|| *Comments on the 2013 Toyota Owners 400:* First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page | View All On One Page View the most recent comment | Post a comment <#post> 1. 18fan posted: 04.26.2013 - 7:05 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Days after getting a massive penalty due to an underweight connecting rod in his engine and losing his spot in the Spring Unlimited, Matt Kenseth wins the pole and gets his Unlimited spot back. 2. Schroeder51 posted: 04.26.2013 - 7:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brian Keselowski will make his first start since the 2011 Daytona 500, thanks to a short field. 3. 83andJoe posted: 04.26.2013 - 7:09 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Brian Keselowski makes his second Cup Series race and first since the 2011 Daytona 500, in a rather confusingly-pedigreed car. As best as I can tell, it's a Brian Keselowski Motorsports (neé K-Automotive) car operated by Hamilton Means Racing in association with Go Green Racing. 4. Anonymous posted: 04.26.2013 - 8:05 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) To quote the late Tom Carnegie, It's a new track record. 5. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.26.2013 - 8:43 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Glad for Matt. I wonder if the other two JGR drivers would have the maturity to handle what Matt had to go through and still stay focused. 6. Kenny posted: 04.26.2013 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) Jemmie Johnson 26th hears hoping he stays back there 7. Sky Warrior posted: 04.26.2013 - 10:26 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Wonder if they've checked Matt's engine yet? What kind of s-storm would be unleashed if it was found illegal again? 8. ch posted: 04.26.2013 - 10:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's K-Automotive, in association with Go Green. The Hamilton Means part, and the #52, was for Daytona since the #52 had a few 2012 attempts. Now the HMR name has to stick with the team for the rest of the season, even though they aren't really involved now. 9. Alex posted: 04.26.2013 - 11:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^Other than using the #52. 10. cjs3872 posted: 04.27.2013 - 12:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, as I mentioned in the last Cup comments page, it looks like the experimenting has already begun by the #48 team, which means they may have their off weeks between now and the start of the Chase, which they can afford to do with 2 wins and a full race lead over second in the standings, much less 11th. I can almost guarantee they would not have qualified 26th if this race was actually important to them, which it may not be, based on qualifying. But I wonder what kind of victory lne it will be for the first Hendrick driver to win after the tragic aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, since a brother of one of the HMS employees, Andrew Collier, was killed, touching off the events that ended the week of terror. After all, Jeff Gordon qualified third and was fastest in final practice, with Kasey Kahne qualifying fourth. And certainly we can't count out Dale, Jr, in this conversation since he's won this race three times, and nearly got a fourth in 2008. And the #48 team can never be counted out of anything. 11. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 12:55 am Rate this comment: (9) (1) Ha! In the wake of Danica being told to rightfully "shut up and drive", she said Gilliland is "getting more attention than he deserves". You gotta be freaking kidding me? He puts up better results with 1/4 the budget and manpower she has and she gets 50 times the attention he gets. What a crock. She is a loser in racing and in life. 12. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 1:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If I was HMS, I would put the majority of my focus on the #24 and #88 teams, since neither team has a win this season and the #24 is currently outside the Chase. This is quite plausible since they are in separate shops, so the team wouldn't have to divide its attention away from one shop. Since the #48 is pretty much a lock for the top ten in the Chase and the #5 team has a win just in case they hit a big slump and fall out of the top ten in points, they should focus on the two "struggling" teams and try to get them into victory lane in hopes of using those bonus points towards the Chase. Solid top 20 qualifying efforts by Dave Blaney and David Ragan. Another "David," David Reutimann had a good 22nd place qualifying effort as well. 13. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 1:15 am Rate this comment: (1) (2) Danica's lack of respect and sense of entitlement continues to rear its ugly head. What's new? 14. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 1:24 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) "she said Gilliland is "getting more attention than he deserves"." Well considering how he gets next to no attention, I guess she would prefer it if he didn't get any at all. That's fine, talk trash about a more talented, smaller team driver who actually has to scratch and claw for a top 25 finish every week, and doesn't simply walk into it by going so slow that his car doesn't break down and can take advantage of other drivers' misfortunes. She sure has been running her mouth a lot about a driver who finished a full lap ahead of her last week. I hope the media doesn't even talk to Gilly and get his side of the story. God forbid he get any media attention and risk upsetting the princess. It's too bad that there aren't any drivers or officials with enough balls to sit Danica down and tell her how how to properly deal with other drivers on the track. You can't just try to wreck someone any time that they get into you. Denny Hamlin made a similar comment regarding Montoya a few years ago, including saying "You can't wreck someone every time you get in an accident. Accidents happen; guys make mistakes." Regardless of how you feel about Hamlin, he has a good point. Just take a few breaths, don't say or do anything that you're going to regret, and focus on the task at hand, which is trying to make your car better and get the best finish you can. She reminds me of a MUCH less talented Kevin Harvick by getting involved in silly feuds that have nothing to do with the ultimate goal: For Harvick, it's winning a race. For Danica, it's finishing in the top 20/on the lead lap. Getting involved in silly, meaningless feuds with other drivers over incidental contact like Hornish, Regan, Cassill, and now Gilliland all involve the same thing: It gets Danica more media coverage, none of which involves her on-track performance, or lack thereof. I'm getting really sick of these prima donnas taking over NASCAR. It used to be "Rubbin' is racin'." Now it's "Don't touch me." Frickin' rich, overpaid, over-celebrity-ed divas everywhere nowadays. I don't echo the words that Baker has sporadically used in response to present-day NASCAR drivers, but I do echo his sentiment. This sport used to be full of real men and women, and now it's just prima donnas, divas, whiners, complainers, brats, and overpaid feminine athletes driving around in circles; kind of like CART back in the '90s. If Geoff Bodine (arguably the biggest NASCAR whiner of the '80s and early '90s) came down from New York to Charlotte right now, he'd say "Where the hell do these rich kids get the nerve to act like such stuck-up brats? F*** this, I'm sticking to the Modifieds." 15. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 1:28 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) On an unrelated note, DSFF how was the Bob Seger concert the other night? I started getting into him a few years ago, and he's one of my all-time favorites. His songs always put me in a good mood. You might say I like that old time rock 'n' roll. ;) Haha I couldn't resist! 16. 83andJoe posted: 04.27.2013 - 4:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) The biggest problem with Danica, at least in my view, is that she has been so massively hyped as Our Lady And Savior Of All Things NASCAR that she HAS to succeed - because if she fails, the female drives who DO have driving skills (hello, Johanna) are going to get tarred with the same brush as "talentless body-selling hypocrites" and their opportunities will dry up faster than a California aquifer in July. It's only just now that the cloud Bobby Norfleet put over the African-American part of the diversity programs is clearing thanks to Darrell Wallace, Jr (the man with the best NASCAR name in history). (And as an aside along those lines, I'm waiting for the fecal matter to impact the rotary air circulation device when somebody gets curious about the K&N Pro Series East team of Enrique Contreras and looks up what the "La Raza" part of "Viva La Raza Racing" means.) 17. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.27.2013 - 5:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe, it just means "Long live racing." Which leaves us with "Long Live Racing Racing"... err... Paul, you're echoing my sentiments, not Baker's. Welcome to the dark side. 18. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 5:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) "because if she fails, the female drives who DO have driving skills (hello, Johanna) are going to get tarred with the same brush as "talentless body-selling hypocrites"" Bingo. It's unfortunate that Danica's popularity has pretty much set her as the precedent for female drivers in NASCAR, regardless of the talents of those who have come before her (Sara Christian, Ethel Mobley, Louis Smith, and Janet Guthrie, just to name a few), or even while she was racing (Johanna Long). It doesn't help that the media has basically painted this picture that she is THE female NASCAR driver, and that she is paving the way for others to make their way into the sport by following her footsteps. As unfortunate as that would be for future female racing stars to be wrongly labeled based on the accomplishments of Danica, I can't say that you're not on the right track with that thought. "and their opportunities will dry up faster than a California aquifer in July." This is off-topic, but I just learned the other week what an aquifer is in my Dynamic Earth class. For anyone that doesn't know, an aquifer is basically groundwater, which of course gets sucked out of the ground quicker in the summer than in the winter. Considering the immense population of California and how water is a hot commodity down there in July (no pun intended), I'd hate to see a cross section image of the ground water level at that time of year. My guess is that it's low and has basically turned into a cone of depression (Google image that for further details). *Shudder* "It's only just now that the cloud Bobby Norfleet put over the African-American part of the diversity programs is clearing" Definitely a black eye for the sport in terms of adding different diversities of drivers into the sport (once again, no pun intended). Of course, that was all his fault, as NASCAR was simply saying "You're not good enough to compete on bigger tracks," and instead of taking that advice and using it as fuel to improve as a driver, he became the man who cried racism and ended up making a fool out of himself, setting up a bad precedent for African-American drivers in the process. "Darrell Wallace, Jr (the man with the best NASCAR name in history)." Even better than Dick Trickle and Worth McMillion? "Viva La Raza Racing" I can't read those three words without automatically hearing Eddie Guerrero's theme song play in my head. A great wrestler and man taken from us far too soon, and just when his life and career were finally back on track after years of battling with addiction. "Paul, you're echoing my sentiments, not Baker's." Good point. At least you haven't wished death and eternal suffering on anyone. 19. 83andJoe posted: 04.27.2013 - 5:39 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) NRF/Paul: If it does actually mean that, then that's a very good thing - but it has Unfortunate Implications. 20. 83andJoe posted: 04.27.2013 - 5:42 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) >>"Darrell Wallace, Jr (the man with the best NASCAR name in history)." >Even better than Dick Trickle and Worth McMillion? Those are good ones, but Darrell (Waltrip), (Rusty) Wallace, Junior (Johnson)? I think he's got them topped! 21. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 6:18 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Bob Seger kicked ass! Of course I love his music, but he put on one hell of a show. Not just a good show for somebody his age, a great show period! Two solid hours of little talk, no gimmicks, pure music. His passion for music and performing live really shined through. I loved it. You guys nailed it about Danica. She has bought her own hype badly and has no clue what NASCAR is all about. I am really ready for her to go away. 22. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 6:21 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) And Paul, you bring up a good point. If Bodine came along nowadays, he'd probably be one of the most respected drivers out there. At least he was a true racer, and a damn good one. 23. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Paul, you talk like you're majoring in one of the earth sciences... maybe geology? For laughs, just look at this list of REAL NASCAR drivers names and think about the implications alongside my commentary (not for the easily upset stomach): Dick Passwater (it does that) Dick Trickle (it does that too) Dick Burns (so does Brian Scott's) Dick Clothier (God, we're putting bowties on THAT now?!) Dick Brooks (err... that's too much) Dick May (eww) Harry Leake (it's Harry, and it Leakes) Worth McMillion (his driving sure wasn't) Joel Million (pretty poor racer, actually, 2nd to Tim Flock once) Coo Coo Marlin (insane?) Ewell Weddle (what the hell?) Pepper Cunningham (achoo!) Shep Langdon (bow-wow?) Reds Kagle (Reds? why the 's'?) Johnny Wynn (never won) Sam McQuagg (consider that 'Mc' means 'son of'; a poor guy was named 'Quagg'?) Hooker Hood (really?) The Rakestraws: Ansel, Tyre, Benny, Wilbur, and A.C. (only an owner) (Tyre?!) 24. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) What about Jimmie Johnson? Jimmie? Johnson? 25. startandparkfan posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) At least Brian K is in! 26. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:49 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Bob Seger is badass!!! As a music aficionado myself, he's definitely someone I'd love to see live. 27. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Paul, you talk like you're majoring in one of the earth sciences... maybe geology?" I've considered minoring in geoscience. There's a lot of stuff in that subject that I don't know, but I certainly enjoy learning about the earth and how it operates. The water unit (streams, groundwater, glaciers) has been my favorite in the class. I also liked the earthquake unit. I think we can all agree that drivers had far cooler names back in the day than they do now. Here's a few other names from over the years back that are either "punny" or sounded cool/badass (And yes, I realize some of these names were nicknames): - Buck Baker: Don't mess with a man named "Buck." - Buddy Baker: Very nice guy, as his name would indicate, but don't mess with a driver whose nickname was "Leadfoot." - Bodine family: Urban dictionary defines it as "situations that don't have a good outcome." Need I say more? (Although Geoff and Todd were very talented.) - Red Byron: Similar to Red Baron, a fellow world war flying ace. A heroic name for a true American hero. - Kevin Conway: Con Man! Na na na na na na na na Con Man! - Dale Earnhardt: A redneck/farmer first name, and a last name with the syllables "earn" and "heart," with the latter word including another word; "hard." The perfect name for a farmer/redneck driver who earned with way to the top of the mountain because of his hard driving style and heart. - Flock family: The fact that there were multiple Flocks in racing is perfect, considering the meaning of the word. - Jeff Gordon: It just sounds like a name that was meant for fame and success. Plus, his last name means "someone you don't want out of your life." I'm sure most Gordon/non-Gordon fans will agree with that. - Jimmie Johnson: Son of Junior Johnson. Certainly lived up to his name, which now has a history of greatness in multiple sports. - Junior Johnson: Son of Senior Johnson. I'm sure he took offense if someone described his body like that. - Sterling Marlin: First name means "cool or awesome," which he was. I guess that comes with the territory when your dad's name is "Coo Coo." - David Pearson: Last name means "dominant," plus it rhymes with "fear." And having "David" for a first name indicates that he was a giant killer on the NASCAR circuit (32 wins on tracks 1.5-miles or larger). - Petty family: I petty the fool who had to race against the Pettys! Oh wait, that's "pity." Meh. Also, the word "petty" means of little significance. Polar opposite of what that family has meant to racing. - Fireball Roberts: The perfect name for arguably the most fearless driver in NASCAR history. Words cannot describe how perfectly that name fit him. - Herb Thomas: His name sounds ordinary, but his ability behind the wheel wasn't. - Speedy Thompson: With a name like that, you HAVE to be a race car driver. He certainly sped his way into racing infamy with his actions in the '56 season finale. - Waltrip family: You might say that when Dale hooked Darrell at Richmond '86, he sent him on a "wall trip." ;) Heh? Heh? - Woodie Wilson: Shares a name with the 28th President of the United States, but in a more humorous fashion. - LeeRoy Yarbrough: Anyone remember that old Jim Croce song? He was "Bad, Bad LeeRoy Yarbrough." 28. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.27.2013 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Once again, welcome to the dark side, Paul. I am a meteorology major myself. Woodie Wilson is one of 4 U.S. Presidents to race at the Cup level alongside George Bush, Bill Clinton, and John Kennedy. I guess you'd have to be a dumb d*ck to appreciate my list. 29. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 2:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That "wall trip" marked the turning of the tide (damn, had he moved to HMS and the Tide car a year earlier that would be perfect) in NASCAR. Darrell's 5 year run as the alpha dog of NASCAR came to a crashing, grinding halt and Dale took over for the next 9 years. Still a dick move. Although Dale's interview afterwards is morbidly fascinating. With zero emotion in his voice he just calmly esaid "just hung up with 'ol Darrell... we gotta race week to week.... nothing to it". With his face caked in dirt, having just gone through an intense on track battle with the (soon to be ex) dominator of the sport that ended badly when he chose to hook Darrell. Yet there he was, cold as ice. The look and tone of somebody ready to take over no matter what the cost. Still no excuse for hooking him like that. 30. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just saw some highlights. Did Piquet kick Scott in the balls? 31. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.27.2013 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, go look it up on Youtube. Yes, he did. If you go back to my list of vulgar NASCAR driver names and look at Dick Burns, you will see that I mentioned Brian Scott. 32. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Did Piquet kick Scott in the balls?" Right in the tater tots. *Idaho Joke* 33. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DW says that NASCAR is at the best it has ever been in its' entire history... I'd say "WALTRIP, YOU'RE OUTTA HERE!", but that's already become an overused catchphrase... 34. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) It's bullshit how they fined the hell out of Jason Ratcliff like that. He's not making what the driver is making. He's only a crew chief. Pemberton, Darby, and "Brainless" Brian can suck it. 35. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So every week on FOX we have to watch Michael Waltrip walk up pit road before each race? Why...? 36. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have no strong opinions one way or the other about the Piquet/Scott incident. Just two young drivers racing hard for 15th place, with one driver racing a little too hard and almost wrecking the other one in the process. Scott's car was just damaged from the earlier wreck with Dillon and Allgaier and was just trying to limp home, and Piquet tried a little too aggressively to get underneath him exiting turn 2, which knocked Scott down to 20th place. The only thing that I didn't like was the contact that the two made on the cool down lap. They easily could have collected a few other cars while turning each other around coming towards pit road, and the teams didn't deserve to have their cars beaten up after the race was already over. Both drivers are at fault for that. As for the low blow kick by Piquet, all I can say is that soccer is very popular in Brazil. I'm not a fan of shots below the belt, but I'm sure Brian Scott will think twice before messing with Nelson Piquet, Jr. again. Dale Earnhardt had the hook in the right rear of Darrell Waltrip that established his status as a badass, and maybe this dirty move is Piquet's way of establishing himself as one as well. I know I wouldn't mess with him after seeing what he did to Scott, that's for sure. Of course, I'm not surprised that some RCR crew members would pick a fight with the Turner guys out in the lot area. That team's motto should be "If we can't beat you on the track, we'll beat you off the track." Although the Flying Aces were tough SOBs, they didn't need to fight with anybody because their driver just kicked everybody's ass on the track, which at the end of the day is the only thing that matters in racing. But over the past 12 years, they've pretty much given up hope that they'll ever truly beat anybody on the track, so they'll just beat them up in the garage area or the motor home lot. Gotta make the news in some way or fashion I suppose. 37. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Let's admit it; Kevin Harvick turned Childress into the sissy convention it's become. With how woman-like Childress's drivers and employees act, I'm surprised Piquet's kick had any impact on Scott period. 38. Benjamin Lowe posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:50 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) FOX really needs to Fire DW. 39. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Glad to see Kenseth sticking it to The Brainless Stooges here early in this race. 40. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, Gordon's car looks HORRIBLE. 41. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:55 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Paul Menard is easily the manliest RCR driver. If they lose him, they might as well shut down their NASCAR operation and become a support group for middle-aged women struggling to adjust to new menopause-related lifestyles. There's already an organization like that called "Red Hot Mamas," so maybe RCR could change its name to "Red Hot Mom 'N' Pops." 42. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 7:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon falling back quickly. You're an idiot and I'm gonna kill you. 43. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The worst part for RCR is that the unmanly qualities are going to continue with Austin "Little Man Syndrome" Dillon moving up to Cup next year. 44. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @38 NO!!! 45. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great save by Josh Wise. A caution, seriously? 46. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why did they throw a caution for that? 47. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great save now equal a good reason for a caution flag. 48. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Caution thrown unnecessarily so the BoB, who has already been lapped, can get the lucky dog. 49. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) *Saves 50. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Austin "Little Man Syndrome" Dillon" His cowboy hat adds about four inches to his height. 51. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ha! Reuti gets the lucky dog instead. 52. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Never mind, they were too late. 53. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Bowyer is looking strong too. I don't have anything against Clint, but I hope he doesn't win just because I really don't feel like seeing a Waltrip family Fox love fest in victory lane tonight. As a matter of fact, as long as Fox is on the air, I hope MWR cars stay out of victory lane just for that reason. Caution for Josh Wise. 54. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Reutimann gets the free pass. But watch, they'll have a quick caution to get BoB back on the lead lap. 55. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "His cowboy hat adds about four inches to his height." lol, That's a part of it too. I just now gave him that nickname because it seems to me like he's using the badass cowboy gimmick to compensate for his real life lack of badassery. 56. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not only did they throw the yellow for that Josh Wise save, but FOX completely missed it live. It wasn't until they showed the replay that they realized a car spun right in front of the leaders. Bowyer and Kenseth were nearly in it. 57. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) HELL YEAH JAMIE MAC!!!! 58. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You you hate AD? 59. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Whew! Good to see Gordon and Junior behind Jimmie already. Can't have those two beating the Great One. 60. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "You you hate AD?" I don't HATE him. I just really don't care for his attitude all that much. And I think he's kind of overrated as a driver too. But that's just my opinion. Obviously he's one of your favorite drivers, and that's perfectly fine with me. Cheer for whoever you want Kenny!!! 61. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like Gordon might finish back there with BoB tonight... 62. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ok :) I hope Kurt can move up some get a win and or a top 5 and jr atleast a top 10 63. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I wouldn't count Gordon out just yet guys. Remember what happened here last Fall... 64. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I lost all respect for Austin Dillon at Bristol last August when Trevor Bayne was talking to him after the race and Austin was smiling at him and said "Don't touch me, man." You little punk, you wrecked him AND Justin Allgaier in the race by racing too hard. He isn't allowed to touch "the great" Austin Dillon?? Undeserved sense of entitlement. One thing that's for sure though: Austin is the least sexiest diva to wear a cowboy hat. Most chicks look hot with a cowboy hat, but he just makes it look comical. 65. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) By the way, I'm pretty sure Kenseth is easily gonna be the Lap Champion this year. 66. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon has a poor handling racecar at Richmond... How about Montoya in fifth? 67. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Possible vibration on Kenseth. 68. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BoB is already about to go two laps down. 69. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "BoB is already about to go two laps down." In Hendrick equipment. Less than 100 laps into the race. 70. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BoB I know this has to do with Danica but what dose BoB mean? 71. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Baroness of the Backmarkers 72. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lmao I like that XD 73. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I predict there are only going to be 4 cautions tonight, all of them for BS reasons. 74. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to FOX Kyle Busch is passing himself on the race track. 75. The Final Gear posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:28 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Watching laptimes from certain drivers and when I scrolled down to the bottom I noticed something for a few laps... Brian Keselowski was producing faster times than the Baroness. It's also fun to see Kenseth being 1 MPH faster than the rest of the field at times. That car is wired tonight. 76. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Lmao I like that XD" You can thank me (and The Final Gear) for that. 77. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Brian Keselowski was producing faster times than the Baroness." Maybe we should change her name to the Baroness of Sadness. 78. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon running 26th. I hate life. 79. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution is out for Marcos Ambrose stalling on the track. 80. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for Marcos Ambrose slowing on the track. 81. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Where is the final gear? I'd like to know if he's on FB I'd like to add him and talk to him about mlp(I wonder if he likes vinyl scratch) 82. Benjamin Lowe posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:32 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Danica's going two laps down no way this can't be happening not to the Goddess of NASCAR. (BTW I was Being Sarcastic) 83. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Marcos Ambrose is having a tough go of it this year. 84. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The way the media hypes BoB, you'd expect her to be two laps AHEAD of the field, not two laps BEHIND. 85. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "(BTW I was Being Sarcastic)" Phew! Glad you told me. I was about to take you seriously for a moment. 86. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, Mikey is hyping up how great his pit crew is after Clint Bowyer beat the Gibbs cars out of the pits. What a shock. 87. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Montoya running a Depends paint scheme is HILARIOUS. 88. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Ambrose's problem may be terminal. 89. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wouldn't it be funny if Montoya won with the Depends car? 90. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I hope Stewart's hypocritical "No Blocking Or I'll Dump You" rule doesn't apply to pit road, because apparently Blaney blocked him in. 91. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Does anyone else hate that NASCAR.com commercial as much as I do. They're all awful but the one in which the all the drivers are softly talking to each other while driving. Marcos Ambrose "hit me harder then that" line is particularly bad. 92. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (5) I swear I hope JPM's contract is about because he ant shit I hope in the next 2 tears they fire JPM and put Larson in the 42 Ibexause JPM ant worth shit nmo 93. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ambrose is done for the night. 94. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ambrose has an epic beard. 95. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree with you Mr X, I can't help but chuckle every time I hear that. And when Truex says "Nighty night", I'm thinking yeah right, as if Truex could do that in a race. I like Truex but usually he's the one getting passed for the lead late in a race. 96. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There sure are a lot of guys falling off in this race. 97. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And when Truex says "Nighty night", I'm thinking yeah right, as if Truex could do that in a race." Paul made the joke a while ago about how "Nightie night" is probably what he says as he's getting passed for the lead late in a race, lol. 98. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another debris caution. 99. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Debris caution. 100. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) deBriS. Awesome. 101. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dropping in behind you joey2448 102. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Seeing how much smoke there is, this caution might ACTUALLY be legit. They said Michael McDowell may have been dropping fluid. 103. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They said it's for fluid from Michael McDowell, who dropped out of the race about 25 laps ago. I'm not sure if I buy it. If it takes them that long to find fluid that's pretty ridiculous. 104. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually I think McDowell WAS still out there on the race track... 105. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "deBriS. Awesome." Actually, McDowell might have dropped fluid on the track. 106. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to FOX's graphic, Kenseth and Bowyer have led every lap even though there have been 3 leaders. 107. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Actually I think McDowell WAS still out there on the race track..." Well about 20 or 25 laps ago they said he pulled it off. So I don't know. Maybe he came back. All I know is that it's pretty sad that we have to guess whether or not the debris caution they throw is legit. 108. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:54 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) ARE THEY REALLY BLAMING THE CLOUDS FOR THE LACK OF EXCITEMENT IN THIS RACE?!?!?! 109. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh yes, because if the clouds went away they would obviously have had 10+ cautions in this race and 20+ lead changes... 110. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hell yeah Kurt show that f**ker who's boss 111. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad slams the wall! 112. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad in the wall. Right front. Caution. 113. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Please don't Mr X, lol...Imagine what the drivers would say if that commercial was done about 20-30 years ago. With guys like Earnhardt, Bodine, Waltrip, Elliott, Wallace, Richmond and Rudd...Haha THAT would be funny! 114. jabber1990 posted: 04.27.2013 - 8:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) am I the only one whom was never too impressed by richmond or I have just been fooled by commercial people are all "oh Richmond is best races of the year" and i've never been too impressed, heck the comments I read prove that the only good thing i've ever seen is how patriotic the last race before the chase is 115. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Uh, FOX? The caution is out for Keselowski. Not the sprinklers! 116. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And the sprinklers have come on in the infield grass. 117. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "am I the only one whom was never too impressed by richmond" Definitely my least favorite of the three short tracks. But hey, it's a HELL of a lot better than some of these generic cookie cutters. According to Fox we are under caution for the sprinklers exploding, not for Brad Keselowski hitting the wall. 118. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joey2448 they would've read the script, punched the writer in the face, and walked out. 119. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:03 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) FOX=Getting 90% of everything that happens in a race wrong. 120. Benjamin Lowe posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:04 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The only thing that would make this bad comedy complete is if they played the Benny Hill Music right about now. 121. jabber1990 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joe Moore just said "the sprinklers came on, ain't nobody got time for that" 122. jabber1990 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "The only thing that would make this bad comedy complete is if they played the Benny Hill Music right about now" DONT give Fox ideas 123. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Montoya might regret that later. 124. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good god, another race of running 20th-25th for Smoke. Spring cleaning can start at any time for SHR. 125. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Things must be going bad for Jeff Gordon if David Gilliland is running ahead of him (no offense to Gilliland or his fans). 126. Benjamin Lowe posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I not trying to its just that these past few NASCAR seasons have gotten progressively worse in the last 6 or 7 years. 127. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've been saying for about 2 years that the races at Richmond should be run under the sun and not the lights. Since the cot came out in 2007, there have been two races here that have been rained out on Saturday night and ended up on Sunday afternoon. Spring 2007 and fall 2008. Both of those races were extremely competitive, amongst the best races in their respective seasons, especially the fall 2008 race. Every night race here has been a disappointment for me. The groove was about twice as wide as it is at night race. 128. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mid Race Report coming up!!! Yippee!!!! 129. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why do they hype up the mid-race report so much...? 130. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Fluttershy:yay 131. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think that Jeff Gordon's Twitter has contained this many expletives during the course of a race. 132. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ...did DW just mention that stupid "Call Me Maybe" song?! 133. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Darrell Waltrip did not just make a pop song reference. 134. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I'm glad that I've never heard that song and that I missed Darrell's reference to it, because I'm sure it sucks. 135. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Ant that red hot chili peppers(love that band) 136. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Missed the last 40 or so minutes taking a drunk from Bowman Gray to the hospital. Is Brad's car messed up bad? 137. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The fall Richmond race is usually the better Richmond race due to fallout from Bristol tempers and Chase implications. I'd still take a dull Richmond race over the never-ending Johnson/Hamlin/Gordon parade Martinsville put's on. 138. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Red Hot Chili Peppers?! Not even close, man. 139. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Ant that red hot chili peppers(love that band)" It's some chick. 140. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In comparison to other pop songs of today, "Call Me Maybe" isn't that bad. 141. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Montoya and McMurray 6th and 7th. I can't remember the last time that both of those cars were consistently in the top ten together during a race. 142. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great. Smoke is now running behind a car that blew a tire and hit the wall. 143. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Afloat I know they have that one song if of stateum arcadeum but if its pop bs then I don't wanna know 144. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Is Brad's car messed up bad?" Not really. He's coming back up through the field. Currently 16th. 145. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "It's some chick." Carly Rae Jepsen. 146. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Gordon is about to pass him. Gordon, with his absolutely pitiful race car. Stewart MIGHT finish outside the top 20 in points if this keeps up. 147. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That #78 car is closing in on the leaders. 148. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) SHR is such a cluster right now. If I was Ryan Newman, I would gladly walk away and go to a second-tier organization like EGR or RPM than stay on that sinking ship. 149. jabber1990 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) fall richmond can stay night, it works as a night race, its very symbolic, or better yet, start it later in the afternoon and have it start during day, and end at night since you think Spring Richmond should be during day should it be 500 miles? 150. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Matt Kenseth has led more laps today than he ever has at Richmond" Didn't he lead 130+ laps here en route to winning the '02 fall race? FOX gets it wrong again. 151. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Call Me Maybe is done by Carlie Rae Jepsen (sp?). And it's about the furthest thing from the Chili Peppers, who I consider to be in my top-3 favorite musical groups/artists... By the way, what the hell happened to Vickers? I missed it, did he pit while everyone else stayed out? 152. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And it's about the furthest thing from the Chili Peppers, who I consider to be in my top-3 favorite musical groups/artists..." Me too!!! Californication was one of the albums that got me into music way back in the day!!! 153. Anonymous posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) http://underdogracing.freemessageboards.com/ 154. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Vickers did pit when not many others did. 155. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And Gordon is about to pass him. Gordon, with his absolutely pitiful race car." It's been improving. Not all of today's artists are bad. 156. jabber1990 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think what would make night races more exciting is if they all did this (exept the coke 600) do everythign during the day, practice, Qualify, happy hour, but race once the sun goes down..it would screw with everyone... ...better yet, take my idea and make them all impound races. it would really show off the best crew cheifs, and it would also make things dramatic on pit road, you can qualify crappy, and have a kick-ass car at night but deal with passing the not-as-good cars that were built to run during the day 157. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I hope Kurt wins this race but he's gotta go throu Boyer and kennsith 158. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) FOX mentions how much tires fall off but don't mention when a guy flies through the field because of fresh tires. Also, during that commercial break Bowyer went from 1st to 5th. 159. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Biffle goes for a loop. 160. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A legit caution! Greg Biffle spins out. 161. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Biffle spins. Caution. 162. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man, Biffle tore his car up. 163. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Biffle just produced a spark-show on pit road. 164. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wouldn't mind seeing Kurt win tonight. I've found myself pulling for him more this year than any other year. To put it in pro wrestling terms, he's on a babyface run right now. 165. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's sad that the best RCR car is the satellite Furniture Row car, driven by a possible future RCR driver Kurt Busch. If Kurt does in fact join RCR next season (since it's possible that none of RCR's current drivers will be there in 2014), hopefully he and the #78 team stay together, as they seem to have great chemistry. 166. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's the first green flag pass I've seen Stewart make all year. 167. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I bet Kasey's probably bitching about Newman not rolling over for him. 168. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch is going to win this race for the fifth straight year. 169. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wtf is mike joy talking about crewmen going to jail and charges pending? 170. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fox just trying to rebuild a three year old fued between Newman and Logano. 171. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Speaking of Tony Stewart, I was listening to David Smith's latest podcast with Matt Weaver from SB Nation earlier today, and one of them mentioned that numerous garage sources have told them that Stewart is closer to retiring from Sprint Cup than one would expect. It wouldn't surprise me if his lack of production this season is due to a lack of desire to race at this level anymore. 172. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hell, Kyle might win the spring Richmond race every year for the rest of his career at the rate he's going... 173. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) God I hope like hell Stewart is near retiring 174. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I was listening to David Smith's latest podcast with Matt Weaver from SB Nation earlier today, and one of them mentioned that numerous garage sources have told them that Stewart is closer to retiring from Sprint Cup than one would expect." David Smith also said he would work for NASCAR if he got Brian France's job, which would be AMAZING. 175. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Strangely enough, Matt Weaver followed me on Twitter. 176. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stewart has done everything he needs to do (except win the Daytona 500, but who cares since that race isn't near as prestigious as it once was), so why not hang it up within the next couple years? Get your organization on track, since it so badly needs it. 177. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Weaver brought up an interesting point, saying that Jimmy Fennig told him that he originally didn't want to work with Carl Edwards because he didn't think he took the racing serious enough, believing that Carl was more interested in the fame that being a race car driver brought as opposed to the actual racing part of the job. It sounds like Carl has been taking it more seriously this year, and basically had to change the way he worked in NASCAR by doing things Jimmy Fennig's way, rather than doing things his own way. The results may not indicate it, as Carl isn't doing as well as he had in 2011, but it sounds like he is being more of a team player now than he had in years past. 178. The Long Shot posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (4) (1) Thumbs up if you wanted B.o.B. to lose to Brian Keselowski. 179. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon in the top 15 and steadily moving forward. 180. AveryNH posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man, what I would give to see Montoya get a top five. It's been too long for someone as good as him. 181. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The results may not indicate it, as Carl isn't doing as well as he had in 2011" Prior to this race, his 3.563 PEER was better than his 3.444 PEER in 2011. "Stewart has done everything he needs to do (except win the Daytona 500, but who cares since that race isn't near as prestigious as it once was)" Um, WHAT?!?! 182. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kvapil smacks the wall. And Brad gets trapped in the pits! 183. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kvapil hits the wall multiple times. Terrible timing for Keselowski. 184. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The full-time commitments are getting to Stewart this year more than any other season as his performance has dropped off. He might be thinking about running select races after 2013 as he seems to want a Daytona 500 win. However, I wouldn;t be surprised if he scaled back his Cup commitments after this year. 2011 Homestead was the highwater mark for Tony Stewart. 185. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) HELL YEAH KURT 186. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 9:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch leads. Wow. 187. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Prior to this race, his 3.563 PEER was better than his 3.444 PEER in 2011." He also finished last season with just 3 top five finishes. So of course getting similar results as he had in 2011 will make his PEER higher than that season because his equipment isn't statistically as good as it was that season. Also, he was leading the points at this point in 2011, whereas right now he's 6th in the points. He was doing better in 2011 than he is right now, and part of that is due to his equipment, which isn't great. 188. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Um, WHAT?!?!" Way back when, winning the Daytona 500 was just about equal to (or greater than) winning a championship. And winning Cup championships wasn't really that big of a deal. Nowadays its sort of the opposite. Yeah, everyone wants to win the 500, but it's the championship that everyone is after. So to me, because of this, the 500 has lost a bit of prestige. I honestly think Tony could care less if he were to retire without a 500 win, seeing as though he has three Cups, which is the thing that matters this day in age. 189. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I'm officially pulling for Kurt to win this race. 190. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt to Kyle, concerning restarts: "Anything you can do, I can do better." 191. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kvapil off the pace again. 192. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Way back when, winning the Daytona 500 was just about equal to (or greater than) winning a championship. And winning Cup championships wasn't really that big of a deal. Nowadays its sort of the opposite. Yeah, everyone wants to win the 500, but it's the championship that everyone is after. So to me, because of this, the 500 has lost a bit of prestige." I see what you mean, but I still think a lot of drivers care very much about the 500. 193. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kvapil brings out the caution again. 194. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for Kvapil's blown engine 195. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Big ass dent in the front of Vickers' car. 196. The Long Shot posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kvapil just can't seem to catch a break, can he? 197. 12345Dude posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I can't read those three words without automatically hearing Eddie Guerrero's theme song play in my head." I didn't know Eddie battled with addiction. Then again if someone dies at age 38 then there's a very good chance it was from an overdose. You say he was finally getting back on track, but he died at 38. So it had to be from an overdose. I also remember at the time he was huger then huge. And he was always a small guy. It was extremely obvious he was taking tons and tons of steroids. He was just amazing. Remember when he was facing Rey Mysterio with the whole "Dominics father" storyline? He was just amazing during that. Another thing that sticks in my mind. Remember when him and Benoit were hugging each other crying after Wrestle Mania after they won the WWE/World Heavyweight championships? A year and 8 months later Eddie died. A little after 3 years Benoit died. They died at 38 and 40. "It's sad that the best RCR car is the satellite Furniture Row car, driven by a possible future RCR driver Kurt Busch." He will join Furniture Row next year. Let's say Furniture Row get their program together. Kurt could very well win the championship this year. Richard would never forgive himself. In the history books it would always say champion - Kurt Busch, Team: Furniture Row I think it would be good for Smoke if he retires. He always seems angry or upset during the racing season. 198. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Uh oh...Kyle Busch has a commitment line violation! Might just be enough to cost him a shot at the win. 199. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Daytona 500 is the hardest race to win due to how many teams approach the race which is as a one race season. The go for broke mentality works better at Daytona than Indianapolis, Charlotte, Darlington, etc. because of the Chase, equipment, handling, horsepower, pit strategy, etc. 200. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) M&M's: Melt At The Commitment Line, Not In Your Hand. Sorry Kyle fans, I had to do it... 201. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Then again if someone dies at age 38 then there's a very good chance it was from an overdose." He died from heart failure, attributed by years of using drugs. He didn't die from an actual drug overdose. 202. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) With that penlty Kyle Busch's streak of wins in the spring Richmond race will end at four. Bummer 203. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Unlike the Undertaker's Streak at Wrestlemania, Kyle Busch's Streak at Richmond is likely coming to an end. In recent Nascar history, Gordon couldn't pull off a 5 peat in 1999 at the Southern 500 and Food City 500 at Bristol. 204. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR un-penalizes Kyle. 205. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No penalty...so Kyle now stands a GREAT chance at winning this race again. 206. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Eddie Guerrero's death was just horrible. What made it even worse was the fact that he was at the top of his game. In fact, I'm pretty sure he was booked to win the World Title on the TV taping the night of his death. WOW!!!!! THEY OVERTURNED A PENALTY?!?!?! WOW!!!!! 207. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bout time the idiot's in the tower made a good call. 208. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well that was unexpected. Lucky break for Kyle and the 18 team. 209. 12345Dude posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) " He died from heart failure, attributed by years of using drugs. He didn't die from an actual drug overdose. " Oh OK thank u for clearing that up. 210. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I could've sworn that you had to have all four wheels inside the orange box or cone. 211. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Something is not right with Kyle's car. 212. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I could've sworn that you had to have all four wheels inside the orange box or cone." I thought so, too. I was surprised they were even reviewing it. 213. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Kyle and Truex both run into Jimmie. Let the Emotionless Juggernaut Bitch Fit begin. 214. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmie "Roadblock" Johnson. 215. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution!! 216. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) OHHHHHH SHHHHHIIIIIITTTTTYT 217. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 48, 14, 18 all wreck. 218. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch gets caught up in a Jimmie Johnson spin. 219. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They overreact about Brad missing that crash, even though Burton did a hell of a lot better of a job missing it. 220. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was caused by Tony Stewart loosing control. 221. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's just how Smoke's year has gone, though breaks for him JJ and Kyle. Brad K really threaded the needle to get through there. 222. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NOW we can safely say Kyle will not win his fifth straight tonight. 223. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wanna see a Stewart and Johnson fight after this one. That would be entertaining. 224. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:24 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I am really, really impressed with Montoya's run. Jeff JUST missed that crash. Both of them did. 225. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bye Jimmie, the only races the #48 team should car about before the 2013 Chase are Darlington, the Winston, Dover, and Indy. 226. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man we've seen more action in the last 10 minutes than the whole rest of the race! And all the Jimmie and Kyle haters rejoice! 227. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looking back, Kyle wanted to be penalized. 228. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think we're going to get a fight as Stewart just said he was sorry about the accident. 229. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think every observation Darrell has made about Kyle tonight has been wrong. 230. 12345Dude posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Bye Jimmie, the only races the #48 team should car about before the 2013 Chase are Darlington, the Winston, Dover, and Indy." I disagree. The only races he will care about are the tracks that will be in the chase. 231. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I don't think we're going to get a fight as Stewart just said he was sorry about the accident." Yeah, I spoke too soon. 232. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course, things start looking better for Smoke and then crap like that happens. 233. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:26 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I think every observation Darrell has made about Kyle tonight has been wrong." I think every observation Darrell has made tonight has been wrong. 234. AveryNH posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) how about Montoya and Burton on the front row for this restart? 235. Dave#38 Fan-Go Gilliland! posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) had Kyle's penalty not been rescended, he likely could have avoided that accident. passing for the lead has been almost impossible tonight, and the last restart showed that old tires can hold up on restarts. could montoya pull an upset? 236. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Ragan in sixth! 237. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Ragan sixth. 238. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #48 gameplan: Before the Chase, test, test, test setups at the Chase tracks and attempt to win 50% of the other races before Chicago. 239. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Will JPM finally get that oval win tonight? 240. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow... 241. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wtf? 242. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Big crash. 243. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Martin and Kahne crash. Schroeder, you were way off on your caution estimate. 244. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kasey Kahne and Mark Martin crash. Free pass for Kyle Busch (I think). 245. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This must be the caution portion of the race... 246. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why so mad, Kasey? 247. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 48 got more damage in that one too I think. 248. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) To be fair...they've been clean at Richmond the past couple races so I thought that trend would continue. 249. AveryNH posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crap, I meant harvick. Big ol mess on the backstretch. Poor Mark, just got swolled up there as he was the last car not to pit on the last restart 250. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cautins breed cautions. 251. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Kasey "Danica Patrick" Kahne 252. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Good to see Bobby Labonte, David Reutimann, and David Ragan all on the lead lap in the top 17. 253. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If they keep crashing BoB might get a top 25 finish. 254. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Man all the drivers I don't much care for are all wrecking! Haha! Jimmie, Kyle, Kasey... I don't mean to sound like I hope a driver will crash, because they could get hurt, but man I love this running order! I think Kurt might win tonight! ...and Jeff Gordon is in the top 10! 255. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Almirola 8th!!!!! 256. The Long Shot posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Montoya in the lead. Would like to see him get his first oval track victory. Other notables: Kurt Busch in 3rd, Bobby Labonte in 11th, David Reutimann in 13th. 257. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!! 258. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex gets himself spun. 259. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Fox, I wasn't aware that second-place came before first-place. Another caution for Truex. 260. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There goes Truex! 261. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) THIS RACE JUST GOT A HELL OF A LOT MORE EXCITING!!! 262. The Long Shot posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for #56 spin. 263. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No give & take between the #56 and the #78, that's for sure. 264. Benjamin Lowe posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Martin Truex Ladies and gents Martin Truex 265. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex came down on Kurt, at least from what I saw. 266. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was half-expecting Truex to back his car into the wall big time. 267. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex started that himself. He slammed the door on Kurt in the previous turn, so Kurt didn't cut him a break on that one. 268. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex just missed the wall. 269. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes Truex, giving somebody the bottom counts as cutting them off 3/4 of the way down the backstraight.... 270. 12345Dude posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The #48 gameplan: Before the Chase, test, test, test setups at the Chase tracks and attempt to win 50% of the other races before Chicago." I don't think he really tries to win on some of the non chase tracks. A lot of times he just takes "off-weeks" and doesn't really try. Also, Jimmie usually tests stuff during half of his Indianapolis and Las Vegas races. So you can also test different stuff at non chase tracks. 271. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Truex blocked and cut Kurt at least twice before that, Kurt just got tired of it and turned him. That's not impatience just a driver fed up with being repeatedly blocked. 272. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logano almost Rudd'd Bowyer. 273. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I'm pulling for either a JPM or Kurt Busch victory. 274. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) FOX: Let's go to commercial just a few laps after a restart. 275. AveryNH posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menard has been running around 20th practically all night yet he's running twelfth. Maybe he can make the chase 276. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Montoya's race is reminding me of the way Joe Nemechek ran this race ten years ago. He's not really the guy anyone expected to be up there, but he's been up there all night. 277. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This sort of reminds me of the 2003 spring race at Richmond, when Joe Nemechek and Robby Gordon and two of the best cars in that race. Sometimes it's just your night, and tonight seems to be both Montoya's and Kurt's night. 278. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) *had two of the best cars in that race. 279. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt's getting faster!:D 280. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) FOX is just in love with that full moon. Hate to say it, but Harvick is probably going to spoil Montoya and Kurt's party... 281. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Closer is closing in.... 282. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Let's see if "The Closer" can actually close for once. Because all year long he's been fading at the end of the race instead of closing. 283. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) FOX = FOC Full Of Commercials 284. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Any bets that this isn't the last green flag commercial break? 285. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad is down a cylinder. 286. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lmao @ 283 XD FOC 287. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad's race is over. 288. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad's losing cylinders. He's probably gonna blow up and bring out another caution. Now he just got black flagged. 289. Benjamin Lowe posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) FOX is Full of more shit then most outhouses. 290. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon is fading. 291. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did anyone see that large slide off 2 by Montoya just as dw said he was flawless. 292. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BURTON!!!! GOING FOR 6th!!! 293. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @289 ROFL so true! Great run for Jeff Burton in seventh. 294. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man this is gonna be so close! 295. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Gordon is fading." He's lost a few spots, but it is still a tremendous comeback. 296. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Goddammit! 297. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for Vickers' crash. What a BAD break for Montoya. 298. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Vickers in the wall for a caution. Wow. 299. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nuts. 300. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) FFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!! 301. John Royal posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt could do kamikaze move for win, I'd like to see that! 302. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Comon Kurt 303. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton STAYS OUT. 304. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did Jeff Burton stay out? 305. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton wins...? 306. TS1420 posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) OH MY GOD! What idiot's! 307. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton stayed out. This restart will be interesting. 308. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Burton, McMurray, and Allmendinger stayed out. Everyone else pitted. I don't know about this restart... 309. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McMurray and Dinger stayed out as well. 310. The Long Shot posted: 04.27.2013 - 10:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race could decide Jeff Burton's future with RCR. A win would be HUGE for him. 311. 12345Dude posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton is going to win. 312. Bronco posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hope McMurray wins. 313. John Royal posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Restart will be wreckfest. 314. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This restart will be NUTS!!! 315. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Montoya should have stayed out. He would have had some bookends between he and Harvick. 316. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Martinsvile spring 2012 anyone? 317. AveryNH posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I'm smellin a restart a lá Martinsville spring of 2012 318. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) We might have a HUGE crash on the restart... 319. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Edwards is shown in 4th, so he must have stayed out too. 320. 18fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No matter how good of a finish Montoya gets, this is indicative of how his year has gone. 321. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I can barely stand the tension. 322. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Edwards took two tires. 323. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Does Michael not realize that a GWC means that there are only gonna be two laps to go? 324. AveryNH posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Safe to say Vickers absolutely destroyed his car. Damn 325. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick. 326. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick wins. 327. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:05 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Tony Stewart vs Kurt Busch: Round 28 328. The Long Shot posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Oh, well. Great run for Joey Logano, though! 329. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh boy. Tony vs Kurt AGAIN. 330. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was crazy, I'm surprised they made it through without wrecking! 331. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I believe that Harvick joins the 20 win club with this win. 332. AveryNH posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think harvick and burton are the only two happy about that finish. What a mess 333. The Final Gear posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:08 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) This sucks. I really wanted Juan to win, he deserved it. I hate these GWC rules, I wish we had the old format back. I don't know what Stewart's problem is, he should have known that he was going to get knocked out of the way on 2 tires like the rest of the guys did. Until team cancer leaves, his team is going to suck. 334. Bronco posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:08 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Heartbreak for Montoya, no matter whether you like him or not. 335. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:08 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) At least Montoya made some ground on that late restart. 336. Kenny posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) Hell yes what a grate race if you dident like this you are a moron 337. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In retrospect, Montoya definitely should have stayed out. You would have figured that at least a few more guys would have stayed, which they did. 338. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Burton fifth? 339. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stewart's just mad that he finished 18th for about the sixth time this season. Gotta take your frustrations out on somebody. 340. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:12 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Stewart needs to stop running that Rush paint scheme, because apparently he thinks that's his Enforcer paint scheme. Class interview by Kurt. I'm pulling for him this year. 341. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was pleasantly surprised by Kurt Busch's interview. 342. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menard squeaks home 13th while Almirola gets his 3rd straight top 10 finish. They might have a realistic shot at making the Chase if they can keep it up. 343. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:15 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) The thing that killed Montoya was that Stewart beat him by just a few inches coming off pit road. Had Montoya beat Stewart, he would have restarted 5th and on the inside line, and may very well have won that race. Classy interview from him. I hope he gets another shot at an oval victory this season. 344. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great runs for a lot of my favorites tonight. 5th for Burton, 8th for Almirola. Good nights for a lot of other guys too like Montoya. Logano also gets another top five. 345. New14 & 88Fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menard for sure has a realistic shot of making the chase, Almirola and Kurt Busch would be good dark horse picks to get in. 346. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) "Matt Kenseth is the lap leader for the year so far, but no victories..." So, FOX, I guess Kansas and Vegas didn't happen? 347. AveryNH posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nice work by almendinger considering this time last week he was out in Long Beach 348. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hopefully this race will sort of reignite Montoya's seemingly lost passion for stock car racing. I was impressed by that interview too. 349. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sheesh, Jimmie Johnson really IS lucky as all hell. He has a rough night and gets spun out, and yet he expands his points lead because his closest competitors have even worse nights. 350. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Stewart is behind Mark Martin (who has one less start) in points. 351. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jamie McMurray: Restarted 2nd, finished 26th. Wow. Had he finished 12th or better, he would be in the Chase as it currently stands, but instead Aric Almirola gets in instead. 352. joey2448 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) McMurray went from 2nd to 26th on that GWC. He got passed by every car on the lead lap in two laps! Allmendinger almost had a win in the bag, he stuck his nose on the bottom to make it three-wide for the lead briefly, but he ended up 14th! And he's been running IndyCar races for the last few weeks! Harvick went from 7th to the win in one lap! Jeff Burton almost won it! Ended up fifth. Logano came out of nowhere to finish 3rd! And, of course, the skirmishes after the race were classic! Kurt Busch was mad at Kenseth, and Tony was mad at Kurt! Love it! BRING ON TALLADEGA!!! 353. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Stewart is behind Mark Martin (who has one less start) in points." And two finishes of 37th or worse, like tonight. Personally, I think Stewart's just angry over his poor showings this season, and that's why he's been ticked off by Logano and Kurt over fairly minuscule incidents. Other than his fluke Nationwide win at Daytona, nothing good has happened to him this season. 354. Anonymous posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Does anyone think Almirola can win in the 43 car? It would be nice to see that car in victory lane again. 355. The Final Gear posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:24 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) Stewart and Newman are having the worst years of their careers (2nd worst for Newman) in the same year that Danica is a full time driver on their team. Coincidence? I think not. 356. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Next week is going to be one of the few races that BoB is going to have a chance to be really competitive. ...If she won Talladega, I think we'd ALL shit collective bricks. 357. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) At first, I thought Tony came alongside Kurt on the cool down lap as an attempt to keep Kurt from doing something he might regret when he was beating on Kenseth's car. But as it turns out, he wanted a piece of Kurt himself, and tried to run him into the wall, destroying Kurt's car in the process. He went from being a good soldier to just "Tony being Tony." Classic Tony Stewart. 358. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "...If she won Talladega" She won't. It's become a running joke that anybody can win a restrictor plate race, but as taboo as this sounds, it actually takes talent to win at Talladega or Daytona. She may run up front at points in the race because of her car, but it takes more than a good car to win a race. 359. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's also ironic that an RCR car wins one night after two of their crew members end up in the slammer. 360. murb posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I'm gonna predict that she'll win the pole next week, since they'll probably give her the best engine again like they did at Daytona. As for the race, it'll depend on whether or not Nascar steps up and changes something from Daytona. If they don't and it's just a parade race like the 500, she'll probably get a top ten. 361. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I DID say "if". That is a HUGE if. The only way I think she'd have a real shot at victory is if there was a massive crash that wiped most of the competitive cars except for hers. Even then, someone better would probably also survive the accident and be able to beat her. 362. Ryan posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Ladies and Gentlemen... The Closer! 363. Schroeder51 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:35 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) And good GOD I hope Talladega isn't exactly identical to Daytona in terms of race quality. 364. David posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "but as taboo as this sounds, it actually takes talent to win at Talladega or Daytona." Thank you. 365. 83andJoe posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:37 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Good run today by Landon Cassill. 366. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The golden horseshoe is safely back in the possession of the #48 team. With a 42 point lead, they should run Talladega like the 2nd-4th segments of the All-Star race last year. "...If she won Talladega, I think we'd ALL shit collective bricks." - There's no place like home, there's no place like home... 367. Mr X posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) While I do think that Danica does have a very ever so slim chance of winning at Talladega, for the most part it will take a driver with some vague sense of whats going on during the race to win it. If she does win I will move in under a rock. 368. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The streak ends at 4 straight for Kyle Busch. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict 2013 is the first year Mark Martin will not get at least 10 top-10s in a season. MWR is a little off on the 1.5 mile tracks with the exception of Kansas and Mark seemed to be in the way at Richmond even with a top-10 car after being the last car to not pit before Kahne sideswiped him. 369. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Landon Cassill finished 25th tonight. That's his best finish of the season (previous best was 29th last week), as well as Circle Sport's best finish since returning to NASCAR in 2011. That may be one of the more underrated hirings of the season. The stat sheet might not show it, but Cassill is doing wonders for that very small team. If he ever gets a really good Cup ride, he could be running a lot like how Aric Almirola is right now. 370. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) What the hell did I miss? 371. Paul posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Talladega won't be anything like Daytona. Go back and watch the Talladega races from last year and compare them to the races at Daytona in 2012 and 2013. Daytona pretty much as one groove and nobody can seem to pass each other, while Talladega has multiple grooves and cars are 2- and 3-wide all over the race track. Trust me, it will be an upgrade over the racing at Daytona. Plus, the Nationwide race will be in action that weekend too, and we've already seen how good a show those cars can put on at the restrictor plate tracks. By the way, as much as I criticize Cup drivers for running double duty, Daytona and Talladega are two tracks where you almost have to have Cup drivers participating in. Otherwise, it could be a demolition derby with a bunch of inexperienced drivers who don't know how to draft and race in close quarters with one another. Plus, it gives the younger drivers the chance to learn how to race close to other cars for a full race, as they get the opportunity to imitate what the Cup drivers do and become better restrictor plate drivers themselves. And since the restrictor plates make for a fairly even playing field, the fact that most of the Cup drivers will be in great equipment doesn't really bother me. Equipment will certainly play a role in the outcome of the race, but experience and skill will play just as big, if not a bigger role in determining who will win the Nationwide race next week. Really looking forward to Talladega, and hopefully we don't see any bad crashes that injure any drivers like we did last year and have twice so far this year. 372. MStall41 posted: 04.27.2013 - 11:55 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Paul, that may be the best post you've made on here in a while. It bugs me to no end when people act like anyone can win a plate race. The statistics show that this is simply not true. DRIVING a plate track by yourself is obviously easy, RACING on a plate track is one of the most difficult things this sport has to offer. People conflate the easiness of the literal driving at the plate tracks and erroneously believe anyone can win. In reality, it takes a unique skill set and a huge set of balls to win a plate race. Very glad to see some folks on here realize this. 373. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, thats another good point about how Talladega ought to be at least a decent race. History shows that some of the very best races at Talladega have come in years where the Daytona races have been snoozers. They are such different race tracks. A sucky package at Daytona usually means that you get that nicely balanced racing at Talladega (meaning that there is lots of passing but you still need a good car to stay upfront), while sometimes in years where Daytona is really competitive, Talladega almost becomes TOO pass happy. I'm expecting this years plate races to play out like 2000, 2004 and 2006. The Daytona races were subpar those years but the Dega races were PERFECT. 374. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Calculated risks, picking and choosing the best lane, side/bump drafting, and making it to lap 160 or so, then racing all out requires a unique skill that not just anyone can perfect for a win at Talladega. The only way 'just about anyone can win at Talladega,' is if there is a 27 car pileup like the 2002 Busch race and only four or five cars are running on the lead lap. Eventually, only Keller and Compton were left to duel for the win down the stretch. 375. 83andJoe posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) >That may be one of the more underrated hirings of the season Agreed on that; I think Falk made the steal of the season. Cassill doesn't tear up his equipment, doesn't get in peoples way (no, Danica, your opinion doesn't count), and can be counted on to get you comfortably in the show. 376. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Exactly JarrettFan. One of the biggest misconceptions is that anyone can win a plate race. The big wrecks (which royally screw up the average finish stats) tend to mask just how good some guys are at plate racing and just how bad others are at it. The skill set required to win at Daytona or Talladega is not the same as the one required to win at Darlington or Rockingham, but make no mistake, the Daytona/Talladega skill set requires just as much of that unique skill and thus in my opinion makes both of these tracks "drivers tracks" purely in the sense that having an experienced plate racer behind the wheel can make a world of difference at plate tracks. 377. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Right, some factors such as qualifying, pit strategy, pit stops, etc. are insignificant at Talladega due to the nature of the draft. Whereas, on "driver's tracks" like the Rock and Darlington, they matter much more. Different tracks require different skill sets to master. 378. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "and can be counted on to get you comfortably in the show." That's actually what helped Cassill get a full-time Cup ride in 2011. After his 2008 Nationwide ROY campaign, Cassill was without a ride for all but one race in '09, and was only given a few "Danica-less" Nationwide races in '10 before James Finch (who gave Cassill his only ride in '09) called him up and asked if he could start-and-park his Cup car at Michigan. Long story short, Cassill made the field in 16 of his 18 attempts in 2010 for three different teams (finishing only one race), and has had a full-time Cup ride ever since. He's probably the poster boy for drivers who catch breaks due to their "ability" to successfully start-and-park for struggling teams. If I were RCR, I would seriously consider hiring Landon Cassill to drive one of their four cars (including the FRR #78 car) in 2014. 379. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:20 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) My philosophy on Daytona and Talladega, and these will be my final thoughts on this so as not to derail the rest of the Richmond discussion, is that Tona/Dega are the easiest tracks to learn (i.e. "drive") and by far the most difficult tracks to master (i.e. "race"). Think about it. Only a few guys in the history of the sport have truly ever mastered these two gloriously massive race tracks, especially in the plate era. Earnhardt for sure, Gordon to a lesser extent, and maybe Stewart. Thats some esteemed company in my book. There are plenty of great plate racers out there (McMurray, Harvick, and Junior all come to mind), but the three masters of plate racing have to be Dale Sr, JG, and Stewart. 380. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Whether you're talking about tracks like Darlington/Rockingham or Daytona/Talladega, the common denominator in determining the race winner is skill. In NASCAR, there are two big categories that skill falls under. There's "physical skill," which is key to winning at tracks like Darlington and Rockingham where the track is rough and the grooves are ever changing as the race progresses, and the key to winning is to race the track AND the pack. Then there's "mental skill," which is key to winning at tracks like Daytona and Talladega, which are easy to drive on, but not so easy to race on due to how costly one small mistake can be. From entering the corner too early and hitting the apron, to making a bad bump draft in the corner, to getting too close to another car's front fender and turning yourself around, mental strength plays a huge role in determining the outcome of a race at tracks like these. Imagine sitting in a 3,500 pound stock car, running wide open on a huge race track at over 190 MPH in a car that is well over 100 degrees sitting inside of it. It's very easy to lose focus in these conditions, and with other factors like frequently changing your focus between your windshield and rear-view mirror, knowing whether to stay in the gas or tap the brakes to avoid colliding with the car in front of you, knowing when to switch lanes, and knowing when to hold position and when to make your move towards the front, there's a lot going on that the driver has to be in control of, otherwise he may make a mistake like Tony Stewart made while leading in the final turn of the last lap by crossing over in front of another car because he misjudged how close Michael Waltrip was to him in his rear-view mirror. There's a lot of skill that goes into winning these restrictor plate races, and that's why great drivers like Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Jimmie Johnson are frequent contenders in these races. 381. David posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:29 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) While it wasn't nearly as impressive as last fall, Jeff Gordon turns his bad run into a top-15 finish. This is the second time he has done that this year (Fontana). 382. 18fan posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ernie Irvan, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, and, to a lesser extent, Davey Allison have to be up there in terms of all-time plate racers. A couple of those guys eclipse Stewart in my opinion. 383. murb posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If I were RCR, I would seriously consider hiring Landon Cassill to drive one of their four cars (including the FRR #78 car) in 2014." I would too, but Childress and his Real Nepotistic Racing team won't. Since we're on the subject, I'm going to predict what Childress's lineup will look like in 2014: - Austin replaces Harvick in the 29 (which will be renumbered as the 3, causing BSPN and Fox to do countless stories about how he's "carrying on the legacy"). - Menard returns to the 27. - Kurt Busch in the 31, sponsored and co-owned by Furniture Row. I think RCR will basically merge with FRR and bring that whole Colorado operation out to their shop. - Ty running the 33 in a part time deal. Overall, as much as I love Burton, I just think that Kurt's performance will trump his performance, and it will lead to Kurt getting the 31. As for Burton, hopefully he'll stick with it. He can still run decent and can occasionally contend for wins, if given the right circumstances. He's got a good relationship with CAT, so maybe he can take CAT with him over to start a third team at a place like RPM or EGR. Or hell, maybe he'll just go run the Truck Series full time or something. Who knows. But there should be some quality options in all three series, so I hope he sticks around for a little while longer. I definitely see RCR doing some sort of a buyout thing with Furniture Row though. You know that Richard has to be pissed about the 78 outrunning his own cars in pretty much every race this year. 384. MStall41 posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @18fan, those guys you listed are all kickass plate racers, but Stewart has some pretty insane numbers at Daytona (4 wins in the last 7 summer races!!!), which IMO put him towards the top of the list of best plate racers. You can't forget his ridiculous stats in the February Daytona Nationwide race either. He's won something like 6 out of the last 8 or some equally ridiculous number of wins in that event. 385. BON GORDON posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon is like Kevin Harvick this year (with the exception of tonight). Not running too great but still getting "solid" finishes. 11th place sucks, sorry. I think this team overall is junk and need improvements. However, like I said last week Gordon is still having a much better year than Tony Stewart. 386. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2013 - 12:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) MStall41, the three masters of plate racing have to be Dale, Sr., Gordon, and Stewart? Dale, Sr. and Gordon are obvious, but there are a number of others I'd place ahead of Stewart. Guys such as Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, and Dale, Jr. are guys I would place ahead of Stewart in a heartbeat. Other than four wins in the Firecracker 400, Stewart doesn't have that good a record at winning plate races, while Marlin, Jarrett, Dale, Jr., and Ernie Irvan won each of the four plate races at least once in their careers. And New14 & 88Fan, Menard's not going to make the Chase because he's not going to finish high enough to make the Chase. You can't make the Chase running 12th-16th every week, and that's what Menard basically does. He runs 12th-16th every week and eventually he's going to run into trouble and drop to about 15th in points, which is about right for him. to make the Chase, you have to show you can run in or near the top five, and Menard just isn't capable of that. Menard's only way to get in is to be in the top ten after the 26th race and he doesn't run of finish high enough in the races to do that. He's certainly incapable of getting a Wild Card slot. Aric Almirola has a slightly better chance to get in than does Menard because at least he's shown he can run up front, though neither driver's getting in this year. Of the current top nine in the points, the only one I think that needs to be worried is Greg Biffle, and I think Kenseth will also get in, so that makes either nine or ten. If Kenseth and the top nine all get in, that leaves just two spots left, and my picks for those two spots are Jeff Gordon and Martin Truex, Jr., pretty much by default, because I don't see Menard, Almirola, or Jamie McMurray stayng up there in the top dozen. 387. Anonymous posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, If You are note counting Tony Stewart's Plate wins at in the Duels and the Budweiser shootouts, You better not be counting Earnhardt's wins either in those events. 388. 18fan posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, Stewart is a beast in the Daytona summer race and the Nationwide race. Marlin contended in plate races in almost every car he drove (It was awesome seeing Sterling leading the spring Talladega race in 2007) so I would probably rank him above Tony, plus you cannot slight a guy who won back-to-back Daytona 500s. I would probably rank Tony above DJ, Ernie, and Davey. My top 5 would probably be Dale Sr, Gordon, Dale Jr, Sterling, and Tony (The latter three not necessarily in that order, but the first two are in that order). 389. 18fan posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:40 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kenseth, Tony, and Truex all were upset with Kurt after the race. I was impressed by Kurt's interview, not talking about what happened with Tony and giving most of the attention to his team. 390. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) So Paul Menard has been inside the top ten in points for six straight races, has 4 top ten finishes, and is averaging a 14.1 place finish, and he's in danger of falling out of the Chase to a pair of drivers who are almost a full race behind him in the points because of their inconsistency so far this season, supposedly because he's running 12th-16th every week? At this rate, he can continue to run 12th-16th every week and STILL make the Chase just because Gordon and Truex cannot consistently finish in the top 16. They'll gain points on him one week, and lose points to him the next. Gordon will probably win a race and at least get a wildcard spot in the Chase, but neither of them have shown me that they can consistently run as well as Menard. As long as Menard is running in the top ten in points, with a 13-point advantage over 11th place and 36 and 40 points ahead of Gordon and Truex, respectively, I don't wanna hear it. 391. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) No Anonymous (#387), I'm not counting those races, just the four points races as well as how they perfomed during the races in question. And 18fan, there's no way I can possibly rank Tony Stewart ahead of either Sterling Marlin or Dale Jarrett in terms of plate racing, nor can I rank Stewart ahead of Dale, Jr. And you can argue whether either Davey Allison and/or Ernie Irvan should be ranked ahead of Stewart in the plate racing category, as well. And since you're a fan of the #18 JGR car, let's not forget that the first win the #18 car got was Dale Jarrett's win in the 1993 Daytona 500 with a last-lap pass over Dale, Sr., and he beat Dale, Sr. head-to-head again in the 1996 Daytona 500. In fact, I'd probably rank Jarrett third among drivers in NASCAR's modern restrictor plate era behind only Dale, Sr., Jeff Gordon, and ahead of Dale, Jr. and Marlin, and they'd be my top five. 392. b4il3y posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Quietly he sneaks..Almirola is proving he belongs here without much fanfare. Nice run for him. He will win a race this year. Where? That's a good question..one that hopefully (and knowing you all on here, you will :) one of you guys can chime in on. I'll go out on a limb and say Bristol, or the 2nd time around at Richmond. Wild prediction for next week: One of these people will win, David Ragan, Dave Blaney, Reutimann, or Casey Mears. REALLY WILD PREDICTION: LANDON CASSILL. It's Talledega after all :) JPM - Not much for him myself, but I did want him to win this one. Even if he stayed out, new tires were soooo much better tonight than old ones. I think if he started on the inside lane he might have had a shot at it. Kurt Busch.. I hate to say this. I really do...I'm almost pulling for him right now. He didn't blow up being interviewed, he didn't take any crap from Tony, and has been driving the wheels off the 78 car. In his new role as an underdog, I kinda like the guy. We all get older and change lol. Not a bad race overall, give it a solid B race. B+ if JPM won. Oh yeah...the girl.. umm..well she beat Brad K on 7 cylinders :) 393. 18fan posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the first race in his NASCAR career that I actually felt sorry for Juan. He did a great job all night. It's nice to see him get a good finish, now he needs to get some more quality finishes and maybe get a win this year. I would prefer that Juan wins on an oval before Ambrose, I don't know why though. 394. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:51 am Rate this comment: (2) (1) Truex has no business being upset with Kurt because he was blocking him and was basically asking to get punted in the next turn, which he did by blocking Kurt yet again. As for Kenseth, I remember the '06 Bristol spring race when Kurt moved Kenseth out of the way for the win, and Kenseth showed his displeasure after the race (of course that was all but forgotten due to the far more interesting Kenseth/Gordon incident). I guess Kenseth doesn't like it when the shoe is on the other foot and the other driver is upset with him. Tony Stewart gets no sympathy from me whatsoever. He's just upset because he can't buy a top ten finish in Cup anymore, so he's pretty much just at the end of his rope with any driver who does something that even remotely pisses him off. He picks a fight with Joey Logano at Fontana after Joey did what Stewart does to pretty much everybody else, and now he's upset that Kurt Busch ran into him on a G-W-C finish on a short track with fresher tires. Plus, Kurt had a driver breathing down his neck at the same time, and couldn't just slam on the brakes just because Stewart couldn't get the run off the corner like Kurt could. Perhaps I'm a little biased, but I don't think any of those three should be upset with Kurt because they would have likely done the same thing if the shoe were on the other foot. The only driver whose frustration I can understand is Matt Kenseth, and that's because Kurt bumped him on the cool down lap. Kurt was interviewed by both FOX and MRN after the race, while the other three weren't (unless I'm mistaken). I'm not sure if they just weren't approached by a reporter or if they declined an interview, but I did find that interesting. 395. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The question is, can Paul Menard keep it up? He has to stay in the top ten, and I don't think he can. I actually like Aric Almirola's chances better than I like Menard's, but Jamie McMurray may stand the best chance out of those currently 10th, 11th, and 12th because he's proven that he can win, though he hasn't recently. Now if the Fords of Keselowski and Biffle continue to freefall (or if Keselowski loses his appeal), this entire equation would change and those "fringe" teams would obviously have a better shot. 396. Jarrett88fan posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menard's Chase hopes rest on three things above all. One is maintaining his current 14th place average finishing position through Richmond. A second career win would help a ton, especially if the wildcard contenders get wins. Finally, Gordon, Logano, and Kurt Busch can all contend for wins and you add the possibility of Denny Hamlin if he is cleared to race this weekend. 397. b4il3y posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'll chime in on the top plate drivers: 1. Earnhardt 2. Jarrett 3. Earnhardt Jr. (In DEI cars) 3. Marlin/Ernie 4. Gordon/Stewart 5. Michael Waltrip (In DEI cars) 6. Harvick This doesn't reflect wins, but in how they raced the draft. Some other guys that didn't win or only won once or twice that really has a grasp on the plate concept: Mike Wallace, Dave Blaney, Joe Nemecheck, Buckshot Jones (believe it or not always did decently well), Ken Schrader (he did win once in 1988...could have easily won 5 or 6), Ward Burton, Phil Parsons in the earlier plate races in the late 80's, Jimmy Spencer (really had the fastest car at Dega in 98 but couldn't get much help, plus Jarrett was strong at the end), Mark Martin hates it but he's better than he's given himself credit for..he did win the caution less Dega race! 398. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:57 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I want Juan to win an oval race too. One of the reasons why is because I remember his interview after winning the Busch race at Mexico City back in 2007 when he said that he really wanted to win on an oval track. He had set a goal for himself, and I feel sorry for him that he's now in his 7th full-time season and still hasn't won an oval race. I'd hate to see a driver as talented as him fail to achieve such a reasonable goal like that. This hasn't been mentioned yet, but Montoya's 4th place finish was his first top five since Martinsville in April 2011, as well as Ganassi's first top five finish since the night race at Bristol that same year. 399. murb posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You know, I think the EGR cars are gonna be strong at Talladega next week. They've got the new HMS horsepower now, so I think that will help them a lot. So as much as Montoya got hosed this week, I think he'll have a good shot of redeeming himself and possibly getting a win next week. Also, I just read that Toyota has recalled three of Clint Bowyer's engines. They're concerned about them having the same problem that Kenseth's did at Kansas. What a cluster. 400. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:59 am Rate this comment: (3) (1) Any top restrictor plate driver list that doesn't have Jeff Gordon ranked 2nd behind Dale Earnhardt is unacceptable. 401. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 2:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To be more specific, the three engines that NASCAR is inspecting for the #15 team are their Richmond engine, as well as the primary and backup engines for Talladega. I'm glad that NASCAR is finally beginning to take a stand on making sure teams aren't violating the rule book with the increased amount of inspections going on, but I can't help but notice that they never did this with Hendrick's engines in years past. It's also odd that NASCAR is suddenly trying to track down on other teams now that HMS isn't the dominant team at the moment. 402. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 2:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Whoops, my bad, I misread what murb wrote. Toyota recalled the #15 team's engines, not NASCAR. Although the general point I was making about NASCAR taking a stand on other teams now that HMS isn't the dominant team right now still stands. 403. murb posted: 04.28.2013 - 2:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The question is, can Paul Menard keep it up? He has to stay in the top ten, and I don't think he can." I think he can stay NEAR the top ten the whole way through. He's so damn solid. He can stay in that 10th-13th range throughout the summer if he keeps doing what he's doing. And if he wins a race (maybe at one of the road courses or Atlanta or Michigan), he's a lock. One other thing too is that I'm expecting a couple guys to fall out of the top ten. I think Biffle and Harvick will be out of there by late June if they keep up their inconsistency. So those along with the current freed up spots by expected contenders Gordon, Stewart, Newman, and Truex are seemingly playing into Menard's hands. Here's my bottom line: I don't know if Paul Menard will make the Chase, but I think it's gonna be pretty close. His consistency and ability to not get torn up is off the charts. 404. murb posted: 04.28.2013 - 2:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Dale Jr is very overrated as a plate racer, simply due to the fact that he's been average at best at plate races since he's been with HMS. It's pretty obvious that the DEI cars from 2001-2005 were the key in why he won so many of those races. If Earnhardt himself or Gordon had been in those cars during that time, the stats would have been even scarier. 405. BradKeselowski2Fan posted: 04.28.2013 - 2:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Didn't Kurt Busch say a couple years ago at Pocono about liking a little beating and banging? 406. Mr X posted: 04.28.2013 - 3:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Murb I'm not sure I would say that Menard is any more or less consistant then Harvick, with the exception of the 42nd place finish in Daytona he's been shadowing Menard. Harvick has finished no worse than 14th despite the fact that this is only his second top 10 this year, and while he has been the anti-closer this year as he has always faded right near the end of every race from what I've seen most of those poor finishes have been the result of poor late race strategy by Gil Martin, or failing to keep up with changing track conditions, and not Kevin's driving. 407. 83andJoe posted: 04.28.2013 - 4:01 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) >REALLY WILD PREDICTION: LANDON CASSILL. It's Talledega after all :) If that happens, Talladega had better have room in their budget for new grandstands, as they're likely to get torn down in celebration of an ultimate underdog story. But seriosly, hey, stranger things have happened at 'Dega... 408. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.28.2013 - 7:33 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Danica Patrick finished two laps behind Josh Wise... that's all folks. Josh Wise in an FRM car is faster than Danica Patrick in the second most highly funded car in the sport (I am convinced that Hendrick has something on the order or tens of millions more in the 48 car than the other cars, even Junior and Kahne). 409. epzik8 posted: 04.28.2013 - 8:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This race was painful for me to watch last night. First, there were 11 cautions, which I guess is normal for a short track race, but I never like to see too many cautions. Plus, there was a green-white-checkered finish. And at the beginning, Jeff Gordon lost more than 20 spots after starting third, and Matt Kenseth and Clint Bowyer were the only two leaders for more than half of the race. Then Tony Stewart and Mark Martin both got in crashes. Kurt Busch then gave up the lead to Juan Pablo Montoya, and he had the race until Brian Vickers hit the wall with 4 laps to go, which I will probably never forgive him for, because he cost Montoya his first oval win again. Then, Jeff Burton was in the lead at the restart, and he came so close to winning his first points race in 5 years, but his teammate Kevin Harvick passed him at the white flag and won. Harvick probably deserved the win the least. But at least Kyle Busch didn't win for the fifth year in a row! 410. startandparkfan posted: 04.28.2013 - 8:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) What a race! Great run for Montoya, Burton, and Almirola! The lawn sprinklers came on a few times! There were so many drivers at the end of the race that I wanted to win, but Harvick has to go and win. Whatever. Still a great race. Tony Stewart may admit that he is wrong, but when someone else does something to him, he gets mad! 411. Peter posted: 04.28.2013 - 8:31 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) ...and Gililand in crappy equipment beats Danica again 412. Anonymous posted: 04.28.2013 - 9:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If no-one has seen Kurt Bush's interview....wow just wow!, its amazing how he has changed his attitude, can't praise his team enough, and looks like he is really enjoying racing again. The old Kurt would have gone into a profanity laced tirade 413. GDR29 posted: 04.28.2013 - 10:46 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) I know Harv isn't everybody's cup of tea, but 20 wins is a pretty significant achievement and puts you in some good company. And of course he did it in Harvick style, winning and leading only 3 laps. 414. The Long Shot posted: 04.28.2013 - 11:26 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) "Before NASCAR Sprint Cup practice began at Richmond International Raceway on Friday, #10-Danica Patrick visited #93-David Gilliland at his transporter to discuss their differences." Can Fox Sports not even get Gilliland's freaking car number right? Sheesh. 415. Rusty posted: 04.28.2013 - 11:50 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) As a Kurt fan, I'm proud of him for this race. I wish he would've stayed out on that last caution. He could've won and at worst, got the top 5 he deserved. But he ran up there the whole night and despite having half the field angry at him, managed his classiest interview in a while. Good work, I just feel like he'll pull that 78 into victory lane at least once this year. 416. Ryan posted: 04.28.2013 - 11:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was surprised at how bad the attendance was and how willing FOX was to show crowd shots 417. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2013 - 11:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Murb, I did say that the way the Fords are freefalling, particularly the Fords of Greg Biffle and Brad Keselowski, that if they fell out of the top 10, that could change things quite dramatically. But of the three drivers currently 10th, 11th, and 12th in the points, I like Paul Menard's chances the least because I think he always plateaus at the beginning of the season when the points standings are at their most volatile. I actually like Aric Almirola more than I do Menard because he runs closer to the front, but in his case, I'm not sure the team is capable of keeping him up there. After all, it is a Richard Petty team, and they've always been prone to bad pit stops, which is why I don't think he would have won last fall at Kansas even if he didn't have tire problems. But I actually like Jamie McMurray's chances better than the other two because his team is really on an upswing this year, and he's proven something the other two really haven't proven, and that is that he can actually win, though it's been almost three years, and I think it may take two wins to get a Wild Card slot, though it only took one last year. And if Matt Kenseth gets back into the to ten, which I think he will, and if the top nine all stay in the top ten, which is a distinct possibility based on their pedigree, then that would be your top ten, which begs the question, who would be the Wild Card drivers? I would say Jeff Gordon would be one of them because he figures to back into a win, as he did at Pocono last year, which would leave one spot open, and I think as good as he's been running, that Joey Logano has a better than average shot at that other spot based on a potential win, and if Logano doesn't win, it could come down to points standings, as it did last year, in which case, it may come down to Menard, Almirola, McMurray, Logano, and Martin Truex, Jr. 418. Eric posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think from a Wild Card Standpoint Its going to be Kurt Busch and Jamie. Jamie seems to be close to 2010 mode and he's a driver that has won plate races before besides big races before. I am saying Kurt Busch because there had been races that Kurt has been close to a win this year and the 78 team seems to be strong at driver tracks. The only catch is that team has been snake bitten in some races this year. If there isn't any problems, Kurt has to be a threat to win at Sears Point. The 78 team for the first race at Loudon should be one of the top teams for a win also since I expect the 48 team to experiment at Loudon for preparing them for the chase race at Loudon. 419. Bronco posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Nothing but heartbreak for Montoya. This was by far the closest he has come to winning an oval in his entire NASCAR career, even though he dominated Indy from 2009-2010 once he got back in traffic his race was over, whereas last night he was 4 laps away from winning and was far enough ahead of Harvick to get there. What's truly amazing is that such a solid performance came during a season in which JPM is buried in points and didn't have a top 10 since last June at Michigan or a top 5 since the April 2011 Martinsville race. The new HMS engines are key to the resurgence of the #1 and #42 this year. Wonder if Brad Keselowski is going to whine this week about NASCAR unfairly targeting him after they black flagged his car for not meeting minimum speed? 