|| *Comments on the 2015 STP 500:* First Page | Previous Page | Next Page | Last Page | View All On One Page View the most recent comment | Post a comment <#post> 1. jabber1990 posted: 03.27.2015 - 7:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) first career start for Chase Elliott and I also think this is the first start for the #25 since Las Vegas in 2009 2. joey2448 posted: 03.27.2015 - 7:56 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) *Actually it's the first start for car no. 25 since the fall race at Charlotte 2009, when Keselowski drove to a 12th-place finish. Could we be seeing a return of the old Tony Stewart? He gets fired up by a practice incident involving him and Matt DiBenedetto, which is the second time in a week that he's been hot under the collar with another driver (Martin Truex Jr. being the other one at Fontana), then goes out and puts in a strong qualifying run. This coming days after Smoke expressed satisfaction that he and his 14 team were heading in the right direction with their car this season. Newman has looked strong all weekend, as has Allmendinger and Truex. Look for them to challenge the Hendrick brigade. 3. epzik8 posted: 03.27.2015 - 9:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I only wanted Chase to make the race and I got my wish. Then my Joey Logano took another pole, continuing Penske's qualifying dominance. The whole Hendrick bunch, Chase included, should be watched on Sunday, as should Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and probably Logano and Brad Keselowski too. 4. murb posted: 03.27.2015 - 9:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Newman should be tough. 5. Daniel posted: 03.27.2015 - 10:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) In using fastest 43: #30 Ron Hornaday Jr. & #62 Brendan Gaughan Out using fastest 43: #23 J.J. Yeley & #83 Matt DiBenedetto 6. racefangurl posted: 03.27.2015 - 10:52 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) Chris Buescher qualified worse than 2/3's of the Roush drivers and barely outdid the other. I don't think we'll see miracles from Buescher on race day. Chase beat him and he's a Martinsville rookie too. Must be the Hendrick power. Roush sucks almost as bad as Front Row. Looks like the Roushskateers could be lapped big time, unless they race better than they qualify. Even so, they'd have to move up pretty quick. Btw, when was the last time a driver did what Chase is doing? Made his Cup debut at a short track, that is. 7. someone posted: 03.27.2015 - 11:03 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) ^^ Kyle Fowler last fall at Martinsville. 8. Pucci Man posted: 03.28.2015 - 12:27 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Best of luck to Chase. A new era has begun. Chase might do better then his dad. Either way, he will have a long and great successful career in Cup. Good luck the son of Million Dollar/ Awesome Bill from Dawsonville Georgia. 9. Sean posted: 03.28.2015 - 3:05 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Chase might do better then his dad." No. "Either way, he will have a long and great successful career in Cup." Probably. 10. joey2448 posted: 03.28.2015 - 3:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, it's pretty tough to top a Cup title, two Daytona 500's and 40-plus wins. Not saying that he couldn't do it, it's possible, but it's quite a standard that his father has set. 11. Scott B posted: 03.28.2015 - 3:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) #44 team withdrew, citing iffy weather (they would have DNQed if qualifying was rained out, though it did clear up in time to get that session in). 12. HouseOfPenske posted: 03.28.2015 - 6:51 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) You clowns who think Chase will contend for the win on Sunday are a few fries short of a happy meal. 13. Anonymous posted: 03.28.2015 - 6:51 am Rate this comment: (0) (3) I'm just going to deal with the fact that Dale Jr will never win another race, no matter how much it bothers me. I want Jr to win but it doesn't look like he will win again. I hope I'm very wrong about this. 14. We need more Onion posted: 03.28.2015 - 7:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well aside from the #30 not being the absolute slowest car on the track, no real surprises here. Wise qualified well, but he almost always does on the short tracks. Both Truex's and Newman's wins are a long time coming. I REALLY wish we'll see them duking it out at the end. 15. Anonymous posted: 03.28.2015 - 7:40 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) "I'm just going to deal with the fact that Dale Jr will never win another race, no matter how much it bothers me. I want Jr to win but it doesn't look like he will win again. I hope I'm very wrong about this. " Would you cut the shit already? Bill Elliott went 7+ years between wins, and his fans weren't whining like this, never mind you after 9 freaking races! 16. Baxter posted: 03.28.2015 - 7:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mark Martin entered the #25 into the 2011 All Star Race, but I know that is not an official race. 17. MarkMartinFan posted: 03.28.2015 - 8:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) If we'd stop acknowledging the troll who says Dale Jr will never win again every week, maybe it will go away. 18. DiBenidetto - RIP. posted: 03.28.2015 - 9:16 am Rate this comment: (2) (5) Your mouth just sunk your temporary "Sprint Cup" career. Oh yeah, the Atlanta and Las Vegas DNQ's didn't help too much, neither did the nasty 42nd in Fontana and 35th in Phoenix. Did I mention the mere two Top 10's in 49 Nationwide starts? Time to grab the driveway sealant and mop! 19. luigistarted06 posted: 03.28.2015 - 9:27 am Rate this comment: (2) (3) What you fail to take into account is the trash equipment this kid has been driving the majority of his career 20. Alex posted: 03.28.2015 - 9:48 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Reading Matt's comments: it doesn't matter how long you have been around the sport if what you say is true. 21. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Sponsor of the #44 was Phoenix Warehouse and Driver is Travis Kvapil 22. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) And this is the first start for the #25 since the 2011 All-Star race. 23. RIP: DiBenedetto (1992-2015) posted: 03.28.2015 - 11:22 am Rate this comment: (2) (3) To #19: Have you ever heard the phrase that DW constantly says, "No ride is better than a bad ride". Good luck trying to explain to a potential sponsor what a Start and Park 42nd place finish means, 36 times in a season... 90% of America wouldn't even understand that explanation for a string of evidently piss-poor finishes... Doesn't look too good either way. 24. Dawson posted: 03.28.2015 - 12:10 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) What's up with all the Matt dibenedetto hate 25. The Arrogant Prick posted: 03.28.2015 - 12:39 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) I might have anger issues but you have to understand that it's pretty hard to get humiliated by my teammates every week :( 26. Alex posted: 03.28.2015 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) "RIP: DiBenedetto (1992-2015)" What a sick, twisted, and demented way to name yourself. I hope webmaster deletes that because you're just a sociopathic Tony Stewart fan. 27. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 03.28.2015 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #62 was a Chevrolet 28. MAR posted: 03.28.2015 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) My opinion on Chase Elliott's cup career i think he'll have a career similar to what Brian Vickers had while he was at Hendrick Motorsports average reason why i feel that way is because he basically gonna be a 20 year old rookie and the forth driver on Hendrick motorsports so if you look at history reguarding Hendrick motorsports Rookie contenders you'll see why i have that opinion. 29. The Long Shot posted: 03.28.2015 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) A terrible crash in a VLN Endurance Series race at Nurburgring has left one spectator dead and several others injured, including the driver. Video shows the car of Jann Mardenborough suddenly get airborne entering a turn and flip into the fence. The car then appears to tumble through the fence and into a run-off area where spectators were sitting. The driver can be seen getting out of the upside down car before laying down on the ground either in pain or shock. As for the deceased spectator, I read somewhere that it was an 8 year-old boy that had flown from America to watch the race with his father. I really hope that's wrong. Either way, RIP to the deceased and best wishes to his family. Just an awful, awful situation. 30. The Long Shot posted: 03.28.2015 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) And now Kyle Larson has been taken to the hospital after apparently fainting during an autograph session. Thankfully he's expected to be okay. 31. racefangurl posted: 03.28.2015 - 3:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Chase Elliott could win as a twenty year old rookie, at least at a plate track or perhaps a car track. Remember the 2011 Daytona 500? That was the day I learned not to write off rookies, as far as race wins go. That was where the lesson stopped until last year. I'll wait and see how it goes next year. No snap judgments or premature predictions about Chase's 2016 from this user. 32. RaceFanX posted: 03.28.2015 - 4:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) This will be the first points-paying Sprint Cup race televised on Fox Sports 1. 33. racefangurl posted: 03.28.2015 - 4:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) NASCAR's seen so many medical issues already. It reminds me of 2013. That was a bad year in NASCAR from a medical standpoint. So many drivers hurt or sick. 34. dennyfan11 posted: 03.28.2015 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Lets hope that we don't have another driver sidelined. Kurt Busch was out for 3 races due to the whole legal issue, Kyle Busch is still out due to his broken leg, Brian Vickers missed 2 races due to heart surgery and now is missing more due to clots... A disasterous year. 35. murb posted: 03.28.2015 - 4:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) I doubt Larson will be sidelined. They might have Crafton or one of the Truck drivers on stand-by, but I'd be really surprised if he missed the race. Seems like it's just a heat/dehydration thing. 36. joey2448 posted: 03.28.2015 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yes, I'd really be surprised if Larson misses Sunday's race. I'm guessing it was a simple case of dehydration or something. Maybe he partied too hard last night :) And about the VLN crash, horrible news to hear of the spectator death. Watching the video, the crash is so eerily similar to the Mercedes blowovers at LeMans in 1999. Mardenborough's car came up over the famous Flugplatz hump, which made the front end really light and caught massive air, which sent it flying into and over the fencing. 37. Anonymous posted: 03.28.2015 - 9:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @MAR's comment: "My opinion on Chase Elliott's cup career i think he'll have a career similar to what Brian Vickers had while he was at Hendrick Motorsports average reason why i feel that way is because he basically gonna be a 20 year old rookie and the forth driver on Hendrick motorsports so if you look at history reguarding Hendrick motorsports Rookie contenders you'll see why i have that opinion." I guess Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson didn't have much success since they were Hendrick Motorsports Rookies. Oh and Kyle Busch too, despite 0 championship column. I look at it this way, every decade Hendrick has had a rising star winning championships. Hendrick started in the 1980's, being a rookie owner himself. Terry Labonte won his first championship with a different owner, sure, but then later won his second with the organization. Then in the 90's, it was Jeff Gordon Era. Who won Rookie of the Year, no wait, who was the first ever to win Rookie of the Year in BOTH Cup and Xfinity? That's right. The man who is 3rd all time in win's list. Next decade? Jimmie Johnson may not have won Rookie of the Year, but he was damn close, and even was a championship leader briefly as a rookie! Not once before and since has a rookie done so. I guess those 10 championships between 2 of 3 Hendrick rookies was a bust because of Hendrick's rookie contenders. @racefangurl's comment: "Chase Elliott could win as a twenty year old rookie, at least at a plate track or perhaps a car track. Remember the 2011 Daytona 500? That was the day I learned not to write off rookies, as far as race wins go. That was where the lesson stopped until last year. I'll wait and see how it goes next year. No snap judgments or premature predictions about Chase's 2016 from this user." I learned not to write off rookies when I saw Tony Stewart & Jimmie Johnson winning a record setting 3 races during their rookie campaigns. Heck, even when Denny Hamlin finished 3rd in points in 2006, chase or not. Hell, look at Rusty Wallace's debut, he even came super close to winning, just a spot short to finish 2nd. Dale Earnhardt is the only driver ever to win Rookie of the Year then following that rookie season, the championship. I know the current generation of rookies is slacking compared to the 90's vs early 2000's. However, never say never. 38. Sector posted: 03.28.2015 - 9:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^I cleared cookies last night. Forgot to sign my name. 39. RACE34 posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I hope this race tomorrow is just as good if not better than the truck race today!! 40. MAR posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Post 37 obviously u didnt comprehend with my post so let me do it over. Jeff Gordon's Rookie season compared to Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth was average and at the time Gordon's Rookie season he was in line to be the face of the organization his teammates were Ruud,and Schrader both guys past their prime so Gordon was goin to be the lead guy reguardless. Jimmie Johnson yes he was a successful rookie but from day one he was the second option on the team ahead of Labonte who was past his prime and Jerry and Joe Nemecheck was past their prime and average at best. Brian Vickers didnt work out and wasn't successfull in his rookie season at hendrick cause he was the 3rd to 4th option at his time at hendrick and was never goin to be ahead of Jeff and Jimmie. Last Kyle Busch Rookie season was successful but like vickers he was never goin to be top dog so it didnt work out and now i see the same happening to Chase Elliott despite him driving #24 next year he wont be ahead of Jimmie or Dale Jr and most likely wont be ahead of kasey kahne either so i see a average rookie season from Chase Elliott. 41. Eric posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:23 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) MAR, you having to be joking about Ricky Rudd being past his prime in 1993. Rudd was in his prime through 2001. His problem was wasting past of his prime. The reason Rudd was bad from 1998 and 1999 was due to him being a driver/owner. What Ricky Rudd did in 2000 and 2001 shown that Rudd wasn't past his prime as a driver. I make the argument that Rudd wasted years as an owner/driver despite winning 6 times as one. Rudd was a top 5 driver in 2000 and 2001 Rudd in 2001 matter of fact tied his career high of 2 wins a season and had a career high in top 5's and top 10's. Rudd started his decline in 2002. 42. racefangurl posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was unable to watch very many races as a kid and was a casual fan, so I don't remember too many rookies, just big names, mostly. I remember being told about Joe Nemechek: "He's newer." when I mentioned how he crashed a lot. My toilet expectations on rookies can be traced to that. Trevor Bayne and Chase Elliott showed me rookies can win races and (at least in the minor leagues) championships, respectively. Btw, Chase will be in a Hendrick car, so he may be able to do what hasn't been done in a long time. That and, if it counts for anything, his track record in the lower series. He did win the Nationwide/Xfinity race at Darlington last year as a rookie and right on the heels of a Texas win and won at Chicagoland later on in the year. But on the other hand, he may be like Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and brian Vickers. We have to wait and see, like I alluded to in post 31. Maybe how he does this year, when he Cup races, adjusted for circumstances, like how it's a new team, can provide some clues, even. I won't be dumb about him in the Cup, at least not in the same way I was dumb about his minor league performance last year. 43. Eric posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Anyone who watched 1993 cup racing person that year would Recognize that Jeff Gordon had a better year than MAR gave him credit for. I am saying that because by 1993 standards, Jeff Gordon had a great Rookie year. Standards for rookie years before Tony Stewart was much different. A great rookie year for cup drivers before Stewart was 1987 Davey Allison, 1979 Dale Earnhardt and 1993 Jeff Gordon. The fact is cup owners at that time had low standards for rookie drivers for a time. 44. Eric posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Rudd was never on the level of a Jeff Gordon at his peak at any point of his career. Rudd was on the level below Earnhardt, Gordon, Johnson, Rusty, and Stewart. Rudd was a very good driver who is closer to Terry Labonte from a career standpoint although he was one of the toughest drivers ever on the cup series. Rudd was never big time winner in a season just like Terry Labonte despite the legendary 1998 Martinsville win or the taped eyes open 1984 Richmond race. If Rudd didn't waste parts of his career due to career choices, he was 25 to 30 career win cup driver. The fact is Rudd wouldn't have been a number 1 driver if stayed at Hendrick due to the talent level of Jeff Gordon just like Terry Labonte was number 2 driver at Hendrick before Jimmie Johnson came. 45. epzik8 posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Logano is going to lead about 100-150 laps and then one of the Hendrick cars is going to take the lead and get the win. Hendrick knows how to win at Martinsville. 46. MAR posted: 03.28.2015 - 10:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I never said Jeff Gordon had a bad rookie season it was average he did win a dual race and he was fast. And as for Ruud he was past his prime like all great athletes every dog has one last great fight left in him no doubt his 00 and 2001 seasons were his last great seasons cause he had something to prove. 47. Pucci Man posted: 03.28.2015 - 11:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Comment no. 44, Rudd's taped eyes open was at the Daytona 500, not Richmond. Look it up yourself! 48. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 12:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Got to get used to the earlier start times again too. I've been used to the Cup races not starting until 3:45 my time. 49. Eric posted: 03.29.2015 - 12:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @Pucci Man, You are not 100 percent right. I remembered Rudd crashed in the Busch clash, but he had his eyes taped more than race. Rudd's eyes still was swollen for Richmond. Bud Moore's own book even mentioned Ricky Rudd needed his eyes to be taped open for Richmond. Ricky's eyes according to Bud Moore still was black and red Blood and needed his eyes to be taped based. I take Bud Moore's account and I saw other websites even mentioned this. Bud Moore was Ricky Rudd's care owner in 1984 and Bud isn't the type of a person to lie over such matters. 50. Eric posted: 03.29.2015 - 12:40 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @MARC, Did it occur to you how off your statement acting like his 2000 and 2001 season was last great fight, but was still past him prime those 2 years. Drivers are past their prime at s time, but not was not till 2002 like I said before. The fact is Ricky Rudd from 1994 to 1999 as an owner/driver was different than Tony Stewart based on the fact Ricky Rudd didn't get his equipment or engine from another race organization unlike Tony Stewart. The fact is Rudd's team built their own car, and engines without help from Yates or Roush. The other thing was Rudd was a single car owner at the wrong time like Bill Elliott did also. Back in the 1990's, drivers that raced the cars they own usually didn't depend on other race organization for engines or other equipment. Drivers also have a tendency to driver better when they don't race their own equipment like Bill Elliott proved. 51. Sector posted: 03.29.2015 - 12:58 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @Mar's comment toward my post: "Post 37 obviously u didnt comprehend with my post so let me do it over." Re-read @MAR's comment: "My opinion on Chase Elliott's cup career i think he'll have a career similar to what Brian Vickers had while he was at Hendrick Motorsports average reason why i feel that way is because he basically gonna be a 20 year old rookie and the forth driver on Hendrick motorsports so if you look at history reguarding Hendrick motorsports Rookie contenders you'll see why i have that opinion." Don't see what I didn't comprehend; You said his career, not just his rookie season. Point invalid, kind sir. 52. cjs3872 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:31 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) As racefangurl mentioned in post #33, this has been a terrible year for NASCAR in the medical department. First, there was Brian Vickers heart issues before the season started, then it was Kyle Busch's broken leg, then Vickers again, and now Kyle Larson with this fainting episode. I doubt he'd do it unless forced to by NASCAR (which is very doubtful), but I hope Chip Ganassi sits Larson for the race at Martinsville. Not just because of the potential safety factors and Larson's long-term health involved, but also because of the fact that the race comes a day after the fainting episode, PLUS the fact that you have the traditional Easter off weekend next weekend, so by pulling Vickers out of the car, you're not only not risking it for today's race, but also with an off weekend, that gives Larson two weeks to rest up and get better for what figures to be a hard and physical 500-mile race at Texas on April 11. The problem with resting Larson is that there just isn't anyone available, since there's no XFinity Series race this weekend (they don't race at Martinsville), so there really isn't anyone available to replace Larson at this time, except for the possibility of Regan Smith, who has raced at Martinsville in his Cup Series career, but I'm not sure if he's even available at this time. But Smith is the only competent option I see if Ganassi does the right thing, and has Larson sit this one out for precautionary reasons. I doubt that Toyota would let Ganassi use one of ThorSport Racing's Truck Series drivers, Matt Crafton or Johnny Sauter, nor do I think either Roush or Ford would allow him to use Elliott Sadler, even though Ganassi does run Fords in sports car racing, so Ganassi's in a vice here. He shouldn't start Larson, but may be forced to if Larson is medically cleared by NASCAR, but if he pulls Larson, there's no real good option available. 53. Smiff_2 posted: 03.29.2015 - 8:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As usual, CJS, you're right on point. It was announced less than an hour ago that Larson, although feeling fine *and* testing negative so far for any neurological issues, will be withheld from today's race for further evaluation. Racing in his place will be.....yup, Regan Smith. 54. ORIGINAL suomynonA posted: 03.29.2015 - 10:00 am Rate this comment: (2) (2) It's getting really annoying how teams keep asking the same retreads to serve as replacement drivers. Give someone new a chance! 55. luigistarted06 posted: 03.29.2015 - 10:04 am Rate this comment: (2) (2) Anybody but Jimmie today 56. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 10:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "It's getting really annoying how teams keep asking the same retreads to serve as replacement drivers. Give someone new a chance!" As cjs posted, contracts with manufacturers keep some drivers from jumping into a car. Also, NASCAR won't let a driver get in a car without practice time in the car unless they have some kind of Cup experience. 57. luigistarted06 posted: 03.29.2015 - 11:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, I just realized this'll be the first time since the October 2010 Martinsville race that I haven't had to work during a Martinsville cup race. Hell yeah 58. MAR posted: 03.29.2015 - 11:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The race is on Fox sports one so i guess i wont be watching And once again to clear up my Chase Elliot prediction his rookie season and his Hendrick motorsports cup tenure will be similar to brian Vickers but i think he's talented enough to win like Kyle Busch did but i dont see him bein top dog over there 59. Scott B posted: 03.29.2015 - 11:26 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The options for replacement drivers are also a lot more limited in cases like this, where you need a sub on less than 24 hours notice. If not Regan Smith, the next experienced option that comes to mind for me is Joe Nemechek, who is back in the Chevy camp and at Martinsville to coach John Hunter in the truck series. Chase Elliott might have been a candidate, if he didn't already qualify in the #25. 60. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 12:50 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Dissapointed that Kyle Larson is sitting out. This has been an awful year for NASCAR drivers, from Kurt Busch's legal issues, to Kyle Busch's broken leg, to Brian Vickers's blood clot, and now this. If dropouts continue at this rate, we might have 24 by the end of the year. I really hope this is the last of them. But think about it. If the dropouts continue, and Harvick and Logano are some of them, then we might have an underdog champion! However, that is highly unlikely... But a man can dream! 61. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 12:55 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) God dangit. This seems a bit extreme to me. I mean, I'm not one of the doctors evaluating Larson, so perhaps this is the best choice, but I just hate to see a driver miss a race due to circumstances that seem pretty questionable to me. But go Regan! 62. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If dropouts continue at this rate, we might have 24 by the end of the year." 24 drivers having to miss at least one race this year is a bit TOO extreme... Tough break for Larson, but maybe Smith will be able to get a good run in the #42 today. 63. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "24 drivers having to miss at least one race this year is a bit TOO extreme..." I know, but we've already had 4 dropouts in 6 races... 64. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sucks for Larson, but hopefully Regan will have a good run. 65. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Logano leads lap 1. 66. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Trevor Bayne crashes. Caution. 67. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like contact with Bowman cut a tire down. 68. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, that didn't take long! How many cautions do you think there will be today? It's Martinsville...so I'm going to guess 15. 69. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Green is out, Ryan Newman takes the lead with Logano alongside. 70. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman is about to take the lead away on the outside... ...or not. 71. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Logano keeps the lead. 72. RaceFanX posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Clint Bowyer and the #15 team pitted under caution to change the Toyota's scoring transponder. I don't think I've ever seen a team need to do that before. 73. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. spins. Caution 2. Both have involved RFR cars. 74. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse spins around in between turns 3 and 4, and caution #2 is already out. 75. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ricky wheel hops and spins for caution #2. 76. Driver X posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Stenhouse spins to bring out our second caution. Boy, Roush sure as hell is off to a good start today... 77. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another banner day for RFR. 78. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Green back out. 79. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Near catastrophe for Gordon and Kenseth. 80. luigistarted06 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) BK Racing is so incompetent that the pit crew cost Jeb Burton a lap under caution 81. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon is starting to back up significantly. 82. Cumulonimbus posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin seems to have the fastest car at the moment. And Truex might have some issues with his car. 83. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex is smoking. And not in a good way. 84. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny Hamlin and J. J. Yeley get together just as they come back from commercial break, and Yeley slams the turn 1 wall. 85. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) J.J Yeley crashes. Caution 3. 86. Cumulonimbus posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Out of the drivers who pitted under the last caution, Kurt Busch was by far the fastest, as he is already up to 12th now. I really think he's a big contender for defending his victory here. 87. luigistarted06 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Man, Sam Hornish is struggling to run 40th 88. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Out of the drivers who pitted under the last caution, Kurt Busch was by far the fastest, as he is already up to 12th now. I really think he's a big contender for defending his victory here." But will NASCAR allow that to happen...? 89. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The hood is flipping on Brett Moffit's car. 90. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brett Moffit and Chase Elliott crash. No caution. 91. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chase Elliott also has a lot of damage. 92. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Welcome to the Cup Series at Martinsville, Chase 93. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin is getting ready to take the lead away from Logano. 94. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Chase Elliott looking like 2000 Dale Jr out here. 95. Jacques posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bonjour! 96. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Debris caution. 97. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, that was a 5 car accident without a wreck. 98. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #95 No, Jacques, this is Martinsville. This is one place where you will rarely EVER show up. 99. Anonymous posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have a feeling this race is going to have a very yellow look to it. 100. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "#95 No, Jacques, this is Martinsville. This is one place where you will rarely EVER show up." He will show up if Kurt Busch is leading in the final five laps. 101. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elliott has gone behind the wall for a broken radiator and power steering issues. 102. RaceFanX posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chase Elliott behind the wall for repairs, changing a radio and repairing the power steering. His chances for a good finish in his debut are gone but he'll get out there for some more laps and experience. 103. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That was actual legit debris. No need for Jacques today. Chase Elliott in the garage fixing the damage. 104. RaceFanX posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chase's father Bill Elliott finished 33rd at Rockingham in his debut back in 1976. He blew a motor and didn't finish. 105. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson is backing up. 106. RaceFanX posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) *changing a radiator in Chase Elliott's #25, not a radio 107. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nap-Time just got passed by a RFR Garbage-Mobile at Martinsville. 108. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman is backing up. He's fallen outside of the top 10 and is continuing to slide back. 109. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for a crash in turn 4 by Alex Kennedy. 110. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Everybody pits under this caution. 111. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DiBenedetto had someone in HIS way this time. Alex Kennedy spins in turn four, lap 96. 112. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dale Junior has a broken shifter. 113. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex, Danica, and Cassill stayed out on this caution. 114. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Does HMS build their shifters out of glass or something? 115. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica and Landon are a double lane chicane. 116. luigistarted06 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Glad to see Landon get a lot of TV time there 117. BMan0213 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't care that she was on the outside lane that was pathetic that Danica couldn't clear the 40 car lol. 118. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Smart move for Truex to stay out there. He's back in this thing now. 119. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman has REALLY faded. He's almost back to last on the lead lap and getting passed by low-budget teams. 120. Cumulonimbus posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) People were saying HMS drivers are gonna be so good here... and right now the best Hendrick car is Kahne in 12th, with Gordon and Johnson in 18th and 19th. And Newman was also considered a factor, yet he's down in 36th at the moment. But obviously, there's a long, long way to go. 121. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Newman is absolute garbage now. He just got passed by a car without a hood. 122. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Logano back out front. Mears and Danica make contact. 123. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman is about to go a lap down. Can't believe how far he fell off. 124. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman and Cowboy Hat are about to drop off the lead lap. 125. BMan0213 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "People were saying HMS drivers are gonna be so good here... and right now the best Hendrick car is Kahne in 12th, with Gordon and Johnson in 18th and 19th." Jr was running in the top 5 before he started having problems, and I mean the SHR cars cars basically HMS cars and they git two running in the top five right now. Still a long way to go, I'm sure one of those guys will work their way to the front before the end. 126. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick takes the lead away. Already I'm starting to wonder if cjs was on to something when he said he thought Harvick might smash the modern-era record of 13 wins in a season... 127. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Something I think is worth noting... Kevin Harvick is now tied with Jimmie Johnson for most Gen-6 wins. Also, I think it's fair to say that Kevin Harvick has unset Jimmie Johnson and is the best driver in NASCAR ***AT THE MOMENT***. That has to be pretty rare in racing and sports in general for someone to pique this late into a career, especially when the guy you're currently eclipsing has been doing it for a shorter amount of time. 128. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Elliott is back on the track, about 70 laps behind. 129. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin takes the lead. 130. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin leads! 131. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin seems to have his old Martinsville mojo back this race. 132. Cumulonimbus posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In the meanwhile, Johnson has fallen outside the top 25... behind Dale Jr, who has restarted at the rear of the field and is apparently stuck in 4th gear. How bad can his car be? 133. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allmendinger has smoke coming from his car. Not a great sign... Johnson's car looks like junk today; he's barely able to run top 25! 134. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon's car seems to be moving foward on this long run. 135. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson is about to fall off the lead lap. 136. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What are Earnhardt and Johnson doing down there? Come on, you're good at this track! 137. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No idea why they haven't black flagged Allmendinger yet. He's smoking a ridiculous amount. 138. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allmendinger needs to take his car to pit road; the smoke is only getting worse and worse the further we go... 139. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) *Car with worsening smoke on the track* "Let's go to commercial!" 140. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "What are Earnhardt and Johnson doing down there?" Well, Jr. has a broken shifter so he's stuck in 4th. I think if I was Hendrick, I would make my shifter out of something else since this is a recurring theme dating back to last year. Jimmie just...sucks. That's not something you can say every race. 141. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yellow flag is out according to NASCAR.com. 142. BMan0213 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "No idea why they haven't black flagged Allmendinger yet. He's smoking a ridiculous amount." I feel if the 41 car was smoking that bad he would have been in the pits five laps ago haha. 143. racefangurl posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Johnson is running like the Roush drivers and so is Jr. I mean, I just saw Trevor Bayne, a Roush driver 2 ahead of Johnson and Jr. just ahead of Bayne. 144. Smiff_2 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Go figure, I swallowed my pride and put Johnson on my fantasy team roster, at a track where he's been insanely good, and he has (so far) his worst ever run at the track. Ridiculous! lol 145. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse spins for a second time. Not that good of a driver. Hamlin with a tire penalty in the pits. 146. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Starting to get the feeling the Zach Buckner commercial is going to air ALL year long. Caution was for ANOTHER spin by Stenhouse. Hamlin gets a pit road penalty for a tire getting away from his crew, and he falls to the back of the field. 147. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spinhouse spins again. 148. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Starting to get the feeling the Zach Buckner commercial is going to air ALL year long." At this point, people commenting on it on here is actually getting more annoying than the actual commercial. 149. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allmendinger also got a tire penalty. 150. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Haha, "Spinhouse". XD Also not the first time Dale Jr.'s shifter has broke on him. Happened back in October at Charlotte, and I think a couple of other times recently. 151. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm petty sure every single pit road penalty in the book was violated by someone on that round of stops. 152. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski fights for the lead on the restart, but after a couple laps, he starts to back up. 153. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Also not the first time Dale Jr.'s shifter has broke on him. Happened back in October at Charlotte, and I think a couple of other times recently." Johnson at Michigan, too. 154. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch moves to the lead. 155. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kurt Busch leads! NASCAR is screaming about now. Truex & Logano racin' hard! 156. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Legit debris. 157. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another debris caution. 158. Jacques posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) F*ck off, Kurt Busch! 159. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another decorative Fusion grill plate is about to fly. 160. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Legit debris caution, this time for someone's fake Ford grille piece. When will they learn to change that? Trevor Bayne hasn't lost his front grille piece...yet. It's been barely hanging on for a number of laps now. 161. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Seven cautions already and we're still more than 60 laps from the halfway point. It's just another typical race at Martinsville! 162. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Allmendinger is off the track. 163. Cumulonimbus posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 7 cautions in 180 laps... at this rate we're gonna be close to 20 by the end of the race. But I believe there's gonna be at least 1 green run over 100 laps. Or at least I hope so. 164. DJ Craze posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) Hey guys, lay off my fantasy team owner. 165. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick moves back out front. 166. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jr's car is murdering shifters. 167. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Junior and Bayne had some pretty significant contact off turn four. Apparently hasn't hurt the cars. 168. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon falling way back again. His car is incredibly inconsistent. 169. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Time for Stenhouse to go home. 170. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse hits the wall again, bringing out the caution. What an awful day. 171. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dammit Stenhouse. 172. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon is backing up again. Stenhouse slams the wall HARD and brings out caution #8. This might finish him off for today. 173. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wrecky Crashouse yet again. He's kinda like Brian Vickers Fall 2011 except he isn't taking anybody else out. 174. Cumulonimbus posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Spinhouse indeed. Been watching Hamlin and Kahne, they came up to 12th and 13th since getting those penalties 2 cautions ago. Both have really fast cars for sure. 175. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse is channeling his 2010 self. 176. racefangurl posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #94 2000 Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a rookie and Chase is making his Cup debut, so that is a very good comparison. 2011 Trevor Bayne at Martinsville's another comparison. Both Trevor and Chase crashed and radiator issues in their Martinsville races, we can now say. Btw, Trevor and Danica were just near each other, which Danica doesn't like. Maybe she dislikes him or the way he races. Hey, when was the last time we saw a Roush car in the top-5, ahead of the Penske cars, even under caution? I just saw that right now. 177. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My rule of thumb is that a driver should be given three full years to prove themselves. Stenhouse has 30 races to show me he's not just a seat hog in Cup. 178. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson gets a penalty for his crew throwing equipment. 179. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmie Johnson penalty for crew throwing equipment across the pit wall. Wow and lol at the 48 team today. 180. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Hey, when was the last time we saw a Roush car in the top-5, ahead of the Penske cars, even under caution? I just saw that right now. " Last week... 181. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #48 got penalized because they were throwing tools in their pit box. Bad day gone worse. 182. racefangurl posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) had radiator issues. ugh. 183. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They're under the hood of the #48 car as Johnson is reporting steering issues. 184. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson on pit road with his hood up. 185. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Like Truex earlier, I think that was a good move for Kahne to stay out. He has a fast car. 186. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logano spins now. 187. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) That's what you get for messing with lower leagues Joey. 188. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logano and Annett spin, caution. 189. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logano spins out! Hopes are gone. Michael Anett also involved. 190. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logano and Annett make contact, and both cars spin in the first turn. NINTH caution already. I think we may hit 10 before we hit the halfway point... 191. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Logano pissed at Annett for collecting him in that spin. I understand Joey's frustration, but it was a racing deal. 192. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Logano spun... 193. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joey spins! 8th caution... This race is gonna last a while. 194. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Logano spins out! Hopes are gone." He didn't even touch the wall... Remember what happened here a year ago? Remember the flawless race and spotless car Kurt won with? 195. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson is two laps down in 37th. He's not going to make a comeback, Mickey. 196. racefangurl posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:02 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Cautions breed cautions they say. We barely saw them restart and shortly after another caution. Even the best ones spin sometimes. Joey was running so good until this happened, but Penske power can bring him back up to the front. It ain't over till it's over. 197. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gilliland is going to be steamrolled in the outside. 198. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Or not. He is doing as well as anyone would. 199. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Big wreck. Dale Jr big time damage. 200. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Junior is done. 201. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Big mess, Jr is finished. 202. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Multi-car accident. Junior, Menard, Mears, Allgaier involved. 203. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Casey Mears spins and a MAJOR pile up. Junior, Menard, and Allgaier all have TONS of damage. 204. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Big crash! Casey Mears, Paul Menard, Justin Allgaier, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and others involved. 205. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mears looks like the only one to get out of this without much damage. Junior's tough day gets even worse. He's going to have to spend a LONG time in the garage repairing that... 206. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Junior's tough day gets even worse. He's going to have to spend a LONG time in the garage repairing that..." Yeah, I don't think his little ratchet is gonna fix this mess ;) 207. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allmendinger has retired from the race. 208. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gilliland pits. Good decision. 209. OldSchoolNascarDude1 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) With the way these cautions are flying, these guys may run out of tires before it's over. 210. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick takes the lead back on the restart. 211. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Johnson is off the track now. 212. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt is going backwards fast. 213. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Or not. He's twelve laps behind now, though...so sorry, Mikey, he won't be making a comeback. 214. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "With the way these cautions are flying, these guys may run out of tires before it's over. " That would be epic. Imagine someone like Annett managing to conserve enough and slice through the field. 215. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like Logano has a tire rub. 216. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This is still Danica's best track. Probably she is just as baffled to see that she can do well here as I am. 217. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This commercial is top notch. More please. Bit too much of the #Nationzz thingy in it, but I let it slip. 218. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yellow flag #11. 219. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The caution is for a crash by Allgaier. He's really having quite a difficult weekend; he already totalled his primary car in qualifying, and now he's torn up his backup in the race. 220. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Junior is back on track, 47 laps down. 221. BMan0213 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That diet dew paint job is cursed. I'm pretty sure Jr ran it every race in his disastrous second round of the chase last year and now this. Last time I remember someone Have this bad of luck with a paint job was probably Sterling Marlin in 02 with the gold Coors car. I feel every time he ran that car that year he finished 30th or worse. 222. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How many times has Fox offered well-wishes to someone in this race? Byrnes, Larson, Gibbs; haven't heard anything for either Busch or Vickers, though. 223. BMan0213 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "How many times has Fox offered well-wishes to someone in this race? Byrnes, Larson, Gibbs; haven't heard anything for either Busch or Vickers, though." I think they said something about Kyle earlier. I remember DW saying something about Kyle trying to walk and that he thought he was gonna be back sooner than everyone thinks. 224. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There were only seven cautions in this whole race three years ago, and one of them was during the first attempt at a green-white-checkered. 225. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Someone goes over the curb and Smitj spins. 226. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Michael Annett went Thunder 2004 over that curb. 227. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another incident in turn 3 involving Regan Smith. Caution #12. 228. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick with muscle on the outside on the restart. Caution number 150. 229. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Annett is lucky he didn't plow head first into the water barrels at the pit entrance! 230. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Did the drivers forget how to race at Martinsville since October? 231. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Michael Annett went Thunder 2004 over that curb. " Except he didn't crash into the pitwall. 232. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is Katie Nolan this artificial and unfunny or it's just for the purpose of advertising? 233. JP88 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I had just switched back but did they announce the passing of someone? I just saw them show the sky and Mike Joy sounded subdued and no one talked for like 10-15 seconds. 234. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JP88, FOX announced the passing of several family members of their crew. 235. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Michael Annett went Thunder 2004 over that curb." I had something like this happen to me in NASCAR Heat once. I was leading the race and tried to go three wide down the backstretch to clear some lapped cars, but there wasn't enough room going into the corner and sailed over the curb. Unlike Annett, though, I got pushed right into the end of the pit wall... 236. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ragan is having a nice top-10 run. 237. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad to the lead. 238. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Beer car battle, Keselowski prevails. 239. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Unlike Annett, though, I got pushed right into the end of the pit wall..." lol, I can't count the number of times I've hit that damn pit wall. I think I told the story on here a while ago about how I was dominating the race once, but then slammed into the pit wall while trying to come in for green flag pit stops. And then somehow David Green ended up winning the race. 240. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad looks really good all of a sudden. 241. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "lol, I can't count the number of times I've hit that damn pit wall. I think I told the story on here a while ago about how I was dominating the race once, but then slammed into the pit wall while trying to come in for green flag pit stops. And then somehow David Green ended up winning the race." And then I mentioned that were it at Bristol, we should have referred to you as "Murb Martin". 242. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And now Gordon is the fastest car on the track. He was garbage earlier. 243. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And then I mentioned that were it at Bristol, we should have referred to you as "Murb Martin"." lol, That's right. I remember that now. 244. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon up to second. His car looks like it's gotten better and better over the course of the race. Not really a surprise to see him moving forward... ...but now he slides back a few spots. LOTS of smoke from Cowboy Hat's car. 245. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) lol at Newman holding up all of the leaders. 246. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch is reporting a loss of power steering as he drops off the lead lap. 247. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stenhouse rolls back out on track, 130+ laps down. 248. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cowboy Hat has pulled the #3 to the garage area. 249. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Stenhouse rolls back out on track" Expect a yellow in a few laps then. 250. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica 13th? WTH! 90% of the time Danica is garbage yet show up to one of the toughest short tracks on the schedule and she runs respectable. 251. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alex Kennedy bumps the wall, but no yellow. 252. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Michael Annett slams the wall hard between turns 1 and 2, and caution #13 flies. 253. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution, surprisingly it wasn't Spinhouse. 254. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "90% of the time Danica is garbage yet show up to one of the toughest short tracks on the schedule and she runs respectable. " I really can't see how she does really well here every time and runs like a blind seal in Loudon and Richmond... 255. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski will restart near the back of the lead lap cars. Not a whole lot of time left to recover from that... 256. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menard spins. 257. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution #14; Paul Menard loops it around in turn 4 and collects a few other cars. Think we're going to make it to 20? 258. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menard runs up on the back bumper of Logano and spins. 259. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lol JJ drives into the wall. 260. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menards spins around and somehow Danica avoids it with an incredible manuever. 261. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) According to NASCAR.com...we've already had nearly 100 laps of yellow today. 262. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Watch how she did what is expected in this side of ARCA... really, don't act like not clobbering into the side of a spinning car is extraordinary. 263. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt Busch is without power steering. 264. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Dafaq Harvick? He just left everybody behind. 265. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt gets penalized for changing lanes before the green flag. 266. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gilliland is running spectacularly. 267. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt gets penalized for changing lanes on the restart. Logano just knocked Truex up the track. 268. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gilliland has been in the top 15 for a good 150 laps now. Huge kudos to him and Wingo. 269. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "500 laps and it's a battle of bitches!"-Mike Joy. 270. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gilliland is just outside the top 10 with 120 laps left. Great run for him. I'm at a loss to explain why Danica seems to have Martinsville figured out while she looks VERY lost at virtually every other smaller track... 271. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kurt penalty has been waved off by NASCAR. 272. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) We should have never mentioned Gilliland. Now he is out of the top 20. Mears on the other hand, 13th! 273. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kurt penalty has been waved off by NASCAR." lol 274. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR, after reviewing the replay, has chosen to rescind the penalty on Kurt Busch. 275. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh wow, they actually rescinded a penalty on Kurt. That's a shock. 276. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ...I know, I'm shocked too. 277. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin catches up to Harvick. 278. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lots of really great runs. Cassill 19th, Buescher 20th, Whitt 21st, Yeley and Jeb running top 28 in BK garbage bins. Great to see. 279. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #3 car has been retired from the race. This will be Cowboy Hat's first DNF in that car...ever! 280. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yay! 100 caution laps! 281. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica in the top 10. 282. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman falls two laps down. What the hell happened to that car? From battling for the lead in the opening laps, to two laps down... 283. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The #3 car has been retired from the race. This will be Cowboy Hat's first DNF in that car...ever!" That's actually really impressive. He's certainly not a great driver, but he's proven to be very serviceable. He belongs in Cup. 284. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin back in front! 285. ch posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Up until a couple of laps ago, all 3 FRM cars were ahead of all 3 Roush cars. 286. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin moves back out in front. 287. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I feel like Hamlin would have spanked the field today if he wouldn't have had all those problems (and if his pit stall wasn't in a horrendous spot). I think he's been faster than Harvick all day, but he just hasn't had the track position. 288. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeb is yet to finish better than 34th. It certainly is a great run for him. 289. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The #3 car has been retired from the race. This will be Cowboy Hat's first DNF in that car...ever!" So today is technically the first DNF for the 3 car since the 2001 Daytona 500. Sorry, don't know why I brought that up. 290. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) By the way, Chris Buescher in his very first Martinsville race, has been racing really calmly and avoided every problem or contact so far. Keep it up Chris! I could get used to see JJ being lapped like this, lol. 291. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeley holds the free pass position at the moment. Good run for the #23 car, considering he smacked the wall pretty hard earlier in the race...and ESPECIALLY considering that it is a BK Racing car. 292. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica to 9th. I have no clue why she's good here and godawful at all the other short/flat tracks (maybe because she can afford to be a little more reckless here as opposed to the other places, most of which require more finesse?). 293. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenseth and Gordon have caught Harvick for second. 294. Anonymous posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well her car doesn't appear to have any damage on it... 295. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick slides back to 4th as we have less than 80 laps left. 296. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The #48 team is in a science experiment phase with their cars...but come October Martinsville race, they will be back to form. 297. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Ragan is impressing the hell out of me right now. Running sixth with 75 to go and a beat up car. 298. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Newman drops THREE laps down. 299. racefangurl posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joey Logano climbed to 7th. I thought Penske power would lead to this before the end of the race 300. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Yeley holds the free pass position at the moment. Good run for the #23 car, considering he smacked the wall pretty hard earlier in the race...and ESPECIALLY considering that it is a BK Racing car. " I believe Yeley, despite all the criticism he constantly faces, is a dependable and decent driver. He proves it with his Nationwide runs in less-than-stellar cars as well as bringing low end cup cars home week in week out for the last few years. 301. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Even if Harvick's top-2 streak ends today, this is still the most impressive start to a season I've ever personally. 302. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Ragan moves into the top 5! 303. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Upsets in the top 10: Ragan 5th Patrick 9th. More upsets than all races except daytona. 304. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Edwards cuts down a right rear and spins. 305. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Edwards has a tire go down and loops it around in turn 3. Caution #15. 306. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nicely done by Edwards, not damaging the car. 307. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) FOX Ticker broken again and stuck on positions 4-7. It's the TNT weekly production issue production issue. Edwards loses a tire. 308. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:40 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I'd say there is a 50% chance that Edwards did that on purpose because he knew about the tire rather than the tire causing that itself. If he's smart he will keep his mouth shut which is a skill some people lack... 309. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenseth wins the race out of the pits. 310. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin loses 4 spots on pit road, the last one cuz he stopped to ensure he'd start 5th. 311. Anonymous posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Didn't Junior get hammered for doing that 11 years ago? 312. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Lol at that pit road exit. 313. someone posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ugh I was waiting for Carl to have bad luck -_- 314. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allgaier returns to the race nearly 170 laps down. 315. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Didn't Junior get hammered for doing that 11 years ago?" Yep. At Bristol. And him talking about it is what got him busted. Then, of course, there was Clint Bowyer... 316. BMan0213 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Upsets in the top 10: Ragan 5th Patrick 9th. More upsets than all races except daytona." I wouldn't call either one of those upsets. For what ever reason Martinsville is one of Danica's best tracks and Ragan is in a JGR car which is always good here. 317. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenseth chooses the outside on the restart, and it works out as he clears Gordon. But Gordon moves to the inside and is about to take the lead for the first time today! 318. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon moves out front with 59 to go. 319. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:46 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) ""Upsets in the top 10: Ragan 5th Patrick 9th. More upsets than all races except daytona." I wouldn't call either one of those upsets. For what ever reason Martinsville is one of Danica's best tracks and Ragan is in a JGR car which is always good here." Not to mention there is a difference between someone who is not supposed to be that good and someone who doesn't perform as well as they should, which is the case with these two. 320. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick back to 10th. 321. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick is really fading backwards on this run. He's fallen into the tail end of the top 10. Danica is now the leading SHR driver. 322. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh my! Hornish is racing Bliss and Kennedy, laps behind DiBenedetto and Wise. 323. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica going for 6th! And with that, SHE'S RUNNING BETTER THAN HARVICK!! 324. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica is poised for a career run. 325. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin moves to third. 326. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica might be the highest finishing SHR car if Harvick can't come back. 327. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica might actually get a top-5 finish today. Wow. 328. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Great run for Danica! C'MON JEFFERY!!! 329. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Oh my! Hornish is racing Bliss and Kennedy, laps behind DiBenedetto and Wise." I think he suffered some damage in an earlier incident, but yes, he's been absolutely putrid this year. 330. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Kenseth is hanging pretty well with Gordon. 331. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica is just shy of the top 5. 332. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica sixth?! 333. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Debris caution for some Gatorade. 334. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Real debris caution. 335. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They just threw a caution for a bottle of Powerade. FFS. 336. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution #16 for a screwdriver on the frontstretch. 337. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wine cooler bottle? 338. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for a bottle of some sort. 339. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That is a water bottle? 2 metres out of the groove? 340. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Or was it a bottle of Gatorade? I thought it looked like a screwdriver at first... 341. luigistarted06 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Really 342. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cautions for cautions sake. 343. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NOOOOO! HAMLIN IN 4th!!!!!!!!! GOODBYE HOPES FOR A WIN! 344. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ha Ha, Hamlin ended up 4th doing that nonsense again. 345. Jgfan77 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is this a f****** joke? WWF 346. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin just screwed himself by trying to do more mind games. Gordon speeds on pit road. Killed. 347. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) At least they SHOWED the debris, even if it was a bit questionable... Jeff Gordon gets a speeding penalty entering the pits. Looks like his bad luck this season continues... 348. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I take that back. Gordon has a speeding penalty, moving Hamlin to 3rd. 349. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon penalized. Too fast entering. 350. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They just HAD TO include gimmicky nonsense. Wouldn't be NASCAR if they let an otherwise exciting race play out properly. 351. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Everybody wise to Hamlin's tricks this time. Return of the Jeff Gordon Bad Break of the Week Award. Too fast on pit-road. 352. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) lel, Jeffy speeds in the pits. He is as unlucky as people wished in 1998. 353. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know why they all pitted anyway. 354. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) At least they SHOWED the debris, even if it was a bit questionable... A bit questionable? The "debris" came from a driver throwing it out of his/her car. With all the cameras, the offender should be caught and black flagged. 355. Anonymous posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tony Stewart and Cole Whitt stay out. 356. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Stewart and Whitt stay out. 357. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Tony Stewart stayed out. 358. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The JGR cars and maybe Logano are in the catbird seat. 359. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Good luck, Cole. 360. someone posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why is Carl 22nd he was 14? 361. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Whitt is putting Danica out of the top 10. haha 362. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) COME ON HAMLIN! 363. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kenseth takes the lead back. 364. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Agreed with Chad's Plugs. I'm not as irked about a Gatorade bottle as I would be about just a blatantly fake yellow. I also agree that there should be hefty penalties for these idiots who throw their bottles out the window. 365. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now Hamlin moves back out in front. 366. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Completely forgot about Brad. That'd be funny if he won two in a row by barely leading at all. 367. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 4:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No Chevy in the top 5. Truex p6. 368. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski is closing in on Hamlin. 369. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) HOLD HIM OFF! 370. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's gonna be a mirror of yesterday with a three way battle for the win. Ironically, Logano is in Cole Custer's position. 371. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ford hasn't won here since '02? Wow. 372. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 14 TO GO! 373. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 12 TO GO! HAMLIN YOU CAN DO IT! 374. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Ford hasn't won here since '02?" Won both then, and nothing since. 375. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For now, it's down to Hamlin and Keselowski. 376. racefangurl posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 6 lead the Roushskateers in 17th. Biffle is 18th, right behind. Maybe it was cars after all. 377. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) 7 TO GO! 378. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon looks like he's going to get back to the top 10, but there aren't enough laps for him to be a threat. 379. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Going to be a good battle to the checkered! 380. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin wins. That was some badass racing for the win. 381. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad rams into Hamlin, but Denny hangs on to win. 382. BluesTravelerFan posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny beats brad straight up, great win for him. Hate what happened to Jeff though. 383. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (5) HAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSSSSSSS! YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSS! 384. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) YAY! Hamlin totally deserved it. Well done! Many great runs today. MEARS, Cassill, Yeley and of course Danica. She looked like a real driver for like the 4th time in his NASCAR career. Truex is yet to finish worse than 8th this season. 385. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) *her career I mean 386. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) He just took out the grass in 1/2! 387. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sweet burnout and some lawn moving. Neat. 388. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski gives Hamlin a big bump coming off the last corner, but it's not enough, and (much to dennyfan's joy) Hamlin hangs on, giving Toyota their first points win in nearly a year. Harvick's top 2 streak comes to an end as he finishes 8th. Still, VERY impressive start to the year for him...Meanwhile, Gordon managed to fight his way all the way back to 9th place at the checkered flag. If only he hadn't sped on his last pit stop. Danica scores her second-best finish of her career (and will doubtless be interviewed). Again, I have no explanation for why she's good here but awful at every other smaller track... 389. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin blows the tire off his car during the burnout! 390. epzik8 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A great short track battle. Good job for Hamlin. 391. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin just destroyed his car in the burnout, lol. 392. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) HELL of a burnout by Hamlin. Blew the tire off his car and overheated the engine! Truex continues his excellent start to the year by finishing sixth. No doubt in my mind that Truex is on pace for a spot on the Chase! 393. dennyfan11 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also some GREAT runs by Ragan (5th!) and Patrick (7th!) 394. someone posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) THANK GOD Hamlin held off Brad. And thank god Harvick's top 2 streak came to an end. But ffs I'm sick of Carl running top 5 all day only to wind up ~15th -_- 395. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Truex has easily been the third best driver this year. Maybe even second best. 396. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Ragan gets a top 5 in the #18, hell of a run for him! 397. HouseOfPenske posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) JGR gets 1 of what will probably be 3 wins this season. 398. BMan0213 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad played too nice there. if you're gonna bump him you got to do it getting into the turn. He probably just didnt want to tick Denny off this early in the year. Had he just moved him getting into the turn Denny would be complaining about it the rest of the season. 399. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Truex has easily been the third best driver this year. Maybe even second best. " I'd say he did a bit better than Logano so far. His car, albeit surprisingly stellar, is still not a Penske ride. 400. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) A really good race overall, I'd say...but then again, it's Martinsville; this place puts on a good show 9 times out of 10! Still, it was nice to see a (mostly) controversy-free race after...well...y'know...last weekend... 401. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeb Burton scores his first finish of 30th or better. 402. Jarrett88fan posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Would've been great to see the #11 and #24 race for the win late if not for speeding in the pits. JGR needed this win really, really bad as House of Pebske alluded to wins will be scarce. Two consecutive Martinsville races Jimmie Johnson doesn't factor in is a rarity... If only Dover could have the fortune. Overall, a typical Martinsville race which is better than at least a quarter of the races on the Cup schedule. 403. RWR posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah man, top 30 for BK Racing! 404. TS1420 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Pretty damn good race. Congrats to Denny on the win and his return to form at Martinsville. JGR really needed this win right now. Glad Brad kept the finish relatively clean and didn't go into "Sad Brad" mode and piledrive Hamlin coming to the checkers. Too bad Harvick's top 2 streak had to come to an end after having such a strong car until the final 80 or so laps. WTF was the 14 team thinking staying out, they ended up finishing worse than they were running before the final caution and there was too many laps to go coupled with too many laps on the tires. And finally, great to have another Martinsville race where Nap-Time was a non-factor and total garbage. Hopefully this streak continues for years to come. 405. Schroeder51 posted: 03.29.2015 - 5:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Matt DiBenedetto also scored his career best finish, 31st place. 406. Samurai posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm new to the site. Not too bad of a race, would've liked to see some of the drivers that finished in the 30s finish in the top 10 where they're normally. I saw someone was saying that Jr would never win again, they must be very pessimistic. I think he'll win again and I also think that Tony Stewart will win again as well. Congrats to Denny Hamlin for winning. 407. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Whitt's "sponsor" was Jenkins's trucking company MDS Transport. 408. Samurai posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In case you're wondering I got my screenname on here from the 1988 Suzuki I used to drive. 409. Cornys posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:08 pm Rate this comment: (3) (2) Those of you trying to justify NASCAR's caution flags for "debris," watch today's IndyCar race... There was debris everywhere. No cautions for it, and it never caused a problem... And its OPEN WHEEL!! 410. Zackary Shawn posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (4) "Those of you trying to justify NASCAR's caution flags for "debris," watch today's IndyCar race... There was debris everywhere. No cautions for it, and it never caused a problem... And its OPEN WHEEL!!" Who cares? That's IndyCar. This is NASCAR. Different people, groups, series, etc. do things differently. There are legitimate criticisms to be had with "debris" cautions, but NASCAR errs on the side of caution. And that's fine. 411. Cornys posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Edit: I missed the opening of the IndyCar race. Generally, the comment stands though. 412. The Long Shot posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Those of you trying to justify NASCAR's caution flags for "debris," watch today's IndyCar race... There was debris everywhere. No cautions for it, and it never caused a problem... And its OPEN WHEEL!!" Debris on the actual racetrack is an actual issue, dude. Even the lightest debris can damage race cars pretty heavily, and of course there's also the possibility of something like what happened to Hinchcliffe last year happening. 413. We need more Onion posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) "Those of you trying to justify NASCAR's caution flags for "debris," watch today's IndyCar race... There was debris everywhere. No cautions for it, and it never caused a problem... And its OPEN WHEEL!!" Except those 3 which were for debris. 414. Quasar posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Another 16th place finish for Smith (3rd time in 4 races). 415. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates #1 Cessna/Dixie Chopper #16 Ortho Bug-B-Gon #14 Code 3 Associates/J.D Gibbs/Mobil 1 #23 American Cancer Society/Cancer.org #55 Aaron's Own It #83 Dr.Pepper/Maxim.com #32 Keen Parts/CorvetteParts.net #7 Nikko/Road Rippers #17 Hold Sport/Fastenal #47 Bush's Beans/Kingsford/Scott Products 416. CrazyNASCARFan posted: 03.29.2015 - 6:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Samurai, there's a girl here that had a change of heart last year. Just hated the idea of Chase Elliott being a rookie champ. This girl claimed to hate pie in the sky stuff, but Schroeder51 said "she has some strange irrational hatred of Chase himself." But then Watto compared him (Chase) to Joey Logano and that led to the change of heart I mentioned. "I'm no longer a detractor" was a comment from the girl, who actually seemed to kind of like Chase after that comparison. Username is racefangurl. This user I speak of is a Trevor and Joey fan and has made dumb comments at times, but won't swear or insult other user, so pretty harmless. May insult Roush, though. 417. Dude Abides posted: 03.29.2015 - 8:28 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Those of you trying to justify NASCAR's caution flags for "debris," watch today's IndyCar race... There was debris everywhere. No cautions for it, and it never caused a problem... And its OPEN WHEEL!!" I don't have a problem with caution flags for safety as much as I have a problem with the way the race starts after they clean up the mess. There has GOT to be a better approach to the restarts than just lining up the cars side by side and having a drag race. Such as... - Single file restarts - Replacing those P.O.S. "pace" cars with ACTUAL stock cars capable of running with the field and having qualified past racers bring the field back up to speed before the green flag is thrown. - Timed starts from pit row that restarts the field in accordance with their time behind the lead car. Regardless, I'd like to see a system that rewards good DRIVING for a change, as opposed to good restarts. 418. someone posted: 03.29.2015 - 8:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just curious but did anything happen to Sam Hornish Jr? Or did he just drive himself 7 laps down? 419. murb posted: 03.29.2015 - 9:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Just curious but did anything happen to Sam Hornish Jr? Or did he just drive himself 7 laps down?" His front end got torn off in one of the big chain reaction pileups. He wasn't really running that well anyway, though. He looks terrible this year (especially when compared to Almirola, who is quietly sitting 10th in points right now). 420. joey2448 posted: 03.29.2015 - 9:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "343. dennyfan11 posted: NOOOOO! HAMLIN IN 4th!!!!!!!!! GOODBYE HOPES FOR A WIN!" Haha another classic dennyfan11 overreaction post. Overall a good classic short track race, the way it ought to be. Now we get a week off before Texas (meh) and then it's off to some great tracks with Bristol, Richmond and Talladega on the menu! 421. DB1995 posted: 03.29.2015 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Decent run for Trevor today,hopefully the new RFR cars that are supposedly coming out at Texas are at least decent. 422. David posted: 03.29.2015 - 10:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Haha another classic dennyfan11 overreaction post." Comments like those are the reason why I don't hang around this site as much as I used to. 423. ch posted: 03.29.2015 - 10:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Changes: 14 - Code 3 Associates / Mobil 1 16 - Ortho Fire Ant Killer 424. Peter posted: 03.29.2015 - 10:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Awesome run for David Ragan, hopefully it shut some people up who keep saying he's not worthy or deserving to fill in for Kyle 425. BR549 posted: 03.29.2015 - 11:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm just wondering why the CARS Pro Tour Series (formerly X-1 Pro Cup) is now under the no longer active section, they just drew 67 cars for their series opener with a lot more competitive cars than a K&N field can draw and Kyle Busch was there instead of supporting his Truck team so he must have some interest in the series. 426. Scott B posted: 03.29.2015 - 11:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) First Toyota win since Spring 'Dega race on 5-4-14. 427. WinstonCupStandings posted: 03.30.2015 - 1:43 am Rate this comment: (0) (3) Top 25 (that are on the big teams) 1) Kevin Harvick (1047) -Leader 2) Joey Logano (947) -100 3) Brad Keselowski (844) -203 4) Kasey Kahne (778) -269 5) Ryan Newman (760) -287 6) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (744) -303 7) Denny Hamlin (732) -315 8) Matt Kenseth (716) -331 9) Paul Menard (714) -333 10) Jimmie Johnson (711) -336 11) Aric Almirola (696) -351 12) Jamie McMurray (664) -383 13) Jeff Gordon (643) -404 14) Carl Edwards (638) -409 15) Danica Patrick (634) -413 16) Clint Bowyer (630) -417 17) Greg Biffle (603) -444 18) Austin Dillon (543) -504 19) Trevor Bayne (522) -525 20) Kyle Larson (507) -540 21) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (495) -552 22) Sam Hornish, Jr. (462) -585 23) Kurt Busch (456) -591 24) Tony Stewart (449) -598 25) Brian Vickers (158) -889 428. Sector posted: 03.30.2015 - 2:30 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I will say this, compared to Hendrick Motorsports' past, this race was probably a bit below average. They usually dominate this place. 6 races in, Jeff Gordon is only tied with Carl Edwards and Danica Patrick for 16th in points. If the Chase began now, Danica Patrick would have the tiebreaker. lol If only, if only huh? Great racing at the end. I see Brad Keselowski winning Texas and Matt Kenseth winning Bristol. Let's see if I get at least 50/50 right. 429. 1995z71 posted: 03.30.2015 - 2:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Few notes: Landon Cassill gets his third straight Top 25 lead lap finish. Not bad for Hillman Racing. David Ragan's first Top 5/10 for Gibbs (Gibbs has all 3 cars in the top 5). His first non-restrictor plate Top 5 since 9/11 while still at Roush. Martin Truex Jr. makes it 6 for 6 this in in Top 10s (along with Harvick & Logano) 430. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 03.30.2015 - 6:59 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor of the #14 was Code 3 Associates/J.D. Gibbs/Mobil 1 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CBMRj7QU0AAB6BT.jpg http://www.rubbins-racin.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=32151&d=1427552503&thumb=1 431. racefangurl posted: 03.30.2015 - 10:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I'm with DB on that. This kind of stuff we saw from Trevor and even more is what is needed from Texas on. Maybe people will see DB and me have it right after all. He's a lot of things but not a bad driver. Bad drivers don't do that at Martinsville. Start 36th, spin and have a flat tire early, then recover to finish in the top-20 on the lead lap. The finish alone should make people say "How bad can he be?". Or am I just in white, blue and red colored place because I'm crazy about him? I don't apologize for what's in my heart. Huge Trevor fan and willing to admit it. 432. StenhouseFan17 posted: 03.30.2015 - 11:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Correct sponsor for the #17 is Holo-Krome/Fastenal. 433. ch posted: 03.30.2015 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Change: 14 - Code 3 Associates / Mobil 1 (A small decal wishing someone well below the b post isn't enough to be listed as a sponsor IMO) 30 - The Motorsports Group 434. cjs3872 posted: 03.30.2015 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) While it was good to see Denny Hamlin win this one and join the list of those with at least 25 or more wins, this one might very well have been handed to him on a silver platter, courtesy of yet another screw-up by Jeff Gordon's crew chief. Nobody in their right mind would pit from the lead at Martinsville with 39 laps left, because there's obviously no way he could get back up there. If it weren't for Alan Gustafson's constant screw-ups in calling a race, Gordon's win total would almost certainly be in triple digits, because Gustafson's cost him about a dozen wins, if not more, and this was the latest one. About the only decision as baffling as Gustafson's decision to pit Gordon from the lead with 39 laps left had to be Matt Kenseth's equally baffling decision to restart on the outside late in the race, which gave Gordon the lead. So while attention was focused on Gordon's pit road speeding penalty (and how do you speed entering the pits under caution while leading the race?), the real focus there should be on the fact that Gordon should never have been pitting in the first place. The only reasons to pit there would be if he has a tire going down, or knows he doesn't have enough fuel to finish the race. Given that the race had 16 caution periods, I hardly think fuel was an issue. It was just another lame-brained decision by possibly the worst crew chief ever to be as successful with such a high-profile team. Whether Gordon could have held Hamlin and Keselowski off might have been debatable, but his crew chief never gave him the chance. Let's hope that Rick Hendrick doesn't give Chase Elliott Gustafson. as a crew chief. And speaking of Elliott, why make Martinsville the venue for his debut? It's one of the toughest places on the entire circuit, not to mention being a place where his Hall of Fame father Bill was notoriously bad throughout his career, even in his greatest years. They were just setting Elliott up for failure in this one. why not choose a place like Texas, Atlanta, or even Charlotte (another track on which Bill wasn't that great). At least he's got a chance at those venues. But Martinsville? That wasn't one of Rick Hendrick's better decisions. 435. Eric posted: 03.30.2015 - 8:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS3872, Jeff needed to pit due to tire wear like or not. The fact is Jeff would have been a sitting duck if he didn't pit because most of teams pitted for tires at the same time. Tires actually mattered in that race because multiple teams tried tire strategies and it didn't work if a lot of teams didn't stay out in this case. You also didn't look at Tony Stewart didn't pit and he ended up 20th after leading under green up to being passed on lap 471. The amount of laps left was too much of taking risk with over 20 laps on the tires if there was not another caution. Jeff Gordon would have been passed under green if he didn't pit matter of fact since the race ended with 34 laps of no cautions. 436. Scott B posted: 03.30.2015 - 9:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think the main motive for running Chase at Martinsville was that it is was an off week for the Xfinity series, so he would not have to divide his attention. Has his schedule for the rest of the season been announced? I'd be curious to know what the other selections are, now that the topic has been brought up. 437. murb posted: 03.30.2015 - 9:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Let's hope that Rick Hendrick doesn't give Chase Elliott Gustafson. as a crew chief." They already announced that this is happening. Chase is getting the entire #24 team. "Has his schedule for the rest of the season been announced? I'd be curious to know what the other selections are, now that the topic has been brought up." I know for a fact he's running the 600 and Darlington. Not sure what the others are. 438. ORIGINAL suomynonA posted: 03.30.2015 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Gibbs has all 3 cars in the top 5" 3/4. Edwards was 17th. 439. cjs3872 posted: 03.30.2015 - 10:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Funny, considering that each of the top finishers also did not stop on that caution, Eric. Now if he had started to fall back, even to lower positions in the top five, and then and then anther caution came out, then stopping might have been a better idea. Fortunately for Jeff, the caution never came out again, allowing him to race back into the top ten at the finish. Had that race finished like most recent Martinsville races have, with a plethora of cautions, he might have had a hard time even getting back to the top 15, due to the number of laps that would have been eaten up by the cautions (of the 30-35 that were left at the time of the final restart), as well as the possibility of lining up on the outside, which would have sent him straight toward the back. It might also be that his, and the other HMS cars were just not that good. The fact that he never led the race until Matt Kenseth virtually handed him the lead with his boneheaded decision to take a restart from the outside late in the race was telling, and may simply indicate that the HMS cars were just off, as a group (none of the other HMS cars were factors, either). In fact, if not for Kenseth's boneheaded mistake, the HMS cars would likely have been completely shut out of the lap leader category a together, and when's the last time that happened at Martinsville? 440. The Long Shot posted: 03.31.2015 - 2:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) For the ass that was praising IndyCar for not throwing debris cautions (when in fact they threw three), apparently several pieces of debris flew over the fence during the course of the race, one of them hitting a woman in the head and fracturing her skull. She's still in the hospital as of today. But of course, as has been the running theme from fans throughout this year: YEAH, LET'S IMPROVE SAFETY, BUT ONLY AS LONG AS WE'RE STILL ENTERTAINED! CARNAGE! DEBRIS! ADRENALINE RUSH! 441. joey2448 posted: 03.31.2015 - 4:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Nobody in their right mind would pit from the lead at Martinsville with 39 laps left, because there's obviously no way he could get back up there." Dude, are you kidding? Tires make a world of difference at M'ville! Just look at the 2010 spring race here, when Denny Hamlin stopped for fresh rubber with under 10 laps to go! No one else except his teammate Kyle Busch stopped, which put him outside the top-10 with five laps to go, and he drove through the field (with the help of another caution) to win the race! That's just one example, but with 39 laps to go, tires were guaranteed to be the difference. And what do you mean "each of the top finishers also did not stop on that caution"? Yeah they did. Did you not see Hamlin, Gordon and Kenseth playing games at the pit exit, each of them slowing down to avoid restarting in the outside lane? "And speaking of Elliott, why make Martinsville the venue for his debut? It's one of the toughest places on the entire circuit..." I say, why not? Yeah it's one of the toughest places on the circuit, but he'll be running here eventually, why not sharpen his skillset? In fact, it is probably for the best that a driver make his Cup debut on a slower track like Martinsville, instead of a high-speed venue like Texas. 442. murb posted: 03.31.2015 - 5:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan Newman has been docked 75 points, and Luke Lambert has been suspended for tire infractions from Fontana. Definitely a big blow for that team. Newman pretty much HAS to win a race now to make the Chase. It'll be a colossal challenge to try and points race his way in (like he did last year) now with this penalty. 443. Eric posted: 03.31.2015 - 5:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS3872, Joey2448 is correct about Hamlin, Gordon, and Kenseth playing games at the pit exit on the final pit stop. The other thing is Stewart wasn't even in top 3 or top 5 even in order when the final caution happened. Lets remember that Denny and Kenseth were among the drivers ahead of Stewart when the final caution happened. 444. An Aussie Commentator posted: 03.31.2015 - 5:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Breaking News: 75 point Driver and Owner point penalty for Ryan Newman and the #31 team. Crew Chief Luke Lambert, Team Tire Technician James Bender and Team Engineer Philip Surgen suspended for next six races. All three also on probation for the whole season. 445. racefangurl posted: 03.31.2015 - 5:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chase is running Richmond, the 600,Indy and Darlington. 446. Quasar posted: 03.31.2015 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) Why did you do this Luke :( Old Jeff Burton wouldn't be proud of you :s 447. Anonymous posted: 03.31.2015 - 6:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Ryan Newman has been docked 75 points, and Luke Lambert has been suspended for tire infractions from Fontana. Definitely a big blow for that team. Newman pretty much HAS to win a race now to make the Chase. It'll be a colossal challenge to try and points race his way in (like he did last year) now with this penalty. " Look at what Kurt Busch did in just 3 races this year. If you think Newman can't overcome this, then the world will laugh at you and not with you. 448. cjs3872 posted: 03.31.2015 - 6:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Guys, I was shocked when I saw that the others stopped. My mistake, although I still think it was a tactical blunder for any of the leaders to stop so close to the finish. After all, at Martinsville, with 35 laps left, which was about where the lap count was at the time of the final restart, you could have about 20-25 of them run under caution, especially given the high number of incidents that had already occurred. And if you pit from up front that close to the finish, there stands a good chance that what little time is left might be used up by cautions and you never get the chance to make it back to the front. If it was me, I would have stayed out. It happened to work out for those that stopped, but if the end was littered by cautions, there would have been more than a few crew chiefs that might be second-guessing themselves. And as for the games that took place on pit road, there's one easy way to get rid of that, and that's to go back to single-file restarts. That way, there would be no reason for the teams to play games in order to line up in the correct line on the restart. And as for what just happened to the #31 team, I think the question as to how they nearly stole the championship last year was just answered. But does anyone really think they're the only team doing that? However, I have a problem with NASCAR's double jeopardy penalties ($75K and 50 owner and driver points plus an additional $50k and 25 owner and driver points), because what those penalties are happen to be penalizing the same team twice for the same offense, and that's double jeopardy. If they want to levy a straight-up penalty of $125K and 75 owner and driver points, that's one thing, but penalizing a team twice for the same offense is just wrong. And this penalty effectively eliminates the #31 team from Chase contention, since points are the only way they can make it because we know they're not fast enough to win. There's simply no way the RCR #31 team can make up those 75 points (which is almost two full races worth of points), given how few spots will be available via points. 449. David posted: 03.31.2015 - 6:38 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Bold prediction: cjs makes a post within the next hour claiming that the 50+25 point deduction somehow constitutes a "double jeopardy penalty of sorts. 450. David posted: 03.31.2015 - 6:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, what do you know... 451. cjs3872 posted: 03.31.2015 - 6:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is double jeopardy, David. They penalized them twice for the same offense. As I explained in post #448, if they wanted to penalize them $125K and 75 owner and driver points straight-up, I have no problem with that, since it's only one penalty. But penalizing them twice for the same offense is just flat wrong. And @447, there's no way the #31 team is recovering from this. First, their secret as to how they suddenly came to the front late last year got revealed. And I think this is the first of a series of penalties for this, because other teams have been doing this. They just haven't got caught yet. But secondly, this is Richard Childress Racing we're talking about here. They don't race for wins, but rather for points. They've done that for decades because that's the foundation upon which the team was built and stayed afloat in the 70s and early 80s when Childress himself was the driver. They don't run their cars as hard and take as many risks as many of the other teams, as far as horsepower goes. As a result, they've almost always been a bit slower than Hendrick (which now includes SHR), Penske, and Gibbs have been. As a result, the #31 team's only way into the Chase was by points, since the cars are incapable of winning, and this penalty has shot that down with a nearly 2-race penalty, in terms of points. A penalty like this affects RCR and Roush Racing more than it would the other big teams, since they've always been more conservative with their equipment. 452. murb posted: 03.31.2015 - 7:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "If you think Newman can't overcome this, then the world will laugh at you and not with you." I never said he couldn't make it up. It will undeniably be a tall order though. 453. dennyfan11 posted: 03.31.2015 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Devestated about the penalties for the 31. Lets hope they can recover. 454. cjs3872 posted: 03.31.2015 - 10:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) While this week was a milestone week for Denny Hamlin, as he joined the prestigious group of drivers with 25+ wins, this race also continued a disturbing trend for his new teammate, Carl Edwards. I know he's got a new team at JGR, but the fact that he's not finished higher than 12th has to be alarming to him and his legions of fans. Even David Ragan got a top five in this one, subbing for Kyle Busch in the #18 car. Yes, the same David Ragan that many people, including myself, have questioned at times in such a high pressure situation. But that might be part of the problem for Edwards. This is the most pressure Edwards has been under to start a season in his career, as far as the pressure to perform goes. Two years ago, Matt Kenseth, a noted pressure performer, was in a similar situation (even going from the same organization to JGR), and won six times, twice by this time in the season. But so far, Edwards has been a flop at JGR. He hasn't really run that well, usually lagging behind his teammates. Again, some of this is the fourth JGR team, but the plain truth with Edwards is that he has never been able to rise to the occasion in high pressure situations. Every time he's had a chance to perform under pressure, he's failed. He blew the championship in 2008, has failed to win big events time and time again when he should have won them, with his only win in a big event being in the 2011 All-Star Race, a non-points event, and being beaten in three different crown jewel races by drivers getting their first win (Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne, and Regan Smith), the most head scratching of which was when Smith beat him on older tires in the 2011 Southern 500. And now he's disappointing again in a big situation, with cars clearly superior to what he drove the last two years, with an organization expected to challenge for the title, and what's he done? Six races with no better finish than 12th, and tied for 15th in the points behind drivers such as Paul Menard (sixth), Aric Almirola (ninth), Ragan (12th), and Casey Mears (13th), and one of the drivers he's tied with for 15th is Danica Patrick (UGH!!). Edwards' old team, Roush Racing was supposed to struggle with an aging veteran and two young drivers who have not yet proven they can get the job done at the Cup level (though 2015 is Trevor Bayne's first go-round for a full Cup season). Edwards was not supposed to be struggling like his old team Granted, he doing better than them, but frankly, with the equipment he has compared to what his old team (Roush) has, he's an even bigger disappointment at this time. 455. Aframe43 posted: 03.31.2015 - 10:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) CJS, I really don't think you realize how backhanded your "compliments" are. David Ragan has shown flashes of talent before, so to belittle his finish by saying "even David Ragan" is condescending. New teams have growing pains and I don't think its a fair assessment to judge a brand new organization five races in. I'm sure it takes some adjusting to get used to a new car, adjustments that you and I probably don't understand. 456. murb posted: 03.31.2015 - 11:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) "He hasn't really run that well, usually lagging behind his teammates." Not exactly true at all. He's run about on par with Hamlin and Kenseth all year (at the most, VERY SLIGHTLY behind them), but has just had a bunch of things go wrong late in races that have ended up costing him good finishes. He got shuffled out late at Daytona after running top ten pretty much all day, he had a flat tire at Atlanta after quietly running about 6th or 7th most of the day, he got damage in that dustup with Kahne at Vegas while they were racing for a spot in the top ten, and he absolutely would have finished no lower than 8th at Martinsville had he not cut down his tire and spun. So no, you're selling him way too short. Based on how he has run, he could easily be sitting with three or four top tens right now. "He blew the championship in 2008" How? He won three of the last four races, and literally only had two finishes outside of the top five in the Chase (one of which was after a mechanical problem at Charlotte). Yeah, he unnecessarily caused a big wreck at Talladega, but I wouldn't even begin to call that "blowing the championship" (Kyle Busch throwing in the towel on himself and his team after the first two Chase races, on the other hand...). And as for 2011 (which you didn't bring up, but whatever), he just got flat-out beat by Stewart's ridiculousness in those last ten races. "being beaten in three different crown jewel races by drivers getting their first win (Brad Keselowski, Trevor Bayne, and Regan Smith)" The Southern 500 is the only questionable one. But the others? He would have won at Talladega had Brad moved below the yellow line a la Regan Smith (and luckily for Brad, he was smart enough not to do that). And Daytona? There was no chance in hell he was winning that race, on multiple levels. When Bobby Labonte moved to the high side off turn four, that killed Carl's chances. His only option to win the race at that point was to just hook Trevor in the left rear and cause a big pileup, and needless to say, why in the hell would he do that? So no. I'm definitely not a fan of Carl's really (nor do I dislike him - he's in my "whatever" category along with Hamlin, Newman, and others), but I absolutely think you're criticizing him way more than necessary. He's run way better this year than you are making it seem, and his shortcomings in the past have been due to either dumb luck (I still think that mechanical failure at Charlotte in 2008 hurt him way more than Talladega did), or slight mistakes that you are blowing way out of proportion (not beating Regan at Darlington, etc). 457. cjs3872 posted: 04.01.2015 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's why I mentioned Edwards' team being new, @455. Some of the problems Edwards is having undoubtedly go to the fact that his is a brand new team. But the fact that David Ragan came up to speed faster than Edwards did in the same equipment, considering Ragan's checkered past when he was a teammate of both Edwards and Matt Kenseth, while Edwards is considered one of the stars of the sport, has to be galling to Edwards, especially since Ragan came in cold turkey. That statement was not meant to be a backhanded compliment toward Ragan as much as it was intended to illustrate just how big a disappointment Carl Edwards has been so far at JGR. In fact, to put it bluntly, Ragan has done as good as Edwards has in their five races together at JGR, all things considered, a fact brought out by the championship standings. And if Edwards continues to struggle while someone he ate up as a teammate at Roush continues to perform in the same equipment, and I don't mean Matt Kenseth, then it could simply go back to Edwards being a driver that has never been able to handle the heat of the big moment. And make no mistake about it, this is about as high a pressure situation as Edwards has had going into a season, and every time he's entered a season under such scrutiny, he's struggled. It happened in 2006 after his breakout season, in 2009 after winning a series-high nine times, in 2012 when he lost the championship to Tony Stewart through the wins tie-breaker, and even in the 2013 Chase, when he finished the regular season as the points leader before the reset, and then promptly the bottom fell out and he finished last in the 13-driver Chase field. And by the way, let's not forget that Ragan's most recent Cup victory came at the expense of Edwards in the spring race at Talladega in 2013, as he passed him on the final lap in another big race he let get away from him. But let's also not forget that Ragan was so mistake-prone at Roush that I believe Roush hired Trevor Bayne late in 2010 with the intention of replacing Ragan in the #6 with Bayne in 2012 or 2013 if he did not stop his error-prone ways. We never did see how that would have played out, partially because of Bayne's getting MS (and that's what I believe it was/is) not long after his Daytona 500 win, courtesy of the biggest of Ragan's errors, and partially because funding for the #6 car ran dry after the 2011 season. 458. cjs3872 posted: 04.01.2015 - 12:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Murb, he blew the 2008 championship when he started that wreck at Talladega late in the race there. That cost him about the amount of points that he lost the championship by. Sure, he won three of the last four races to end up as the winningest driver of 2008, but by that time, the pressure was off when it came to the championship. All Jimmie Johnson had to do after Talladega was to coast to his third title, which he proceeded to do, and added an exclamation point with a win at Phoenix in the process (a lucky runner-up at Atlanta didn't hurt matters, either). And as for those three crown jewel races that he finished second to a first-time winner in, the only one for which Edwards gets a pass is the Daytona 500 he lost to the man who effectively became his replacement, Trevor Bayne. He could have allowed Keselowski to get alongside and drag raced him to the finish of the spring race at Talladega in 2009, instead of trying to block him and ending up in the catch fencing. The 2011 Southern 500 finish was the most mystifying of them, since he had fresher tires and a better car than Regan Smith, and still ceded to him. It's failures like these that have caused me for a number of years to compare him to another great Missouri driver, NASCAR Hall of Famer Rusty Wallace. Wallace's overall record is indisputable, but so is his record of failing in the pressure situations in the highest profile events. Edwards is compiling a similar career, both in terms of overall achievements, and in failures in the big moments. But when a driver like Edwards fails to finish higher than 12th in the first six races, and doesn't run much better than that during the races while lesser drivers with lesser teams are doing at least as well, if not better, then something's up. As I said, I'll give the team a little more time, since that's part of the problem, but if the performance doesn't improve, then it will be time to sound the alarm, but I don't think that time has come yet. I think Texas and Bristol will tell the tale. If Edwards doesn't at least threaten the top five at two of his absolute best tracks, then there's reason for concern. 459. NazRacePhan posted: 04.01.2015 - 6:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Casey Mears becomes the sole owner at the top of the most Lucky DOgs, with 78! 460. someone posted: 04.01.2015 - 7:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs: Have you even been watching the races? First you consider Alan Gustafson's pit strategy in having Jeff Gordon pit a mistake, even though Tony Stewart stayed out and as a result finished ~22nd. And now your saying David Ragan is outperforming Carl Edwards at Gibbs? Yes this race was a good one for Ragan, however, so far it's been his only good race in the 18 for Gibbs. On the other hand, Carl Edwards has been able to constantly run in the top 10 with his teammates, but it's been bad luck that's kept him out. Daytona: Top 10 all day, typical restrictor plate racing dropped him to 23rd, same thing happened to clutch performer Jeff Gordon. Atlanta: Running top 10 all day, made it up to 3rd until his tire popped, rallied from 2 laps down to finish 12th. Las Vegas: Same as Atlanta only his entanglement with Kahne dropped him to 42nd. Phoenix: Admittedly didn't have a great car, but finished 13th ahead of all his teammates. Auto Club: Same story as Phoenix. Martinsville: Running top 10 all day, ran 5th until his tire popped. Rallied back to 13th before the final caution, however he had another popped tire and wound up 17th. Compare that to David Ragan who has been running ~20th every week, except this week where he did do well, and I hardly see how Ragan has been outperforming Carl. Also murb: Even though I am a Carl fan, he did choke the 2008 championship by wrecking at Talladega. However I don't understand where he ever had a chance to win the 2011 Daytona 500 like cjs insists he choked. And the Southern 500 was also a choke. 461. someone posted: 04.01.2015 - 7:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) * I meant you're not your. 462. cjs3872 posted: 04.01.2015 - 10:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) @460, not only do I think it was a bad idea for Alan Gustafson to bring Jeff into the pits from the lead. I think it was a bad idea for ANY of the leaders to bring their cars into the pits so close to the end at a track that's excruciatingly difficult to pass on, and had the race played out like Martinsville races normally do, with most of the closing laps eaten up by cautions, it might have been a disastrous call for most of the leaders. Gordon happened to compound his team's error by making a major blunder of his own. But I also wonder if NASCAR's going to start making questionable calls on him and the #24 team because he'll be retiring at the end of the year, not that the speeding penalty last Sunday was one of them, though how the leader speeds entering the pits under caution so late in the race is an strange one to me. The last thing NASCAR wants is to not be able to have a reigning champion, or a defending champion at a major race by his own choosing, so I think the possibility of some strange calls against Gordon as the season goes on bears watching. The last time something like that happened was in 1972, when A.J. Foyt won the Daytona 500, and NASCAR didn't have the Daytona 500 winner to call it's own for the rest of the year. And from what I've seen, Edwards has bee a second half of the top ten driver this season, at best, though Lady Luck certainly hasn't ridden with him, and his rookie team still needs time to gel. I didn't think about it at the time, but putting David Ragan into the #18 car was a perfect choice to replace Kyle Busch while he's mending, because he's always seemed to have a calm demeanor, which fits perfectly in such a high-pressure situation. Erik Jones, who's currently slated to run the #18 car at Kansas, seems to have the same demeanor. And yes, Edwards did have the best JGR car at Phoenix, though that was certainly nothing to brag about. But most of the season, he's been lagging a bit behind his teammates, though not far behind them (unlike Stenhouse at Roush last year, who lagged LAPS behind his teammates, and continues to have problems there). And again, I contribute much of that to the fact that his is a rookie team, which is why I'm withholding full judgment until at least June, if not the Firecracker 400 at Daytona and the Brickyard 400 at Indy, assuming it's run this year (and I won't go into why it might not be run this year). And I also want to admit a HUGE mistake I made before this season started. Before the season started, I said Tony Stewart would bounce back, but I think it's clear now that he's lost the fire to compete and I think he seriously needs to consider hanging it up, for the sake of his team and his reputation. What's happening with Stewart was seen with A.J. Foyt, Richard Petty, and Darrell Waltrip, and it's quite sad. Contrast that to what we've seen from Jeff Gordon, who's at a similar stage of his career, but instead of looking like those tired out legends, he's more like Mario Andretti, Bobby Allison, Dale Earnhardt, and Rusty Wallace were at the end of their careers, and that's being just as competitive as ever. Maybe that's why Gordon is hanging it up after this year. He doesn't want to fade like he saw Waltrip fade and is seeing Stewart fade now, and instead is preserving his reputation as a competitive driver, right up to the end. 463. joey2448 posted: 04.01.2015 - 11:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) "...I also wonder if NASCAR's going to start making questionable calls on him and the #24 team because he'll be retiring at the end of the year, not that the speeding penalty last Sunday was one of them, though how the leader speeds entering the pits under caution so late in the race is an strange one to me. The last thing NASCAR wants is to not be able to have a reigning champion, or a defending champion at a major race by his own choosing, so I think the possibility of some strange calls against Gordon as the season goes on bears watching. The last time something like that happened was in 1972, when A.J. Foyt won the Daytona 500, and NASCAR didn't have the Daytona 500 winner to call it's own for the rest of the year." This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I don't think NASCAR gives a rats ass about whether or not a defending winner or reigning champion returns the next race/year. If anything, I would think NASCAR would want Gordon to win, so the fans can see a legend go out with a bang. 464. someone posted: 04.02.2015 - 12:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs: I don't understand, how do you figure David Ragan has been better than a 6th to 10th driver so far this season? He's been 15th-20th pretty much every race this season, while Carl has been at least top 10 this season. Anyways you say 6th to 10th as if it's bad, even though it has been well documented that JGR has pretty much been a 6th through 10th place team these last couple of seasons, behind Harvick, Hendrick and Penske. And you said in post 458 that he hasn't challenged for a top 5 this season. Where was he running prior to encountering problems at Atlanta, Vegas (admittedly of his doing), and Martinsville? All things considered, it is true that he hasn't been contending for wins, but it's wrong to say he hasn't even been challenging for top 5's. 465. An Aussie Commentator posted: 04.02.2015 - 5:46 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) I'm going to say it right now, but a P5 penalty dealt against the #31 team wasn't harsh enough. NASCAR should have gone full monty, P6, max penalty, including preventing the 31 team from racing at Texas, this is a potential massive safety issue what the 31 team did, and I think that NASCAR didn't come down hard enough on them. 466. We need more Onion posted: 04.02.2015 - 11:38 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) All this just reinforces my opinion on Luke Lambert. Brilliant, old school crew chief, trying everything he can try, regardless of the rulebook. 467. racefangurl posted: 04.02.2015 - 12:37 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Texas will be a test of how good the changes at Roush worked. 468. Anonymous posted: 04.02.2015 - 2:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) When you actually realize what the #31 did... It doesn't seem plausible that they even got to the race with those tires. 469. joey2448 posted: 04.02.2015 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (2) racefangurl, meanwhile, continues to live in the world of Roush while everybody else is discussing the Newman penalty... 470. joey2448 posted: 04.02.2015 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) On a separate topic, I'd like to direct everyone's attention back to my comment #36, particularly the part where I mention that Kyle Larson's fainting spell was probably related to dehydration or something minor like that. Larson just said on "NASCAR America" on NBCSN that that's probably what it was. BOOM! See, nothing to be worried about... 471. Anonymous posted: 04.02.2015 - 7:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bye Tyler Walker... 472. cjs3872 posted: 04.02.2015 - 7:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) He's not, @464, and frankly, he never has been, even when he was with Roush at their absolute peak. I'm actually surprised he's run as well as he has, though his demeanor does fit with the situation. In fact, I don't even consider him 6th-10th place driver, but more of a midfield driver, which is where he's run, except for Martinsville, which pretty much is a lottery except for a handful of drivers, some of whom didn't figure into the equation this time. And I want to clarify something. When I mention Carl Edwards' teammates, I'm only referring to Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth, and not David Ragan, since he's on loan from another team (Front Row Motorsports). In fact, the current plans for JGR don't even have him in that car at Kansas. And Edwards' team is lagging behind the other JGR teams because it's a brand new team, and where it really shows is on pit road, not on the track. And @463, I don't think I'm as far up a tree as you may think. Think back to 2007. Although I think NASCAR made the right call in letting that year's Daytona 500 finish under green, there are conspiracy theorists that believe that part of the reason NASCAR didn't call the caution was because that would have meant a part-timer (Mark Martin) not competing in a the races would have won the sport's biggest race. Never mind the fact that having someone win the biggest race that didn't run the full season was once the rule, rather than the exception. But things have changed since the 70s and 80s, when Daytona 500 winners often did not run the full season. And what would NASCAR think about not having a reigning champion to represent the sport by his own decision? I make that distinction since yesterday (April 1) was the 22nd anniversary of Alan Kulwicki's fatal plane crash. (Could it have been that long ago?) Given the dodgy way NASCAR officiates things now, the idea of having a potential champion ride immediately into retirement certainly could come up, though I don't think it ever would, because the chances of a driver winning the title and then immediately retiring are extremely remote, at best, so I don't think we have to worry about officiating decisions based on that. Also, as far as the penalty to the #31 team goes, I'm not sure what they did entirely compromises safety for one significant reason. Having a bleeder valve prevents air from building up in the tire, which actually decreases the chance of a blowout because the tire won't blow up with air pressure, which builds during a fuel run. But that would also present a significant advantage because that would also allow the car to be more consistent throughout a fuel run, since the handling characteristics of the car wouldn't change. That's why quite a number of the teams are doing it. The #31 team is simply the first to get caught doing it, but I don't think it will be the last. But the penalty should be straight-up $125K and 75 points, and not a double penalty that adds up to those amounts. 473. The Long Shot posted: 04.02.2015 - 9:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Major kudos to the webmaster on the really cool new front page addition! 474. racefangurl posted: 04.02.2015 - 9:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wondered if Kyle Larson became dehydrated in practice. And on Newman, I wonder if his performance at Texas will be affected. They can't cheat anymore. Texas is where it's at, as far as my race fan side is concerned. Night races are like parties to fans. Fans like night races and drivers like day races, so the story goes. 475. racefangurl posted: 04.02.2015 - 9:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Will David Ragan be out of a ride after his current contract runs out? He's been a hot topic. Oh that's right. Newman blew that away. 476. Red posted: 04.02.2015 - 10:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Average running position for JGR drivers... Hamlin 10.0 Edwards 11.5 Kenseth 13.3 Ragan 20.6 (JGR only) Edwards has been every bit as competitive as Hamlin and Kenseth, but has simply been bitten by bad luck so far. He's easily been a top 10 driver this season. Meanwhile, Ragan has run WAY behind the other JGR cars in every race except Martinsville. The only reason he sits 12th in the standings is because NASCAR's points system rewards mediocre finishes, which is exactly what Ragan did in his first four races in the #18. Ragan has once again shown himself to be a sub-par Cup driver, and hopefully this will be the last time we see ever him piss away a chance in good equipment. 477. Anonymous posted: 04.03.2015 - 6:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The only reason he sits 12th in the standings is because NASCAR's points system rewards mediocre finishes, which is exactly what Ragan did in his first four races in the #18. Ragan has once again shown himself to be a sub-par Cup driver, and hopefully this will be the last time we see ever him piss away a chance in good equipment. " Considering his results in the #34 car, I'd say there's more going on behind the scenes. It's not unreasonable to think that JGR cut off resources to that team because they know they have a substitute drive. 478. Woodbridge posted: 04.03.2015 - 10:22 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) In today's "WTF" news, Rusty Wallace has accepted an offer to drive an off-road race at this year's X-Games. As a big Rusty Wallace fan, I guarantee I'll be tuning in for that! It will be nice to see him behind the wheel again. 479. Scott B posted: 04.03.2015 - 11:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Will David Ragan be out of a ride after his current contract runs out?" No. He's a good fit at Front Row Motorsports. No reason to think he's on the hot seat there, even if his performance as a sub in the #18 is kind of meh. 480. DB1995 posted: 04.03.2015 - 12:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was thinking the same thing, it isn't completely unreasonable to think that JGR isn't putting full effort behind the 18 because David is in the car, thye know he is temporary and all that really matter is when Kyle comes back. 481. cjs3872 posted: 04.03.2015 - 12:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (4) There's one BIG hole in that theory, @477, and that is the fact that the #18 team is JGR's flagship team, the one that got it all started there. He's not about to cut any resources simply because there's a substitute driver in the car. The #18 team is to JGR is what the #2 team is to Penske, the #3 team is to RCR (even when it used the #29), the #5 team is to Hendrick Motorsports, the #6 team is to Roush, and the #43 team is to Richard Petty Motorsports. If anything, there might be a little extra effort put into those particular teams because of what the team carrying that car number means to the respective organization. And as for Edwards, it's likely his team that's holding him back more than it's him. And that's as it should be, since that is a rookie team, even though it has a veteran of over a decade as the driver. In fact, if his team was right up there with the other JGR teams, especially in terms of pit stops, I could consider that somewhat of an indictment of the other JGR teams. Think back to last year when Kevin Harvick was given a rookie team at SHR. The fact that his new team did so well, and with ALL the other SHR teams lagging as badly as they were was, and still are to some degree, is an indictment of the other SHR teams as much as it is a compliment to how well the #4 team did, and continues to do once they got their zany mechanical issues of the first half of last year ironed out. 482. Anonymous posted: 04.03.2015 - 12:51 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) "There's one BIG hole in that theory, @477, and that is the fact that the #18 team is JGR's flagship team, the one that got it all started there. He's not about to cut any resources simply because there's a substitute driver in the car. The #18 team is to JGR is what the #2 team is to Penske, the #3 team is to RCR (even when it used the #29), the #5 team is to Hendrick Motorsports, the #6 team is to Roush, and the #43 team is to Richard Petty Motorsports. If anything, there might be a little extra effort put into those particular teams because of what the team carrying that car number means to the respective organization." I got dumber from reading this post. This is absolutely stupid, illogical, irrelevant, and immaterial. In a court of law, you would be disbarred for such an asinine statement. It's not even speculative. You, comrade, have stretched rubber bands so thin that they snapped. You have piddled on the tree of knowledge. I send my condolences to your fingers who were unwilling forced to type this drivel. 483. Daniel posted: 04.03.2015 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) 46 entered at Texas: -Ryan Blaney in the #21 -Travis Kvapil in the #39 -Michael McDowell in the #95 -#25 & #30 not entered 484. someone posted: 04.03.2015 - 2:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Carl Edwards' pit stops have actually been good this year though. It seems like they usually pick him up at least 2 spots on pit road, and apparently they were the 2nd fastest this week at Martinsville... 485. ORIGINAL suomynonA posted: 04.03.2015 - 3:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "There's one BIG hole in that theory, @477, and that is the fact that the #18 team is JGR's flagship team, the one that got it all started there. He's not about to cut any resources simply because there's a substitute driver in the car. The #18 team is to JGR is what the #2 team is to Penske, the #3 team is to RCR (even when it used the #29), the #5 team is to Hendrick Motorsports, the #6 team is to Roush, and the #43 team is to Richard Petty Motorsports. If anything, there might be a little extra effort put into those particular teams because of what the team carrying that car number means to the respective organization." First time I've heard anyone make the argument that Hendrick is putting more effort into Kasey Kahne's team. Some people always try to say he's favorable towards Johnson (foolish, because it makes no sense financially), Earnhardt (plausible because of his popularity, but still unlikely), or Gordon (also plausible because he's Jeff Gordon and what he's done for the organization, but still unlikely), but I am pretty sure this is the first time I've seen anyone insinuate Kasey Kahne is receiving favorable treatment. 486. racefangurl posted: 04.03.2015 - 5:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 6 may be Roush's original car, but the 16 is driven by the team leader now. Biffle, as the old guy, serves as a mentor of sorts the younger drivers on the team. The 3 is driven by Childress' grandson, so he may have more resources directed his way. The 2, 43 and 5 may get flagship treatment because of being the original cars, though. And as far as the theory about the flagship car given extra effort, that only works if the regular driver's in it. 487. cjs3872 posted: 04.03.2015 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) There's a BIG difference between the lead car of an organization and an organization's flagship car, racefangurl. While it's true that the #16 team is currently considered the #1 team at Roush, the #6 is, has been, and always will be the flagship at Roush, since that'd the team that started it all there. The same is true regarding the #5 at HMS. Except for when Ricky Rudd drove the car there from 1990-'93, at no time has the #5 team been the top team at Hendrick Motorsports since they first went to a multi-car operation in 1986. But still, the #5 team is the flagship at Hendrick Motorsports. And something seemed amiss at JGR from 2005-'07 when the #18 team, JGR's flagship, was not very competitive. Why else was there such a big deal made last year when it was announced that Roush was bringing the #6 back with Trevor Bayne, even bringing in Mark Martin via video to be part of that announcement? And why was it such a big deal when Martin himself brought the #5 back to prominence in 2009 and when Kyle Busch brought the #18 back to prominence the year before that? And who can forget Aric Almirola bringing the #43, not only the flagship car at RPM, but perhaps the flagship car in all of NASCAR history (sorry, WBR #21 and RCR #3 fans), back to victory lane in the Firecracker 400 last July? It's because those cars define an organization because it's with those cars that the foundation for that respective organization's success was built. After all, if not for the success of the #5 at HMS, there might not be a 24 and 48 story there. And if not for the success of the #18 at JGR, what followed with the 20, 11, and hopefully now the 19 car would never have happened. And the same is true regarding Roush. If not for the success of the #6, there wouldn't be the history there regarding the 16, 17, 99, and even the 97 car winning a championship. Even the success of the #31 at RCR team wouldn't have been possible without the resounding success of the #3 car. There are more successful teams at the organizations in question, but none of it would ever have been possible without the team that aid the groundwork for it all, which is the flagship team for that organization. 488. cjs3872 posted: 04.03.2015 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) By the way, who do you guys think should be in the seventh class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame? My five are Terry Labonte, Mark Martin, and Benny Parsons among the drivers, and Ray Fox and Robert Yates among the non-drivers. I say that regarding Labonte, Martin, and Parsons realizing that would leave Bobby Isaac, who I think should already be in right now, on the outside looking in, as well as leaving Isaac's crew chief Harry Hyde, who was also instrumental in starting Hendrick Motorsports in 1984, on the outside looking in. I just think Labonte and Martin had such overwhelming careers in their own way that they have to go in, and Parsons should have been in two years ago, not just for his own driving career, but also for the way he helped the sport grow from the booth. Yates was, in my mind, the greatest engine builder in his era, along with Waddell Wilson, and also was a winner as a crew chief and a champion as a car owner (and likely would have been a multiple champion as a car owner, if not for Davey Allison's untimely death in 1993). And Fox was instrumental in one of the most important victories in the sport's history, the 1960 Daytona 500 won by Junior Johnson, not to mention the fact that it was Fox that gave David Pearson his big shot in 1961, and Pearson rewarded him with three wins. Fox also won the 1964 Southern 500 with Buck Baker and two races at Charlotte a few years later with Buck's son, Buddy Baker, himself a nominee for the Hall of Fame. So I think it should be Labonte, Martin, Parsons, Fox, and Yates that go in the next Hall of Fame class, nothing against the other 15 nominees. 489. Eric posted: 04.03.2015 - 11:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My 5 for the Hall of Fame is Benny Parsons, Terry Labonte, Bobby Isaac, Robert Yates and Ray Fox. I don't think the voters want 2 drivers from the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's in the same class based on what I seen in past Hall of Fame Classes. It either is going to be Mark Martin or Terry Labonte into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Whoever isn't in the Hall of Fame this year between Mark Martin or Terry Labonte is going to get in next year. I picked Terry Labonte over Mark Martin for a reason. While Terry had droughts in his cup career for wins, he won 2 championships. I put a lot of stock into championships in the era Terry Labonte, Earnhardt, Elliott, and Martin raced in. Terry to me was a clutch driver and Mark wasn't for championships. I thought Mark allowed at least one championship slipped a way based on him being way too conservative. 490. joey2448 posted: 04.04.2015 - 4:33 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I cast my Hall of Fame votes for Terry Labonte, Benny Parsons, Harry Hyde, Buddy Baker and Ray Fox. 491. b4il3y posted: 04.04.2015 - 6:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mark should have 1... but NASCAR thought Dale should have another. 492. Eric posted: 04.04.2015 - 11:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) What I meant drivers from the 1980's, 1990's and 2000's is the drivers that really first entered prime in the television age of NASCAR. The 1979 Daytona 500 was start of the television age of NASCAR and drivers that got their start in 1979 or later are drivers people are 100 percent familiar with their cup career in terms of their prime. Terry Labonte and Mark Martin primes got started in that era. 493. Alex posted: 04.04.2015 - 11:35 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) As you can see, we now have the NASCAR Southwest Series in our databases as well! 494. cjs3872 posted: 04.04.2015 - 11:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was it Mark being too conservative, or was it Roush being too conservative, Eric? I say that because Roush has lost a number of championships, most recently with Carl Edwards in 2011 for that very reason. Roush has always been known for being one of the most conservative teams in the sport, in terms of engines and engine setups, and that has cost him a number of titles, or at least a better chance at those titles. His team lost the title in 1990 because they panicked at the end of the season, but they lost other titles from 1997-2011 simply because they were too conservative with their setups. The only Cup titles Roush has came in successive years. In 2003, Matt Kenseth pretty much had the title salted away by early May, leading to the adaptation of the Chase, and then they won the first Chase with Kurt Busch, mainly because Jimmie Johnson threw it away in the early Chase races, while veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig led his young driver, Kurt Busch, to a mostly mistake-free Chase, and the one big mistake they made (that loose wheel in the season finale at Homestead), they got away with. But in 1997, 2002, 2006, and 2011 Roush drivers had real good shots at the title, only to lose to other teams with faster cars and better engines, and I believe that was due to Roush's conservative attitude. They gagged away the title in 1990, and even had a good shot in 1989, but as would be the case a year later, their lack of experience got the best of them. And you're certainly dead-on when it comes to Terry Labonte in the clutch, particularly in his 1996 championship run. Down to "now or never time", he won at Charlotte, the only points race he ever won there in 26 years of trying, and cut Jeff Gordon's 111-point lead to ONE. Then after breaking his wrist in a practice crash at Phoenix, Labonte ran up front all day in a back-up car and with a cast on his broken wrist, and finished third. No matter what Jeff Gordon did that season, and he recorded the first of three consecutive double-digit win seasons that season, he was never going to rattle Terry Labonte, and I believe he knew it. To me, it's truly astonishing that Labonte didn't win more big races than he did (although he was inches away from 2 Daytona 500 wins and had the best car in the '96 race) because his coolness under fire suited the big events perfectly. 495. Eric posted: 04.04.2015 - 11:48 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) No b4il3y, NASCAR didn't fix the 1990 championship. The problem with that theory is the penalty that happened in the 2nd race of the season. NASCAR even didn't know during the 2nd race of the season that Mark and Dale was going to be a point battle to the end of the season. The other problem was Mark had a points lead starting after the Sonoma race that ended at the Phoenix Race. Mark Martin and the 6 team was struggling down the stretch after the North Wilkesboro race. Mark Martin was struggling by the fact Mark's best finish from Charlotte to Phoenix was a 10th place finish at Phoenix. Mark not having a top 5 finish after the North Wilkesboro win shows the 6 team was off. 496. Eric posted: 04.04.2015 - 11:55 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) b4il3y there is another flaw. If you throw away Mark's Penalty and if Dale didn't have the tire going down at Daytona, Dale would have won the championship by a tie breaker on wins. That meant Roush gave away a points during the season and that was caused by them not handling the points battle well down the stretch starting at the fall Charlotte race. 497. murb posted: 04.04.2015 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "My 5 for the Hall of Fame is Benny Parsons, Terry Labonte, Bobby Isaac, Robert Yates and Ray Fox." Same here, though I'd also have no problems with Mark instead of Terry. I definitely think Parsons, Isaac, and Fox are absolutely the three must-haves in this class though. One of those three missing the cut would be disappointing. 498. Alex posted: 04.04.2015 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The fact that Bobby Isaac isn't in yet is criminal. My list: Jerry Cook: part of the most incredible era in modified racing hwere some of the most amazing finishes in all of racing occurred. Bobby Isaac: no one could race a short track like the quiet Catawba racer. He scored 37 wins and will always hold the record for most poles in a season. Ray Fox: mechanical genius whose abilities extended to all manufacturers. Raymond Parks: this is the man who built NASCAR. Without the ideas put forth by Raymond and Marshall Teague and without Parks' money, NASCAR wouldn't have even been born. Terry Labonte: while Mark Martin has more wins, what Terry did was unique in winning over 24 seasons, including winning the last Southern 500 held on a September afternoon. The fact that Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Ray Evernham, or Bruton Smith are on this list is disgusting and makes me want to puke. Then again those folks have been in bed with NASCAR for decades now. Where're Ray Elder and Jack McCoy (the winningest drivers in West history, back when it was the West Coast equal to the Cup Series). Where're Bob Welborn (three time Convertible champion), Jim Reed (five time short track division champion), and Ralph Earnhardt? Where's Red Farmer? 499. Eric posted: 04.04.2015 - 4:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree that Parsons, Isaac, and Fox are must haves in this class. I really thought hard about Red Byron, Raymond Parks, and Harry Hyde. I think Red Byron is really turning a possibility now, but I don't see the voters inducting him yet. Red being forced retire as a driver early due to declining health did a number on his NASCAR career being so short. I thought of Raymond Parks hard because he actually was one the people that helped NASCAR survive during its early years due to him giving advice to Big Bill. 500. Alex posted: 04.04.2015 - 4:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crap, I forgot BP. Scratch Terry and replace him with Benny. 501. racefangurl posted: 04.04.2015 - 6:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs, I was saying the flagship car isn't the lead car at Roush right now. The flagship is the car that started the team, but it may not necessarily be the lead car at a given time. And on Mark Martin and Roush, maybe they both were conservative. Trevor Bayne has been compared to Mark Martin. Trevor can be aggressive, though like he used his bumper when he got his Nationwide/Xfinity wins. Speaking of Mark Martin, he could be a Hall of Famer. Mikey and others have mentioned it. 502. cjs3872 posted: 04.04.2015 - 7:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The thing that sets Benny Parsons apart from any of the other drivers on the list is what got Ned Jarrett into the Hall so soon. Ned got in as soon s he did, not based on his driving career, which itself would get him into the Hall of Fame. It's what he did away from the track to promote the sport that got him in as fast as he got in. Though he retired in 1966 (as the reigning champion, as he had not officially given up his title yet), he stayed active in the sport for more than 40 years after his retirement, mainly through commentating, though he did other things, as well. I actually believe that's one reason Darrell Waltrip got in as early as he did, because Cale Yarborough should have gone in before Waltrip did, but Cale was away from the sport after selling his team, while Waltrip continues to promote the sport to this day, 15 years after his retirement. To me, that's why it's such a shock that Benny Parsons is not in the Hall of Fame, and why I think it's a crime that he's not in. While his driving career parallels those of Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd, and the Labonte brothers, it's what he did away from the track to promote the sport that elevates him, in terms of his influence on the sport. He had an even greater impact on the sport away from the car than he did as a driver, though those that raced against him will say that Parsons was as tough a competitor as there was, because he always found a way to get to the finish. The way he promoted the sport after his driving career ended should have pushed him WAY over the top by now. If not for the lung cancer that claimed him, Parsons might still be in the booth today, even though he would be in his mid 70s, and he certainly would be promoting the sport today. And what pushes both Robert Yates and Ray Fox above Harry Hyde is that they were more than just a crew chief. Yates and Fox were both first-rate engine builders (I consider Yates to be the best engine builder of his generation, along with Waddell Wilson), very good crew chiefs, and race-winning (and in Yates' case, championship-winning) car owners. Hyde really only was a crew chief, albeit one of the very best of his era (he even got Tighe Scott to run up front in Walter Ballard's cars), though his influence on the sport today can be felt by the very existence of Hendrick Motorsports, because he was the brains behind the operation when it started in 1984. If Smokey Yunick was on the ballot, I would elevate him over Fox and Yates. Him not even getting a sniff may be the biggest crime of all. He's still the only crew chief ever to win both the Daytona 500, which he did in 1961 and '62, and the Indianapolis 500, which he won with Jim Rathmann in 1960. The thing I have against Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick is that they're both active participants in the sport, and shouldn't get in until they retire. But when they do, they should get in as quickly as possible, because both are very deserving. And Ray Evernham is too modern a crew chief to get in within the next few years, though he's an obvious Hall of famer, as well. And although I think Bobby Isaac should already be in (I think he should have gotten in last year, instead of Wendell Scott), I'm not sure I'd put him in ahead of both Mark Martin and Terry Labonte. One thing that works against Isaac is his lack of big victories, as well as the fact that his one championship (1970) was gained largely because Richard Petty was out for a good while due to the injuries he suffered at Darlington, so that casts a shadow on his championship, to some degree. Once Petty was out for those races, Isaac was pretty much home free for his championship in 1970. Martin had some BIG victories in his 40 Cup triumphs, which don't even count his two All-Star Race wins, and Labonte, while only having slightly more than half of Martin's win total, came through when it counted in his championship seasons, particularly in 1996. It will be very interesting to see who gets left out between Martin, Isaac, and Labonte, because that may answer the question of what's more important, big stats without big wins (Isaac had 37 wins with just one significant win, the 1971 Firecracker 400), a higher number of wins with no championships (Martin had 40 wins, three crown jewel wins, but NO championships), or the importance of the championship despite a much lower win total (22 vs. 37 and 40), of which Terry is the only driver on the ballot this time around to have more than one of, having won two, basically one each in two completely different eras of the sport. There's almost no way all three are getting in this time, so it will be fascinating what the voters think is more important, and who ends up getting left out as a result. 503. murb posted: 04.04.2015 - 9:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, I could have sworn Raymond Parks was already in. I could probably go either way with him or Ray Fox as well. 504. Sean posted: 04.05.2015 - 3:12 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) "By the way, who do you guys think should be in the seventh class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame?" Ray Fox, Bobby Isaac, Benny Parsons, Curtis Turner, Robert Yates You have convinced me about Fox and Yates over Hyde because they had multiple roles (as much as I personally disliked Yates, I objectively admit I'd take him over other car owners who were just car owners; I also agree that Smokey Yunick is more deserving than any of the engineers/crew chiefs nominated - hey, he's the only crew chief who is arguably more famous than his main drivers Herb Thomas and Marshall Teague, and it's shocking that he is still snubbed as I would already put him on my ballot), but I can't agree with you about Labonte and Martin. They are both just a tad overrated and could stand a wait. I still think Martin was probably better than Jarrett who was quickly rushed in so he wouldn't bother me, but Terry Labonte had a long run of good but never great seasons that may not truly add up to greatness. What are the real differences between Labonte and Ricky Rudd, who has not been nominated yet? Labonte has a couple titles and Rudd has a bunch of road course wins, yet few people think Rudd should be in the discussion yet. If you look at the actual nature of their seasons, they're the exact same. They were like 6th-10th place drivers almost every season, but top five drivers only a few, and Labonte happened to be lucky enough to get a couple titles while Rudd wasn't. I don't think it was really skill because he was not the dominant driver in either championship season. So unless you think Rudd should be inducted now (and I don't think so either) Labonte shouldn't either. Martin has more of a case, but I do think he failed to win a championship for a reason and the only thing he had over a lot of other non-champions (Neil Bonnett, Gant, Irvan, Richmond, etc...) was longevity in top equipment and no injuries. I think he is more or less in the same tier as all of those guys and they all would have had similar results in 20 years of equipment like that, so I don't see Martin as iconic enough to be inducted INSTANTLY either. It is rather shocking Benny Parsons didn't get in yet because I thought both Ned Jarrett and Dale Jarrett got in earlier than I would have put them in (Ned maybe only one year early, Dale five or ten years early) because of their commentating and Parsons is considered a more legendary commentator than DJ and was probably an equivalent driver, so what gives here? At this point I would say he is overdue. I would still tend to go against the modern drivers because I think there has been a bias FOR more modern drivers to date... If you have a level of success like Gordon and Johnson, sure, they're first ballot. But Labonte and Martin? Ehhh... Bobby Isaac's 1969 is his case, not his championship. 1969 was one of the most dominant seasons ANYONE has ever had in Cup history. 19 poles, 17 wins, 19 races leading the most laps, 5000+ laps led, 37% average percent led with Pearson and Petty in every race with him at or near their peak. That is freaking HUGE. You do have a point about his 1970 season. Petty did miss a few races due to injury and Bobby Allison missed a race due to being unable to find funding (had he finished even 25th out of 26 cars in that spring Richmond race, he would have won the title...not that he would have deserved it when compared to Petty or Isaac's stats) so Isaac's title IS rather hollow, but he still deserves one based on his far superior previous season. And Isaac's 1970 was STILL hugely dominant, by the way (3000+ laps led). But I would probably put Isaac's 1969 as one of the top ten seasons EVER in Cup and every eligible driver with a season comparable is in. That trumps anything Mark Martin and Terry Labonte have done, when they somewhat stood out but not overwhelmingly so against their peers. Isaac managed to stand out in 1969 against Pearson and Petty. Easy advantage Isaac. Really, why would you even think to take Martin or Labonte? Just longevity? I'll agree Martin's longevity is great, but I'll take one of the best Cup seasons in history over a driver who was always a top ten driver but never the best (like Martin...replace always with often for Labonte). I would also take Curtis Turner over Labonte and Martin easily and I'm surprised he hasn't been mentioned. He easily dominated already-inducted Joe Weatherly on the Convertible tour where he put up Bobby Isaac numbers (but granted against rather weaker fields since he was usually only competing against Weatherly and Welborn, which isn't up there with competing against Petty and Pearson). His winning percentage isn't as good as Isaac's, but he seems to be the easy standout after considering Isaac of the remaining drivers not inducted. He also had great longevity winning races from 1949-1965 and criticizing him for not winning titles is pretty ridiculous when he only ran CLOSE to full-time in NASCAR's first two seasons (he led 60% or more of the laps in five consecutive races! Wow!) Honestly Parsons doesn't come close to Isaac or Turner either, but I'm giving him a bump for his broadcasting career (which again, Martin and Labonte don't have anything comparable to post-career). Martin and Labonte also feel too early because Martin just retired at the end of '13 while Labonte retired at the end of '14 (even though they both were SUPPOSEDLY going to retire almost a decade earlier). I do agree with you about Fox and Yates over any other engineers listed because they were also influential car owners, and I also agree that Smokey Yunick would have been a better choice than either, but you're WAY overrating Labonte and Martin in my mind...and they don't even have the vast number of marquee wins that would make me understand this from your perspective. 505. Sean posted: 04.05.2015 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I picked Terry Labonte over Mark Martin for a reason. While Terry had droughts in his cup career for wins, he won 2 championships. I put a lot of stock into championships in the era Terry Labonte, Earnhardt, Elliott, and Martin raced in. Terry to me was a clutch driver and Mark wasn't for championships. I thought Mark allowed at least one championship slipped a way based on him being way too conservative." Terry Labonte is better than Bobby Allison because he had more titles! See how silly this sounds? I don't really care that Labonte won titles and even though I find Martin overrated too he came *closer* to having the best season in several years than I think Labonte ever did. I would easily take Martin first. Clutch *may* matter when comparing drivers at a similar level (Dale Earnhardt vs. Jeff Gordon, Terry Labonte vs. Ricky Rudd, Matt Kenseth vs. Kyle Busch, etc...) but shouldn't when the inferior driver won championships largely due to luck rather than dominance and the superior driver didn't. "Mark should have 1... but NASCAR thought Dale should have another." Absolutely not. If he had actually won that 1990 championship, it would be a travesty along the lines of Terry Labonte's 1996. "The 1979 Daytona 500 was start of the television age of NASCAR and drivers that got their start in 1979 or later are drivers people are 100 percent familiar with their cup career in terms of their prime. Terry Labonte and Mark Martin primes got started in that era." I mean yeah, that is the reason for the modern driver bias and probably the ONLY reason anyone would even THINK about taking Labonte and Martin over Isaac and Turner. "Was it Mark being too conservative, or was it Roush being too conservative, Eric?" Easily Martin. Look at his post-Roush career. Would he have possibly lost the 2007 Daytona 500 or 2009 Brickyard 400 (among other races) if he had more aggression? I don't really think so...even if Harvick and Johnson were indeed faster, he could have given himself better opportunities to win. By the way, I'd probably even take HARVICK over Martin as a HoF candidate at this point. "But in 1997, 2002, 2006, and 2011 Roush drivers had real good shots at the title, only to lose to other teams with faster cars and better engines, and I believe that was due to Roush's conservative attitude. They gagged away the title in 1990, and even had a good shot in 1989, but as would be the case a year later, their lack of experience got the best of them." But...when you have a points system that rewards conservatism isn't this the "correct" strategy? Martin never won a title because he didn't deserve to, same with Castroneves. By the way, I actually think the Roush cars were faster than the Hendrick cars in 1997-98, and Roush was probably faster than Gibbs in 2002 as well, but Gordon and Stewart were just better drivers. 2011 I think WAS a rare performance I will say was clutch, and Stewart willed himself to that when nobody else seemed to want it. 2006 I'd say Johnson was just barely better and faster all season. I don't think Roush lost titles due to its conservatism...the way NASCAR works that would be a benefit. "And you're certainly dead-on when it comes to Terry Labonte in the clutch, particularly in his 1996 championship run. Down to "now or never time", he won at Charlotte, the only points race he ever won there in 26 years of trying, and cut Jeff Gordon's 111-point lead to ONE. Then after breaking his wrist in a practice crash at Phoenix, Labonte ran up front all day in a back-up car and with a cast on his broken wrist, and finished third. No matter what Jeff Gordon did that season, and he recorded the first of three consecutive double-digit win seasons that season, he was never going to rattle Terry Labonte, and I believe he knew it." Or...Gordon just had bad luck all season and went up against a points system where avoiding bad luck is more important than winning. If he doesn't have that mechanical failure at Charlotte does he win the title? Easily. I will have to review that Rockingham race to understand how Labonte got a top five and Gordon got a surprisingly mediocre 12th (if he ALSO had bad luck in that race, there is no argument for Labonte winning that due to "clutch-ness" at all). "To me, it's truly astonishing that Labonte didn't win more big races than he did (although he was inches away from 2 Daytona 500 wins and had the best car in the '96 race) because his coolness under fire suited the big events perfectly." Plate races are about killer instinct and Labonte didn't have much. He seemed to be better on the short tracks than the superspeedways in general throughout his career, and although I think some of the short track races should be considered marquee, for some reason others don't. He did win multiple times at Darlington, the most significant 'marquee race'. "The fact that Richard Childress, Rick Hendrick, Ray Evernham, or Bruton Smith are on this list is disgusting and makes me want to puke." I don't like any of them either but I acknowledge they have all had a significant impact on NASCAR history. I would still wait about five more years before considering any of them. Perhaps I have been underrating Raymond Parks because Bill France was the real founder of NASCAR and he won the first titles with Byron as a car owner but Byron isn't in yet as a driver, so I'm not seeing the urgency. There were a lot of people in that room where NASCAR was founded, you know. Not sure I'd even take him over the above-listed four whom I can't even stand. "Where're Ray Elder and Jack McCoy (the winningest drivers in West history, back when it was the West Coast equal to the Cup Series). Where're Bob Welborn (three time Convertible champion), Jim Reed (five time short track division champion), and Ralph Earnhardt? Where's Red Farmer?" Elder should be on the ballot if McGriff is. They were both dominant west coast legends and McGriff had 4 Cup wins to Elder's 2. Neither of them deserve in without their west coast stats, and I don't really get why McGriff is generally favored over Elder when it seems like Elder was better. I can't agree that it was EQUAL to Cup in the '70s, even if Elder DID win a couple Cup races in Winston West equipment at Riverside. It certainly didn't have the depth of Cup and I'd still wait before inducting minor league drivers... But yeah, I don't get why McGriff is consistently rated over Elder (McGriff made the 50 greatest drivers list and Elder didn't, etc...) McCoy I'm indifferent to. A dominant record, but the question is whether you think it was on the level of Cup in that period, and I just don't. Nor do I think the modified tour was (look at how good Jimmy Spencer was there and how horrible he was in Cup). Richie Evans also got in too early. Like I might take all these drivers over say Bobby Labonte or something but I think it's too early to induct lots of minor league drivers when the superior major league drivers still aren't inducted. Farmer and Welborn are about due to be on the ballot possibly although I'd wait to induct them. I think Ralph Earnhardt would be completely forgotten without his son's success and there MUST be other drivers who dominated hundreds of minor races who have been completely ignored because they DIDN'T have superstar children. I'm too ignorant probably to know who they are but I probably felt Ralph Earnhardt was the least deserving person on the 50 Greatest Drivers list for that reason and one of the least deserving IMHoF inductees as well. It's hard for me to separate the hype from Dale. Now you're going the other way. While I think there is a bias in favor of Labonte and Martin due to how recent they are (and probably the modern-day car owners, etc...) I think you have a bias towards drivers just because they are from the past. I'd probably take Terry Labonte over most of the minor-league drivers you listed. Elder and Farmer and Welborn may be close, but I'd still probably take Terry over them too. 506. Sean posted: 04.05.2015 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "To me, that's why it's such a shock that Benny Parsons is not in the Hall of Fame, and why I think it's a crime that he's not in. While his driving career parallels those of Buddy Baker, Ricky Rudd, and the Labonte brothers," That is WAY overrating Bobby Labonte. "Him not even getting a sniff may be the biggest crime of all." Agree. "The thing I have against Richard Childress and Rick Hendrick is that they're both active participants in the sport, and shouldn't get in until they retire. But when they do, they should get in as quickly as possible, because both are very deserving. And Ray Evernham is too modern a crew chief to get in within the next few years, though he's an obvious Hall of famer, as well." Agree, but I'd make Childress wait a few years for everything post-Earnhardt. Harvick at Stewart-Haas is really making the RCR organization look bad. "And although I think Bobby Isaac should already be in (I think he should have gotten in last year, instead of Wendell Scott), I'm not sure I'd put him in ahead of both Mark Martin and Terry Labonte. One thing that works against Isaac is his lack of big victories, as well as the fact that his one championship (1970) was gained largely because Richard Petty was out for a good while due to the injuries he suffered at Darlington, so that casts a shadow on his championship, to some degree. Once Petty was out for those races, Isaac was pretty much home free for his championship in 1970. Martin had some BIG victories in his 40 Cup triumphs, which don't even count his two All-Star Race wins, and Labonte, while only having slightly more than half of Martin's win total, came through when it counted in his championship seasons, particularly in 1996." Well marquee races did mean more in Isaac's era than they do now because a lot of the top drivers only entered those races, I'll grant you that. I still don't think it's enough to take Labonte and Martin over a guy who had one of the top ten seasons in Cup history (and probably the best non-championship season ever, save Pearson's 1973). "(and likely would have been a multiple champion as a car owner, if not for Davey Allison's untimely death in 1993)." Davey was NEVER going to win a title if he couldn't when the Fords were overwhelmingly dominant in 1992. He was good at retaining his position but he wasn't so good at actually passing people for the wins, usually relying on pit strategy to do that for him. It has actually caused me to reconsider my opinion of Larry McReynolds, whom I used to consider an overrated crew chief. He was one of the weakest of the major non-champions of that period actually and is probably the most overrated driver in Cup history as a result. I have now done the research to support this position, and even though I LIKE him more than many, many, many drivers I consider better, I think this is another case of him being overrated due to his likability, much like the Labonte brothers get. I think Ernie Irvan would have stood a much better shot at winning a title in the #28, since his near year from taking over the #28 until his Michigan crash was WAY better than any season Davey ever had. I will admit I'm surprised that Alan Kulwicki was nominated first. I agree he deserves it more, but I'm surprised, because the people who go on about marquee wins, longevity, name recognition, star power, etc..., would always take Davey first and it's actually unexpected that they went for Alan instead. There are drivers not nominated whom I think are better choices than either (Harry Gant, Smokey Yunick) but Alan over Davey still pleased me. 507. Sean posted: 04.05.2015 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "There are drivers not nominated whom I think are better choices than either (Harry Gant, Smokey Yunick)" Obviously I meant PEOPLE not nominated. And Alex mentioned Bob Welborn. He probably does have a case to be on the ballot pretty soon, but after Turner gets in (I'm shocked at how little support he's getting here) I think Marshall Teague would be my next choice for a nomination among the pioneering drivers. 508. Eric posted: 04.05.2015 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I have an answer why Curtis Turner isn't in or the amount of little support. The voters look at championships is one of the facts with the other being amount of wins. They may also look at the fact he was responsible for trying a start union in NASCAR. Fireball was passed over for Buck Baker or Tim Flock for the final Hall of Fame spot a few years ago due to winning a championship. As far future support goes, that depends on depends on who is on the ballot after this year. 509. Alex posted: 04.05.2015 - 5:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ralph Earnhardt actually won the Late Model Sportsman Series title in the 1950s. And from 1951-1998, Winston West had the same regulations as the Winston Cup. Exact same cars, and the West guys kept up with the Cup guys whenever they ran together until TV started pumping money into the Cup series in the 1970s. And you've obviously never heard of "the golden age of the modified." I personally know many people who raced in that era, and they can tell you more stories. 510. racefangurl posted: 04.05.2015 - 9:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) People say 40 wins should be required to get into the Hall of Fame. What matters more? Championships or how many wins they had? David Pearson made it on wins, but he had a giant number. Could another driver make it on wins? Of the ones eligible for the Hall, that is? 511. Sean posted: 04.05.2015 - 10:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Ralph Earnhardt actually won the Late Model Sportsman Series title in the 1950s." I know. That's the forerunner of an Xfinity title now. And would anybody say somebody who won hundreds of seriously minor-league races on local short tracks, won a single Busch/Nationwide/Xfinity title, and only made a fairly small number of Cup starts with no wins should be a Hall of Famer? Drivers like Red Farmer and Jack Ingram at least were DOMINANT sportsman/Busch drivers for a very long time and have a better case (I still find it a little weird Ingram has already been inducted though), but no, a single Late Model Sportsman title doesn't do it for me, and hundreds of wins on local short tracks that would barely be provable by a historical record don't either (were Ralph Earnhardt's supposed hundreds of wins even sanctioned by NASCAR? If so, should they count toward an HoF case? Wouldn't that open the door for Dick Trickle and his supposed 1,000 wins, even though he did little in Cup because he arrived too late when he was already washed up?) People primarily give him consideration specifically because he's Dale Earnhardt's father, but hey, it's better than Bill France's wife getting nominated... "And from 1951-1998, Winston West had the same regulations as the Winston Cup. Exact same cars, and the West guys kept up with the Cup guys whenever they ran together until TV started pumping money into the Cup series in the 1970s." And ARCA used some old Winston Cup equipment and IRL 1996 used CART 1995 equipment and the American Indycar Series (the CART equivalent of ARCA) also used old CART equipment and nobody would say that those drivers were of the same level. I'm not saying a few drivers don't deserve it. Elder and McGriff do and I know in the '50s there were all those guys who entered only West coast races (Lloyd Dane and Eddie Pagan and Danny Letner, etc...) and Marvin Panch crossed over to do well in the east coast races and Pagan did okay, but overall, I see the West Coast swing as a footnote. Argue for Panch, Elder, and McGriff and I can support you. But arguing it was on the same level as Cup because it used the same specs? CART and IRL in 1996 essentially used the same specs also and they weren't on the same level either. "And you've obviously never heard of "the golden age of the modified."" And I'm not saying modified drivers shouldn't be in either. Evans belonged (but got in WAAAAAY too fast). Cook belongs. Stefanik belongs. Ray Hendrick belongs. Geoff Bodine belongs (even if you don't think his Cup career by itself is deserving, which I think is wrong, his modified stuff should easily push him over the line). Tony Hirschman and Reggie Ruggiero are borderline but I'd say no. But we don't want to argue that modified success is almost on the same level with Cup and create a precedent that would allow Jimmy Spencer or Steve Park HoF inductions. "People say 40 wins should be required to get into the Hall of Fame." That is WAY too high a threshold. That might be close to my threshold for a first-ballot, but not for an induction in general. "What matters more? Championships or how many wins they had?" Wins by far, and even more so in the era when many of the top drivers weren't competing for the championship. There are some certain situations where I might consider the driver with more championships and fewer wins (Earnhardt vs. Gordon is one such case), but I'm far less likely to do so. "David Pearson made it on wins, but he had a giant number." He would have made it regardless of what your criteria were. He did win three titles in only four full-time seasons (or as close to full-time as existed in those days when even the championship contenders skipped some races). 512. racefangurl posted: 04.06.2015 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Sean, if 40 or thereabouts wins is your first ballot threshold, what's your HOF win threshold? 513. 1995z71 posted: 04.06.2015 - 3:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) ADMIN: The #40 owner for the entire 2105 season should be Mike Hillman not Joe Falk. Team name Hillman Smith Racing. Also the #39 car debuting this weekend could but filed under the same team owner. No longer partner with Joe Falk but directly with RCR. 514. Joseph_67-85 posted: 04.06.2015 - 3:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) good race 515. The Long Shot posted: 04.06.2015 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Since there was a bit of discussion regarding David Pearson earlier, I decided to do some calculating and figure out what his numbers would be if he had actually run full seasons. Obviously there are major flaws with projecting data in this manner, but this is probably about as close as most could feasibly get. Assuming he ran full seasons every year from 1960-1986, these would be some of his stats: --9 championships (1961, 1962, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1976) --154 wins --475 top 5 finishes --628 top 10 finishes --176 poles 516. Eric posted: 04.06.2015 - 6:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I honestly don't think there should a HOF win threshold. I am saying that due to Red Byron and Alan Kulwicki as example of drivers that had short careers. Red Byron had health problems, but he won the first NASCAR modified championship and the first cup Championship. I don't think its right penalize a driver not enough wins for going into the Hall of Fame due to health problems. Red's declining to me seemed to be pointed to his World War 2 injuries. Red's left leg was shredded due to it being filled with with shrapnel and had his leg rebuilt as a result. Based on what I read, Red was walking with a lump and it is very possible that he had blood clots. What I looked at for Red Byron is the fact he was the champion of 2 different championships in NASCAR. 517. ch posted: 04.06.2015 - 7:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "ADMIN: The #40 owner for the entire 2105 season should be Mike Hillman not Joe Falk. Team name Hillman Smith Racing. Also the #39 car debuting this weekend could but filed under the same team owner. No longer partner with Joe Falk but directly with RCR." Nothing has changed as far as the Hillman (Smith) / Circle Sport teams go. Both teams share ownership, a shop, equipment, and personnel. In fact, Landon's suit still has both the Circle Sport and Hillman Racing logos on it. So, for the sake of having the team cars together, #40 owner should be Joe Falk. 518. DB1995 posted: 04.07.2015 - 7:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) RIP James Best, played "Rosco" on The Dukes of Hazzard TV series. We have now lost Uncle Jesse, Boss Hogg, and Rosco now from the original series. 519. BluesTravelerFan posted: 04.07.2015 - 5:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here's a joke question for you guys (kind of). would you say Junior Miller, Ralph Brinkley( or even Burt Myers) are deserving of ever getting in the HOF period (no time soon of COURSE)? I ask this not so much in a specific sense but more in the vein of just how deep the Hall should reach in the depth of the sport. 520. racefangurl posted: 04.07.2015 - 7:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know, but Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are locks and probably Tony Stewart as well. Others have a shot at getting in. Any other active drivers people could see getting in? 521. DB1995 posted: 04.07.2015 - 8:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think, Jimmie, Jeff Gordon, Stewart, Harvick, Larson, Keselowski, Logano, Chase Elliott, Jr, Kenseth, Kurt Busch, and maybe even Kyle Busch if he wins a championship will all have or have already had HOF caliber careers. I think every cup champion will eventually get in. 522. joey2448 posted: 04.07.2015 - 8:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larson, Logano and Chase Elliott??? WAAAAAAYYYY too early to call on Larson and Elliott (Chase has ONE career start!) and Logano could go either way right now, since he does have a nice Daytona 500 win to his credit. But still too early on all three of them. 523. racefangurl posted: 04.07.2015 - 9:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The younger drivers mentioned have potential, so they could go either way. I like Joey, so I hope he can have an HOF caliber career. I sort of like Chase, too, but more or less neutral on Larson. If Chase makes it in, fine. Larson, I don't have thoughts either way. Multiple championships are a likely lock-in decider, based on HOF history. A huge number of wins seems to be a thing, too. Just patterns that are emerging. It's no problem, simply how it works, seemingly. Do they that are in the HOF all deserve to be in? 524. DB1995 posted: 04.07.2015 - 9:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Larson, Logano and Chase Elliott??? WAAAAAAYYYY too early to call on Larson and Elliott (Chase has ONE career start!) and Logano could go either way right now, since he does have a nice Daytona 500 win to his credit. But still too early on all three of them" just my opinion on the future 525. Eric posted: 04.07.2015 - 10:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Burt Myers to me isn't deserving being put into a NASCAR Hall of Fame ballot at this point. When I look at lower divisions of NASCAR below the truck series, I want to see how many championships any driver has or the amount of wins in this series. I am saying this because the late Larry Phillips is on the NASCAR Hall of Fame ballot with 5 NASCAR Winston Racing series championships before is it now called Whelen All-American Series Whelen All-American Series is one of the lowest series in NASCAR out there. The Southern Modified Series is too young for me to say who belongs on a future Hall of fame Ballot. Junior Miller really doesn't have any business in the Hall of Fame due to how late the Southern Modified Series was created in Miller's career. I do realize Southern Modified Auto Racing Teams series was part Junior Miller's career, but I don't think that series was part of NASCAR. 526. Eric posted: 04.07.2015 - 10:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It is way too early for Talking about Joey Lagono, Chase Elliott or Kyle Larson for the NASCAR Hall of Fame talk. I don't want to discuss any active cup driver after first coming into the cup series 2006 or later in terms of Hall of Fame talk matter of fact. 527. Scott B posted: 04.08.2015 - 12:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are the obvious locks for first ballot HOF induction among active drivers, and I think Tony Stewart will clear that hurdle too. Kevin Harvick or Brad Keselowski could lock in with a second championship, or if they have success as team owners or broadcasters after their driving careers wind down. Dale Jr. will be the most interesting case to watch. No championships, a good but not overwhelming win total, lots of success at Daytona. I'm sure he'll get in eventually, but how quickly? 528. murb posted: 04.08.2015 - 12:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, obviously way too early to talk about Chase and Larson as potential Hall of Famers (though I still do think both of them will have great careers). It's also slightly early to be talking about Logano as well, but I think he is proving that he is well on his way to at least a 20-30 win career with maybe a championship or two. There's no doubt in my mind that he will be one of the best drivers in the sport for several more years to come. He'll be in good shape if he keeps going at his current rate. As far as current drivers who are ABSOLUTE locks for the Hall of Fame, I think there's only six. Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, Harvick, Kenseth, and Kyle Busch. Gordon, Johnson, and Stewart are obvious, Harvick is undeniable now with all he's done over the last year, Kenseth is a champion and has 30+ wins and two Daytona 500s AND is the most consistently great driver of his generation not named Jimmie Johnson, and while I get fiercely annoyed at all of the talk about Kyle Busch having almost "100 total Nascar wins", he'll pretty obviously get in for everything he's accomplished. Other than those guys, there's really not that many more. Dale Jr is probably in really good shape when considering all of his stuff (two Daytona 500s, two Busch titles, 357 Most Popular Driver awards in a row or whatever it is - not that MPD matters to me whatsoever, but I'm sure they'll definitely look at that - I'm pretty positive that was at least a semi-big reason why Bill Elliott got in so early). So I'd be quite shocked if he doesn't make it in when it's all said and done. I also think Keselowski will be a near lock if he wins another title (which I think he will) and gets to 30+ wins (which I also think he will easily do). But yeah, those first six guys I mentioned are definitely the only current drivers that are total locks, with Dale Jr slightly behind them in the "he'll more than likely make it" category. Other than that, I think everyone else is pretty questionable. 529. Anonymous posted: 04.08.2015 - 4:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Is it okay to be an atheist Nascar fan? 530. Anonymous posted: 04.08.2015 - 4:58 am Rate this comment: (1) (4) Wow, this RaceFanX just goes to every race page and posts retarded info like "*Fill in drivers name* first win* all over EVERY new series. Get a life, dude. Those comments waste people's time, though not as dumb as the idiots who go to each F1 page to post running tallies on "British drivers." 531. We need more Onion posted: 04.08.2015 - 6:44 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) You realize many are bored to hell in their workplace and have access to sites like r-r, but no Yt, reddit, facebook, etc. You on the other hand don't even have courage to use a user name while insulting him. Pathetic. 532. joey2448 posted: 04.08.2015 - 7:19 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) Retarded info?? I think it's all very useful. I myself enjoy reading some of the tidbits on individual race pages that I wouldn't have known myself if I hadn't actually done the extra research. 533. DB1995 posted: 04.08.2015 - 7:25 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Is it okay to be an atheist Nascar fan?" What? Why does this matter? 534. David posted: 04.08.2015 - 12:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Wow, this RaceFanX just goes to every race page and posts retarded info like "*Fill in drivers name* first win* all over EVERY new series. Get a life, dude. Those comments waste people's time, though not as dumb as the idiots who go to each F1 page to post running tallies on "British drivers."" Said by the person who doesn't even bother to visit one of the pages in question and call him out to his face. 535. AnonymousEFR posted: 04.08.2015 - 12:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Is there anything wrong with noting a driver's first win? ANYTHING? I think the new feature to see recent comments at a glance isn't helping, we can snipe out what we don't agree with and start a massive mess where one doesn't belong. 536. Anonymous posted: 04.08.2015 - 12:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) " Said by the person who doesn't even bother to visit one of the pages in question and call him out to his face. " Like going to an F1 page and commenting against something said years ago will really stop him. "You on the other hand don't even have courage to use a user name while insulting him. Pathetic. " Like it's a real name any way. I can post as "We Need More Onion" or "David" even though my real name is Patrick. 537. racefangurl posted: 04.08.2015 - 1:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 530, I mentioned my favorite driver's first win in the Nationwide/Xfinity series once and got yelled at, but that may have been the rest of my comment that caused that. It was on the Texas race discussion last November. Three years previously, he got his first series win in that race (Texas2). "Trevor won this race a few years ago. Regan Smith out qualified his teammate. Maybe I was right about Chase momentum broken by the break." The yelling: "Chase qualified 11th. No momentum has been broken, he's fine, and you will be forced to gorge yourself on pie come November 15. Besides, how can you talk about Trevor winning this race a few years ago yet bash Chase when Chase is the defending track winner?" 538. dennyfan11 posted: 04.08.2015 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hate to be the bearer of bad news but... Steve Byrnes is currently in the ICU with Pneumonia and blood clots on top of cancer. I wish him well, but it's not looking good. On a less tragic note, the weather currently looks bad for the weekend. Friday calls for sunny and no rain, but Friday night, the time of the Xfinity race, calls for an 80% chance of rain. Saturday then calls for a 90% chance of rain and thunderstorms during the day, but Saturday night, the time of the Sprint Cup race, has an 80% chance of thunderstorms. If it gets postponed to Sunday, we still have an 80% chance of thunderstorms, and it doesn't dip below 50% until Monday night. Let's hope we can get it in. 539. The Long Shot posted: 04.08.2015 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Christ's sakes. I can't stand hearing that. I've had the feeling he's been getting worse for some time but I've been hoping he would pull through. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers, and if you're on the Twitter machine, I encourage you to send positive messages his way. 540. Eric posted: 04.08.2015 - 6:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree that Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, Kenseth, Harvick, Kyle Busch are NASCAR Hall of Fame Locks. I rather not go into Kurt Busch for Hall of Fame talk due to him being too toxic. I not going into Denny Hamlin either, but due to me not not wanting discuss about anyone cup driver that started full time in 2006 or later. Dale Jr. is a very good bet for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I think Dale's almost a lock. Having 2 Busch series Championships combined with 23 Cup wins is a Hall of Fame Resume. 23 cup alone is borderline, but having 2 Nationwide championships put him over the edge. Not a lot of drivers have back to back Busch series titles. While Dale has a lot of plate success, I think his 5 short track wins in cup actually help him in terms a hall of fame argument. Dale actually has more career short track cup wins than Matt Kenseth and has as many career short track cup wins as Kevin Harvick. Kevin has short wins than NASCAR Hall of Famers Bill Elliott and Dale Jarrett. Greg Biffle has a good choice of being a NASCAR Hall of Fame driver due to his truck series and Busch Series championships being combined with his 19 cup wins. 541. Unser1 posted: 04.08.2015 - 6:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here's wishing Steve the best. I really hope he can get better. And now to respond to the critic (singular)... I come to this site because I love car racing and I like leaving posts about what happened of note during a race on all the pages I can, same for listing driver accolades on their individual pages. I think it'd be great if we could find something interesting about almost every race on here. It's fun, I enjoy the challenge. I will admit I'm not a fan of the hundreds of opinion/non-racing posts that pop up on the modern Cup race pages but I'm not going to try and stop people from enjoying this site. Live and let live. I like to click on races of all ages and see what people had to say about them. You learn all kinds of great things that just having the finishing order can't tell. Personally I find the new comment display system a mixed bag, on one hand I don't like that it seems to be leading to arguments or people "calling each other out." On the other hand I know people are reading the comments I make on older races more regularly and I think that's neat. I'm glad to see other users like Indycar1, Alex, AnonymousEFR, FortiFord, Leo, 23andJoe, GTRacer, and the whole gang working to tell people what happened in various races and I think it's cool I can now see all of their posts. I was the first user of this site to do the stats for a full series and have it listed here (the North American Touring Cars and A1GP) and I'm amazed that others followed that example and far surpassed what I did. I also like the research behind the nationality related F1 posts. To each his own. It's not just for the Brits, there's stats for all kinds of nationalities on this site. 542. Eric posted: 04.08.2015 - 6:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Here are the active drivers cup that got their start in 2005 or earlier that I think are borderline or longshots: Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, and Carl Edwards. Carl Edwards is borderline, but Newman are Kahne are longshots at this point. The problems with Kahne is his career being so inconsistent and only has 17 career cup wins. Kahne's 3 Coca Cola 600 wins makes you think he's a hall of fame driver, but rest of his resume is the issue. Ryan Newman's issue is only having 1 top 5 points season with 17 wins besides having 8 of his wins in 1 season. Ryan has 2 majors, but rest his resume really doesn't stick out outside of Dover and New Hampshire. I am not got to discuss Bard, Denny or Joey for Hall of Fame since they all stated in cup full time 2006 or later. 543. joey2448 posted: 04.08.2015 - 6:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What does everyone think of the new All-Star race format? I think it's ridiculous. Reason is, why in the world do we need FIVE segments??? There will be four segments of 25 laps each, followed by a mad 10-lap dash to end it. It adds up to 110 total laps. But seriously, what is the point of the first four segments? I think the best format to use would be two segments of 30 laps each, followed by the 10-lap shootout. It adds up to a total of 70 laps, which was the length of the very first *Winston* in 1985. 544. RaceFanX posted: 04.08.2015 - 6:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I agree the old three segment, 70-lap Winston was the best format but it's all-star race and the format always changes. I just want them to move the Winston Open back to Saturday night right before the main show. Please! 545. TS1420 posted: 04.08.2015 - 7:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) NASCAR keeps gimmicking up the All-Star Race because it isn't ever gonna be naturally exciting unless it is moved to a short-track/road-course/plate-track or NASCAR finally fixes the rules package for 1+ mile ovals. Speaking of rules packages, wonder what happened to NASCAR using the 2015 All-Star Race as a test for the 2016 season rules package? 546. All-Star Idea posted: 04.08.2015 - 8:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My All-Star Race idea: Winners from the past year in the Top 3 series (Cup, NXS, Truck) in Cup cars. Plus 1 winner from Open. Most winners in the NXS & Truck series could find a ride for this All Star race. Eligible (how the field would look this year): A.J. Allmendinger Aric Almirola Marcos Ambrose (Left) Ryan Blaney Chris Buescher Kyle Busch (Hurt) Matt Crafton Cole Custer Austin Dillion Ty Dillon Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Carl Edwards Chase Elliott Brendan Gaughan Jeff Gordon Kevin Harvick Denny Hamlin Jimmie Johnson Erik Jones Kasey Kahne Matt Kenseth Brad Keselowski Kyle Larson Joey Logano Paul Menard Timothy Peters Tyler Reddick Ryan Reed Johnny Sauter Darrell Wallace, Jr. 547. racefangurl posted: 04.08.2015 - 9:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (4) I can't watch the All-Star Race because it's on FoxSports1, so I don't care about the rules. 548. Sean posted: 04.08.2015 - 10:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Sean, if 40 or thereabouts wins is your first ballot threshold, what's your HOF win threshold?" I don't believe in any thresholds. I believe in considering the entire profile. Championships (much less than most others do though), wins, HOW races were won, versatility, strength of equipment, career stability, elevating one's team, longevity (especially being able to thrive during multiple different rules package or succeeding for multiple teams/crew chiefs), achievement in other areas of the sport (Junior Johnson obviously gets a bump from his car owner career and Benny Parsons and Ned Jarrett from their broadcasting...DJ seemed to get this too but he was a pretty average broadcaster). 40 Cup wins will usually be a first-ballot for me but not always (at least at this point now that all the eligible 40+ winners are already in). While Mark Martin is a future inductee, I don't think he's a first-ballot despite having 40 wins because while longevity is a good thing, in his case it overrates him compared to many of his non-champion contemporaries whom I think ALSO could have won a similar amount of races had they had the kind of career stability in top equipment for 20 years that Martin did (Geoff Bodine, Harry Gant, Ernie Irvan, and Tim Richmond anyway). I used to say Ricky Rudd too but he had a lot of good cars and still couldn't win more than 2 races in a year, although to be fair to Rudd, he usually drove for top-notch teams in their weaker periods and I don't think we can really blame him for that. I would probably induct Martin in a year or two, but I'd wait. If Kyle Busch got up to 40 Cup wins he'd be an inductee but I wouldn't put him first-ballot either. Context is necessary. If there hadn't been such a backlog in the earlier years, I'd call Bobby Isaac a first-ballot even though he didn't have as many wins as Martin, because at his peak, he was much more dominant, and that matters more to me. Curtis Turner also has a better claim for first-ballot to me than Martin (again, if there wasn't a major backlog), but in his case, you really have to consider his dominance in the Convertible Series as well. As for wins, I think 15+ Cup wins alone will usually be enough to be inducted, regardless of championships (but I would set it higher to 25 or something for drivers who spent a decade or more in top equipment, which really wasn't that common until the '90s). I don't think Donnie Allison or Sterling Marlin will make it, but Bodine, Bonnett, Gant, Irvan, Richmond, etc... probably will (they all made the 50 Greatest Drivers list after all). A few drivers with fewer wins will make it (Kulwicki, Byron) but they'll usually have to have some sort of success in a minor-league NASCAR series in addition to their Cup wins I think (Welborn, Lund, McGriff, Elder...all of whom I think probably should be in eventually but not very soon, but none of whom should be in for their Cup success alone.) Setting win thresholds can be as goofy as setting championship thresholds. Again, setting a win threshold leads one to draw the conclusion that Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Jeff Burton, and Bobby Labonte are better drivers than the likes of Harry Gant, Ernie Irvan, and Tim Richmond when they are very clearly NOT. (Same deal with Mark Martin vs. Tim Flock, Bobby Isaac, and Fireball Roberts, who were all much better despite fewer wins). It's about judging the entire context of a driver's career. Specific thresholds are stupid. But win thresholds are a less bad idea than championship thresholds or (shudder) marquee race thresholds (although I do think marquee races are something to consider in the Grand National pre-Winston Cup era when the marquee race fields WERE generally deeper, but the depth of the field is what's really important so the races at Rockingham, Dover, and Martinsville that generally always drew all the stars as well are just as important. But yes, the marquee races are more important than the 20-car fields on half-mile dirt tracks, but because of the depth of the field, not SOLELY because it's a marquee race). 549. Sean posted: 04.08.2015 - 10:48 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I agree that Gordon, Johnson, Stewart, Kenseth, Harvick, Kyle Busch are NASCAR Hall of Fame Locks. I rather not go into Kurt Busch for Hall of Fame talk due to him being too toxic. I not going into Denny Hamlin either, but due to me not not wanting discuss about anyone cup driver that started full time in 2006 or later." Lee Roy Yarbrough made the 50 Greatest Drivers List despite attempting to strangle his mother. Curtis Turner and Tim Flock made it despite being banned for life (even though Turner's ban was lifted). Tim Richmond made it despite him having AIDS when that was considered very controversial. The superfluous stuff gets forgotten about over time while the stats remain. No matter how you feel about Tony Stewart or Kurt Busch's recent (or not-so-recent) controversies they will both be inducted. Now do I see either of them as anything resembling role models? That's another story. Also, they are both more historically important than Yarbrough as well as other controversial drivers like Jack Smith, one of the most notorious racists in NASCAR history, and Speedy Thompson, who caused the crash that nearly killed Herb Thomas ending his effective career on team orders. Having said that, I could see even those three getting in, but it might have to be a weak year. Kurt Busch will make it whether you like it or not. "Dale Jr. is a very good bet for the NASCAR Hall of Fame. I think Dale's almost a lock. Having 2 Busch series Championships combined with 23 Cup wins is a Hall of Fame Resume. 23 cup alone is borderline, but having 2 Nationwide championships put him over the edge. Not a lot of drivers have back to back Busch series titles. While Dale has a lot of plate success, I think his 5 short track wins in cup actually help him in terms a hall of fame argument. Dale actually has more career short track cup wins than Matt Kenseth and has as many career short track cup wins as Kevin Harvick. Kevin has short wins than NASCAR Hall of Famers Bill Elliott and Dale Jarrett. Greg Biffle has a good choice of being a NASCAR Hall of Fame driver due to his truck series and Busch Series championships being combined with his 19 cup wins." Junior is a lock even though it makes me cringe. I agree 23 Cup wins is borderline for somebody who has been in top equipment all along in a mostly 36-race Cup season, but I wouldn't make that argument for the '70s and '80s when there were fewer races in a season, and many fewer drivers in top equipment for their entire careers. Kenseth and Harvick are locks. Junior WAS pretty versatile from 2001-04, but he just hasn't been all that much since. Biffle is very, very borderline but I think he'll get it for his Nationwide/truck titles, but it'll take a long time. "Here are the active drivers cup that got their start in 2005 or earlier that I think are borderline or longshots: Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, and Carl Edwards. Carl Edwards is borderline, but Newman are Kahne are longshots at this point. The problems with Kahne is his career being so inconsistent and only has 17 career cup wins. Kahne's 3 Coca Cola 600 wins makes you think he's a hall of fame driver, but rest of his resume is the issue. Ryan Newman's issue is only having 1 top 5 points season with 17 wins besides having 8 of his wins in 1 season. Ryan has 2 majors, but rest his resume really doesn't stick out outside of Dover and New Hampshire." Edwards is a lock now in my opinion. Not a first-ballot lock, but a lock. Kahne will probably keep getting a win or two a year like a modern Terry Labonte and Ricky Rudd and eventually trickle in due to longevity, but he definitely has to do more now. Ryan Newman has NO BUSINESS being discussed, but unfortunately I think he probably will be. "I am not got to discuss Bard, Denny or Joey for Hall of Fame since they all stated in cup full time 2006 or later." Keselowski just needs to keep up his pace for maybe 2 or 3 more years and Logano for maybe 5. Hamlin...is very close already. I was putting him as borderline already before his Fontana 2013 crash, but then he struggled miserably after his return and I started having doubts. However, he has had a resurgence this year and if he has ANY year as good as his '09 or '10 again, that pushes him over the line for me for sure. "NASCAR keeps gimmicking up the All-Star Race because it isn't ever gonna be naturally exciting unless it is moved to a short-track/road-course/plate-track or NASCAR finally fixes the rules package for 1+ mile ovals." It needs to be at Richmond I think. If it must be at Charlotte, why not put it at The Dirt Track at Charlotte (I hate that that's its official name)? That way you'd at least have a new venue and there would be some novelty to it. I don't think I support Cup on dirt for a points race, but it would certainly increase interest in this presently (pointless) race at one of the same old tracks they race at all the time. "My All-Star Race idea: Winners from the past year in the Top 3 series (Cup, NXS, Truck) in Cup cars. Plus 1 winner from Open. Most winners in the NXS & Truck series could find a ride for this All Star race." Randomly add 2 second-tier IndyCar drivers and the World of Outlaws champion and call it IROC! Granted, there is perhaps more justification for inviting Nationwide/truck drivers to a NASCAR all-star race than for them to be invited to IROC, but still... 550. Scott B posted: 04.09.2015 - 11:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Adding just the reigning Champions from the Truck and Xfinity series to the All Star field would be fine with me. That would be a nice way to give them some recognition, and with a few months between the end of the previous season and the All-Star weekend, they would have time to make plans to participate even if they didn't already have ties to a Cup team. I wouldn't take it as far as inviting all of the race winners from the lower series, though. 551. dennyfan11 posted: 04.09.2015 - 7:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chance of rain for Saturday night has dropped to 40%. Let's hope we can get it in. 552. racefangurl posted: 04.09.2015 - 9:51 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Rain is a pain, if it falls on the racetrack. 553. dennyfan11 posted: 04.10.2015 - 6:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And now it's down to 20%. Looks like the race will be normal. 554. racefangurl posted: 04.10.2015 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This weekend will tell if Roush has other issues with the cars beside the chassis that have made them handle bad. They said it wouldn't be a panacea. The Roushskateers did beat Front Row in the first practice. Joey was 2 positions of ahead of Ricky. Chevy power in the top-10, as 7 of the cars up there are Chevys, for those that are Chevy fans here. Good going, Truex! 555. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 07.11.2015 - 11:20 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crew Chief of the #44 was Peter Sospenzo 556. Big King Fan posted: 12.03.2015 - 5:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Top ten If race ended halfway: 1. Kevin Harvick, finished 8th 2. Brad Keselowski, finished 2nd 3. Carl Edwards, finished 17th 4. Kasey Kahne, finished 11th 5. Jamie McMurray, finished 10th 6. Clint Bowyer, finished 13th 7. Matt Kenseth, finished 4th 8. Martin Truex Jr., finished 6th 9. Jeff Gordon, finished 9th 10. Denny Hamlin, finished 1st Win count: Harvick-2 Truex Jr.-1 Keselowski-1 Logano-1 Gordon-1 557. 88&4Fan posted: 12.03.2015 - 6:10 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So now we have "Big Mac Fan" and "Big King Fan"? That's not confusing at all... 558. Big Mac Fan posted: 12.03.2015 - 8:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If it gets too confusing, I may slighly change my name. 559. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 09.28.2016 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DC 42 Kyle Larson Target/Coca-Cola/Axe Chip Ganassi Chevy Sponsor Update #42 Target/Coca-Cola/Axe 560. Danish_Pie posted: 04.10.2019 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Although he vastly underperformed in 2015, driving for both Joe Gibbs and Michael Waltrip, David Ragan's 5th place in this race was the lone bright spot. Not only was it his only Top 5 of the year, but it was his only Top 10 as well. It's also Ragan's most recent Top 5 to date. 561. SweetRich posted: 02.29.2020 - 5:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The commentators for the race were Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip. The pit road reporters were Matt Yocum, Chris Neville and Jamie Little. 562. Rich posted: 11.28.2020 - 9:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Joining the race coverage were Chris Myers and Michael Waltrip were in the Hollywood hotel. 563. Rich posted: 12.08.2020 - 9:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Andy Petree was the in-race analyst. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: