Race Review

Lenox Industrial Tools 301

Lauden, NH

Welcome, race fans to today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup review. This is the seventeenth race of the season. 10 Patrick Carpentier is on the pole with the speed in qualifying of 129.776. He had to qualify on speed to get into the race, and was faster than anyone else. 43 Bobby Labonte starts second. 45 is Terry Labonte while Kyle Petty is in the booth. He got in on speed, instead of having to use his past Champion provisional. 70 is Johnny Sauter. 8 is Aric Almirola. 34 Tony Raines and 21 Marcos Ambrose didn’t make the race.
10 Patrick Carpentier leads from the pole. 29 Kevin Harvick takes the lead. 43 gets by 10. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. gets by 41 Reed Sorenson. 88 gets by 66 Scott Riggs for fourth. 11 Denny Hamlin gets by 17 Matt Kenseth. 66, 9 Kasey Kahne and 1 Martin Truex, Jr. battle. 41 and 1 battle for fifth. 1 takes the position. 12 Ryan Newman gets by 26 Jamie McMurray. 88 gets by 43 for second. 16 Greg Biffle is falling back. 11 gets by 84 A J Allmendinger. 88 catches leader 29 when 29 starts to lap traffic. 88 takes the lead.
20 Tony Stewart bumps 40 Dario Franchitti to take thirteenth. 1 gets by 43 for third. And we have Green flag Pitting begining with 9. 7 Robby  Gordon led in there somewhere. When it’s all over, 29 is back in the lead. The first caution comes out when 44 David Reutimann gets into 40 and sends him into the wall. 78 Joe Nemechek  is the Lucky dog and gets his lap back. 5 Casey Mears stays out to lead. 83 Brian Vickers also stays out. 29 and 20 take fuel only and come out of the pits first. 29 gets by 83 for second. 20 gets by 83 for third.
The second caution is for debris. 10 Patrick Carpentier is the Lucky Dog. Everyone pits. 20 comes out of the pits first to lead. 31 cars are on the lead lap. 29 and 24 Jeff Gordon battle for third. 24 gets by. 24 and 5 battle for second. The third caution comes out when 78 spins. 8 Aric Almirola is the Lucky Dog. The top seventeen stay on the track. 19 Elliot Sadler and 15 Paul Mennard battle for the Lucky Dog position. All forty-three cars are still on the track.
42 Juan Pablo Montoya gets into team mate 41, and 41 falls back. 07 Clint Bowyer and 29 battle for sixth. 07 gets by. 88 gets by 29. 31 Jeff Burton gets by 88 for eighth. The fourth caution comes out during the commercial. 84 blows up and catches fire. 41 Reed Sorenson is the Lucky Dog. 20 comes out of the pits first. 16 is too fast entering the pits. We go Green lap 211. 00 Michael McDowell blows up. He gets off the track and we stay green. 8 gets loose and saves it.
The fifth caution comes out when 9 wiggles into 8 in the corner and 8 couldn’t save it. 5 gets fuel only and 18 Kyle Busch takes two tires. 19 Elliott Sadler is the Lucky Dog. The top seventeen, except 5 stayed out. They are three-wide into turn three! 38 David Gilliland and 01 Regan Smith battle for the Luck Dog position. There is weather in the area. 9 spins and gets going, so we stay green.
24 and 48 Jimmy Johnson battle for second. They touch. 48 gets by. And they battle again. 48 stays ahead. 11 and 24 battle. 11 finally gets by. 07 and 24 battle. 07 wiggles and falls behind 24. 48 is closing in on leader 20. There are twenty-nine cars on the lead lap, and forty-one cars on the track. 48 gets loose.
The sixth caution comes out when 88 is trying to pit and 26 rams into him to spin him into the pits. 26 goes up the track, into the wall, off the wall and down into 6 David Ragan, who looses his tire! 24 gets fuel only, as does 11 and 48. 2 Kurt Busch, 55 Michael Waltrip, 96 J J Yeley, 1, 19, 41, 5 and 43 stay out.
The seventh caution comes out when 77 Sam Hornish, Jr. clips 07 and sends him into the wall. During the caution, 18 gets into 42 (he says he was trying to get around 40, but it was a caution and you can’t get around anyone). So, 42 puts his nose into 18 and 18 spins into 42! “Do unto Kyle Busch before he does unto you”. Way to go JP. It starts raining and the pace car brings everyone down pit road.
NASCAR calls the race and 2 Kurt Busch wins the race.

Brought to by Sheila Hawley

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Race Review of the Bud Shoot Out

Race Review of the Bud Shoot out

NASCAR is back! The first race of the season is the non-points race, the Bud Shoot out. This race is all the Bud Pole winners of 2007 and past winners of the Event. Bud pole winners from last year are: David Gilliland 38, Jeff Gordon 24, Kasey Kahne 9, Ryan Newman 12, Denny Hamlin 11, Clint Bowyer 07, J. J. Yeley now in the 96, Casey Mears now in the 5, Dave Blaney 22, Jamie McMurray 26, Reed Sorenson 41, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. now in the 88, Kurt Busch 2, Jimmy Johnson 48, Michael Waltrip 55, Greg Biffle 16, and Carl Edwards 99. Past winners in the race are: Mark Martin now in the 8, Ken Schrader in the 49, Bill Elliott in the 21, and Dale Jarrett 44.
They drew starting positions on Thursday with 2 K. Busch on the pole. He and Tony Stewart got together in practice and 2 had to go to a back up car and start from the rear. That put M. Waltrip on the pole. 44 Jarrett changed an engine, 21 Elliott,12 Newman, 24 J. Gordon and 48 Johnson also are in back up cars and will start from the rear. 5 Mears was sick and didn’t go to the selection meeting, so will start from the rear.
The Bud Shoot out is two segments. The first is 20 laps and they will pit for ten minutes, after it. Then the final segment is 50 laps. They will have to make a pit stop somewhere in there because the fuel won’t last 50 laps. For 07 Bowyer, 41 Sorenson and 96 Yeley. this is their first Shoot out.
So, here we go. 8 Martin doesn’t take off very well and 55 Waltrip leads. 38 Gilliland takes the lead. 55 is back into the lead. 9 Kahne gets stuck in the middle. 88 Earnhardt, Jr. challenges for the lead. 11 Hamlin gets stuck in the middle. 88 takes the lead. 55 gets stuck in the middle and falls way back. 26 McMurray almost looses it, but saves it.
The first caution comes out when 21 Elliott gets into the wall after he cuts a tire on lap 15 of 20. They can’t get him away from the wall because of the banking, so the first segment ends in caution and they go to the pits while they remove the car. 41 Sorenson is in black this race and it is hard to see the familiar Target on the hood.
They come out of the pits as they were running at the end of the first segment with 88 in the lead. 41 moves to second. 99 Edwards takes the lead. 88 drops down low to take the lead. 26 gets into the wall and sparks are flying to bring out the second caution. 11 was on the outside and went high. 26 goes up to block and runs into 11. 26 gets into the wall ahead of 11. As a result, 07 runs into 8. In the pits, 55 misses his stall and has to go around again.
At the restart, 88 is leading with 22 beside him. 22 takes the lead. 20 pulls between 88 and 22 to get behind 88 sending 22 way back. We get a new leader during the commercial and we have to wait until we know all the sponsors before they show us who is the new leader, 20. 2 is pitting under Green with a tire rub. 88 takes the lead. 24 takes the lead. 88 zips past 24 for the lead.
The third caution comes out during the commercial. 38 got into the wall when his tire goes down, taking 9, 1, and 16 with him. 22 leads at the restart. 88 takes the lead. 07 gets nudged, but saves it. They are 4 wide for an instant. 42 scrapes the wall when 8 gets into him. 20 takes the lead. 38 got the Lucky Dog somewhere in there.
The fourth caution comes out when 2 crashes when he gets loose. 2 spins around into the infield and back onto the track and they finally throw the caution. Back to racing, they are 5 wide momentarily.88 passes 20 to take the lead and gets in front of him. 88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. wins the Bud Shoot Out. This is the finishing order. 88-20-48-24-41-5-22-8-11-9-55-99-44-07-49-96-12-2-38-16-1-26-21.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my site. http://www.ilovemynascar.com

In my opinion-NASCAR

This is the off-season and everyone is looking back on the 2007 season. The good, the bad, the headlines. I subscribe to NASCAR Scene. In a recent Issue there were a few comments from the Media point of view. I am not part of the Media. I am just an avid Fan. So, my take is different than theirs. I would like to quote what was written and then give my opinion as a Race Fan.