420. Eric posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) GDR29, 20 cup wins is a good achievement, but not a significant achievement in terms considering a full time cup driver to be elite unless the cup driver has championships or is a part time driver. Kevin is the 38th driver to get 20 career cup wins. The fact is the 20 win club is getting bigger. Dale Jr. is 1 win away from that club, Biffle is 2 wins away from that club, and Kasey is 5 wins away from the 20 win club. 421. Eric posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) GDR29, My view of a significant achievement for cup wins is over 30 cup cups for a full time cup driver that didn't retire early or died their prime of their career. A 30 win club in Cup is a big achievement, but joining the 40, or 50 win clubs would be even bigger for achievements. What is a significant achievement for a full time cup driver to me is winning cup championships,winning over 30 wins, and winning a major. To me, Fred Lorenzen, Terry Labonte and Joe Weatherly are Elite Drivers despite not having 30 wins. Terry and Joe and 2 cup championships. Fred Lorenzen is elite because he was a part time cup driver that retired early, but pulled off 26 wins including 2 World 600's and a Daytona 500. The fact is if Fred Lroenzen raced cup full time, he would have won at least a cup championship and over 30 cup wins. What I consider to be a significant achievement for Kevin Harvick is winning over 30 races or a cup championship. Kevin having 4 Majors is significant achievement, but Kevin doesn't other cup accomplishments outside of rookie that year that are really significant achievements at this point. Kevin doesn't have a cup championship and has less wins than Ricky Rudd. Kevin is matter of fact tied with Carl Edwards and Speedy Thompson for 35th in cup wins. 422. murb posted: 04.28.2013 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I'm watching Robby Gordon's Stadium Supertruck Series thing on NBC Sports right now. It's actually pretty cool. 423. Anonymous posted: 04.28.2013 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What exactly says Brad is freefalling he has more T10s than anyone else and is tied for second most top 5s and that team has come through more than any other team this year by far and last night they had a good car but blew a tire and hit the wall then drove back to the top 10 and the engine finally finished them off and the other finish out of the top 10 at Fontana was also engine related when they were running like 6 th. Anyway off to dega next weekend where Brad has won 2 of the past 4 spring races there. Go Brad!!! BACK2BACK on the way! 424. Alex posted: 04.28.2013 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) As a Harvick fan, I was pumped with the result but I kinda wanted Montoya or Burton to win. 425. Talk4Tar posted: 04.28.2013 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Haha, oh Bronco. Haters gonna hate... 426. Tyson posted: 04.28.2013 - 4:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brian Keselowski's crew chief was not his father Bob, it was Ben Leslie in a collaboration with Go Green Racing. 427. ch posted: 04.28.2013 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Changes: 5 - Quaker State 19 - G-Oil 51 - Phoenix Racing (Blank Car) 52 - BK Motorsports (Blank Car - New Official Team Name) 87 - NEMCO Motorsports (Blank Car) 428. jabber1990 posted: 04.28.2013 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) somebody called in earlier on Pat Pattersons show and was all "ok, so Penske was caught cheating, had a fine and will lose crew cheifs, then Gibbs was caught cheating and will be fined and lost crew cheifs, and at Talladega Roush will probably be caught, yet Hendrick hasnt been caught" we all love conspiracy theroies then a few mintues later "yea, that lady is a crazy conspiracy theroist, but do you remember when Toyota had the horsepower advantage in the Nationwide series and was given a diffrent sized restrictor plate...." then I stopped listening somebody else posted a conspiracy theory that NASCAR is out to get Gibbs, nobody knows why I have a theory is Gibbs still involved with the Redskins? maybe NASCAR is out to get Gibbs and then Redskins fans will start watching NASCAR and will give ratings and its a publicity stunt? if hes not with them....then my point still stands, Redskins and Gibbs fanboys are going to watch NASCAR in protest I think NASCAR has gotten tired of Danica as a publicty stunt 429. jabber1990 posted: 04.28.2013 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) also if Danica is a cancer, does that mean she'll drag Stenhouse down too? 430. Eric posted: 04.28.2013 - 5:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) jabber1990, I think Joe Gibbs is still a special adviser to Redskins owner Dan Snyder. 431. Kidattheend posted: 04.28.2013 - 6:06 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Paul Menard is the only driver to complete every lap so far this season! 432. Matt posted: 04.28.2013 - 7:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know if I just can't warm up to it or what, but I feel like double file restarts are unfair the way they are now. If juan had the bottom lane, he may have won, instead gets pinned and ends up fourth. I sort of wish it had been single file, let them fan out 2 3 wide on their own. Or, let each driver select lane 1 by 1, like the driver in 2nd could choose 2nd on the inside or first on the outside, whichever they prefer. Thoughts? 433. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2013 - 7:51 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Matt, the double-file restarts have NEVER been fair. For instance, at Martinsville, it sometimes better to be fifth than second due to the advantage of the inside groove, and it's certainly more advantageous to be third for that reason. Bt at most speedways, the outside is the most advantageous on restarts because of the momentum and the aerodynamic pull you can get on the inside cars. The most blatant case of the advantage of certain lines on restarts ocurred at Brstol in 2010, when Jimmie Johnson beat Kurt Busch because Jimmie started on the much faster outside line in sixth on one restarts, while Busch, running third, started on the slower inside line, was passed by Johnson, and never got back by. But the double-file restarts have never been fair and I've long advocated the return of single-file restarts, because the line a driver's in can often decide the outcome of a race. Now if they ever do decide to go back to single-file restarts, the question then becomes, would they go to double-file restarts they way they used to, with lead lap cars in one line and lapped cars on the other. I will say that going back to single-file restarts would make plate-race restarts sane like they used to be, then maybe they can get through late-race restarts without total calamity, though I doubt it. 434. 83andJoe posted: 04.28.2013 - 7:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) The double-file restarts are a joke and frankly insulting to the guys who scrape and claw their way to the front of the pack, then get forced to restart on the outside and get freight-trained by the inside line. Lead lap cars, single file, outside, lap down cars on the inside. It worked just fine for years, we don't need "the action spiced up" with double file restarts. 435. Ryan W posted: 04.28.2013 - 7:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm not for sure if anyone has ever made the Kevin Harvick and Ernie Irvan comparison, but they have a lot of similarities. They've won at a lot of the same race tracks including the same races. I know that a lot of drivers have won at a lot of the same races, but with these two winning only 20 (Harvick) and 15 (Irvan), respectively, I believe the comparisons are deep. Both have won the Richmond Spring race Both have won Richmond late Summer race Both of their Daytona 500 wins arguably were bs depending on who you ask They have both won the Spring Talladega race Both have won Bristol late Summer race Both have won at Loudon Both have won at Michigan Both have won the Atlanta Spring race Both have won at Charlotte Both have won at Watkins Glen Both have won the Martinsville Spring race Both have won the Daytona Firecracker 400 race Both have Brickyard 400 poles (Ernie probably should have won the Brickyard 400 like Harvick did) Both have won in their home state of California Both have Bakersfield, California connections Both are considered real agressive drivers (Harvick not as dumb as Irvan though) Both have came into a car driver's seat based on the previous car driver's death Both were a menace to other drivers in the early going of their respective careers (Ernie with his bumper and Harvick with his mouth) Neither have a Cup Championship (although circumstance just maybe cost them... Ernie's wreck in '94 and the Chase for Harvick in 2010). 436. Matt posted: 04.28.2013 - 8:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) glad to hear im not the only one that doesnt love double file restarts as they are now. especially after bs cautions where a car gets like 20 degrees sideways (Josh Wise). Miss single file and as you said 83andJoe, restrictor plate restarts would be a lot more reasonable 437. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2013 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Of course Ryan W, the big difference is that Harvick never had a life-threatening crash like Ernie did at Michigan in 1994. But I don't now how you can doubt the validity of Ernie's Daytona 500 win in 1991. Sure the rules were crazy and he was penalized once, but Ernie was strong all week long, qualifying second-fastest behind only Davey Allison, ran a smart race, and did what every other big name driver in that race couldn't do, and that was to avoid all the crashes, and all nine cautions in that race were for crashes. Not only that, but he passed Dale Earnhardt with seven laps to go, so it's not like he inherited anything. He took it away from the best in the business in his prime. Only one other lead lap finisher did not have any damage to his car, and that was fourth-place finisher Rick Mast, as both the second and third place finishers (Sterling Marlin and Joe Ruttman) got slight damage from that final crash, and Earnhardt's car was all torn up. Only five cars completed all 200 laps that day. But back to the business about restarts. If NASCAR ever went back to the old way of doing it, which I don't think they will, the question then becomes what would happen to lapped cars that do't pit? 438. The Long Shot posted: 04.28.2013 - 8:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) See, I love the hectic nature of restrictor plate restarts. If NASCAR were to re-implement single file restarts, we'd have a lot more races like this year's Daytona 500, with single-file racing galore. I prefer the unpredictability of races like Talladega or this year's Nationwide race at Daytona. Speaking of Talladega, is anyone here rooting for a particular underdog to win the races this weekend? I'm rooting for Joe Nemechek and Mike Harmon in the Nationwide race (laugh at me all you want, but they had good cars at Daytona), as well as Nemechek and Dave Blaney in the Cup event. I'm also keeping an eye on names like Casey Mears, Landon Cassill, and (guess who) Terry Labonte to be a factor in Sunday's race. Should be great! 439. murb posted: 04.28.2013 - 9:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I'm rooting for Joe Nemechek and Mike Harmon in the Nationwide race (laugh at me all you want, but they had good cars at Daytona)" I don't know why anyone would laugh at you for that, because I too think those guys (along with maybe Mike Wallace) are gonna be pretty strong. I'd love to see Nemechek pick up his third Talladega NNS win next weekend. It would tie him with Martin Truex Jr for most all time NNS wins there (a record Joe held until Truex pulled off three in a row from 2004-2006). 440. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.28.2013 - 9:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick has never won the Bristol night race. 441. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 9:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Both were a menace to other drivers in the early going of their respective careers (Ernie with his bumper and Harvick with his mouth)" Harvick is still a menace with his mouth. Just ask Kyle Busch from their drawn out feud from the end of 2010 through most of 2011. He also made a sexist ass of himself when he called out Amber Cope at Loudon last year ("Pick your boots and your favorite song and find a new job"? Really Kevin?). He's just been on his best behavior as of late, much like how Kyle Busch has been on his best behavior over the past year. It doesn't mean they've changed, it just means that they've repressed their usual anger and frustrations a lot better than in years past. 442. The Long Shot posted: 04.28.2013 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I don't know why anyone would laugh at you for that, because I too think those guys (along with maybe Mike Wallace) are gonna be pretty strong." Crap, I forgot about Mike Wallace. I wouldn't be surprised if he finishes in the Top 10 this weekend. Eric McClure should be strong as well after nearly winning at Daytona in February. 443. Ryan W posted: 04.28.2013 - 9:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Of course Ryan W, the big difference is that Harvick never had a life-threatening crash like Ernie did at Michigan in 1994. But I don't now how you can doubt the validity of Ernie's Daytona 500 win in 1991. Sure the rules were crazy and he was penalized once, but Ernie was strong all week long, qualifying second-fastest behind only Davey Allison, ran a smart race, and did what every other big name driver in that race couldn't do, and that was to avoid all the crashes, and all nine cautions in that race were for crashes. Not only that, but he passed Dale Earnhardt with seven laps to go, so it's not like he inherited anything. He took it away from the best in the business in his prime. Only one other lead lap finisher did not have any damage to his car, and that was fourth-place finisher Rick Mast, as both the second and third place finishers (Sterling Marlin and Joe Ruttman) got slight damage from that final crash, and Earnhardt's car was all torn up. Only five cars completed all 200 laps that day." I was only making comparisons cjs3872 in my post. Just said they have a lot of similarities and they do. Glad you watched it and btw I watched it too. And if you watched the last restart you'll see that Earnhardt got a great start and Ernie got a very poor restart. Ernie didn't shift as well as Dale did, and by the time he caught Earnhardt a lap later he had full steam with help from behind while Dale was by himself aka sitting duck and went by Dale like he was parked and got out front while Earnhardt and Davey battled. So yeah he was lucky and was rewarded for an awful restart. Earnhardt finished 5th on the lead lap. "Harvick has never won the Bristol night race." My mistake, but they both have a win at Bristol. 444. JG24FanForever posted: 04.28.2013 - 9:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon's 435th career Top 11 19th career 11th place finish 4th Top 13 finish in the last five races for Jeffy 445. cjs3872 posted: 04.28.2013 - 9:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In fact Ryan W, Ernie was so slow on that final restart that Dale Jarrett, who was one lap behind, actually got between them briefly before letting Ernie go. I only brought that up because you said that Ernie's Daytona 500 win was "bs" in some way, which it wasn't. Actually, their careers are pretty similar as you said. One big race Harvick has won that Ernie never did was the All-Star Race, which Harvick did the year of his Daytona 500 win (2007). But they did win many of the same races on many of the same tracks. And Harvick's aggressiveness certainly came through for him Saturday night, as many drs in top equipment today would never have won under the exact same set of circumstances because they would never have taken the necessary risks to do so, but Harvick will, and profited from it. In fact, neither of Harvick's teammates would ever have taken such a risk, but rather settled for about third or fourth, which is where Harvick would likely have finished if he had not taken such a risk. 446. Matt posted: 04.28.2013 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872..the wave around could still work or keep at as they used to where they're in front (tail-end) either or...The Long Shot: look at the Coke Zero 400 finish in 2008...thats what single file restrictor plate restarts are like and its much more sensible in my opinion 447. Paul posted: 04.28.2013 - 10:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) One thing that I would do is remove the wave around (but keep the "lucky dog"), and have all lapped cars line up on the inside of the lead lap cars on restarts. Even if lapped cars elected not to pit under caution while the leaders do pit, I would still have them line up on the inside line. Then for the final 10 laps, because I believe that all restarts with 10 or fewer laps to go should be single-file, I would force all lapped cars to come down pit road, whether they intend on making a pit stop or not. If they choose not to make a pit stop, they would have to stop at the exit of pit road until a NASCAR official gives them the cue to leave pit road once all lead lap cars have passed pit road. This would ensure that all lead lap cars would be at the front of the field for a late restart, and not have any lapped cars from acting as roadblocks in between lead lap cars. I would also limit the amount of G-W-C finishes to just one. The NFL has just one overtime period for all regular season games, and I think that's the way NASCAR's "overtime" should be setup as well. 448. 83andJoe posted: 04.28.2013 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul: Couldn't have put it better myself, that would be a very logical set of rules. I still lean torwards replacing the 'Lucky Dog' with a 'all lapped cars between the leader and the second place car get one lap back' rule though (no lapped cars between them? No free pass for you! Leader has lapped the field? Everyone gets one lap back). >He also made a sexist ass of himself when he called out Amber Cope at Loudon last year ("Pick your boots and your favorite song and find a new job"? Really Kevin?). I'd have to say that's more "calling a spade a spade"... 449. cjs3872 posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Paul, you wouldn't have to make the lapped cars pit at the end of the race if they go back to the old rules, because the old rule, installed in 1994, was that all the cars on the lead lap started ahead of all the lapped cars inside the last ten laps, regardless of how they were lined up on the track, or because of pit stops, and I've always thought that GWC finises should be limited to one, and on the plate tracks and road courses, they should be altered. They should be 1 lap instead of 2 on the road courses because of how long a lap takes on a road course, and they should be eliminated all together on the plate tracks because of safety. If the race ends under caution, then so be it, but a GWC finish at a plate track usually results in the kind of crash seen at the end of the Nationwide race at Daytona earlier this year, albeit not that graphic. Remember that the horific crash at the end of the 2009 spring race at Talladega was on a GWC, if I remember right. And the terrible crash at the end of the 1993 Winston 500 at Talladega was on a defacto GWC, as the green came out with just 2 laps left, and a bad crash erupted at the end of the 1997 Firecracker 400 when the green came out for just the final lap. 450. cjs3872 posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Matt, putting those cars that don't pit under caution at the front of the field for a restart is a disaster waiting for a place to happen, as there's a possibility that a couple of those cars could touch off a crash involving all the leaders. Remember Chicago and the first Dover race in 2004? About 25 cars were involved in crashes as a result of the leaders starting back in the pack in those two races alone, and in that race at Dover, only one of the leaders (Kasey Kahne) escaped such a crash that involved half the field, and he ended up crashing in oil later. 451. JG24FanForever posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon extended his all-time record of beating Jimmie Johnson to 178 races Johnson has beaten Gordon 230 times 452. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I would send lapped cars to pit road for a restart with under 10 laps to go because we've seen several cases with double-file restarts that sometimes lapped cars line up in front of lead lap cars on restarts, and won't move over even as the lead lap car approaches them. Since some of these drivers can't even do the simplest thing of lining up correctly, sending all lapped down cars to pit road would ensure that they line up behind all lead lap cars. 453. joey2448 posted: 04.29.2013 - 4:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was going to mention this a while back, but I think NASCAR should use double-file restarts except for the final 10 laps of a race. If it's within the final laps of a race, then let the real leaders duke it out for the win. No race should be decided based on the luck of the draw on what lane you're starting in, cuz Jimmie Johnson wins all the races ;-) But seriously, I'm getting tired of seeing these races being decided by what lane is the best lane. When it comes down to the final laps, it's gonna be exciting no matter what! Even with a single file restart... 454. David posted: 04.29.2013 - 9:05 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Today, Dale Earnhardt would have been 62. 455. jabber1990 posted: 04.29.2013 - 9:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) who did Irvan aquire the ride from? and no, im more for unlimited G-W-C finishes, hear me out, you are getting yoru moneys worth that way, the race isnt disapointingly ending under caution, and we all know how much of a diffrence that makes it would be good for ratings, those whom are tuning in to watch "The Crapland Show" will instead be watching NASCAR...which will make the haters slightly more open-minded "And the Winner is, the one driver who didnt get killed in the final 10 laps" 456. The Long Shot posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If you want more sensible restarts, I'd suggest you look at any tracks other than Daytona and Talladega. If you were to put back the single-file restarts at those tracks, you're all but getting rid of the "anyone can win" mentality that is special to those tracks. Because that's the reason why I love races at Daytona and Talladega, I will be strongly against NASCAR bringing back single-file restarts at least for those tracks. Paul, I think what NASCAR should do is implement your idea of making all the restarts with 10 or less laps to go single-file in every race EXCEPT Daytona and Talladega. Thoughts? 457. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Paul, I think what NASCAR should do is implement your idea of making all the restarts with 10 or less laps to go single-file in every race EXCEPT Daytona and Talladega. Thoughts?" I say no, and for three reasons. First off, changing the rule to allow double-file restarts only at Daytona and Talladega could lead to a slippery slope where double-file restarts occur at every track. If the restarts at Daytona and Talladega are the most exciting for fans, why not have them at every track? And since the cars are getting faster and cars are easily getting spread out at the front of the field, restarts are the easiest way to bunch them up, and double-file restarts bunch them up even closer together. I would rather get rid of that concept altogether rather than tease the fans at all with four races that have "exciting" restarts and 32 races with "unexciting" restarts. Also, the draft plays a much bigger role at Daytona and Talladega than any other track, so it's much easier to work your way through traffic. It's bad enough that a car can restart 5th (3rd on the inside line) and have a better line than the car restarting 2nd (1st on the outside line) on a short track like Martinsville, which still requires the 5th place car to run the corners properly. If you were to take that concept and use it only for Daytona and Talladega, the advantage would always go to the line that gets the better restart and can draft much closer together. If that happens, you can rest assured that the car on the good lane of row 3 will have a better chance at obtaining the lead than the car in row 1 who restarted on the bad lane. Double-file restarts make it too easy for cars further back to make it to the front if they get lucky and are placed in the better lane, and it would be even easier if the scenario occurred at Daytona or Talladega. And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it would give the drivers more time catch their breath and get settled into a rhythm once the race goes back to green. I think we as fans think too much of ourselves and what we want sometimes, and I think a good part of the blame lies on NASCAR's shoulders for catering to us far too often with these gimmicks that are meant to excite us, even though the racing isn't all that great, and double-file restarts are a great example of that. Single-file restarts on all tracks, including Daytona and Talladega, would give drivers a chance to get into a slight rhythm on restarts without having to worry about possibly over-/under-driving the first corner after riding around at pace lap speed for about 3-5 laps. We've seen too many times drivers who are more cautious lose spots on double-file restarts because they take the first few corners too conservatively, and that's unfair to them and their team that they can fall from 8th to 12th in one lap just because the cars are lined up 2x2. Now that's not as big of an issue on restrictor plate tracks because you're not braking in the corners, but it would be good for the drivers to line up single-file on restarts there as well because they would have at least one corner where they're simply getting up to speed and building a rhythm on their corner entry positions, without having to worry what the car next to them is going to do. We saw in the spring race last year when A.J. Allmendinger and Denny Hamlin got together on a late restart that double-file restarts are dangerous on restrictor plate tracks. I guarantee you that Dinger would not have cut Hamlin off like that had they been lined up single-file because he wouldn't have been hung out to dry by being forced on the outside of a 3-wide predicament. Those are my reasons for why I wouldn't make an exception to the double-file restarts. I would revert back to the pre-2009 rules if I had my way. It worked just fine for many years, and if it ain't broke, don't fix it. 458. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:34 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "and no, im more for unlimited G-W-C finishes, hear me out, you are getting your money's worth that way, the race isn't disappointingly ending under caution, and we all know how much of a difference that makes" I would rather see a legitimate clean ending to a race than one that's been gimmicked out so much just to give the casual fan who can't appreciate a real race finish some cheap excitement. One overtime is all the drivers should get. They have two laps to gain as many positions as possible before the race ends. If they can't gain anything in two laps, then they weren't good enough to gain anything additional. Period. And they're lucky to get those two laps to begin with, seeing as how they weren't good enough to obtain those positions in the regularly scheduled race distance. Besides, we saw from the Richmond race that a driver running 7th on the final restart won the race two laps later (another reason for why double-file restarts shouldn't exist). Why risk having multiple G-W-C finishes where a driver running 10th can dump the car in front of him, bring out a caution, then restart on the inside line and possibly have a shot at victory himself? It doesn't make any sense because you're almost rewarding drivers who aren't doing that well by giving them more chances to win than they deserve. Like I said before: Drivers get one overtime period, just like real sports. (Except for post-lockout NHL because for some reason they thought fans wouldn't come back to their sport if games could end in a tie, so they added the shootout period also.) They get one final chance to gain a few positions, and if they can't get it, they can't get it. "it would be good for ratings, those whom are tuning in to watch "The Crapland Show" will instead be watching NASCAR...which will make the haters slightly more open-minded" F*** them! If people want to watch "The Crapland Show" (whatever the hell that is), let them watch their stupid show. Don't encourage them to come over hear and change the way our sport is operated. I would rather the fair weather fans hate NASCAR for what it is than love it for what it pretends to be. It is NOT a reality show, it is a f***ing sport! It is auto racing! Get it through your head. 459. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Happy "Take advantage of a deceased legend's death by releasing your own set of Dale Earnhardt merchandise for the sole reason of enhancing your name and brand and making money off of someone much greater than you" Day! 460. David posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:52 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "who did Irvan aquire the ride from?" The #4 car? Phil Parsons. 461. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I personally like one of two approaches: either you just run the advertised distance come hell or high water, or you only count green flag laps. Anything else is a lie. If the race is advertised as a 400 lapper, then I want the race to be over after lap 400 is finished. You are not entitled to a green flag finish. Per the advertised distance, you are only entitled to a 400 lap race, and if those laps include caution laps, too bad. 462. cjs3872 posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Paul, did you not read post #449? All NASCAR would have to do is go back to the rule they first implemented in 1994 when they went to single-file restarts inside the last 10 laps, which is to automatically place all the lead lap cars in front of all the lapped cars for restarts inside the final 10 laps no matter where they lined up on the track. They wouldn't have to make anyone pit because the rule, by itself, would take care of that situation. And The Long Shot, the reason I'm against GWC's on late tracks was never more graphically illustrated than in this year's Nationwide Series race at Daytona, where Kyle Larson's car got up in the catchfencing and, based on reports 28-33 people were taken to the hospital. That was on a GWC finish, as was the terrible crash at the end of the 2009 spring race at Talladega when Carl Edwards got into the catchfencing. and Rusty Wallace's crash at the end of the 1993 Winston 500 was in a defacto GWC finish, as the green came out with two laps remaining. GWCs and double-file restarts are going to continue to have those kinds of results on plate tracks, and I hate to say this, but I wouldn't be surprised if a car actually got into the grandstands on a GWC in a plate race because you'd have the entire field together for a 2-lap dash to the finish. Nothing good can come out of GWCs on plate tracks. I don't mind the GWC on any other kind of track, but they have to go on the plate tracks for safety reasons. And I'd like to see it limited to one attempt. The problem with that is something Kyle Busch actually admitted to doing a few years ago at Dover. He actually admitted to trying to cause a wreck on a GWC because that would guarantee him winning. If you go back to one attempt, the leader will try to cause a crash on a restart to guarantee his victory, which may be one reason NASCAR expanded it to three attempts in 2010. 463. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Maybe all races should just be timed like some sports car racing series, perhaps to three hours each. The race ends once all cars on the track have crossed the line after the clock reaches zero, and only stops during a red flag period. This would not only throw G-W-C finishes out the window, but also would increase viewer attention spans throughout the course of the race. Matt Weaver wrote a great article about this on SBNation.com, where he suggested cutting out 100 miles of each race in order to prevent great teams from rebounding from mistakes and wind up with great finishes (like Jimmie Johnson at Kansas last fall), while not penalizing the smaller teams that don't make a mistake all race by allowing the bigger teams to rebound and pass them in the end once they get their cars running properly. The Richmond race the other night was almost four hours long, and was largely uninteresting until the last hour. Cutting out an hour of racing by shortening the distance by about 100 miles would encourage teams to go to the front quicker and not just wait for the race to come to them, while also penalizing/rewarding teams depending on how flawless of a race they ran by eliminating an hour's worth of "free mulligans." I thought that was an intriguing idea. What do you guys think? 464. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Believe it or not cjs, I DID read your post on 449. But if you read my post #452 completely, you would have seen that I mentioned how drivers right now are prone to making mistakes on restarts by not lining up properly, which has caused some lapped cars to line up in front of lead lap cars by mistake. I believe Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin had an incident like that earlier this year, with Kurt being a lap down and Denny being a lead lap car, and Kurt not letting Denny in front of him, causing them to restart 3-wide. There's been a few other examples of cars not lining up properly as well. By sending all lapped cars to pit road, you eliminate any chance that a mistake was made on the restart. That's all I'm saying. 465. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It should be legal to pass below the yellow line at Daytona and Talladega as well. The last lap wrecks at Talladega '09 and the Nationwide race at Daytona earlier this year wouldn't have happened if the 2nd place car had the ability to pass below the yellow line, without the risk of a penalty. And does anyone remember that bogus penalty that Carl Edwards received in the 2006 Bud Shootout, where he was penalized by going below the yellow line to avoid a slower car and LOST positions? Getting rid of the "out of bounds" line would completely eliminate any chance of a BS penalty like that from happening again as well. 466. The Long Shot posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I see your reasoning. However, taking out G-W-C's won't eliminate the danger by any means. Bobby Allison's crash in 1987, Neil Bonnett's crash in 1993, and Geoffrey Bodine's crash in 2000 all took place in the very middle of the race. So, while I agree that taking out the G-W-C's would reduce the risk of serious crashes, it wouldn't get rid of it completely. Unfortunately, if NASCAR does do anything about it, it won't happen until a car does end up flying into the grandstands. 467. Cornys posted: 04.29.2013 - 12:55 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Does anybody else think that this was the best race of the season so far? so many fresh faces and (after half-way) the lead was all most always being contested. Have to feel bad for Montoya, but it's nice to see tires fall off like they did in this race. Almost always leads to a good race :) 468. jabber1990 posted: 04.29.2013 - 1:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Besides, we saw from the Richmond race that a driver running 7th on the final restart won the race two laps later" hello, Buscher? he went from 7th in Turn 4 (or was it the tri-oval) and won in literally a fraction of a corner and by "The Crapland Show" I meant the Cleveland show 469. David posted: 04.29.2013 - 1:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "and by 'The Crapland Show' I meant the Cleveland show" Hey, there's something we can agree on. I hate all of the animation shows on FOX. They are filth. 470. Daniel posted: 04.29.2013 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 45 entered at Talladega: -Terry Labonte in the #32 -Regan Smith in the #51 -Michael Waltrip in the #55 -Elliott Sadler in the #81 -Scott Speed in the #95 471. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.29.2013 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Austin replaces Harvick in the 29 (which will be renumbered as the 3, causing BSPN and Fox to do countless stories about how he's "carrying on the legacy")" You are right, and I just see that as such a huge error. That is shoes you simply aren't gonna fill. Something got me to thinking about this today. I was watching SportsCenter highlights and they showed the end of yesterday's Baltimore O's Oakland A's game. Tied in the 9th, the A's had a guy on second. The batter bunted the runner to 3rd. The pitcher tried to nail the runner at third, and made a kinda bad, but not super bad throw to 3rd. The Baltimore Orioles third basemen whiffed, the ball went in the outfield, and the game was over. What was the first thought that popped in my head? "Brooks Robinson would have made that catch, tagged the runner, had time to prepare and eat a hamburger, then threw the runner out at first". Brooks Robinson played for Baltimore in the '60s and '70. Well before I was born. But even now, in 2013, being the 3rd basemen of the Baltimore Orioles means playing Brooks Robinson's position. Those old videos and highlights of him diving to make catches down the line, then throwing the runner out from his knees are just friggin awesome. The Human Vacuum Cleaner! That is what Austin would be against in the #3 car, and even worse. First off, it isn't fair to Austin. He does have talent and deserves a chance to forge his own identity (insert cowboy hat joke here) in relative anonymity while he learns the Cup ropes. Being in the #3 not only puts him under a massive microscope, it puts him against unfair comparisons. Already I have caught myself watching NWide races, seeing him in that black #3 car, back out of a 3 wide situation and thought "Dale would have gone 3 wide and made it work". There is only one Dale Earnhardt (as Bodine pointed out in the '87 Bristol Spring race, happy anniversary to him on his first win btw). And the way he left us has caused a lack of the feeling of closure. While watching others drive the #43 had its blow lessened by Richard's last 8 years, our last memory of Dale is that of a 49 year old still winning races in dramatic fashion (you want a "Closer"? look at his last two wins), finishing 2nd in points, then running 3rd on the last lap of the big race slowing down to hold the field back from the two cars he owned just because he could, then boom, no more Dale ever. Do the right thing Richard, for your Grandson and for the rest of us, and keep that number under wraps for a while. Actually Dale's final 5 wins were pretty damn dramatic. In his final 3 wins at Talladega, it seemed like in victory lane he was trying to set the record for most times saying "I didn't think we were gonna win" in a 3 minute period. He outdueled the present Atlanta dominator BLab for win #75, and of course his Bristol '99 win had him outmaneuver Terry to retake the lead on the last lap (hey, knocking the piss out of somebody's rear bumper is technically a "maneuver"). 472. Daniel posted: 04.29.2013 - 1:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) -Trevor Bayne in the #21 473. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.29.2013 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) "Wonder if Brad Keselowski is going to whine this week about NASCAR unfairly targeting him after they black flagged his car for not meeting minimum speed?" No, he's gonna whine that he can't settle on a good place in his house to keep his Cup Championship Trophy. Maybe he can call his early career haters like Carl, Kyle, or Denny for advice on this subject. Oh wait....... 474. Richie61NYfan posted: 04.29.2013 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BoB to do double doo-doo driving for Turner Scott in Nationwide. 475. cjs3872 posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, there have been at least two occasions this year where, in the pack, drivers have been three abreast for a restart, which has always been a direct violation of the rules. And I thought there is a penalty for lining up incorrectly on a restart anyway, which that would certainly be. And The Long Shot, certainly getting rid of the GWC at the plate tracks would not eliminate the chance of such a horrifying crash, since freak accidents, like Bobby Allison's crash in the 1987 Winston 500, do happen. But it would diminish the chance by an incredible amount by not having the field all over each other for a two-lap shootout. Jabber1990, Buescher was actually 11th in turn four in the race you speak of, last year's Nationwide Series opener at Daytona. And Paul, I think the races at Richmond are the right length, as are most races on the circuit today. The move that Harvick made to win that race was one that I don't think 10 drivers even try today. And if you look at the entry list for this week's race at Talladega, that's reinforced. Even if they had superior cars and tires, Terry Labonte, Regan Smith, and Trevor Bayne would never even think of trying a move like that, much less actually try a move like that, since it's not the way they race, as they're not aggressive drivers, but they're conservative drivers who won't try anything risky, even if the situation calls for a risky move. 476. Scott B posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Non-conspiracy theory stat of the week: Toyota Owner's 400 won by a Chevrolet. 477. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now for my "haters gonna hate" post of the week: Is it possible Harvick is the weakest member of the 20+ win? Obviously 20 wins is 20 wins, and he has some really big races as part of those. But there is something just underwhelming about him. Maybe I am letting my personal bias of my dislike for his attitude get in the way, but looking at his numbers, nothing pops. He has only led 500+ laps in a season twice, never topped the 1000 mark, and in 13 seasons has barely cracked the 4000 mark. You also have to look at how many drivers either came along at the same time as him (KuBu) or after him (JJ, Carl, KyBu, Denny) that beat him to the 20 win club. And what about Brad? Yeah, he is still looking to crack the 10 win mark, but he already has one of those big silver trophies. And we can't look past the high number of long winless streaks he has had in just 12 seasons. He has seen a calendar year go by between wins 7 times, and missed an 8th by one day by winning Chicago '02. I'm not saying he is a bad driver by any means. But I just see him as exactly what he was when he showed up in '01. That year he was a Top 10 driver who could pop up and win a race or two if circumstances play out right. That is where he still is. Not a bad thing, but kinda unsatisfying. He has had a few jumps in production ('06, '10-'11) but even more dips to plain mediocrity ('02, '04-'05, '09). And I guess his ultimate ranking comes down to how you feel about his "Closer" status. Is he a clutch driver he turns it up when it matters the most, or a "vulture" preying on others messing up in the end? Of his 20 wins, 7 came after leading 10 or less laps (please no Pearson comparisons, of his 105 wins, only THREE had him leading 10 or less laps), with an additional 6 of those being 33 or less laps led. Only 5 of those wins had him leading 100+ laps. One last side note, anyone else see his move to SHR next year being a disaster? There was just something about Kevin and Richard, they didn't see eye to eye all that often, but Richard just knew how to handle Kevin. Can Tony do the same? 478. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:34 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) There's going to be quite a few full distance cars that will miss the Nationwide race simply because NASCAR decided to lower the field size from 43 to 40. What a brilliant idea that was. They should have just limited the amount of cars outside the top 30 in owner's points that a team could enter in a race, which would have prevented teams like TMG and RWR from entering 2-3 start-and-parks every race. "hello, Buescher? he went from 7th in Turn 4 (or was it the tri-oval) and won in literally a fraction of a corner" He was running 11th in the final turn before the Busch brothers took out the top 10 cars (and several others) on their own. That's even more reason to not have more than one G-W-C. Another restart, and a car who was running 15th-17th prior to that big crash might end up winning the race. "First off, it isn't fair to Austin. He does have talent and deserves a chance to forge his own identity (insert cowboy hat joke here) in relative anonymity while he learns the Cup ropes." It's too late for that. He's already established himself as a complete rip-off of Woody from Toy Story, not to mention that ridiculous cowboy hat, all while trying to continue on his grandfather's legacy of driving the #3. Forget Dale Earnhardt, Austin doesn't give a shit about him and what he meant. He's just trying to make Pop-Pop proud and win races with Pop-Pop's number. He has no real identity of his own, and is merely a parody of two cool pop culture icons. Also, Austin doesn't really deserve to be in Cup next season. He was largely unimpressive in his two runs in the #51 car, especially compared to Regan Smith and A.J. Allmendinger and how well they ran, and is even less impressive this season in the Nationwide Series. He is currently ranked 14th in PEER ratings with a 0.736, which is a "replacement-level" rating, has finished in the top half of the field only 71.43% of the time (pitiful for an RCR driver), has a top 15 efficiency of -16.5% (also pitiful for a member of the Really Conservative Racing team), and has a crash frequency of 0.43 (2nd highest among competitive cars). He is clearly being outperformed by his teammate Brian Scott, and regardless of what cjs has said about him being one of the few drivers who could run down Sam Hornish, Jr. in the points, might not even finish top five in points if his regression in this series continues. The problem that I see with his regression is that Austin knows that he'll be racing in Cup next season, regardless of how he performs. Rather than race his ass off like Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. did last season when he knew halfway through the season that he would be driving the #17 car in 2013, Austin has pretty much checked out of this series, and that's not a good sign for RCR. This is the guy that you're banking your future on? I was already unimpressed by his Cup results and felt that he largely benefited in points last season just because of how wreck prone Stenhouse and Sadler were and how uncompetitive the top part of the series was in 2012, and I'm even less impressed by his lack of production in year two. RCR might not want to get rid of Jeff Burton after this season just because Austin will provide them with similar, if not worse, results, while bringing along an entitled attitude and a lack of experience and expertise on the cars. That team had better hope that Paul Menard AND Kurt Busch stick around, as they're the only RCR drivers that have a shot at winning a race or making the Chase as their current and future lineup shows. 479. Scott B posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS, I have to disagree with you on Regan Smith. He spends most of his time in conservative mode, but if he's actually in a position to win he'll take some risks that he wouldn't otherwise. Since he's not running for points in the Cup series, and having some confidence from past decent results at plate tracks, this would be a good chance for him to show off his bold side if the circumstances are right. 480. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Is he a clutch driver he turns it up when it matters the most, or a "vulture" preying on others messing up in the end?" Harvick's nickname should be "The Vulture" like you brought up. You don't have to look any further than this past Nationwide race to know why. He led a race-high 96 laps (38.4% of the race), had the best average running position in that race (1.87), ranked 1st in green flag speed, and had a car that could run on the outside groove better than most others. You would think that the alleged "Closer" of NASCAR would be able to close out a victory in a race that he clearly dominated. Harvick's strength isn't winning races in the clutch, it's waiting in the wings and taking advantage of other drivers' mistakes. "The Vulture" is what his nickname should be. Not only does it perfectly describe his driving style, but it describes his personality as well. From a distance, he looks like a beautiful eagle soaring in the sky that you can watch for hours on end; but from up close, he's nothing more than an ugly bird and you can only hope that he doesn't stick around too long. That's Kevin Harvick. 481. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Regan Smith finished 4th in the Nationwide race the other day after spending most of the race running around 8th to 15th place. He certainly took some chances on that final restart to get 4th place, and might have gained 1-2 more spots if his car was as good as the Cup drivers running in the top 3 positions. 482. Scott B posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #429 "also if Danica is a cancer, does that mean she'll drag Stenhouse down too?" So far, no, Stenhouse is doing exactly what I expected in his first Cup season. I think he'll be OK, he just has to be focused during the few hours he's on the track each week. The SHR operation has a lot to be concerned about, though, they have to deal with the extra baggage all week long. 483. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm with David: FOX's lineup is smut. I like "The Vulture." I looked up those stats about Harvick myself. I think the end of SHR is not too far ahead. 484. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.29.2013 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, to add to the list of great "Jeff Gordon Never Say Die Moments," brought to you by NicoRosbergFan and DaleSrFanForever, I add the 2012 Coke Zero 400. Jeff Gordon's car was totaled THREE TIMES in that race, and he and the crew put their wills together to get the car fixed where Jeff proceeded to finish 12th despite missing half his sheet metal. 485. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.29.2013 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Forgot about that one Nico. Jeez, how many races do you have to have like that to have a race like that one slip your mind? Also, so proud that we are the generation that proudly calls Woody from Toy Story "a cool pop culture icon". YOU ARE A TOY!! Still makes me smile. And I agree about the Austin in the #3 deal. But I put more blame on Pop Pop than Austin. Austin was probably brought up to believe Dale was just the lucky guy driving Pop Pop's juggernaut equipment when the opposite is the truth. Although next year, I have a feeling Kevin and Tony will make Pop Pop look smart by comparison. 486. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 4:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Michael Annett's return is taking longer than most people had anticipated, including Annet. He was originally expected to return from his sternum injury this weekend at Talladega, but he's just starting rehab right now. Annett is now expected to return at Charlotte next month. Speaking of Jeff Gordon comebacks, how many times this season has he had a terrible car the whole race and managed to comeback for a top 10 or 15 finish? This past race was another example of that as he came up one position shy of a top ten. The driver is still capable of getting the job done, but that #24 team needs to figure out how to put a full race together. Martinsville is the only race this season where that team was great from start to finish, and they're gonna have to have more performances like Martinsville in order to make the Chase. Jimmie Johnson had a good 12th place comeback at Richmond also, as he was generally running around 16th place after getting caught up in two accidents before the final restart. Also, I shared that Kevin Harvick nickname that DSFF came up with to David Smith, and he loved it. Haha. Thanks for making me look like a genius there buddy. You set 'em up, I'll knock 'em down. We're like Leonard Wood and David Pearson, you and I. Haha. 487. 13 posted: 04.29.2013 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NicoRosbergFan. Brad Keselowski finished 8th in that race after getting the back end destroyed on pit road and that car was really messed up it had no rear downforce at all and was on the verge of spinning out at any time which did happen once. and something that helped both of them was the last lap crash. 488. murb posted: 04.29.2013 - 5:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick's legacy will be made up of three things: 1. A good driver from this era who pulled off a lot of thrilling victories (2007 Daytona 500, 2010 Talladega, 2011 Fontana). 2. The guy who replaced Earnhardt. 3. One of the guys (along with Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon, and possibly Kyle Busch) who let distractions derail him from so much more potential success. If he hadn't been so focused on the minor leagues and being an enforcer, he easily could have won a championship (2006, 2010, and 2011 were all great chances, but in all three of those years he was distracted by stupid stuff - in 2006 it was winning a "Who Gives A Shit?" Busch title, in 2010 it was his deep involvement in racing and being a minor league team owner, and in 2011 it was that again along with his idiotic year long feud with Kyle Busch). Harvick's a good driver that has had a nice career. I think he'll sort of be looked at as the Ricky Rudd or Geoff Bodine of this generation. Much like those guys, he's been incredibly versatile (wins on every type of track), and he's also been just an "upper mid-card" and never a "main event" guy, much like how Rudd and Bodine were in their era. If he would've been a bit more together upstairs, he could have been much more than that. Paul, I agree with you on the "Austin Dillon doesn't belong in Cup" theory. He has been pretty unimpressive in his runs in the 33 car the past two years (which has been a full blown RCR entry when he's been in it, not a Circle Sport piece of junk). And he hasn't been great in the 51 either (as you said, a car that Regan and AJ have been solid in this year). I'm really expecting his first few years to look a lot like Joey Logano's first few years. Only now in his fifth full time year is Joey finally starting to look like he deserves a Cup ride (and he had to change teams to do it). And in relation to this, due to the family relationship he has with his team, it will be much harder for him to bail on RCR if he struggles than it was for Logano to leave JGR. So with his mediocre results so far, and with RCR's constant streakiness and tendency to fall behind, I'm not expecting much from Austin Dillon once he gets to Cup. 489. jabber1990 posted: 04.29.2013 - 6:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) if SHR fails, where will Stewart, Newman and Harvick go 490. cjs3872 posted: 04.29.2013 - 7:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) DSFF, you asked if Kevin Harvick was the weakest member of the 20-win club in the Cup series, and the answer to that is no. I know of two drivers who were generally weaker that got to the 20-win plateau that were among he first generation of NASCAR drivers, namely Speedy Thompson (20 wins) and Jack Smith (21). Thompson's biggest win, by far, was the 1957 Southern 500 at Darlington and Smith never had a win like that on his resume, though it wasn't because he didn't try. Smith's biggest win was the 1960 Firecracker 250 at Daytona. I would say that Thompson and Smith are the weakest drivers among those that got 20 wins. Ricky Rudd also had a very weak resume among those that got to 20 wins, thouh he did win on several of NASCAR's toughest tracks, but like Thompson, only had one win in a marquee race, and that was a fuel mileage and strategy race in the 1997 Brickyard 400. One thing about Harvick is that, with one exception, he's won all the big ones. He's won the Daytona 500, Brickyard 400 (and was the first to win that race from the pole), Coca-Cola 600, spring Talladega race, and the Firecracker 400. The only big race mising from his resume is the Southern 500, and he almost bagged that one in 2003. While I don't have him in my top 40 (I don't think), the one thing about Harvick is that he's a big money driver, and he could actually teach Tony Stewart next year on exactly how to win big races, since he's won most of the big ones. And Paul, among RCR's future drivers, only Kurt Busch, if he joins RCR, which I think he will, has a chance to win a race. Jeff Burton is done and Paul Menard has pretty much maxed out at RCR. The only reason Childress might keep Jeff Burton is the thing Jack Roush's team is lacking this year, and that is for someone to mentor the Dillon brothers. RCR will almost have to keep Burton for 2014 if he runs Austin Dillon, because Dillon needs somene to mentor him, and that's were Burton comes in. If he doesn't keep Burton, Childress will be making he same mistake next year that Roush did this year, because Busch can't mentor anyone and Meard's not fit for tht, either. That may be Burton's key role at RCR in 2014, if he stays there. Performance-wise, Burton is no longer fit for such a ride but his leadership skills are needed if Chilress brings Austin up next year. And until last week, I thought he could run down Hornish and Regan Smith for the title, but I think he's too far behind now unless both Hornish and Smith end up in crashes at Talladega. If they don't, I think it's pretty much a 2-way battle for the title. Having Brian Scott for a teammate doesn't help him either. And also, the #24 team will never be able to pull a full race together. First, they have the albatross of Alan Gustafson, which means in strategy races, they're already at a big deficit. Also, he has to set up Gordon's car for long runs because of the other thing that's holding that team back, which is Gordon's unwillingness to hold the throttle down on high-speed tracks, especally on restarts and fresh tires. Those two things alone hold that team back. The set-up problems that team's having this year is puzzling, however, since that's supposed to be Gustafson's strongest suit, and he's failing miserably this year. 491. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.29.2013 - 7:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) You said that shit last year cjs, yet that team wound up doing just that several times. I would hardly call Jack Smith and Speedy Thompson weak members of the 20-win club. Thompson was on the back door of his career as Daytona and Charlotte came around, and he had already won at Darlington. Same case for Jack Smith, plus Smith mostly ran the short tracks only. He is actually one of the greatest dirt track/short track racers the sport has ever had. The weakest 20+ win driver in my eyes is currently Edwards, who obviously has much more time left to improve, but nevertheless has never won a race that really mattered. 492. Eric posted: 04.29.2013 - 7:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Carl Edwards is the worst driver of the 20 win club. That would change if Biffle gets 20 career cup wins. I am saying that because While Greg has 2 Darlington wins, he can't win on a short track on the cup level even if his life depends on it and also his stunt at the last 2 Daytona 500's speak for itself. A cup driver not going for the win at the biggest race of the year despite being in the position too speaks volumes about the driver like in Biffle's case with Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson being the leader late in a race for the last 2 Daytona 500 wins. 493. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 7:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not to mention, Nico, that Carl had not one, but two chances to win big races in his career best 2011 season, and couldn't win either one. He basically got out-gunned by two drivers that hadn't won a Cup race before nor since, in Trevor Bayne in the Daytona 500 and Regan Smith in the Southern 500. That being said. I hesitate to list a 2-time "should have been" Cup champion as the worst driver with 20+ wins, although his lack of big race victories does put him toward the bottom of that list. And thank you for defending Speedy Thompson and Jack Smith. Obviously it's not very popular to defend two drivers with such shady histories as those two, but they were both very underrated wheelmen IMO. I watched the 1952 Modified-Sportsman race at Daytona Beach not too long ago, and there's Jack Smith going toe-to-toe with Tim Flock, who was quite possibly the greatest driver ever at the Daytona Beach Road Course, and he ends up winning the race over Flock. A few modern day equivalents to that race's finish that I can think of are Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin's victories over Jeff Gordon at Atlanta in '01 and '11. Two talented, but sort of "upper mid-card" drivers beating one of the greatest ever at one of his best tracks. That shows you how talented Jack Smith was, that he managed to beat the great Tim Flock at perhaps his best track. 494. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) At least Carl Edwards can say he tried to win the Daytona 500 (although I think he could have tried harder, like I'm sure a driver like Kyle Busch would have done). He made a move on Bayne and Bayne blocked him perfectly. Greg Biffle on the other hand made NO attempt to pass the leader in the past two Daytona 500s. And worse yet, he didn't even get 2nd place in either event. So if his plan was to just maintain position and finish 2nd in the biggest freakin' race of the year, he failed at that too because both times Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was running in 3rd and wound up passing him for 2nd. Biffle gets an epic fail for both of those weak performances in the past two Daytona 500s because not only did he not make an attempt to win the damn thing, but he couldn't even maintain position and finish 2nd either. Once he wins another race, I will gladly say that he is the worst driver in the 20+ win club. 495. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.29.2013 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Plus Biffle has a history of deliberately doing screwy things to help Johnson and Kenseth. 496. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 8:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hmmm...I wonder if Biffle had those two in his pool for the last two Daytona 500s. 497. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.29.2013 - 9:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I doubt it Paul. Biffle is from Washington... he probably doesn't have a pool. 498. David posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Also, I shared that Kevin Harvick nickname that DSFF came up with to David Smith, and he loved it." You canine fraud... "Greg Biffle on the other hand made NO attempt to pass the leader in the past two Daytona 500s." I don't know, it seems like you wouldn't try for the lead if no one is going to draft with you. 499. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You canine fraud..." You're just jealous 'cause you didn't think of it first. "it seems like you wouldn't try for the lead if no one is going to draft with you." Junior was all over his back bumper in the 2012 Daytona 500, trying to push Biffle up to Kenseth so that he could push Biffle to the lead before trying to do the crossover move and win the race himself. Finally in turn 4, he got sick of pushing a guy that couldn't move and so he took 2nd place for himself. I don't recall what exactly happened at the end of the 2013 race. With JJ winning, Danica being the center(fold) of attention yet again, and hardly any passing taking place the entire race, I've pretty much blocked that race out of my memory. The only thing good I remember from it was Regan Smith, Michael McDowell, and J.J. Yeley all finishing in the top ten. I thought that was the highlight of Speedweeks. 500. Ryan W posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I only brought that up because you said that Ernie's Daytona 500 win was "bs" in some way, which it wasn't." sorry cjs3872, but it was in fact bs, but I did mention in my original post that it depends on who you ask. Gets off to so bad of a restart that a lap car gets in between and eventually lets him through, plus he got back on the lead lap after pitting on the wrong lap. He was about as lucky as Derrike Cope (1990) that day... DSFF has had it out for Harvick for a long time... agree with you on this cjs3872. You can't ignore his big wins regardless how he got them if it was leading a lot of laps or very few laps to win a race. He puts himself in position to win at unusual times it seems a lot, but he gets it done and one has to think... if he could ever win a Cup, he would be a shew in for the Hall of Fame. Look at Dale Jarrett he won some big races and he had the Cup hanging over his head and he finally got it and will eventually be in the Hall of Fame for his big wins and title. Harvick has some big wins. He isn't a starter... he's the Closer! In fairness to him, he lacked the big time equipment of the last decade that is there with JGR, Hendrick, and Roush dominance. Getting 20 wins when Childress struggled for funds off and on is saying something, especially when Childress' other drivers during that time period combined won just 13 races with Robby Gordon, Bowyer, JBurton, and Menard. So I believe his ridiculous resume' during the last decade will stand out to Hall voters in time. I think he needs a championship in there, eventhough die-hard traditionalists consider him a champion from 2010 year. 501. Ryan W posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick came in for Earnhardt, Sr. and Irvan came into Davey's seat for those wondering about what seat Irvan came into after a driver died in post about Irvan/Harvick comparisons... 502. murb posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch will be driving in the NNS race this weekend at Talladega for James Finch, and the car will be painted up pink and fluorescent yellow just like Neil Bonnett's old Country Time car he drove for Finch. It looks awesome!!! 503. jabber1990 posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Danica being the center(fold) of attention yet again," how was it "again" it was back when the media still loved her, and before we were all hated her ok, well, we hated her then, but how can you say 'again" 504. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "but how can you say 'again"" It was her 2nd Daytona 500. 505. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What the hell was I supposed to say? "She was the center of attention for the first time"?? If she was the center of attention before, obviously if she was the center of attention at a later date, I would say "She was the center of attention again." Not that hard to put 2 and 2 together. 506. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Speedy Thompson was a much better driver in his era. But I refuse to acknowledge his existance in NASCAR after his part in the Herb/CarlK deal in '56. And I cannot disagree more about Ricky Rudd. Looking at what The Rooster did for so long while never driving for a powerhouse in their prime is to be admired. His record at driver's tracks is amazing. I just don't understand the fixation with 'marquee" races. Especially since a "marquee" race is so subjective. Obviously the Daytona 500 is the biggest race, but it is a plate race, and the phrase "Michael Waltrip Two Time Daytona 500 winner" speaks for itself. We can't even decide what the rest of the "marquee" races are. You have a fixation with the Spring Dega race. Sorry, but unless it was the Winston 500 it is not a marquee race (this is a Brad K fan saying this). And does the Mother's Day Southern 500 really hold the same amount of water as the Labor Day Southern 500? The fact is, in the modern era, everyone tries just as hard to win every week. Good example: Dale Jarrett and Rusty. Each has one championship, but DJ kills Rusty in "marquee" wins. Yet anyone who says DJ is better than Rusty has no idea what they are talking about. Rudd >> Harvick 507. JG24FanForever posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You have a fixation with the Spring Dega race. Sorry, but unless it was the Winston 500 it is not a marquee race" Why is that? The spring race is significant for holding the all-time fastest qualifying time by Bill Elliott in 1987,and Mark Martin won with the fastest average speed in Nascar history in this event in 1997. Making it Nascar's official "Fastest" event. The Spring race is almost always the better of the two events each year. But I think you go for the Fall race more because Big E has a record 7 wins in the event. 508. JG24FanForever posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And does the Mother's Day Southern 500 really hold the same amount of water as the Labor Day Southern 500?" Absolutely! I've been to both,and I like them both equally. 509. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) None of the marquee races have the same meaning that they once did. The various restrictor plate programs over the past decade have diminished the overall meaning of a win in the Daytona 500 or Talladega spring race. Also, the Southern 500 would mean more if it was run in the daytime like it should (not to mention having a Labor Day date), the Coca-Cola 600 is now just 4-4.5 hours of follow the leader on the ultimate cookie-cutter track, and the Brickyard 400 lost its luster a long time ago to the point where it's just the first Cup race broadcasted on ESPN every year. I don't put much weight on the marquee events anymore, but they are nice "feathers in the cap" of some of the top drivers to make their careers sound more distinct. 510. Paul posted: 04.29.2013 - 11:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You know what I'd like to see? I want to see a southern driver win the Southern 500, then wave a Confederate flag in the spirit of the old Rebel 300, the old name of the spring Darlington race. It's okay when Brad holds up the American flag after winning an American race full of Americans, so why not if a southerner holds up their flag after winning a race against a field full of West Coast, Midwest, and Yankee drivers? Formula One does it after every race during the Podium celebration, so why not NASCAR? It's not gonna happen, I know, but it would be different. 511. JG24FanForever posted: 04.30.2013 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (3) (0) "I want to see a southern driver win the Southern 500, then wave a Confederate flag in the spirit of the old Rebel 300" Drivers should brandish home-state flags after a win. Gordon would probably wave the Indiana flag instead of California. Jimmie Johnson would wave a flag with the image of a Terminator head with a human skull back-drop and the word "Destroy" underneath the Terminator head. Tony Stewart would just wave a Burger King flag. 512. cjs3872 posted: 04.30.2013 - 1:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan W, Ernie Irvan never went a lap down in that 1991 Daytona 500. It's true that he got penaized for pitting on the wrong lap, but got saved from going a lap down due to one of the numerous cautions during the first half of the race. And Ernie's own team thought that Ernie laid back a little too much on that final restart, alowing Dale Jarrett to get between him and Earnhardt, but Jarrett let him go since he was a lap down, and he got a run on Earnhardt, who's car was faltering, but I'm not convinced that had Earnhardt and Davey Allison settled their battle for second that they would have gotten by Ernie anyway. And Paul, Greg Biffle didn't try to pass for the lead late simply because his car wasn't fast enough to. I believe his strategy was to stay behind Jimmie Johnson until they got off the fourth turn and then try to get him at the S/F line, but Dale, Jr. and Mark Martin beat him to it, and I think he was trying to do the same thing in the 2012 Daytona 500, but again, Dale, Jr. beat him to it and Biffle had to settle for third. Also, I think in 2012 that Biffle was trying to make sure that a Roush car won the race, even if he couldn't, but his car was not as fast as Matt Kenseth's that night, so it's doubtful he would have been able to make a move on him. Remember that they had dueled in the qualifying race, and Biffle made a mistake in the last lap or two and Kenseth capitalized on it. And also, I don't think Carl Edwards was ever getting by Trevor Bayne at the end of the 2011 Daytona 500. Earlier in that race, Edwards tried to team up with Bayne, and Bayne flatly told him that if his car was in front, that it so fast that it tended to pull away, and on the final stretch, that was evident, as when Edwards got behind Bayne, Bayne actually pulled a full car length clear of Edwards between turn four and the checkered flag, so Bayne's car was clearly faster. Sure, he should have won at Darlington, but not at Daytona. 513. 83andJoe posted: 04.30.2013 - 1:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The seeming curse strikes again: it appears Blake Koch has been released from SR2 Motorsports. 514. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well I'm happy that David Green might get a shot at running the full race in the #00 car, but not at this cost. Damn, I hate that for Blake. He finished in the top 25 every time he managed to finish the race, which is better than what that team was getting last season. I wonder if lack of sponsorship cost him yet another ride. 515. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If Koch was in fact release by SR2 Motorsports and not just taken out of the car for a race (a la Jeffrey Earnhardt at Fontana a few weeks ago), the timing of this release is pretty odd. He was just on Race Hub a few days ago, so he was getting some press coverage from the media. Also, just three days ago, the SR2 team tweeted out that Koch was heading to Talladega this week. Hmmm... Also, all three start-and-park entries from The Motorsports Group withdrew as well, as well as the #27 SR2 car, so now just two cars will fail to qualify (Pulling for Morgan to make the race!) The last time TMG didn't have any start-and-park entries they had a sponsor, which was way back at Daytona. Perhaps they found a sponsor for this race as well, and thus don't need any start-and-park teams this week. 516. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:26 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dale doesn't have 7 "Fall Dega race" wins. He has five wins in the now (mercifully) defunct late Summer Dega race ('83, '84, '90, '91, '93) and 2 in the true Fall Dega race ('99, '00) both of which were called the Winston 500, and 3 Spring race wins ('90, '94, '99), the third of which was called the Die Hard 500. What made the Spring race so special for so long was a number of factors. For a long time it truly was the fastest race and the other Dega race was held in the oppressive heat and humidity of Alabama in July which choked down the engines, made the track slick as glass, and cooked the drivers. This changed in 1997 when they moved that date to October making the races equally fast. The other was the fact it was sponsored by the series sponsor, Winston. This changed in 1998 as the "Winston 500" was moved to the October date, as was the big money bonus for those eligible. Then of course in 2001 Winston got out completely of Dega. To me, that race lost its distinction in '98 when it became the Die Hard 500. Its hard to call any race titled the "Die Hard 500" or especially the "Aaron's 499" (the race is 501 miles) a marquee event. The same is true for the Curtiss Shaver 400. Ever since Tony finally broke through there, Indy has been losing its importance for NASCAR seemingly by the minute. The Bristol Night Race aura died a horrible death in 2007, and watching 600 miles of racing at CMS is worse than Chinese water torture. As for the Southern 500, the fact is Darlington is Darlington. Anytime you can win anything there, it is a huge deal. Especially a 500 mile race. I have also been to both the Labor Day edition and the Mother's Day version, and enjoyed May a lot better as I baked in the South Carolina Labor Day heat. With that said, I feel that race lost a bit of its luster when it was moved. Taking the Southern 500 away from Darlington on Labor Day weekend after 54 years still has a sour taste to me. Honestly, I think we need to start discussing Martinsville as a major. It is the oldest NASCAR track, the only track on the original schedule still there. Has never been reconfigured, only paved. And they have the coolest trophy that all drivers covet, the clock. The point is it is too subjective to define the "majors" we can't even agree what they are, and it is a mistake to limit evaluations of careers on such a narrow criteria. And anyone who thinks Havick is better than The Rooster doesn't understand racing. 517. joey2448 posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The Spring race is almost always the better of the two events each year." Isn't that true??? I don't know why that is, but for a few years now, the spring race has been great, while the fall race had been just okay. Think about it, the 2009 spring race saw an amazing finish with Carl Edwards sailing into the catchfence and an upset driver winning (Keselowski), but the 2009 fall race was a f**kin debacle that saw single-file racing most of the afternoon, then two big wrecks in the final laps that ruined the finish and left fans angry (and completely screwed Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon's Chase chances, while Jimmie Johnson slipped away with a gifted 6th-place finish). The spring 2010 race saw one of the most exciting Tally races ever, with 88 lead changes (yes, it was the two-car tango) and a classic slingshot pass for the win at the finish between Kevin Harvick and Jamie McMurray, but the fall 2010 race ended under caution when a big wreck broke out moments after the white flag flew. The 2011 spring Dega race had a similar feel to the 2010 event, but with an even better finish. Eight guys racing to the line in the tri-oval, 4-wide finish, and Jimmie Johnson beats Clint Bowyer by .002 seconds, but the fall 2011 race...well, actually the fall 2011 race wasn't bad. By the way, does anyone know if the current restrictor plate rules package is still limiting the water pressure? I know NASCAR set the rules so as to discourage and force apart the two-car draft, but with the new Gen-6 cars, do they still do that? 518. joey2448 posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The idea behind the Gen-6 was to improve the racing on intermediate tracks, where it was unwatchable at times last year. The problems were never more glaring than Memorial Day weekend, when just hours after one of the most exciting Indianapolis 500's in history, NASCAR staged a nearly four-hour snoozefest at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Only nine cars were on the lead lap of the Coca-Cola 600 when Kasey Kahne beat Denny Hamlin to the finish line by a whopping 4.295 seconds. The racing hasn't been so monotonous this year and the statistics back it up after nine races. - There have been 1,203 more green flag passes throughout the field. - The average margin of victory is .634 seconds, compared to 1.759 seconds last year. - There are 49.9 percent of the cars finishing on the lead lap this year, up from 38.2 last year. - The percentage of cars running at the finish of the race is up 3 percent to 83.2." I just saw this ^^^ on Jayski, via the Associated Press. I just wanna say that just because there are more cars finishing on the lead lap and closer margin of victories, doesn't mean the racing is better... 519. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 3:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did someone seriously say Kevin Harvick was better than Ricky Rudd? Rudd won a race in 16 consecutive seasons, which I believe is tied for second (along with Rusty Wallace, and behind Richard Petty) most consecutive seasons with a win in NASCAR history. Harvick on the other hand had three winless seasons in his first nine seasons, and had eight winless streaks that lasted at least 364 days each. Also, Rudd never had a points finish worse than 17th until '98 when he was 41 years old. Harvick on the other hand has twice finished worse than 17th in the points ('02 and '09), all before the age of 33. AND, Harvick has been with the same relatively stable team the entire time, whereas Rudd spent the majority of his career either in second rate equipment, or in good equipment before that team took off (HMS, '90-'93). Whoever said that Harvick is better than Rudd should seriously consider changing their mind. Unless they rate drivers based on how many marquee races they have won, there's no way that Harvick can be rated higher than Rudd. Now I know how DSFF felt when he saw David Pearson ranked 7th on that top 40 list. I'm seriously annoyed that someone would consider ranking Harvick and Rudd the way they did. 520. NicoRosbergFan posted: 04.30.2013 - 4:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To me, what made Darlington special was the fact that you were racing in 100 degree heat for 500 miles, creating conditions where the toughest driver is going to be the winner. Likewise, the Coke 600 used to be special because it was a battle for survival just to get to the finish. 521. Kubica Fan Ireland posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The majors in nascar would really be helped if a winston million type of program were re introduced.I still sargue that the bristol night race should be included as it is the marquee event amongst the short tracks. Although I will also admit a biased leaning for it based on it being my first race to watch in full in 2009.I was blown away by the size of the facility and how it could pack in so many people in such a small space.It is the fifth biggest track in terms of spectator capacity despite being one third and one quarter the size of most other tracks. Also on the subject of the new tv deal,Fox has the first 13 races again how would you like to see the rest of the schedule split.To tie the 2 subjects together the races are scheduled in such away that fox gets nearly all the marquee races in the first one third of the schedule which I think contributes to the lull in the calendar with the like of marquee races in the second half of the year. 522. David posted: 04.30.2013 - 8:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You're just jealous 'cause you didn't think of it first." Ha! Neither did you. 523. David posted: 04.30.2013 - 9:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And he must not have been too impressed anyway, because he didn't even use it in his article today. 524. TeamPlayersBlue posted: 04.30.2013 - 10:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I realize that this would be a complete rape of heritage and tradition and would never happen, but I'd love to see Darlington and the 600 swap dates with the Southern 500 starting in late afternoon and heading into darkness like the 600 does now on Memorial Day after the Grand Prix du Monaco and the Indianapolis 500. Darlington no matter the conditions is going to be one of if not the hardest races of the year and this year Goodyear is bringing a tire that is initially faster and brings huge grip but then drops off like a rock. It's always a good race and even if it gets boring you can appreciate the driving ability it takes to run around Darlington. It makes a much better 'marquee event' on the weekend that Indy and Monaco are run. It would give Darlington the kind of Respect and attention it deserves. The Coca Cola 600 is just a boring race. 4 Hours of Sunday afternoon driving around the second most boring track in NASCAR. It's only exciting when there's fuel mileage. The 2004 Coca Cola 600 was arguably the most boring race in the history of modern day NASCAR not held at a restrictor plate track, trust me, I was there. With the exception of 2007 and 2011 due to fuel mileage all the other 600s since then have been dull as ditchwater. Its just boring and a terrible representation for NASCAR on what is supposedly racing's biggest weekend. I gave up season tickets after 12 years in 2007 because the new surface Charlotte is one of the worst tracks in the sport. 525. The Long Shot posted: 04.30.2013 - 11:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here are my predicted lineups and results for this weekend's Aaron's 499. Lineup: Row 1: 24-Jeff Gordon, 48-Jimmie Johnson Row 2: 11-Brian Vickers, 20-Matt Kenseth Row 3: 18-Kyle Busch, 15-Clint Bowyer Row 4: 42-Juan Montoya, 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. Row 5: 16-Greg Biffle, 14-Tony Stewart Row 6: 99-Carl Edwards, 56-Martin Truex Jr. Row 7: 5-Kasey Kahne, 2-Brad Keselowski Row 8: 55-Michael Waltrip, 78-Kurt Busch Row 9: 39-Ryan Newman, 27-Paul Menard Row 10: 29-Kevin Harvick, 9-Marcos Ambrose Row 11: 43-Aric Almirola, 21-Trevor Bayne Row 12: 22-Joey Logano, 1-Jamie McMurray Row 13: 31-Jeff Burton, 17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Row 14: 34-David Ragan, 13-Casey Mears Row 15: 81-Elliott Sadler, 95-Scott Speed Row 16: 10-Danica Patrick, 36-J.J. Yeley Row 17: 93-Travis Kvapil, 51-Regan Smith Row 18: 47-Bobby Labonte, 83-David Reutimann Row 19: 87-Joe Nemechek, 35-Josh Wise Row 20: 38-David Gilliland, 7-Dave Blaney Row 21: 30-David Stremme, 33-Landon Cassill Row 22: 32-Terry Labonte DNQ: 98-Michael McDowell, 19-Mike Bliss Results: 1. 2-Brad Keselowski 2. 15-Clint Bowyer 3. 48-Jimmie Johnson 4. 16-Greg Biffle 5. 88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. 6. 18-Kyle Busch 7. 27-Paul Menard 8. 5-Kasey Kahne 9. 29-Kevin Harvick 10. 99-Carl Edwards 11. 31-Jeff Burton 12. 20-Matt Kenseth 13. 22-Joey Logano 14. 43-Aric Almirola 15. 17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 16. 11-Brian Vickers 17. 24-Jeff Gordon 18. 1-Jamie McMurray 19. 55-Michael Waltrip 20. 56-Martin Truex Jr. 21. 51-Regan Smith 22. 13-Casey Mears 23. 34-David Ragan 24. 14-Tony Stewart 25. 42-Juan Montoya 26. 21-Trevor Bayne 27. 39-Ryan Newman 28. 78-Kurt Busch 29. 9-Marcos Ambrose 30. 10-Danica Patrick 31. 83-David Reutimann 32. 47-Bobby Labonte 33. 93-Travis Kvapil 34. 38-David Gilliland 35. 32-Terry Labonte 36. 36-J.J. Yeley 37. 95-Scott Speed 38. 81-Elliott Sadler 39. 7-Dave Blaney 40. 30-David Stremme 41. 33-Landon Cassill 42. 87-Joe Nemechek 43. 35-Josh Wise I will be publishing these predictions on a weekly basis from now on. Enjoy, and if you have any comments or questions, feel free to ask away. 526. The Long Shot posted: 04.30.2013 - 12:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And here are my predictions for the Nationwide race (predictions for other series will be posted on the other series pages from now on). Lineup: Row 1: 11-Elliott Sadler, 33-Ty Dillon Row 2: 22-Joey Logano, 3-Austin Dillon Row 3: 12-Sam Hornish Jr., 20-Brian Vickers Row 4: 99-Alex Bowman, 77-Parker Kligerman Row 5: 34-Danica Patrick, 60-Travis Pastrana Row 6: 54-Joey Coulter, 31-Justin Allgaier Row 7: 30-Nelson Piquet Jr., 5-Kasey Kahne Row 8: 32-Kyle Larson, 6-Trevor Bayne Row 9: 1-Kurt Busch, 2-Brian Scott Row 10: 19-Mike Bliss, 7-Regan Smith Row 11: 43-Reed Sorenson, 87-Joe Nemechek Row 12: 70-Johanna Long, 85-Bobby Gerhart Row 13: 4-Landon Cassill, 55-Jamie Dick Row 14: 01-Mike Wallace, 15-Stanton Barrett Row 15: 25-John Wes Townley, 00-David Green Row 16: 51-Jeremy Clements, 44-Hal Martin Row 17: 10-Jeff Green, 14-Eric McClure Row 18: 79-Jeffrey Earnhardt, 40-Josh Wise Row 19: 23-Robert Richardson, 24-Jason White Row 20: 74-Mike Harmon, 92-Dexter Stacey DNQ: 52-Donnie Neuenberger, 89-Morgan Shepherd Results: 1. 22-Joey Logano 2. 33-Ty Dillon 3. 54-Joey Coulter 4. 11-Elliott Sadler 5. 3-Austin Dillon 6. 12-Sam Hornish Jr. 7. 99-Alex Bowman 8. 6-Trevor Bayne 9. 32-Kyle Larson 10. 20-Brian Vickers 11. 31-Justin Allgaier 12. 77-Parker Kligerman 13. 1-Kurt Busch 14. 60-Travis Pastrana 15. 2-Brian Scott 16. 30-Nelson Piquet Jr. 17. 7-Regan Smith 18. 87-Joe Nemechek 19. 19-Mike Bliss 20. 25-John Wes Townley 21. 43-Reed Sorenson 22. 00-David Green 23. 79-Jeffrey Earnhardt 24. 23-Robert Richardson 25. 5-Kasey Kahne 26. 14-Eric McClure 27. 70-Johanna Long 28. 4-Landon Cassill 29. 01-Mike Wallace 30. 44-Hal Martin 31. 85-Bobby Gerhart 32. 55-Jamie Dick 33. 92-Dexter Stacey 34. 00-Jason White 35. 74-Mike Harmon 36. 34-Danica Patrick 37. 15-Stanton Barrett 38. 51-Jeremy Clements 39. 40-Josh Wise 40. 10-Jeff Green 527. DaleSrFanForever posted: 04.30.2013 - 12:39 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "The 2004 Coca Cola 600 was arguably the most boring race in the history of modern day NASCAR not held at a restrictor plate track, trust me, I was there." I was there too unfortunately. Once it turned to darkness and the 48 was still as dominant, I knew that was the race. "I gave up season tickets after 12 years in 2007 because the new surface Charlotte is one of the worst tracks in the sport." Never had season tix there, but I used to always try to go to the 600. I have a neighbor that gets free tickets to that race, but prefers to spend his Memorial Day grilling and drinking beer (not in that order, always a surprise when he doesn't burn the neighborhood down). I could go to every 600 with free tix if I wanted to, but I haven't been since 2006. Now I pay to go to Darlington instead. "Ha! Neither did you." That's ok. He's Pearson and I'm Leonard Wood. We don't care who gets the credit, as long as that #21 Purolator Mercury keeps winning. "Now I know how DSFF felt when he saw David Pearson ranked 7th on that top 40 list." I was more offended by that than having Earnhardt 4th. 528. BON GORDON posted: 04.30.2013 - 12:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I remember how terrible Jeff Gordon was in the 2004 Coke 600. 529. David posted: 04.30.2013 - 12:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "He's Pearson and I'm Leonard Wood." What does that make me? Richard Petty? 530. Eric posted: 04.30.2013 - 1:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, I think you are overrating the equipment of RCR to a degree. RCR since 1996 is streaky in terms of equipment. You can see RCR Starting to fall behind starting in 1995 matter of fact. RCR rebounded in 1999/2000, but the equipment has been up and down. RCR Equipment in 2002,2004,2005, and 2009 wasn't what I call good equipment. I thought the 2012 equipment was slipping due to Scott Miller leaving for MWR as a VP of competitionin the final months of the 2011 season. Take a look at MWR in 2011 compare to 2012, the difference was Bowyer and Scott Miller. I do think Rudd is the better driver though. My problem is Childress had good equipment in 2001, 2003,2007,and 2008, but Harvick only has 4 wins to show for it. 531. Eric posted: 04.30.2013 - 1:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan W, Kevin Harvick already has a good shot for the NASCAR Hall of based on a combination of factors. Kevin and his wife were the owners of KHI and that actually helped his Hall of Fame case.KHI had 2 truck series titles and 43 truck series wins and that meant KHI was one of the premier organizations in the truck series. Kevin's wins as a cup driver makes him a borderline case, but KHI does help his case to get in. Kevin also has a 1998 NASCAR K&N West series championship and his Busch series titles to fall back on. I wouldn't Kevin 2006 Busch Series title since he already was a cup regular. 532. Eric posted: 04.30.2013 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think Harvick and Stewart-Haas racing would be too bad from a personality standpoint. The fact is Kevin and Tony are very good friends off the track. The problem is going to equipment and Danica Patrick. The fact is Danica's like an anchor and that means she's dragging Stewart-Haas racing down has she did with her previous teams she was on. I also mention equipment because if Stewart Haas Racing has 4 teams in 2014, that is going to spread spread thing the organization. I am saying that because I think Stewart-Haas having 3 full time cup teams is spreading thing the equipment and is one the problems with Stewart-Haas this season. 533. Eric posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I didn't mention 2006,2009,2010 for RCR having good equipment because they were the seasons that Kevin had at least 3 wins in. I am posting this because Paul and cjs3872 would try to correct me otherwise. 534. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And he must not have been too impressed anyway, because he didn't even use it in his article today." He's probably just got more class than I do. "That's ok. He's Pearson and I'm Leonard Wood. We don't care who gets the credit, as long as that #21 Purolator Mercury keeps winning." And that's why we make such a great team. It doesn't matter who made car/joke into a winning car/joke, it's just whether or not we won. And when you only show up 2/3 of the races, winning is all that matters. "My problem is Childress had good equipment in 2001, 2003,2007,and 2008, but Harvick only has 4 wins to show for it." Exactly. When RCR was very good, Harvick's results were slightly worse than very good. And in 2002, 2004-2005, and 2009, when RCR as a hole was mediocre at best, Harvick was either mediocre or slightly worse than mediocre, and only won two races in those four seasons. The difference between Ricky Rudd and Kevin Harvick is that Rudd always managed to perform up to or better than his equipment's standards, while Harvick has always managed to perform up to or worse than his equipment's standards. Here's another statistic that I think separates the two: In their first nine consecutive full-time seasons (Harvick '01-'09, Rudd '81-'89), Harvick finished outside the top 10 in points four times, while Rudd only finished outside the top ten once (11th place in 1988). It wasn't until his 19th consecutive full-time season when he was a 42-year old struggling owner/driver that Rudd finished outside the top ten in points for a 4th time. In fact, it wasn't until his 18th full-time season (including 1979 when he missed three races) in 1997 that Rudd finished outside the top ten in points for a 2nd time. Rudd might be the epitome of a year-in and year-out consistent driver. Harvick on the other hand...not so much. 535. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I didn't mention 2006,2009,2010 for RCR having good equipment because they were the seasons that Kevin had at least 3 wins in." *2006, 2010, and 2011. 536. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Supposedly, Kevin Harvick will drive the #4 car next season for Stewart-Haas Racing, as the team has applied for a trademark of that number. Denny Hamlin has apparently been cleared to start the race at Talladega. He said that he will drop to and ride in the back of the pack until the first caution, where he will turn the car over to relief driver Brian Vickers. Rumor has it that when ESPN renegotiates its TV deal with NASCAR this summer, they will seek to only broadcast Nationwide races that go along with the Cup races that they cover, stating production costs as the reason for cutting back. It's possible that we could go back to the pre-2007 format with the broadcast team covering the Cup race also covering the Nationwide race the day before, or perhaps FOX will cover all Nationwide races prior to ESPN's coverage later in the season. 537. The Long Shot posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So, in other words, Hamlin will only run about 5 laps. 538. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 2:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I doubt it. The last six Talladega races haven't had a caution before lap 17, and that was for oil on the track in the spring race last year. It wouldn't surprise me if they managed to go 20-30 laps before the first incident. 539. cjs3872 posted: 04.30.2013 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Or it could mean that Hamlin drives most of the race, since Talladega can have long stretches of green flag racing, and has actually seen three caution-free races. If the racing is anything like it was at Daytona, with the upper groove being the dominant groove, there might not be as much action as usual, maning that the race could begin with a long green flag run.And if it does begin with a long green flag run, JGR will have to decide on whether to get Hamlin out of the car on a green flag pit stop. If they do, they'll lose one or two laps and be out of contention. They may lose one lap on the driver change and the other as a result of being out of the draft. By the way, as far as I know, Talladega was the site of the last relief driver victory, when Darrell Waltrip took the checkered flag in relief of Donnie Allison in the 1977 Talladega 500, and Brian Vickers, who is scheduled to sub for Hamlin, has waon at Talladega before. The only potential problem regarding this situation is an early-race crash that could involve Hamlin, which has happened in this race before on at least three occasions, including the infamous field-decimating crashes in 1973 and 1979, and a big wreck on the fifth lap of the 2003 spring race. That's why I say it's a bad idea to have Hamlin start this race. In fact, if it were me, I'd sit him out until Pocono on June 9 because of the physical tracks and races coming up after this one. 540. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Or it could mean that Hamlin drives most of the race, since Talladega can have long stretches of green flag racing, and has actually seen three caution-free races." The current governing body would NEVER let a race go caution free because they feel fans would get bored, so they would throw a few debris cautions just to "mix it up" a bit. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they threw an early caution specifically for Hamlin so he can get out of his car right away. "If the racing is anything like it was at Daytona, with the upper groove being the dominant groove" I doubt that as well. Daytona has had one dominant line since 2012, with the inside line being dominant in 2012 and now the outside line in 2013. On the other hand, the Talladega races last year featured side-by-side racing all the way through, often with 3-wide racing, and cars could pass one another from different lanes. I think this year's race will be much like last year's with plenty of side-by-side racing. "Talladega was the site of the last relief driver victory, when Darrell Waltrip took the checkered flag in relief of Donnie Allison in the 1977 Talladega 500" Yes it was the most recent Cup victory for a relief driver. However, it was not the most recent NASCAR victory for a relief driver. That happened in the Busch Series race at Richmond in 2007 when Denny Hamlin relieved pole sitter Aric Almirola due to the sponsor's request and went on to win the race. 541. jabber1990 posted: 04.30.2013 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think I know what happened at Daytona the first time cars were taken to the track, one person tried something and 13 or 15 cars were wadded up in a crash...oops then every time an event occured in speedweeks (shootout practice, shootout, practice, practice, practice, first 150, practice) there was a crash everytime somebody tried something so they went into the 500 with very very little practice, many were short on cars so a combination of very little practice, and a very light inventory lead to very very conservative racing th then, somebody tried something...crash then somebody tried somethign...crash then somebody tried somethign...crash then they finally raced, they went for broke, the race ended peacefully and yea now we are going into talladega with about 20 laps of actual practice, and a rules package that didnt work before, so nobody knows what to expect 542. The Long Shot posted: 04.30.2013 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "...many were short on cars so a combination of very little practice, and a very light inventory lead to very very conservative racing" Not to mention the huge crash in the Nationwide race the day before. That certainly had a conservative effect on how the drivers raced. "Or it could mean that Hamlin drives most of the race, since Talladega can have long stretches of green flag racing, and has actually seen three caution-free races." Yeah, but ever since the last caution-free event (the 2002 fall race), each race has had at least 5 cautions. If we go caution-free, I'll eat my hat. "Brian Vickers, who is scheduled to sub for Hamlin, has waon at Talladega before." Yes, after bulldozing Jimmie Johnson and Dale Jr. out of the way on the final lap to get there. "I say it's a bad idea to have Hamlin start this race." Completely agree. Of all the races that Hamlin could have chosen to come back at, this was one of the worst. Guys start spinning in front of you, you check up to avoid them, you get punted from behind and hit the wall, another 2 months of rehab for you. 543. joey2448 posted: 04.30.2013 - 6:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "However, it was not the most recent NASCAR victory for a relief driver. That happened in the Busch Series race at Richmond in 2007 when Denny Hamlin relieved pole sitter Aric Almirola due to the sponsor's request and went on to win the race." Actually that was at the Milwaukee Mile, Paul, not Richmond. And yes even though Hamlin won, I still think they should've left Almirola in the car. You think Ricky Rudd would've gotten out in that situation? Hell no. 544. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 6:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Speaking of Brian Vickers, last year he had a series high 4.000 PEER rating after not crashing in any of his 8 starts. This season, he appears to be back to his '09-'11 form has he has crashed five times in five races. He led Cup in crash frequency in 2011 and is well on pace to doing so again this year. If anything prevents Vickers from obtaining the #55 ride next year, which I think is still quite possible, it'll be his regression and return to his past form of being very wreck prone. It's possible that part of his regression is due to a lack of chemistry with the #11 team (9.5 average finish with MWR, 24.7 average finish with JGR), but if I were MWR, I would start having second thoughts about who I would want driving the #55 car full-time next season. Here are a few other qualified drivers that I could see them hiring next season if they choose not to hire Brian Vickers full-time (in no particular order): - Jeff Burton: Currently in a contract year at RCR, could serve as a "stop gap" in the #55 car until a more suitable, younger replacement driver comes along. He could also fill Mark Martin's role as a solid team leader, and it also helps that he was previously Clint Bowyer's teammate for six seasons. Has a great relationship with Caterpillar, and could possibly bring them along with him to MWR. - Landon Cassill: I see Landon as a true "diamond in the rough" with Circle Sport that I believe could produce with a good team. His price would be relatively cheap considering what he's accomplished so far in NASCAR, which would give MWR additional money to spend on their cars, rather than their drivers. - Sam Hornish, Jr.: He seems to want to return to Cup full-time, and I doubt Penske would open a 3rd team for him at this point. The fact that he's outperformed Vickers on a weekly basis in Nationwide certainly helps his cause, and perhaps MWR would be willing to give him another chance (possibly as a stop gap). - Parker Kligerman: This would be too early in my mind, but his good relationship with Toyota, excellent Nationwide production for a team without a regular sponsor, and past experience in testing Cup cars for Penske might make MWR think of taking a flyer on Parker. I wouldn't advise this full-time hiring, but I think it's possible. - Paul Menard: Also in a contract year at RCR and has been the most relevant Cup driver this season (100% relevance), along with 4 top ten finishes and is currently tied for 9th in points. The consistency is already there, and going to a better team like MWR could generate better results. The sponsorship that he would bring would be a bonus. - Timothy Peters: Has been a consistent producer at Red Horse Racing in the Trucks each season, and has had a long running relationship with Toyota. If it's any consolation, David Smith has said that aside from Ryan Blaney (a Penske development driver), Peters is the only Truck Series driver that he could see produce in Cup right now. - Regan Smith: He's the driver who I think should get that ride. He's had some success in Cup in the past for the small FRR team, and is one of the biggest producers in Nationwide this year and has FAR outperformed his predecessor, who currently has a Cup ride. Unlikely to get a Cup ride in the HMS camp any time soon, so he may be willing to switch camps in order to get back into Cup. 545. murb posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Did someone seriously say Kevin Harvick was better than Ricky Rudd?" I hope no one thinks that that is what I was implying on post 488. I was just saying that Harvick will probably be remembered as a Ricky Rudd-esque "upper midcard" driver for this generation. Rudd is definitely better than Harvick. No contest. Rudd won races for some pretty lousy teams like pre-Earnhardt RCR, Kenny Bernstein's team, and for his own team during the multi-car stable explosion. Not to mention he had that extremely impressive "16 years with at least one win" stat, something Harvick will never accomplish. So yeah, I just wanted to clear that up. I never said that Harvick was better than Rudd. I think the reaction from others was maybe just to CJS saying that Rudd was one of the weaker 20 win club members. 546. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Actually that was at the Milwaukee Mile, Paul, not Richmond." I stand corrected. Sometimes I confuse tracks that look similar at night for another. I've done that with Las Vegas and Atlanta before. "I still think they should have left Almirola in the car." I do too. He won the pole and had been running up front all night. I don't think it was fair that Rockwell Automation basically demanded that Hamlin fly from Sonoma, California all the way to Milwaukee just to be in the car at the finish of the race, especially since the driver in the car was doing quite well before the switch. It makes me a bit uncomfortable that a sponsor would have that much control over the decisions that a team makes. Of course, that debacle (which I believe contributed to Almirola not returning to JGR once his 2007 driving obligations were up) is more the exception, not the rule, when it comes to Cup drivers being replaced for a full race by another driver. Hank Parker, Jr. replaced Carl Edwards for the full race at Nashville 2005, David Stremme replaced Reed Sorenson for the full race at Milwaukee 2006 (Although Stremme was a Cup driver, he himself had been replaced by Scott Pruett for the Cup race at Sonoma that weekend.), and Justin Labonte replaced Kyle Busch for the full race at Memphis 2006. It's a shame that what happened at Milwaukee 2007 happened, but I'm glad that most other teams in similar situations with Cup drivers in the Busch/Nationwide Series haven't made the same decision. 547. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I think the reaction from others was maybe just to CJS saying that Rudd was one of the weaker 20 win club members." Ah yes, THAT'S where I read that. DSFF said something about Harvick being the worst driver in the 20 wins club, and cjs mentioned names like Ricky Rudd, Jack Smith, and Speedy Thompson instead, each of whom I disagree with. Someone also mentioned Carl Edwards, but I disagree because although he too has been streaky in his Cup career, he does have those two "should have won" Cup titles to his "credit," whereas Harvick at the most would have one (although I think the right man won the 2010 Cup title). Once Greg Biffle wins another race, I'll list him as the worst 20+ wins Cup driver. Until then, I'd say that Kevin Harvick is definitely number one in that category. 548. murb posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I still think Ryan Newman is another guy that could very possibly end up in the 55 next year. With the way SHR has been running, there is NO WAY IN HELL that expanding to four cars will help matters. So I honestly think Harvick will just be replacing Newman in the 39 (which will apparently be renumbered to 4). And because of this, I think the 55 is definitely a viable option for Newman (along with the 42 if Montoya leaves, which I don't think will happen, but you never know). Jeff Burton would be another smart veteran hire for MWR, but I don't think it is as likely as them tapping Vickers or Newman. I think a good place for Burton would be either at a third RPM team (or the 9 in the off chance Ambrose doesn't return), or with the Wood Brothers in the 21 car (and as a fan of both Burton and the Woods, I would LOVE this). But yeah, I'm with you Paul. Overall I think there are better opportunities out there for MWR that don't involve Brian Vickers. Hell, I think I would give someone like Landon Cassill a shot over Vickers, because at least Landon has shown to be extremely consistent in the junk he's been in over the past few years (plus he doesn't tear stuff up every week like Vickers). There's no telling what Landon could do in a good ride like that. 549. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn, I forgot about Ryan Newman. But then again, so has pretty much everyone else in that SHR circus (except murb apparently). He's currently 16th in the points with six finishes of 15th or better (hurt by three finishes of 31st or worse). If he can pull off a win this season (which I wouldn't expect him to do), he could be a surprise Chase participant this season. 550. David posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If it's any consolation, David Smith has said that aside from Ryan Blaney (a Penske development driver), Peters is the only Truck Series driver that he could see produce in Cup right now." Yes, and he only said that because I asked him to pick two Truck drivers who could advance to Cup right now. He didn't say no other Truck driver could produce in Cup, he just said that those would be his top two. "So I honestly think Harvick will just be replacing Newman in the 39 (which will apparently be renumbered to 4)." If anyone remembers, #4 was to be the original number for SHR's second car, but Morgan-McClure Motorsports still had the rights to that number. 551. murb posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If anyone remembers, #4 was to be the original number for SHR's second car, but Morgan-McClure Motorsports still had the rights to that number." I do remember that. The MMM thing played into it, but another thing was that Newman wanted 39 because that was his number in open wheel as he was coming up through the ranks. 552. jabber1990 posted: 04.30.2013 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "- Jeff Burton: Currently in a contract year at RCR, could serve as a "stop gap" in the #55 car until a more suitable, younger replacement driver comes along. He could also fill Mark Martin's role as a solid team leader, and it also helps that he was previously Clint Bowyer's teammate for six seasons. Has a great relationship with Caterpillar, and could possibly bring them along with him to MWR. - Paul Menard: Also in a contract year at RCR and has been the most relevant Cup driver this season (100% relevance), along with 4 top ten finishes and is currently tied for 9th in points. The consistency is already there, and going to a better team like MWR could generate better results. The sponsorship that he would bring would be a bonus." dont both Burton and Menard have full sponsorship attached to their names? so why would bringing a sponsor over be a good idea since the #55 is already fully sponsored? and wait #4 was sopose to be the 2nd SHR Car? 10+4=14 (just saying) 553. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 8:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "so why would bringing a sponsor over be a good idea since the #55 is already fully sponsored?" Why settle for just one sponsor when you can have two? 554. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 8:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "He didn't say no other Truck driver could produce in Cup, he just said that those would be his top two." Okay... Would you care to name any other Truck Series drivers who would be able to produce and be an upgrade over Brian Vickers? Sauter had two chances to produce in Cup, Hornaday is too old to get another full-time shot, Crafton is a Truck Series lifer, and Burton is too green and needs a lot of polishing before he's Cup ready. Aside from Blaney and Peters, I don't think any Truck Series driver could jump straight to Cup and be able to produce at a level adequate to MWR's equipment. 555. Eric posted: 04.30.2013 - 8:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul I disagree on only Blaney and Peters for cup in terms of the trucks series. I think James Buescher could jump straight to cup and able to produce at a level adequate to MRW's equipment. 556. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 8:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Buescher has been so invisible this year that I forgot he was even still in the Truck Series. I'm not so sure that an invisible Truck Series champion would be able produce at the Cup level right away. Buescher would definitely need 1-2 years of Nationwide before he would be Cup ready. 557. The Long Shot posted: 04.30.2013 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @Paul: Burton: Probably the most likely choice for the ride. I find it difficult to believe that he will be re-signed by RCR, and he would fit right into the Mark Martin role over at MWR. Cassill: Deserves a full-time ride with a legitimate team, but sadly, I don't think it will happen anytime soon. He might have to pull a Regan Smith and move back to Nationwide for a bit before teams will give him serious interest. Hornish: I disagree. I think Penske will bring back the third car in 2014 with Sam driving it, so there's no chance of him going to MWR. Kligerman: I have a question about Kligerman. Is he still technically a Penske developmental driver, or is he with Joe Gibbs now that he's driving for Kyle Busch? Menard: Probably will be re-signed by RCR if his season continues on the rate it's going. Peters: No way, Jose. He will need to prove himself in Nationwide competition before I even consider him a Cup option. Smith: I don't consider him an option for this ride. My guess is he'll either end up racing full-time for James Finch or replace Jeff Burton in the #31. Other options for this ride could include Elliott Sadler, David Reutimann, and Reed Sorenson. 558. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 9:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "[Cassill] might have to pull a Regan Smith and move back to Nationwide for a bit before teams will give him serious interest." It's possible that he may be doing just that now that he's driving for JD Motorsports. He's outperformed veteran teammate Mike Wallace in his limited starts, and his performance with that small team could attract some attention from some top Nationwide teams. It might be best for Cassill to find a full-time ride with a competitive Nationwide team before taking a full-time Cup ride with a team like MWR. I don't care what series he's in, but I would definitely like to see Cassill in competitive equipment next season. "I have a question about Kligerman. Is he still technically a Penske developmental driver," Basically when Penske signed Ryan Blaney to a driver development deal last season, they got rid of Parker Kligerman. It is worth mentioning that the two sides left on good terms, as Kligerman practiced the #22 Cup car once or twice even after losing the driver development deal with Penske, fulfilling his prior obligations with the team. "or is he with Joe Gibbs now that he's driving for Kyle Busch?" The only driver that I know is a JGR development driver is Bubba Wallace (and maybe Drew Herring). I think drivers like Kligerman, Joey Coulter, and Erik Jones are just drivers who impressed Kyle Busch enough for him to give them a ride. To my knowledge, none of them are JGR drivers. "Other options for this ride could include Elliott Sadler, David Reutimann, and Reed Sorenson." I was only listing drivers who I considered to be possible upgrades to Brian Vickers. Sadler did nothing in his final four seasons as a Cup driver and should stick to Nationwide where he can still be competitive. I like Reuti, but I think he's done as much as he can at the Cup level, given his relatively old age, but it's possible that he could still perform better than Vickers in the #55 car. And Sorenson would pretty much be a stop gap, as I just don't think he has what it takes to be a good Cup driver, even with a team as good as MWR. 559. murb posted: 04.30.2013 - 10:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "To my knowledge, none of them are JGR drivers." Joey Coulter is actually running the 54 JGR NNS car this weekend instead of Kyle. So maybe the KBM guys have more ties to JGR than we think. 560. cjs3872 posted: 04.30.2013 - 10:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Paul, I do think Ricky Rudd is one of the weaker 20+ win drivers, though having 20 wins is certainly not shabby by any means. First, no driver ever took longer to get to 20 wins than did Rudd, so that's one strike against him in that regard. Then there's the fact that, despite having 23 wins, he only seriously contended for the championship twice, in 1991 and 2001, and folded down the stretch both times. Then there's the lack of marquee wins on his record. Only one crown jewel win, the 1997 Brickyard 400 in a fuel mileage race, but he also won at Michigan just once (another fuel mileage race), Atlanta just once, never won at Charlotte, Daytona, or Talladega, and couldn't win in one of the premier rides on the circuit in 1981 when he drove for DiGard, which I believe was the best team he ever drove for. And even his one win at Darlington in 1991 came because of a problem on Michael Waltrip's final pit stop. He did win on some of the sport's toughest tracks, and for that he should definitely be credited, but he was one of those those drivers that consistenly came up short in the big moments. Perhaps his not being able to beat Joe Nemechek at Kansas in 2004, the last real chance he had at winning a race, put his career in proper perspective. Rudd was a good driver that could be counted on to finish races, and finish the well, but not one that could be counted on to win races. And murb, I believe if that #21 car opens up next year, that would be the perfect place for Mark Martin because that is a team that doesn't seem to have any intention to run full-time, and Mark doesn't want to run full-time. And Mark fits what that team has always desired, a veteran driver that won't tear up equipment. And I do believe there may be a change in the #9 car for next year, esecially if Marcos Ambrose continues to tank in that car, though I do not know who would replace him in that car for 2014 if he does leave. The reason I think that #21 car could open up for Mark is that Trevor Bayne could very well lose his ride at Roush if he doesn't step it up, and the ride in the Wood Brothers car could go with it. I don't think they're very happy at all ovrr there with that team's (#6 NNS) lack of performance. Their performance in two of the last three races (Bristol and Richmond) has just been awful, though the health of their crew chief is partly to blame for their lack of performance at Richmond and they lack the horsepower to truly compete at tracks like Texas. 561. David posted: 04.30.2013 - 11:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Would you care to name any other Truck Series drivers who would be able to produce and be an upgrade over Brian Vickers?" Now that's an entirely different question. First of all, there's no guarantee that Peters and Blaney could even produce right now in the Cup Series. Secondly, it seems that the question was was there any Truck Series drivers who could produce right now in the Cup Series. I asked David Smith for two names, and he said Peters and Blaney. That is all. The rest is entirely our opinion. 562. AveryNH posted: 04.30.2013 - 11:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Geeshh. Give Bayne some time cjs. We aren't even 10 races in and you think his job is in jeopardy already? No way. Come June/july he will shine. That being said, I think if Hornish goes on to content for the title down the stretch, and possibly, GASP, win the thing, Penske would be nuts not to give Sam a second shot at the Cup series. It would work perfect for Blaney as well. He could just move up into the 12 ride for 2014. Now Mark going to the 21 car would be something really cool but almost far fetched in my eyes. I really love Mark but I just feel for some reason that this is his last season. For real. Then again I've said that like four times in the past decade so I'm probably very wrong. 563. Scott B posted: 04.30.2013 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wonder how much input Jack Roush has over who is in the #21. My guess would be plenty. Jeff Burton or Mark Martin would fit the needs of the #21 team, but would Roush block those deals? I know there were hard feelings when Mark left the fold, don't really remember if that was the case with Jeff... it's been a while. Regardless of any past business dealings, I think Roush and Ford look at that team more as a launching pad for up and comers who haven't hit their peak yet. That's the opposite of what would be in the Woods' best interest, of course. If they were to go with a veteran, I'd throw Bobby Labonte into the mix of names. I'd much rather see him run part-time in a competitive ride than full-time in junk, and with the feedback he could give the Wood Brothers I do think he would be able to post some decent finishes. 564. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 11:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I never said Rudd wasn't one of the weaker 20+ win drivers, I just said that I disagree with a statement that you previously alluded to about Rudd being weaker than Kevin Harvick. Also, if any Roush driver loses his ride after this season, it's Travis Pastrana. Right now, Bayne is ranked 9th in Nationwide points and PEER with a with PEER rating of 1.786, so his performance is adequate with his placing in the points and he is a serviceable Nationwide Series driver. Pastrana on the other hand, while he does have has many top ten finishes as Bayne (3), his performances otherwise have been less than inspiring as he has a PEER rating of 0.143, which is ranked 23rd in the series, 10 positions less than his current 13th place position in points. Plus, they have the same relevance percentage (71.43%, or five finishes of 20th or better), so their teams are doing about the same from a performance standpoint. Pastrana has also been more wreck prone than Bayne this season, yet has a far higher top 15 efficiency than Bayne (+24.1% to -17.1%). This means that when Pastrana wrecks, he's running outside the top 15, thus his crashes have no impact on his top 15 rating, whereas Bayne is running inside the top 15, and thus his top 15 efficiency takes a hit when he runs into trouble. You can't be serious about a serviceable Nationwide driver losing his ride just because the team is struggling, and you can't blame the "adequate, yet uninspiring" performance on the driver, crew chief, and equipment, especially when there's another driver in the same team who's performing worse than Bayne has. Plus, the #6 team is ranked 8th in the series (4th among teams with full-time drivers) in position retainment difference with a +6.5% PRD rating. This means that Trevor Bayne is improving his position by 6.5% in the final 10% of races, so obviously either he or the team is stepping up and improving their overall finishing position at the end of the race, and since there aren't many pit stops being made in the final 10% of the race for the team to improve the car too much, I lean towards the former as to whom is making the team better at the end of the race when it's "money time" (which is when Bayne usually shows up). 565. 13 posted: 04.30.2013 - 11:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For Trevor the length of the race is the problem I think he is a driver who would accel in cup in elite equipment because his strategy is usually always ride around 6-10th all day and show up toward the front at the end. 566. Eric posted: 04.30.2013 - 11:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Rudd's final chance to win a race wasn't a Kansas. His last chance was at Sonoma in 2005. 567. Paul posted: 04.30.2013 - 11:56 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Well at least I threw out a name from the Truck Series who I thought could produce at the Cup level right now. Timothy Peters isn't getting any younger and his Truck Series results aren't getting any better. I just figured that if MWR was willing to take a flyer on a guy with a low price tag and some Cup upside that isn't currently tied down to any Cup team, that Timothy Peters would be that guy. The point I'm trying to make isn't "I think Timothy Peters could produce right away just because some writer who seems to know what he's talking about says so," the point I'm trying to make is that from what I've seen from Peters, he looks to be the most Cup ready out of all the younger Truck Series drivers. He's the only driver to have a PEER rating of 2.000+ every year for the last three seasons (2011-2013), led the series in PEER last season despite having no consistent teammate all year, and doesn't make too many mistakes. He's been off to a slow start this season having had two top tens negated by two DNFs, but I just think has the potential to be at least a decent Cup driver, with more promise and upside than Brian Vickers would have right now. Personally, after seeing Brian Vickers' Cup career, I'd like to see some new, experienced blood in Cup right now, and who better than a driver who has produced in the lower levels as well as Timothy Peters? That's my reasoning for Peters. He's not the most talented Truck Series driver, but he is the most experienced and fine-tuned Truck driver with Cup upside in that series right now. 568. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 12:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "For Trevor the length of the race is the problem" Bingo. His Nationwide PRD rating proves that he is at his best near the end of the race. If the Nationwide races were as long as Cup races, his PRD rating would be even higher because he would have more time to ride around in the top ten before making his move towards the front of the field. IMO he should be in a full-time Cup car next season, and since Marcos Ambrose has been mostly underwhelming in that #9 car this year, perhaps replacing Ambrose at RPM (moving from the Woods to Petty in the process) would be a viable option for Bayne. He wouldn't have the pressure to produce right away, but he would be in equipment competitive enough to post good finishes and in an environment that is mostly stable as far as the team and sponsors go. 569. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2013 - 12:32 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, I think you said it when you referred to Bayne as a "serviceable" Nationwide driver and that team's lack of performance this year. Bayne's performances have been okay, but that's not good enough for that partcular team. If he ran like that for other teams, it would be pretty good, but that team, given it's pedigree, demands a higher level of performance from it's drivers. And remember that at the two short track races, Bayne wasn't even his team's best performer. At Bristol, that distinction went to Chris Buescher and at Richmond, Ryan Reed was their best in his debut race. Again, I give that team a pass for the last two races, given their crew chief's physical condition. And as for Travis Pastrana, give him some time. Some of his problems can be chalked up to lack of experience. Frankly, I don't think Travis is that good in a NASCAR machine, but he should be given time. And 13, while I agree that Trevor waits until the end to make his move, which I think is a problem with him that at least one crew chief (Chad Norris) has already had difficulties with, and I think there may be some discontent within that team unless the performance picks up. And if his strategy in the Nationwide Series is to run 6th-10th all day, I figure that would translate to performances similar to what Paul Menard gives RCR, which would be 12th-16th place runs, given the higher number of competitive cars and teams on the Cup circuit compared to the Nationwide Series, and that won't cut it for an elite team. And Eric, while Ricky Rudd was second at Sonoma in 2005, he really was never a serious threat to win that race unless Tony Stewart had trouble. That's why I say that his last real shot to win was at Kansas in 2004. 570. 18fan posted: 05.01.2013 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Didn't David Smith say something early this year about there being some friction between Bayne and his crew chief over setups? 571. murb posted: 05.01.2013 - 12:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've actually been very impressed with Travis Pastrana this year. He's fallen off a bit in the last few races, but I really like what I'm seeing from him attitude-wise. He seems like he's dedicated, so I definitely hope Roush sticks with him. I think he's got potential to become a very solid driver in the future. Trevor definitely needs a full time Cup ride. Period. The only reason he's in the 6 NNS car is because Roush held him hostage for so long. If Roush wasn't such a bastard, Trevor would already be in Cup where he belongs. Trevor had a bunch of great Cup offers like the 22 car after Kurt got fired, but Roush made him stay under his umbrella. It's a major shame that he's basically just killing time in NNS as he waits for a quality Cup ride, which definitely isn't gonna happen with Roush unless he finds sponsorship to bring the 6 Cup car back (which probably won't happen, given Jack's terrible business skills). 572. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And for the record, I'm not trying to knock Travis Pastrana as I think he's doing very well for someone who is relatively new to 4-wheel racing. Plus, he has a very bright attitude that I wish more drivers had. I'm just saying that if he should be the more likely Roush driver between he and Trevor Bayne to lose his ride due to a lack of production, as the numbers show that Bayne has been about five times more productive than Pastrana this season. I don't want, nor do I think that either of those two should lose their ride after this season. But if someone suggests that Bayne should lose his ride because of his lack of results, then I'm going to bring up the differences in production between he and Pastrana as a way to trump that hypothesis. And hey, if Brad Sweet can tag team with Kasey Kahne all season in spite of his obvious mediocrity in these cars, then I see no reason why neither Bayne nor Pastrana shouldn't be in the rides that they're currently in. But one thing that I do want to see is more Chris Buescher and Ryan Reed. I knew that Buescher was pretty good, especially after finishing top 2 in ARCA points the past two seasons, but I had no idea how well Reed was going to be at Richmond. Either both of those two are very talented, or they have one heck of a crew chief setting up their cars (or perhaps both). Either way, I'd love to see one or both of them compete full-time next season (preferably Buescher), perhaps by taking over the #6 car if Bayne moves up to Cup. 18fan, yes he did mention possible friction between Trevor Bayne and Mike Kelley due to disagreements over car setup and spring packages, among other things, and found it convenient how Kelley suddenly had to take time off with the flu. I guess that marriage that some of us thought would work out between those two isn't doing any better than the Stenhouse/Kelley pairing from a year ago. Kelley seemed really worn out by Stenhouse late last season and now seems discouraged by Bayne this season. Is is possible that the common denominator in these two driver/crew combinations is the problem? 573. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Trevor had a bunch of great Cup offers like the 22 car after Kurt got fired, but Roush made him stay under his umbrella." How ironic is that since Penske is now with Ford, so Roush only would have really lost Bayne for a year. "unless he finds sponsorship to bring the 6 Cup car back (which probably won't happen, given Jack's terrible business skills)." Roush is the master of obtaining sponsors without being able to retain them. However, I think a lot of the blame lies with Fenway Sports Group as well. They have a similar history of being unable to properly deal with sponsors and athletes, and their alliance with Roush that began back in 2007 hasn't done Roush hardly any favors with securing sponsorship. That's a marriage made in hell right there. 574. David posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "He's the only driver to have a PEER rating of 2.000+ every year for the last three seasons (2011-2013), led the series in PEER last season despite having no consistent teammate all year" Dang you Paul, that's my move! *I* post the advanced statistics and *I* look like the nerd who's out of place. I need to step up my game. 575. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul, I also think that, in addition to what you brought up about setups, Mike Kelley is suffering from the same thing that Jeff Hammond went through in 1987 when Darrell Waltrip was replaced by Terry Labonte in Junior Johnson's #11 car. Waltrip was a champion that would take chances, while Labonte, while a champion himself, was conservative and never really took any chances, and Hammond quickly tired of that and rejoined Waltrip about a third of the way through the 1987 season. I think Kelley is suffering from that same thing, going from a driver that would take chances, even if they didn't work out, to one that hardly ever takes a chance on the track, and thus the team's results suffer as a result. 576. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:50 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Dang you Paul, that's my move! *I* post the advanced statistics and *I* look like the nerd who's out of place. I need to step up my game." Step aside, David, there's a new statistician in town haha. Now watch as our dueling statistical posts start to reminisce the 1994 tire wars as we try to out-statistic each other. All we need is a guinea pig to play the role of Geoff Bodine. Hmmm...any volunteers? Lol 577. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs, I think you're exactly right. I wouldn't be surprised if Mike Kelley is trying to use setups that worked so well with Stenhouse last year (as evidenced by their two Nationwide titles), and they're not the kind of setups that Trevor Bayne wants in a car because they don't suit his driving style. I'm sure it's pretty frustrating for Kelley to basically start from scratch in terms of finding suitable setups for Bayne after 2 2/3 seasons building notes for Stenhouse, as all of those notes are pretty much worthless now because they're not what Bayne wants. I'd imagine that also played a role in Jeff Hammond's frustrations with Terry Labonte in 1987, along with the fact that the cars that he and his team were building weren't getting the results that they once had any longer. 578. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.01.2013 - 5:07 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Sorry, cjs, you are just plain WRONG! Ricky Rudd is the toughest son of a b!tch that ever set a wheel on the track. Whenever it came to down to a competition of who was the toughest guy out there, Rudd was the top dog. Rudd did not win at Digard, but remember that they did not need Rudd. They needed somebody to run just short of the win so that they could sucker somebody into saying "Hey, if that dip can run 2nd and 3rd in that, I would certainly win by mile!" Likewise, Rudd never had a quality ride. You like to shit about how Rudd choked away his opportunities in 91 and 01 since he was in "quality rides." 91 Hendrick was not a quality ride. That team was just par until they got Terry Labonte. Irony? No. Terry has for 35 years been respected for his fabulous input into the car setup. 01? He had no chance. Was Ricky Rudd really going to beat Jeff Gordon? Hello? Hell no. Look at the teams Rudd drove for: Bill Champion, Al Rudd, Junie Donlavey, Digard (and he was miserable there as well), pre-Earnhardt Childress (got that teams first wins; says how sucky of a driver Childress was), Bud Moore, the 26 Buick (that thing was CRAP), pre-Labonte/Gordon Hendrick, himself, a Yates team that was suffering championship hangover, and the Wood Brothers. Rudd would have won at Martinsville in 2005 if wasn't for Scott Riggs taking him out as he lapped them. He lost several (I think it was 2 or 3) laps, and still finished 11th. Hate on me. Hate on Gordo. Hate on Rosberg. But don't you EVER, EVER, disparage Ricky Rudd. 579. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2013 - 9:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) NicoRosbergFan, I'm not questioning Rudd's toughness. what he did in 1984 after his crash in the Busch Clash showed that nobody should ever question his toughness, when he finished seventh in the Daytona 500, then won at Richmond with his eyes taped OPEN. And his toughness was proved again years later when he won at Martinsville half passed-out in 1998 due to heat exhaustion. And the only places he won in the #26 Quaker State car were the road courses, where the caliber of the team and its equipment did not really matter, especially back then. (Tim Richmond won twice at Riverside driving for Jim Stacy in 1982 to prove that point.) I'm just comparing his overall results compared to the other drivers with 20 or more wins, and for the most part, they don't stack up, and in his two serious efforts to win the championship, he folded down the stretch. And Hendrick's cars were pretty good in 1991, a fact bolstered by the fact that Ken Schrader won twice that year. He never won again. And you say that Rudd might have won at Martinsville in 2005 had he not run into a lapped car. I doubt that because the Wood Brothers would not have been able to keep pace on pit stops and he would have fallen behind on that alone. 580. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.01.2013 - 10:06 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Do you not know how to analyze statistics? The Wood Brothers in spite of being part-time ALWAYS have one of the fastest pit crews in the sport. 581. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2013 - 11:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) For many years they were, NicoRosbergFan, but for the last decade or so, they've actually been one of the less reliable pit crews on the circuit because they simply could not afford the people and equipment that would have allowed them to keep pace with the other teams. Eddie Wood admitted that himself not long after their 2011 Daytona 500 win. In fact, they probably changed fewer tires in that race than any other team because every time they did change tires, their pit stops were mini-disasters because they had trouble even getting the tire off, something that caught up with them at Talladega later that year when they pitted from the lead and ended up about 20 seconds behind. But their car was fast enough in that Daytona 500 that their disadvantage in the pits didn't matter. But the more pit stops they would have to make in any race that requires numerous tire changes, the worse shape they would have been in simply because their crew was not up to the standard of the top teams. That's true of any low-budget team, which is one reason why the big teams have such an edge over everyone else. Theycan affrd the men and equipment that the lower-budgeted teams can't. 582. David posted: 05.01.2013 - 12:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny Hamlin, according to sources on Twitter, has not yet been cleared to start Talladega, contrary to what previous reports said. 583. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2013 - 12:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, it could be interesting at Indianapolis this July for the 20th Brickyard 400 (gosh, could it REALLY be the 20th runnng of tht race?). Two of the very few drivers that have been in every one of the 19 previous runnings of the Brickyard 400, Mark Martin and 4-time winner Jeff Gordon, were reporting straightaway speeds over 210 MPH on the flat, ronuded-off rectangle. Mark Martin said he was going 212 down the straightaway, while Gordon reported his straightaway speed at 214. And while the speeds dropped off significantly when it heated up (IMS is THE most temperature-sensitive track there is), those straightaway speeds on that track are shocking for a big, heavy stock car. That's about how fast they were when USAC allowed bolt-on wings in 1972, and Bobby Unser turned a lap of over 196 during his record-shattering qualifying run that year and those aren't far off the straightaway speds that were run when Tom Sneva turned the first official 200 MPH laps at Indy in 1977, and those cars had wings on them. That gives you some idea on how fast they were going yesterday during the tire test. We could see Casey Mears' 9-year old track record of 186.293 MPH for stock cars fall this year, and the lap speeds, if conditions are right, could top 190, which was faster than any car qualified at Indy at in 1976. (Mario Andretti was the fastest quaifier at Indy that year, though he had to start 19th because he was in Europe on pole day.) 584. David posted: 05.01.2013 - 12:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "(gosh, could it REALLY be the 20th runnng of tht race?)" Time flies, doesn't it? 585. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 12:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The previous report that said that Hamlin would start at Talladega came from Hamlin himself. Not sure why he said that would be the plan, but perhaps that was the original plan and JGR overruled him and decided that Vickers would just run the whole race instead, which I think is the best way to go about it. 586. David posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "but perhaps that was the original plan and JGR overruled him and decided that Vickers would just run the whole race instead, which I think is the best way to go about it." I agree. Honestly, I don't know why people are still saying Hamlin can make the Chase. It would take a miracle and a half for him to even get back into the top 20. He is 61 points out of 20th place and only has a 29.10% Chase probability by David Smith's formula, ranking 16th. He would need to average 39.12 points per race even if he did start Talladega. 587. David posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Check that. The 29.10% means his probability to qualify via the top ten. 588. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Paul and David, the word is that he wasn't cleared to start at Talladega, which tells me that he wasn't cleared medically, either by his doctor, a NASCAR doctor, or his team's doctor. Whoever made this decision made a brilliant one. What I'll be interested in is, if he can't start at Darlington (and it would be a bad idea for him to start that race), will he start the All-Star Race, which by the way, has not gotten a new eligible driver since I listed them a few race comments pages ago. Actually, if I was Kevin Harvick, I would probably have tried to let Jeff Burton win that race at Richmond to get him in the All-Star Race for RCR, since he's not currently eligible. Anyway, if Hamlin doesn't compete in the All-Star Race, which would be the perfect race distance for him to make his return, that would probably reduce the number of cars in that race if nobody else becomes eligible. There are 18 drivers currently eligible, with three more to be added on the night of the event for a total of 21, but if Hamlin doesn't compete, there would be a 20-car field if no other driver wins his way into the race, and there are two very prestigous chances remaining. 589. David posted: 05.01.2013 - 1:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, NASCAR allowed Casey Mears to sub for Brian Vickers in the 2010 All-Star Race, even though he wasn't eligible. 590. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2013 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David, if I remember right, the #83 team was allowed to go directly into the All-Star Race with Mears was because they had won ther previous year and Mears was a recent winner that wasn't eligible, soy let him in the All-Star Race. The same thing happened in 1996 when Bill Elliott was injured and Harry Gant, a retired driver, was allowed to replace him in one of the worst moves the All-Star Race has ever made. After the situation with Mears and Red Bull, I think the car owner/team exemption for the All-Star Race if they won the previous year with another driver was eliminated for that reason. 591. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "if I was Kevin Harvick, I would probably have tried to let Jeff Burton win that race at Richmond to get him in the All-Star Race for RCR, since he's not currently eligible." While that would have made for a nice remake of the 2002 United States Grand Prix finish with Harvick playing the role of Michael Schumacher to Burton's Rubens Barrichello, and as much as I would have loved to have seen Jeff Burton win just one more race, I highly doubt that plan would have worked. Burton wound up finishing 5th at Richmond, so he likely would have lost anyways even if Harvick acted as a blocker for the final lap and a half. He would have needed former teammate Clint Bowyer to be in on the act as well, and while it would have been neat to see two of Burton's past RCR "protogees," if you will, help him return to victory lane, I am willing to bet that there isn't a chance that that plan would have worked out either way. 592. David posted: 05.01.2013 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, I do remember Mears (coincidentally) competing in the 2007 event because of the exemption for owners. Brian Vickers (double coincidence) won the previous year in the #25 car, which he vacated the following year to drive for Red Bull Racing. 593. Dave#38 Fan-Go Gilliland! posted: 05.01.2013 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nationwide series rookie Dexter Stacey suffered a concussion as a result of his crash last week at Richmond and will step out of his self-owned #92 car for an underdermined ammount of time. Tim Andrews will drive the #92 this week at Talladega. For all of the safety advances in the past decade, it seems like the sport has taken a big step backwards. Stacey is the 5th driver in less than a year to miss races because of an injury that happened behing the wheel, after Dale Jr., Michael Annett, Eric McClure, and Denny Hamlin. NASCAR really needs to look at their safety measures before someone has a more serious injury or worse. 594. The Long Shot posted: 05.01.2013 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stacey said on his Twitter that he should be ready for Darlington next week. Still, it's a bad break for him. He had been running well with that under-funded equipment. In slightly less notable news, Mike Bliss supposedly will be running the #44 for Xxxtreme Motorsports starting at Charlotte. Bliss had been entered in the #19 for Humphrey-Smith Motorsports this week, but the team has since withdrawn. 595. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 3:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stacey's crash at Richmond kind of reminded me of Jerry Nadeau's career-ending crash at that same crash 10 years earlier with the way his car just suddenly spun around and his the outside wall. Thankfully, his injuries weren't nearly as serious as Nadeau's were. That being said, this doesn't look good for NASCAR that five drivers have now been hurt in three different types of cars over the past year. Glad that Tim Andrews gets a shot back in a Nationwide car. He finished 17th at Montreal last year while driving for Go Green Racing (the only race that he finished), and now has a chance to post another good finish on another "equalizer" race track. As for the thing with Mike Bliss and the #44 and #19 Cup teams, Peter Sospenzo switched teams from the #19 to the #44 the other day (which is why the #19 team withdrew), and Bliss may move over to the #44 team with him. That team is scheduled to return at Charlotte, possibly running the Sprint Showdown as well as the Coca-Cola 600. 596. Eric posted: 05.01.2013 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dave#38 Fan-Go Gilliland!, NASCAR really hasn't taken a step backwards in Safety because there had been concessions in NASCAR even before Earnhardt's death, but they were covered up and NASCAR never has done anything about that. Dale Jr. back in 2002 had a concussions, but he never told the media till months later. The truth there is more concussions with NASCAR drivers than we really know about. The fact is a few years ago, Michael Waltrip has admitted to having at least 10 concussions in his NASCAR career and admitted to racing with a Concussion. Had Concussions, so did Ken Schrader, and Jimmie Spencer as examples, but NASCAR didn't know about them. The real problem is NASCAR only looked at Safer barriers after Earnhardt's death because they didn't want any big name drivers to die on the track and ignore concussions. NASCAR didn't do anything for concussions because they didn't know big name drivers had them. NASCAR knew about Rickey Craven back in the 1990's for concussions. NASCAR matter of fact never followed Indycar's lead in having a traveling medical team and Indycar's procures with concussions. Indycar does a better job with being aware of concussions than NASCAR is. 597. cjs3872 posted: 05.01.2013 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric, there's a big difference between NASCAR and IndyCar in one respect, and that is that NASCAR's major touring series splits off, especially during the summer months, so that the Cup Series is racing in one place and the Nationwide and/or truck Series is racing somewhere else that weekend. As a result, NASCAR can't have one traveling mecidal staff because they can't be in two (or even three) places at one time, and splitting a medical staff like that actually compromises the level of safety for all involved because that would mean there would be fewer people at the track. Now when the Truck Series races at Texas, they do so on a weekend that's shared with the IndyCar series, so on those weekends, the Truck Series does get the extra assistance from the IndyCar medical staff along with whatever medics NASCAR offers, but since the NASCAR series split up during the season, they can't have a traveling medical team like the IndyCar Series does because their major series are sometimes racing at more than one place on the same weekend. 598. David posted: 05.01.2013 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Penske penalties have been upheld. 599. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.01.2013 - 5:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm sure if Penske slipped $2,000,000 under the table the penalties would have been reversed. It's the culture of racing. 600. New14 & 88Fan posted: 05.01.2013 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If the 48 team could get some of there penalties overturned last year on final appeal then I don't see why Penske shouldn't at least get a reduction. Personally I think they should just admit defeat and weather the fines and suspensions. Better for all those folks to set out now while it's still early in the season than later on when there's chase spots/championship on the line. 601. jabber1990 posted: 05.01.2013 - 8:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I heard a conspiracy theory John Middlebrook, the cheif Appellate officer use to work for General Motors who did Jimmie and Chad drive for during their last postgate ordeal? 602. murb posted: 05.01.2013 - 8:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) "I heard a conspiracy theory John Middlebrook, the cheif Appellate officer use to work for General Motors who did Jimmie and Chad drive for during their last postgate ordeal?" You're about a year late on that conspiracy theory. The rest of us figured that out a year ago. 603. jabber1990 posted: 05.01.2013 - 8:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I mean, why do you think Chad keeps not getting in trouble? 604. Paul posted: 05.01.2013 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "why do you think Chad keeps not getting in trouble?" Does any Hendrick employee ever get in trouble? 605. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.02.2013 - 6:58 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) I think they tilted N in NASCAR a little bit so that it says HASCAR, which stands for Hendrick Association of Stock Car Auto Racing. 606. David posted: 05.02.2013 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Weekly Nationwide rookie update: Kyle Larson: 2.071 PEER (ranks seventh), 71.43% relevance, -4.1% top 15 efficiency, 0.86 crash frequency, 0.14 terminal crash frequency Alex Bowman: 2.036 PEER (eighth), 71.43% relevance, +7.9% T15E, 0.29 crash frequency, 0.00 TCF 607. David posted: 05.02.2013 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Those are the relevant rookies thus far. 608. Baker posted: 05.02.2013 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Penske penalties are upheld not but a year after Hendrick got there penalties at Daytona overturned. Again I say what a crock of crap. Hendrick and NASCAR are one and the same plain and simple. 609. David posted: 05.02.2013 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Um, Baker, just because one team has their penalties overturned and another has theirs upheld doesn't mean NASCAR is biased toward that one team. The penalties were for completely different parts. 610. cjs3872 posted: 05.02.2013 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not only that David, but Hendrick's penalties last year were not even for a part if I remember right, but rather an unapproved aerodynamic modification to the body of the car. That may be why the penalties to Penske and Gibbs were so stiff, because they actualy used an unapproved or illegal part, while Hendrick's problem was just an aerodynamic modification, and NASCAR is often more lenient in their penalties for those infractions. And by the way, look for more infractions this week at Talladega because there always seem to be a number of infractions at restrictor plate races, though oddly enough, I didn't hear of any during the entire SpeedWeeks this year, and I can't remember the last time that occurred. There were major inspection issues (especially for the #24 team on raceday), but nothing out of bounds was found on any of the cars that I can remember. 611. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.02.2013 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alright Middlebrook, I ripped the shit out of you last year. Now I need you to do the same thing for Penske. Funny how life works. 612. David posted: 05.02.2013 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And besides Baker, the three-member panel upheld the #48 team's penalties last year, then Middlebrook overturned them. Your argument makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. 613. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.02.2013 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) May 7 will show just how deep NASCAR and HMS are in together. If Middlebrook upholds Penske's penalties, then it will be out in the open official. And unfortunately that would REALLY hurt the historical standing of two of the best ever to driver for NASCAR, Jeff Gordon and JJ. Unfairly to them, since all their success has come for HMS, it would have to be branded with an asterisk. And it isn't fair to either driver. They both deserve an owner who wouldn't put them in this situation by buying the sanctioning body to get success. 614. Paul posted: 05.02.2013 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It doesn't matter to me how this appeal turns out. If the #2 team is really good, they'll still make the Chase on points and this penalty won't mean anything in about four months. I wasn't predicting the #22 team to make the Chase anyways, and this penalty has basically put that team back to earth and outside the Chase (although they can certainly get back in via the wildcard if Logano can win a race or two). Penske Racing is good enough to survive a few weeks without the regular crew chiefs atop the pit box, and the drivers should be good enough not to regress just because they have interim crew chiefs for the next six points races. Points are reset by the time the Chase starts, and if one of both drivers can make the Chase, this penalty won't mean a damn thing. David Smith ended his podcast today (with guest Ricky Craven, who is far and away the best driver-turned-analyst in the business today) with a short little rant on drivers who race the be the very best versus drivers who race just for the paycheck. This is a very intriguing point and I wish he had gone further in-depth on this issue because it's something that most fans don't really think about; is [Driver X] in it for the thrill of victory and the desire to be a champion, or are they in it for the fame and fortune? He didn't name any drivers who might fit into the latter category (although I can think of quite a few active drivers who I think fit that description), but he did list a few drivers who he believes are solely in this sport for the love of the game and the desire to be a successful race car driver. He mentioned two obvious ones (Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski), but also gave some shout-outs to some young, lower level NASCAR drivers like Ryan Blaney, Corey LaJoie, Parker Kligerman, Matt DiBenedetto, and Jason Bowles as drivers who are in racing because they love it and wish to succeed. I'm glad that he named the last two drivers because they've struggled to stick around in this sport, but aren't giving up on their dreams to become true NASCAR drivers. DiBenedetto did several start-and-parks last season and worked as a crew chief for some lower-level teams just to stay in sight in the NASCAR garage, and Bowles works in an office when he's not racing just to make some extra cash on the side to fund his short track team. Smith also mentioned how teams should make sure to ask drivers questions prior to hiring them just to see where their head is and how committed they are to auto racing, similar to the pre-draft interviews that NFL scouts have with players at the Combine. I had a football coach years ago who said that he would rather have a less-talented player who was small, worked hard, and loved the game of football, than a talented player who was big, but had little to no work ethic and little desire to play football. I think more teams should look for those kinds of drivers when they make hirings to their teams, rather than just who is more talented than whom. Now obviously most Cup drivers have both talent and passion for this sport, but there are quite a few who lack passion and perhaps teams should re-consider who they hire for certain rides based on the driver's level of commitment to his craft. If the driver wants to get better and wants to succeed, as opposed to just wanting a big paycheck and the fame that comes along with being a professional race car driver, that's the kind of driver that I want to work with. 615. Paul posted: 05.02.2013 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Speaking of appealing penalties, it looks like RCR is appealing the suspensions of those crew members who were suspended for that fight after the Richmond race in the parking lot last week. Haha I love the logic behind this appeal. "Wait what? Yer tellin' me we can't kick the shit outta these guys after the race in the parking lot out back? What kinda wimpy ass officiating is this bull crap?" Believe it or not, Richard, this isn't 1987 anymore. You can't just have your crew guys beating people up in the parking lot after the race is over anymore just because they're mad. No wonder RCR is so far behind the times nowadays; their owner has been living in 1987 for 26 years! And for the record, I wouldn't have a problem if they were fighting on pit road immediately after the race ended because at least that would have been in the heat of the moment when tempers were flaring. But this fight occurred an hour after the race was over, when all the crew members had some time to cool off and react in a rational way. And in the parking lot of all places. Haha, oh boy that team is funny, and in a sort of sad nostalgic sort of way. It ain't 1987 anymore, Richard. I'm sorry. 616. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.02.2013 - 6:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know the 2 team will be ok. If anything, it will provide fuel for Back2Back. I just want the "cheater" tag taken away and see them given the same leeway the 48 team got. 617. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.02.2013 - 7:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Actually, I would argue that Johnson and Keselowski are amongst those who are the most in it for the money. I have never seen drivers with less passion for racing than them. 618. David posted: 05.02.2013 - 7:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Actually, I would argue that Johnson and Keselowski are amongst those who are the most in it for the money. I have never seen drivers with less passion for racing than them." Huh? Keselowski seems very passionate. 619. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.02.2013 - 8:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I don't know... I haven't seen enough of Keselowski, so I will accept any bashing I get for him, but I really have my doubts about the likes of Johnson, Kahne, Earnhardt, Kenseth, etc. To be that emotionally dead in your interviews you have to be money grubbing. 620. AveryNH posted: 05.02.2013 - 8:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson was quite the fighter back when he drove the 92 car in the busch series long ago. Watch any interview and you can just tell he's so grateful for the opportunity to do what he loves. I think that Jimmie died in 2005 when he first tasted success. Brad has always been driven. He fought and clawed his way to just get a full time ride, Jr's 88. He used that opportunity to propel his career and eventually became a cup champion. In other news Denny Hamlin has been cleared to race. Story just broke on twitter. 621. Paul posted: 05.02.2013 - 9:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Look at Jimmie Johnson's interviews before 2006 (especially in 2004 when he was having a championship-caliber season), and look at them in the years since his first championship. He used to be a fairly emotional driver who wasn't afraid to speak his mind (Dover 2004, Richmond 2004, Daytona 2005) and always seemed really grateful whenever he won a race (California 2002, Martinsville 2004, the 2006 championship). But now, he's just a completely unrelatable person who shows very little emotion when things go well because now he expects to win every race, yet will blow up over the radio if another driver doesn't move out of the way for His Royal Highness. I don't know if that's a product of having success and growing a MASSIVE ego from it, if he decided that being a robot and an emotionless juggernaut would be the recipe for further success, or if he's just in it for the money, fame, and the ability to beat up on all those rich kids that made fun of him when he was just a poor white boy growing up in El Cajon, California, but he's just not the same person. Success doesn't have to dictate the attitudes that drivers have towards their competitors once they have some of it. Richard Petty always had the same friendly and humble attitude, no matter if he was winning 20+ races a year or just struggling to make the show every week. David Pearson was as quiet, reserved, and intelligent a year in 1960 as he was in 1986 (his first and last seasons, respectively). Dale Earnhardt was a badass with a big a chip on his shoulder and a big heart in his later GM Goodwrench years as he was in his cowboy hat-wearing Wrangler years. Jeff Gordon has shown nothing but gratitude in his victory lane interviews because he's still thankful for how far he's made it and the success that he's had in racing. And that goes without saying for many, many other great drivers as well. Jimmie Johnson on the other hand...not the same grateful and somewhat likable driver that he was once upon a time. I'll always remember his interview after the fall Richmond '04 race when he was rightfully upset with how the lapped cars of Dale Jarrett and Jimmy Spencer were racing with Casey Mears up at the front of the field, which ended in a 10-car wreck after Spencer finally wrecked Mears in front of Johnson and others, costing Johnson the points lead going into the Chase in the process. That's probably the most fired up Jimmie Johnson has ever been, and sadly we may never see that again. The only thing that I can recall that is even close to that interview was his foolish interview after Pocono 2011 when he was blaming Kurt Busch for an incident that he started. One other thing I love about his Richmond '04 interview: "One thing I don't like about the points system is that you can have somebody acting like this and take me completely out of the championship." Well, I'm guessing he feels differently about the Chase now, since he would have never won five titles in a row under the old points system (Although I still think he would have won five, just not in a row, with '04 and '12 replacing '07 and '08.). I must say, I miss the old Jimmie Johnson. Send back this current one to whichever planet he came from. We don't want him anymore. 622. The Long Shot posted: 05.02.2013 - 9:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Idiotic move by JGR. At the very least, let Hamlin heal up for one more week before thrusting him back in the car, but don't bring him back at one of the most intense and crash-filled races of the year. 623. Paul posted: 05.02.2013 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) To hell with the #11 team. First Denny's gonna be back for Talladega and be relieved during the first caution period, then he's not been medically cleared by any doctor to return at Talladega, and now he's been cleared again all in a 4-day span. I guess he just magically recovered enough to ride around at the back for a relief driver just two days after those reports were slammed down. Did sponsorship not want the "big surprise" ruined through a tweet made by Denny and they and JGR used the past couple days to discipline him for not waiting for them to make the official announcement and get all the press coverage, in hopes of covering up their bad press from Kansas a few weeks ago? That's the way I see it. Keep that #11 team in the news for a few extra days. That'll sure cover up the cheating that the #20 team did and make people forget about the appeal. 624. New14 & 88Fan posted: 05.02.2013 - 10:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Letting Denny come back for Dega is a mistake, for one if there's a long green flag one at the start of the race and he gets uncomfortable in the car during that time they may have to do the driver change under green(if they go with a driver change at all). And then there's the risk that the first caution could be the Big One with the chance of the #11 getting caught up in it. In 20003 the Big One took place on lap 5, in '06 it occurred on lap 10 and in '09 on lap 8, so they should of waited til either Darlington or Dover to clear him to race. 625. murb posted: 05.02.2013 - 10:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If they are rushing him back because they think they can still make the Chase, they are absolutely delirious. Dumb move. 626. joey2448 posted: 05.02.2013 - 11:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The only thing that I can recall that is even close to that interview was his foolish interview after Pocono 2011 when he was blaming Kurt Busch for an incident that he started." That really wasn't an incident, it was just hard racing. "That's the way I see it. Keep that #11 team in the news for a few extra days. That'll sure cover up the cheating that the #20 team did and make people forget about the appeal." I really don't think JGR cheated, the connecting rod being underweight was a mistake from TRD. 627. David posted: 05.03.2013 - 12:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If they are rushing him back because they think they can still make the Chase, they are absolutely delirious. Dumb move." Exactly. Read my post #586. To me, Hamlin's absence from this year's Chase shouldn't count against him. No other driver would be able to come back from these circumstances. So, Hamlin will still have a perfect record of making the Chase in seasons he raced full-time. 628. 83andJoe posted: 05.03.2013 - 1:37 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) The dead rising from the grave! Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass hysteria! Milka Duno winning the ARCA pole at Talladega! 629. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 2:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "That really wasn't an incident, it was just hard racing." Definitely not the way I would describe that. Johnson turned into Kurt while exiting turn 1, Kurt retaliated and hit him back, and Johnson apparently had some memory loss prior to Kurt's retaliation because he turned down and hit Kurt again. Then he has the nerve to approach Kurt after the race and start an argument over something that HE started. That's not what I call hard racing. That's what I call one driver not using his head and thinking he owns the whole damn race track just because he has five trophies (three legit, two fraudulent) in his trophy case at home and the media loves him. It was basically a crash, except all they hit was each other. Had Jimmie hit Kurt further up on the right side of Kurt's car, he might have dumped him into the wall going down the straightaway just like he did so a year earlier. Dirty racing perhaps, but not hard racing. "I really don't think JGR cheated, the connecting rod being underweight was a mistake from TRD." TRD may have made the illegal adjustment, but JGR has the final say as to what parts they have on the car when they take it to the race track. Either they didn't check close enough and trusted TRD too much to do a good legal job, or they intentionally left the part on and tried to gain an edge over the competition, which they did by winning the race. JGR is either incompetent, or they went along with TRD's cheating, making them an accomplice in the whole thing. Pick your poison, JGR defenders. "Milka Duno winning the ARCA pole at Talladega!" Still less of a female hack than the one in NASCAR. I wonder if there will be a story written about how she out-drove Mason Mingus for the pole. All kidding aside, I wouldn't mind seeing her run up front all race and maybe even contend for the win in the end. She looked really good at Daytona in the early stages of that race before mechanical problems dropped her out of contention. I'm all in favor of female drivers winning races, just as long as they don't bother me. The same rule applies for male drivers. 630. cjs3872 posted: 05.03.2013 - 7:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And New14 & 88Fan, not to mention that the "big one" struck on lap 10 in this race in 1973 and lap 5 in 1979, neither of which were caused by driver error. And also, let's not forget that there have also been two major crashes at Daytona that started at the end of the first lap (the 1990 Firecracker 400 and last year's Daytona 500), and some that occurred in the first ten laps there as well, such as the Daytona 500 in both 1975 and 1982, so major crashes can happen early in a race, as well as late in a race. 631. Eric posted: 05.03.2013 - 10:06 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Paul, JGR didn't really cheat because of the fact TRD didn't want JGR to touch the engine outside of installing it. That means basically means JGR really didn't check the parts close enough as a result of them following TRD's orders. 632. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 10:48 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "That means basically means JGR really didn't check the parts close enough as a result of them following TRD's orders." Incompetence it is then. JGR and TRD are supposed to be a team. If one side screws up, they both should be penalized for the crime. If TRD cheated, then the JGR car (that I believe has the chance at winning the championship) should be penalized, which affects both TRD and JGR. It may not be JGR's fault for the rules violation, but ultimately they're the ones who put the car out on the race track, and if that car is illegal, then they should pay the price for it. 633. Sean posted: 05.03.2013 - 11:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Still less of a female hack than the one in NASCAR." No way. In the IRL, Danica Patrick didn't have much racing ability but she was at least on pace. Milka Duno was far off the pace to the point of getting repeatedly parked. The only reason Milka is less annoying is because she is talked about far less and promotes herself less. She's more incompetent though, and ARCA has usually been a joke (David Stremme lapping the field, championship contender Scott Speed, JWT winning, etc...) They were both effectively ride-buyers, with Danica getting her rides due to her self-promotion in advertisements and Milka because she had CITGO sponsorship following her wherever she wanted (because Hugo Chavez wanted to promote Venezuelan drivers). Your call on which is more annoying, but Milka is most definitely annoying. She's not a "lost talent" like Johanna Long or Simona de Silvestro... 634. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 12:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At least Milka Duno is in ARCA, where she belongs. 635. David posted: 05.03.2013 - 12:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nice to see you again, Sean. Where have you been? 636. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 12:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Nice to see you again, Sean. Where have you been?" Following me on Twitter. ;) 637. David posted: 05.03.2013 - 12:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Aside from writing an article on MA.. 638. Sean posted: 05.03.2013 - 12:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Doing my work, catching up on my site, and playing Scrabble (I'm entering my fourth rated cheap one-day tournament tomorrow...) Haven't been too excited by any of this year's Cup races or had much to say about any of them. 639. AveryNH posted: 05.03.2013 - 12:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sean's right. Milka was a moving chicane in the IRL. At least Danica could compete for wins on occasion, and ran consistently well. She's a ride buyer, much the way her fellow countrymen Pastor Maldonado is. Granted he's easily more talented, but the only reason he is still at Williams is because of the PDVSA sponsorship, The parent owner of CITGO. If it wasn't for that Bruno Senna would still be in that ride. In the ARCA series she has been entirely unnoticeable except at restrictor plate races and when she crashes... which is strangely becoming less frequent. I'm glad to see she's developing tho, and this is her first pole she does have some top tens. But i dont think she will ever advance up a series... That's pretty much a certainty 640. David posted: 05.03.2013 - 12:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Following me on Twitter. ;)" Big deal. He follows me too. 641. 83andJoe posted: 05.03.2013 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Even if she does get success in ARCA, Duno's "Milky Doughnuts" reputation from IndyCar (where she was, in fact, so slow that at the end of her last season she was basically told by the IRL not to bother coming back lest her license get pulled) won't be something she'll ever shed, much like JWT and the "John Wrecks Weekly" nickname. Still, it's good to see her having some reasonable success in ARCA (it should also be noted she hasn't been too bad in sports cars - had she stayed there, she'd have a drastically different reputation). Also, it appears SR2 did /not/ release Blake Koch, as the entry list had indicated, as he's in the #00. 642. 83andJoe posted: 05.03.2013 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Pastrana on pole for the NNS race. Andrews (#92) and Barrett (#15) DNQ. 643. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) You giving me attitude, David? Because it sure sounds like it. Nice job by Travis Pastrana. Now hopefully ESPN will shut up about it in tomorrow's race. I never watch their pre-race show, but I'm sure that will be one of their central points. I saw Blake Koch say yesterday that he would be in the No. 00 SR2 Motorsports Toyota. Glad to see he wasn't dumped like the previous entry list indicated. They might as well keep Koch in the #00 car and Jason White in the #24 car because the #24 car is locked in and White is a lousy qualifier, whereas Koch is a very good qualifier, which is exactly what the #00 car (which isn't locked in) needs for a driver. Hopefully Koch gets to run the full race. I didn't get a good look at the car, but it had blank sides and only a couple sponsors on the B- and C-posts. 644. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Andrews (#92) and Barrett (#15) DNQ." It turns out that John Wes Townley's qualifying time was disallowed, so Tim Andrews will take his place in the race. I'm really happy to see that #92 team make the field. 645. David posted: 05.03.2013 - 2:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You giving me attitude, David? Because it sure sounds like it." Nah, just some ribbing. 646. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.03.2013 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon's car looks like the Menards car somewhat. With the side being neon yellow with the black number. I've already seen it a few times and thought I was watching Menard, and that makes my head hurt, confusing Menard with the legend. 647. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 3:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ok, David. That's one of those statements that would probably be best if not in text. Ah the internet... "I've already seen it a few times and thought I was watching Menard, and that makes my head hurt, confusing Menard with the legend." The sad part is that Menard is in front of Gordon by 36 points. And there are too many cars that look alike nowadays. In the Nationwide race tomorrow (if it doesn't get rained out), there are three competitive cars that are all in yellow paint schemes; Sam Hornish, Jr., Brian Vickers, and Reed Sorenson. And in the Cup race last weekend, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer seemed to have the exact same paint schemes, despite being on different teams. That's always fun not knowing which driver is which. On the plus side, Kurt Busch will have the most recognizable car this weekend. Pink and yellow, very easy to spot. Brilliant! 648. Daniel posted: 05.03.2013 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Acutally, Hornish is driving the Wurth scheme, so it will be red and white. 649. murb posted: 05.03.2013 - 6:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watching Arca and they won't even throw the caution as its raining. Ridiculous. 650. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.03.2013 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Menard is in front of Gordon by 36 points" Now my head really hurts. 651. NicoRosbergFan posted: 05.03.2013 - 6:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If you're desperate feel free to enter your predictions for NNS and Cup on my page if 24over48 doesn't get them up in time. 652. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.03.2013 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "The Day: March 14, 1999" At the end of this dreary, rain delayed race, the 4th in the NASCAR Winston Cup season, the points leader is Mike Skinner. Yeah, that guy who drove (and usually wrecked) the blue and yellow Lowe's car for years before the legend Jimmie Johnson took that sponsor (talk about an upgrade!) as a "team" car to the legend Dale Earnhardt. Speaking of Dale, he crashed unassisted out of this race two weeks after crashing unassisted out of Rockingham, leaving him 18th in points TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE POINTS behind Skinner. This is where we need that clip of Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes saying "How did this upside down civilization come to be?". The only normalcy came from the race winner, the legend Jeff Gordon. Even that wasn't completely normal as it was "only" his third win there. By the time 1999 rolled around, if Jeff hadn't already won at least 3 times on a track that had two dates a year, you had to wonder what was going wrong. Things mostly resolved themselves as a month and a half later Dale won at Talladega which tied him and Skinner in points, with Dale getting the tiebreaker cause he had one win that year and Mike had none (he would never get one). A big reason for Mike's points plummet was Texas where he crashed and finished second to last, ending up ahead of only...... Jeff Gordon? 1999 was a weird freaking year. Hell, the most memorable moment of that year had the greatest broadcasting trio in NASCAR history (Bob, Ned, and Benny) stumbling trying to think of how to say it! Bob: "Oh and Earnhardt........" (stunned silence while all but like two of the lead lap cars crash into each other on the backstretch) Ned: (after what seems like forever and in a "um, what the f*** did I just watch?" tone) spins him Bob: (trying to convey excitement but still obviously stunned) Spins him out! (at this point, after so many years together, those three had ESP, and those of us that watched them for those years could also hear their ESP, and Bob was ESPing to Ned "Thanks for saving me there buddy!") 653. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 7:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 1999 was a weird year indeed for the then-Winston Cup Series. Here are some notable weird moments: - Mike Skinner led the points for three straight weeks. - Dale Earnhardt, Skinner's teammate and 7-time champion, never led the points, and was never higher than 7th in points after the season opener. - Jeff Gordon lead the series in wins and laps led, yet finishes 6th in the points in a full 34-race season (without a points reset). - Jeff Burton is the highest finishing "Jeff" in NASCAR. - Despite having only 1 top five finish, Terry Labonte led more laps (351) than Dale Earnhardt (230). - All of the top 3 points finishers were very conservative drivers, those being Dale Jarrett, Bobby Labonte, and Mark Martin. - Two Roush drivers (Martin, Burton) finished top five in points, while the other three finished outside the top 20 (Little, Lepage, Benson). - Ward Burton goes winless and still finished 9th in the points. Three years later, he won twice and finished 25th in points. (!!!) - Joe Nemechek won a race and had 3 poles, but finished 30th in points. Gotta love those Felix Sabates engines! - Ricky Rudd, who basically never finished outside the top ten in points, finishes outside the top 30 and goes winless for the first time since 1982. - Tony Stewart kicks off the start of the 9-year stint of the "super rookies" in Cup, having what I consider to be the greatest Cup rookie season of all-time. - John Andretti wins what still remains the most recent victory for the famous #43 car at Martinsville. - Two drivers who finished top 15 in points had 0 top five finishes (Steve Park and Ken Schrader). - Darrell Waltrip has just a very sad season after having several good runs in '98 driving for DEI, and had 7 DNQ's. 654. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.03.2013 - 7:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How about the '99 Darlington Spring race? With Jeff Burton out front looking to finally break through at Darlington after being "Gordon-ed" in the '97 and '98 Southern 500s, it starts to rain just past halfway. While racing back to the line, the lapped cars ahead of Burton wreck, sending Burton into the wall destroying his right front suspension, but he is able to cross the line and take the yellow flag first. So here is the deal for him: if it keeps raining he finally gets his win at the historic track after two heartbreaks. If it stops and they can race again, he has to go behind the wall and lose again. It rained like hell and he won. He also won the rain shortened Southern 500 that year, the 50th running of that event. 655. Paul posted: 05.03.2013 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's another interesting point. Jeff Burton joined an elite club of drivers to have swept the Darlington races in season. The only other drivers to have done that are Richard Petty (1967), LeeRoy Yarbrough (1969), Bobby Allison (1975), David Pearson (1976, came inches shy of doing so in 1980), Bill Elliott (1985), Dale Earnhardt (twice, 1987 and 1990), Jeff Gordon (1996), and then Jimmie Johnson (2004). Even Cale Yarborough, Jeff Burton's hero growing up, never swept the Darlington races in a season, and one could argue that Cale was the very best at Darlington. Of course, Cale probably could have swept 2-4 times if he didn't have the misfortune of racing at the same time as David Pearson, another legendary Darlington racer. 656. cjs3872 posted: 05.03.2013 - 9:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually Paul, Cale was never really good in the spring race at Darlington for some reason. Certainly having David Pearson around was a big reason he never won that race, but he was never actually that good in the spring race at Darlington. Of course, he more than made up for thaet in the Southern 500, which he won five times. But other drivers that won the spring race at Darlington in Cale's heyday were Bobby Allison (and he only won that race once himself, in 1975 in an AMC Matador), LeeRoy Yarbrough, Buddy Baker, Darrell Waltrip, and even Benny Parsons. 657. Baker posted: 05.03.2013 - 11:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (3) DSFF, Seriously quit calling Jimmie Johnson a legand. He is just as much of a hack as his pathetic low life scub bag owner. The owner all the way down know exactly what they are doing when they are bending rules to be faster than everyone else and what they are doing when they are feeding NASCAR's pockets to stay clean. 658. DaleSrFanForever posted: 05.04.2013 - 12:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't like Jimmie, and I certainly don't like HMS and all the dirty business he pulls in and out of NASCAR. But the undeniable fact is Jimmie is a legend. 5 titles (T-3rd all time) all done consecutively, already past 60 wins, immediately grabbed the torch as the sport's alpha dog upon his arrival. Just because he is a hypocritical arrogant whining boring jerk doesn't change that. 659. 83andJoe posted: 05.04.2013 - 6:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) >and what they are doing when they are feeding NASCAR's pockets to stay clean. Supply the proof, please. No, "X happened and Y didn't" doesn't count, "not getting penalized for X" doesn't count either. Point to where somebody saw the money changing hands. Supply an interview with somebody who carried the checks. Without that, that's no more provable a statement than Robin Miller going on and on about NASCAR having "The Call". 660. cjs3872 posted: 05.04.2013 - 8:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, Jimmie's five championships are not tied for third all-time, they're third all-time by itself. 661. David posted: 05.04.2013 - 11:24 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) May the Fourth be with you. 662. Eric posted: 05.04.2013 - 11:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I see David is a Star Wars fan. May 4th is a well known Star Wars Day. Disney right now a Limited Time Magic's Star Wars Day At Disney Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World called 'May the 4th Be With You! matter of fact. I brought Disney's Limited Time Magic because I do keep an eye on what is happening at Disney through the internet. 663. David posted: 05.04.2013 - 11:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I see David is a Star Wars fan." Yeah, boy!!! 664. Eric posted: 05.04.2013 - 11:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I brought up today is Limited Time Magic's Star Wars Day At Disney Hollywood Studios because cjs3872 might have brought it up since cjs3872 makes statements thinking the person isn't aware of something. 665. David posted: 05.04.2013 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qualifying has been canceled. 666. Jarrett88fan posted: 05.04.2013 - 1:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Happy Derby Day. This is a great day in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and May the Fourth be with you, always. 667. Baker posted: 05.04.2013 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) He does have 5 championships and 60 wins based on talent. He has all his stats because his cars are allowed to be far more illegal than the rest of the field. He is a talentless hack who doesn't win outside of the 48 car and all their illegal shennanigans. 668. b4il3y posted: 08.11.2013 - 4:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was Bowyers race... Montoya.. bleh.. sorry lol. He hasn't done much of anything to impress me. 669. Ryan posted: 05.26.2018 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I love going back and looking at all these Harvick haters make comments like he wouldn't be a Hall of Fame driver or win a championship. People said his move to SHR would basically be a bust, when it was a career changing move. Everyone down played his wins like it was nothing. Post #500 had it right. ;) 670. Rich posted: 12.19.2020 - 10:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the commentators. Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Krista Voda were the pit road reporters. Jeff Hammond was the roving reporter. Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip were in the Hollywood hotel. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: