race 488. TTaylor944 posted: 12.04.2020 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) @487 Terry Labonte's replacement finished second in a car previously driven by Bobby Labonte. 489. JSPorts posted: 12.04.2020 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Terry himself brought the #32 car home in a respectable 25th place, 4 laps off the pace. This was the #32 team's best finish on a non-plate oval all season. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: