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It’s a team sport. Some teams were great, and others faltered badly. This time it was The Cat with the smile on his face, and the “H” man with the frown. And don’t forget the minister before the race……his prayers to keep the racers safe may have come in handy for TwoTonTony and Gordo.

Petty: Another year, and another abysmal start for the Petty teams. They were supposed to have their game in working condition by this time, but they’re far from competitive on the cookie cutters. Yeah, they recently moved into a newer garage, and that might have siphoned off some of their energy, but when you compare this outfit to the GEM Dodges, well, there’s really no comparison. And I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Blobonte doesn’t bolt if they don’t start improving this year.

Going Nowhere: Others that are not making a big impression, and haven’t for quite some time, are JamieMac in the 26 Ford, CaseOfMears in the 5 Chevy, and Maynerd in the 15 Chevy. All are (unfortunately) the worst drivers of their respective teams. When Roush has to pare back to 4 teams, Jamie’s gonna be the one on the hot seat.

RoboGordo: Robo’s ‘sentencing’ has been held off until this coming Wednesday. NA$CAR has this rock solid rule that if the COT is messed with, there will be heavy fines and penalties. What’s incongruous about this whole situation is that this appears to be the only ‘rock solid’ rule in their book….and the rest of the rules are doled out in whimsical fashion. Oh, I almost forgot. NA$CAR is not a democracy. It’s a dictatorship, and if you don’t like they way they run their organization, you have to pick up your bat and ball and go home.

Da Race: It was as if there were two races out there. The first half was dominated by KidKyle, FlipEdwards, and teammate DaBiff. Even Gordo and Jr. showed signs of being racy. But the dramatic event early in the race was due to unorthodox pit sequences that put most of the field one lap down. This was a hole that few of them could crawl out of.

TwoTon: We all got a scare on Lap 109 when Stewart cut a tire and dramatically crashed into the SAFER barrier. The second crash for Tony in two days, he was visibly shaken up, and limped out of the way. It coulda been a lot worse, but he’s gonna be sore for a few days.

Penalties: Pit road penalties were doled out to DaBiff, Saddleburns, Flipster, and Robo for various reasons.

RF’s: TwoTon, Robo, Maybefield and BadBoyBusch all blew RF tires, with BadBoy’s being the most dramatic of the bunch because you could actually see it explode in the reruns. BadBoy got his bell rung on that one…..

Last restarts: The restart with 5 to go will be well documented. Jr. erred on the restart and spun his tires, so MattyBoy and Gordo drove around him. When they had cleared Jr., Gordo drifted up into MattyBoy, causing both to spin. Gordo got the worst of it when he slid into an opening in the inside wall, literally smashing into the non-SAFER wall. His car came to a rest near the wall, and his radiator went flying well past him, up onto the middle of the track. To say that his car was demolished is putting it lightly. This coulda been a career ending wreck, but thanks to the safety features installed in the cars, he’s gonna live to talk about it. Now, the question is: will this wreck and his new parenthood clash in his mind??

Kudos: To the Flipster for another great W. To Jr. for being the most competitive Hendrick car. To DaBiff for a good comeback. To DavieRagan for an outstanding 6th place finish. To KaseOfKahne, Kvapil and DennyHambone for finally breaking into the top 10.

Question: What the heck happened to JJ and dasKnaus? They never figured out how to get their car balanced, and literally gave up at the end. This has got to be one of the worst races they’ve put together since this team was fielded a few years ago. DasKnaus was supposed to have been the guru of racing, but somehow he let this race slip through his fingers.

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Heaps of 3’s all over yer Dish Network,
Racing Maniac #3, #88e, and yes, #7