“Many big developments, it seemed, were unpopular with fans, and even some competitors. That also seemed to be a constant theme in 2007: discontent.

While competitors bemoaned both the arrival of Toyota and the COT, NASCAR fans, some of the most passionate in all of sports, seemed increasingly disgruntled, as evidenced by the continuing decline of TV ratings and waning interest in this year’s Chase For The Nextel Cup.”

I fell in love with NASCAR in 1996 when I saw my first race. Winston Cup was the Sponsor at the time. While it doesn’t qualify me as a fan since NASCAR got started, it does put me back into the diehard fan base. In my opinion, Winston was what made NASCAR. They put NASCAR on the sports map. As a fan back then, what I liked best about it was it wasn’t football. And it didn’t try to be like football.

Personally, I love to watch racing. But I know there are some fans that like crashing. That’s why fans go to Talladega and Bristol. My favorite racing is side-by-side. And I don’t like the follow the leader yellow flag racing. So I would just as soon not see any caution flags. Just give me racing without the media informing me about points racing, cut-away cars and what the points are as we race (the race won’t end now, and the habit is only annoying.

The Chase, for me, is something unneeded. I want the Champion to be the best driver the whole season. I don’t need the media telling me only about the top 10 or 12 drivers. I like all the drivers and want to see them all. The media starts coverage of the chase with the second race of the year. And in my opinion, that just puts a damper on the whole coverage. Every driver out there is there to win the race. And a lot of credit for great driving goes unnoticed because the driver wasn’t in the top 12.

The theory behind a chase is that sports fans like playoffs. But in NASCAR, the superbowl is the first race – the Daytona 500. So, what’s the point of having a playoff? And what’s so exciting about a tenth place team getting a shot at the Title? In my opinion, if we continue with the Chase, going to the same ten tracks every year, the result will be the same every year. And what is exciting about that? Tony Stewart, Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon will be the ones to beat. Always. Because they are good at the last ten tracks.

So, in response to the Scene article, yes we are disgruntled. The COT may be a safe car, but I don’t want to watch IROC every week. Coverage of the races is terrible. The media only covers the top 12. There are too many commercials and not enough racing. If we are trying to be like football, why can’t the Networks treat racing like football? They wouldn’t go to a commercial during a play. So why do they say ” Wow this is great racing, we’ll be right back”? During the caution, we’re treated to pit stops, replays and pace laps. Why can’t that cleanup time be spent on commercials? Instead of coming back from a commercial to tell us what happened “while we were away”? Nothing should be happening “while we were away”.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

Visit my website: http://www.ilovemynascar.com

Race Review

Race Review

Ford 400

Homestead-Miami, FL.

This is the thirty-sixth and final race of the season. And the tenth and final race of the Chase. A Champion will be crowned after the race. It can go to one of two Drivers. Those being Jimmy Johnson who won the last four races and is going for five straight wins, and Jeff Gordon Jimmy’s part Owner. Homestead-Miami is a 1.5 mile track with graduated banking so that there are multiple grooves to race on. 267 laps will be 400.5 miles. 48 Jimmy Johnson is on the Pole having posted a speed of 176.788. 12 Ryan Newman will start beside Jimmy.
Today 09 is Sterling Marlin. 36 is BDR Truck Driver Johnny Benson. He won the Truck race here on Friday. 44 Dale Jarrett made the final race of the season on speed. Go Dale! 10 today is Patrick Carpentier. 06 is Sam Hornish, Jr. 21 is Bill Elliott, who took a past Champion provisional to get into the race. Those failing to qualify are 55 Michael Waltrip, 84 A. J. Allmendinger, 4 Todd Bodine, (see, it’s the car, not the Driver, regularly Ward Burton) 78 Joe Nemechek, 34 Kevin Lepage, and 49 John Andretti. This is Robby Reiser’s last race as Crew Chief to 17 Matt Kenseth. Robby got promoted.
So, here we go! 48 leads from the pole. 12 takes the lead shortly after. 17 moves to second, and then into the Lead. 31 Jeff Burton gets loose and into the wall, and is slow on the track. 2 Kurt Busch gets by 48. 31 has a tire rubbing from contact with the wall and pits. 20 Tony Stewart gets loose. 2 gets by 12 for second. 1 Martin Truex, Jr. gets by 48. 12 and 1 battle for third. 24 Jeff Gordon and 20 battle. 20 gets by 24. 24 gets by 48. 5 Kyle Busch and 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. battle. 8 gets by. Green Flag Pitting begins on lap 48.
The first caution comes out when 8 gets sideways on pit Rd. 5 got into 8 to spin him entering Pit Rd. 8 straightens it out and goes back on the track, as does 29 Kevin Harvick. They both get commitment cone violations. 10 was also involved. At this track, you have to use an access road to get into the pits. The accident happened as they were leaving the access road into the pits. 12, 20, 42 Juan Pablo Montoya, 41 Reed Sorenson, 25 Casey Mears, 00 David Reutimann, 07 Clint Bowyer, 11 Denny Hamlin and 44 hadn’t yet pitted. 41 leaves before the jack comes down, sending the jack into the pits! Luckily no one is hurt. Because so many cars pitted before the caution, they stay out and leader, 17 is way behind.
The second caution comes out at the restart. 31 Jeff Burton spins 8. All those ahead of the Leader will go around behind the leaders, staying on the lead lap. The sun is in everyone’s eyes so they are having trouble seeing the track and getting to their pits. Why they start these races so late that the sun is such a factor is beyond me. The Green Flag comes back out on lap 62. 10 is having problems. 2 takes the lead. 19 Elliott Sadler gets into the wall and pits. 8 gets Black flagged for a rear panel that is flapping around and has to pit to pull it off before he causes a caution.
The third caution comes out during the commercial. 15 Paul Menard got loose on the top of the track and got into the wall. 11 is leading when the Green comes out. 1 and 24 battle. 11 and 17 battle for the lead. 17 takes the lead. 31 is ahead of the Leader barely on the lead lap. 17 gets by 31 to put him back down a lap. 42 and 20 with four tires get by 24 who took only two tires. 99 Carl Edwards gets by 25. 2 pits with a vibration. Green Flag Pitting begins again and 25 is leading. After all the pitting is complete, 17 is back into the lead. 12 gets by 20 for fourth.
The fourth caution comes out when 12 spins out in front of 20 and 24. They both get by. It’s 17, 07 Clint Bowyer, 11, 1, 24 and 22 Dave Blaney out of the pits. The fifth caution involves 70 Johnny Sauter, 83 Brian Vickers and 10. 70 spins across the track into the inside wall. 10 can’t slow down and gets into 83, who spins into the inside wall beside 70. The Green Flag comes out on lap 163. 11 takes the lead. 38 David Gilliland brushes the wall and pits. 17 catches 11 and takes the lead from 11. 1 and 24 battle. 1 takes the spot.
The sixth caution comes out when 06 Sam Hornish, Jr. gets into the wall. Personally, I don’t understand why the yellow comes out for 06, when it didn’t for 38 and 19. 17, 1, 2, 24, 11, 48, 22, 99, 01 Mark Martin and 6 David Ragan are the top 10. 24 makes it three-wide. 5 makes it three-wide. 1 and 24 battle for second. 1 keeps the spot. 2 gets by 24. 1 and 2 battle. 2 gets by 1 for second. 11 and 24 battle. 11 gets the spot. 1 and 11 battle for third. 48 gets by 24. Green Flag Pitting begins again. 26 Jamie McMurray leads, then pits. 1 and 17 battle for the Lead. 17 takes the lead.
The seventh caution comes out with 14 to go. 20 spins into the wall. The car wasn’t right and Tony is not a Happy Camper. The Green Flag comes out with 10 to go, so it’s a single file restart. 17, the Leader has concerns about a flat tire. But it’s only debris on the tire and goes away. 11, 1 and 24 battle. 20 comes back out and is limping around. 1 and 48 battle for sixth.
17 Matt Kenseth wins the race. And 48 Jimmy Johnson wins the Championship. Personally, I liked the Green Flag pitting and only seven cautions. Matt Kenseth finished strong and jumps up to fourth in the points. The final top 12 are 48, 24, 07, 17, 5, 20, 2, 31, 99, 29, 1 and 11. Only the top ten will go to the stage at the Banquet. Thirteenth through twenty are 12, 16 Greg Biffle, 25, 8, 26, 43 Bobby Labonte, 9 Kasey Kahne and 42.

Brought to you by Sheila Hawley

http://www.ilovemynascar.com