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Track Trash – Califor-ni-aby Racing Maniac ~ February 25th, 2008. Filed under: Track Trash. |
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And I quote: “You call this a RACE ?? I call it an embarrassment. It was PATHETIC.”
So went Race 1 of the multi-day Cup race. And yes, as the paying fans of NA$CAR, we are certainly allowed to rant. Come on now……what are your thoughts?? |
El Robo: OK, there’s a big hubbub about RoboGordo. During his quick switch from Ford to Dodge, he slapped on a Dodge nose that wasn’t approved. And he’s about to get slapped with penalties of 100 points, $100,000 and crew chief suspension for six races, which is what das Knaus and Lefarte got nailed with last year for altering the fenders. But even if you don’t like Robo, you’ve gotta have a soft spot in your heart about how he got in this position. The nose came straight from Dodge, and they admit to their mistake. There was no pre-planned effort on Robo’s part to gain an advantage (quite unlike das Knaus and Lefarte). Anyway, if you feel that NA$CAR (again) was overly zealous, go to www.jimbeam.com and do a ‘Support Robby”. You’ll feel much better that you finally told NA$CAR that we, the fans, are closely looking at them, and that we only want a fair resolution to this mess.
Reiser: Robbie may have second thoughts about becoming a manager at Roush. He’s barely been in his position, yet he misses getting that yucky grease under his fingernails. According to Robbie, “When we get to April and May, I’ll look at it. If I still can’t stand it, I’ll go talk to Jack.” And if MattyBoy doesn’t start becoming more competitive, it could happen a lot sooner…….
Blobonte: Rumors are floating that he could jump to RCR next year, but Bobby’s not adding fuel to the fire. He’s in contract negotiations and is stone-walling any questions, but it never hurts your bargaining position for rumors like this to surface…..it just makes your case better for trying to get a good sized raise. By the way, Blobonte is driving an RCR car in the Busch league, so it’s not too far fetched that he could jump.
Oyota: During the pre-race delay, one of the Oyota drivers (KidKyle, the man with the loose lips?) indicated that due to the problems they had with the lifters, they were paring back on horsepower during the California race. He didn’t expect to get as much of a run down the straightaways. This prediction eventually proved to be wrong, so they must have HP to spare at this point.
Da Race: You call this a RACE ?? I call it an embarrassment. It was PATHETIC. We were delayed by rain. Then we were delayed by Mikey and his loose oil fitting. Then we were delayed because of the wrecks caused by the seeping track. Then we were delayed by rain again. Then some more wrecks followed by a much longer rain delay. Hey, something like this could make us turn to the PGA for our entertainment. Those of you who were glued to their TV’s and radios were subjected to copious amounts of bantering by the announcers.
Das Debris: We saw this happen here in years past……way too much debris, causing motors to overheat. This time, however, we saw an abundance of plastic windshield tear-offs. This has got to be the filthiest track on the circuit, and is just one more reason why NA$CAR should abandon California and go back to its roots. Let’s exit the half filled stands, and the wine-and-cheese part time aficionados, and hunker down with our buds with the beer and dogs. Let’s go back to Darlington.
Comments: Both Jr. and DennyHambone were taken out by wrecks, and then offered their opinions that NA$CAR should not have allowed racing on that wet track. However, during the lengthy delays, no other drivers had the guts to say what they were thinking. They all played the ‘be nice’ game that NA$CAR has wanted. I wonder what woulda happened if about 10 drivers got together and said “it’s too dangerous, so we’re not going to race today.”
Race 1: Having just awoken to find the race was delayed until Monday, let’s call Race 1 the Sunday version, and Race 2 on Monday. Race 1 was dominated to some extent by Gordo, who had a rocket….until he got back in dirty air. They had the same problem with the Car of Yesterday, and still haven’t figured out how to make that compensation. JJ had flashes of brilliance, primarily due to his pole pit stall. But the really fast dude was KidKyle. He started in 22nd place, worked his way up, fell to the rear with debris problems, then worked his way up. It really wasn’t ‘work’, because he sorta blew by anyone he wanted to. But all was for naught. Because the “rain drops were fallin’ on my head”, ta da, ta deedely da.
Race 2: Miraculously, the debris of yesterday was picked up, so there were no issues. Maybe the track’s GM knows his days are numbered…… But it was a whole new ball game. Instead of coolish weather, it was getting warm, and the cars began to react differently. Right off the bat, JJ and KidKyle were strong, and CaseOfKahne showed some stamina. At different times, several cars got up in the gray stuff and kissed the wall, but there were no mangled messes like yesterday. Toward the end it was JJ, Gordhead and da Flipster, but it was no contest. Flip’s car was set up for long runs, and it played out that way. So at the end, he was quietly motoring away from everyone.
Kudos: To JJ and Gordo for bouncing back from their Daytona fandangos. To da Kid for hanging in there, and becoming the Points leader. To MattyBoy for quietly gaining back his top 5 finish.
Belly Flops: JerryMaybefield, Mr.Pigtail, DJ and Mikey all had bad hair days. And most of ‘em probably won’t fare much better next week.
Heaps of 3’s all over yer Dish Net antenna,
Racing Maniac
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 9 99 Carl Edwards Ford Dish Network 190/5 249 Running
2 1 48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet Lowe’s 180/10 249 Running
3 2 24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet DuPont Cromax Pro 170/5 249 Running
4 22 18 Kyle Busch Toyota Interstate Batteries 165/5 249 Running
5 4 17 Matt Kenseth Ford Carhartt 160/5 249 Running
6 11 1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops / Tracker 150/0 249 Running
7 6 20 Tony Stewart Toyota The Home Depot 146/0 249 Running
8 10 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 147/5 249 Running
9 20 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Budweiser 143/5 249 Running
10 13 12 Ryan Newman Dodge Samsung HDTV / ALLTEL 139/5 249 Running
11 39 83 Brian Vickers Toyota Red Bull 130/0 249 Running
12 8 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet AT&T Mobility 132/5 249 Running
13 36 2 Kurt Busch Dodge Miller Lite 124/0 249 Running
14 24 6 David Ragan Ford AAA Insurance So. Cal. 121/0 249 Running
15 14 16 Greg Biffle Ford 3M 123/5 249 Running
16 16 8 Mark Martin Chevrolet Principal Financial Group / Mark Martin’s 700th start 115/0 249 Running
17 32 38 David Gilliland Ford FreeCreditReport.com 112/0 249 Running
18 28 7 Robby Gordon Dodge Jim Beam 114/5 249 Running
19 3 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet DIRECTV 106/0 249 Running
20 21 42 Juan Montoya Dodge Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit 103/0 249 Running
21 31 66 Scott Riggs Chevrolet Haas Automation 100/0 249 Running
22 18 26 Jamie McMurray Ford Crown Royal 102/5 249 Running
23 40 00 David Reutimann Toyota Aaron’s Dream Machine 94/0 248 Running
24 27 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge U2 3D / Best Buy 91/0 248 Running
25 19 43 Bobby Labonte Dodge Hamburger Helper “My Hometown Helper” 88/0 248 Running
26 38 21 Bill Elliott Ford Little Debbie 85/0 248 Running
27 29 15 Paul Menard Chevrolet Quaker State / Menards 82/0 247 Running
28 41 55 Michael Waltrip Toyota NAPA AUTO PARTS 79/0 247 Running
29 25 96 J.J. Yeley Toyota DLP HDTV 76/0 247 Running
30 34 22 Dave Blaney Toyota CAT Paving Products 73/0 247 Running
31 17 01 Regan Smith *Chevrolet Coors Light 70/0 247 Running
32 26 40 Dario Franchitti *Dodge Target 72/5 247 Running
33 37 44 Dale Jarrett Toyota UPS 69/5 246 Running
34 43 78 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet Furniture Row/ DenverMattress.com 61/0 245 Running
35 42 34 John Andretti Chevrolet Front Row Motorsports 63/5 244 Running
36 30 28 Travis Kvapil Ford Yates Racing 55/0 241 Running
37 23 41 Reed Sorenson Dodge Energizer e2 Lithium 52/0 239 Running
38 35 45 Kyle Petty Dodge Wells Fargo 49/0 235 Running
39 33 70 Jeremy Mayfield Chevrolet Haas Automation 46/0 230 Running
40 15 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet AMP Energy / National Guard 43/0 202 Running
41 12 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota FedEx Freight 40/0 192 Running
42 5 5 Casey Mears Chevrolet CARQUEST / Kellogg’s 37/0 20 Out of Race
43 7 77 Sam Hornish Jr. *Dodge Mobil 1 34/0 20
Here’s the points standings…
RANK +/- DRIVER 1 +3 Kyle Busch 2 -1 Ryan Newman 3 -- Tony Stewart 4 -2 Kurt Busch 5 +13 Carl Edwards 6 -- Kasey Kahne 7 +6 Kevin Harvick 8 +17 Jimmie Johnson 9 -- Greg Biffle 10 +1 Jeff Burton 11 +1 Brian Vickers 12 +7 Martin Truex Jr. 13 -6 Elliott Sadler 14 +24 Jeff Gordon 15 +19 Matt Kenseth 16 -6 Bobby Labonte 17 -12 Reed Sorenson 18 -1 David Reutimann 19 +3 Clint Bowyer 20 -- Scott Riggs 21 +7 David Gilliland 22 +4 Jamie McMurray 23 -15 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 24 +6 Mark Martin 25 -9 Dale Jarrett 26 -5 Paul Menard 27 +4 Juan Montoya 28 -4 J.J. Yeley 29 -2 Michael Waltrip 30 +12 David Ragan 31 -16 Denny Hamlin 32 +8 Robby Gordon 33 -19 Sam Hornish Jr.* 34 -11 Jeremy Mayfield 35 -3 Dario Franchitti* 36 -7 Travis Kvapil 37 -1 Dave Blaney
February 26th, 2008 at 8:47 am
Na$car needs to go back to Rockingham & Darlington. California is a joke, if it’s not raining, it’s 115 degrees.
February 26th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Exciting NASCAR Sunday. Got strung along until almost 2 a.m. in the morning and then they cancelled the “race”. That track reminds me of an Interstate Highway. Just a much fun going to an overpass and watch the traffic, but it is illegal to drink in public so I guess taking a cooler full of Bud and watching traffic wouldn’t be a good idea.
NASCAR should toss in about 15 dirt tracks and dump some of those cookie cutter interstates, oops, I ment speedways.
Drive safe and sober everyone. DX
February 26th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Sick of Cal. & NA$CAR? ROCKINGHAM is back open and they have a race on May 1st and I’ll guarantee you it will be far better than watching a bunch of [xxxxx] millionaire PR lap-dogs “chase”ing their tails around that useless piece of real estate in Fontana. Tickets are only $35.00!!!!
February 26th, 2008 at 6:42 pm
ASK yourself first if there are trashcans in that place or the stars were too cheap to bring their butlers!!
ASK yourself if windshield tearoffs are taken off in the pits how do they keep ending up on the track ?
ASK yourself if NA$CAR was so worried about their fans ..how they let them sit in the rain for all that time , to watch less than 90 laps of racing (1/2 THAT under caution )?
ASK yourself if NA$CAR would have been doing it FOR the fans had they MADE it to halfway and called the race complete ?
LASTLY ask yourself if you are as happy as ME that the OPEN WHEELERS are reuniting to give us a BETTER OPTION ?!!
February 26th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
A second race at Fontana! That’s a great idea!, Let’s take the date away from Darlington, even better!
IDIOTS.
Why would they put two races out there when they can’t sell out any of them? Not only that, but the aforementioned trash and rain problems and ’seepage’ problems……..but they also decided to put the race date at the same weekend as the Oscars and when the Lakers are in first place! Not to mention the Dodgers are about to start their pre-season rumblings……I say again…..
IDIOTS.
February 27th, 2008 at 1:25 am
I like Fontana for 1 race.I like the track and the speed the cars can go without restrictor plates (please, please, please keep it restrictor free!)I think NASCAR was roight to try and to get the race in on Sunday. A lot of people couldn’t make it on Monday, and it is up to NASCAR to do there best to get the race or half of it in. Plus, the teams and crews, NASCAR, FOX, vendors, insurance, employees all have to be paid and housed for another day. Flights have to be changed, lives disrupted all on accounts. Not to mention valuable prime time network tv. Now, I am glad they tried to get it in. That is percisly why Fontana has lights. Not all tracks do. I personally think lights should be mandatory for such reasons. The races were run on Monday. No one was there. Now this is where the ISC made a huge mistake. They charged everyone without a ticket from the day before a $55 fee. I know they think that was a bargain to see two races in one day. And they are right to an extent. But for people who are available on a Monday to come to a track, fill spaces, maybe the track owners should have lowered their prices more. I was going to go with three kids, but had just got back from a vacation on Sunday and couln’t afford that much. Half would have been better for me. And then I would have gone and taken the kids. Bought food and souviniors.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:45 am
not selling out a race??? Isn’t that the same reason they took the ROCK off the schedule…..