Track stats: Aaron’s 499 - 150,000 fans show at the famed, recently repaved, 2.66 mile tri-oval on a humid, cloudy day to anxiously await the inevitable “big one” as drivers go four wide at times jockeying for position. Those who caught Saturday’s race knew anything was possible Sunday after watching Kevin Lepage’s serious bonehead maneuver that resulted in a 15 car pile of twisted, fiery metal. When the Spring drivers were asked to describe the track in one word you heard: “Dangerous;” “Wild;” “Patience;” “Respect;” — then there was Gordo’s one word answer “Restrictor plate racing”. Hmmmm - one word?
Have a drink on me: Named after the popular Willie Nelson song, Jr. opened Whisky River nightclub this month in the Charlotte, NC Epicenter. The pre-race story was pretty good and it was interesting to hear Jr’s description of how he came up with the bar’s theme. “If I’m sitting in a bar and I’m not having a good time, this is everything I would change. This is how I would make it.” I’m sure we’ll all have a much better chance of catching a glimpse of him here than we would at Club E. He’ll be on the orange bench in the VIP area.
Inquiring DW wants to know: It seemed like DW was on a mission to corner drivers on their future plans. Backflip did a great Olli North impression dodging DW’s inquiry of his plans to stay with Roush in the future; Smoke explained he is “exploring his options at the end of ‘09″ when his contract with JGR expires and chuckled that some of the offers were “definitely outside the box” including possible team ownership. DON’T DO IT SMOKE! We’ve seen the Owner/Driver arrangement swirl the toilet bowl many-a-time in the past.
Winner predictions: Of course the Boys in the Booth spent loads of time predicting who would be the eventual winner/survivor. Would it be JJ who took home the ‘Dega trophy for both 2007 races and now is the most winning active driver at Dega? Would it be Smoke who has been the Maid of Honor 6 times (3 times behind Jr.) although ‘Dega is one only four tracks he has never posted a victory? Possibly Gordo considering that Hendrick Motorsports has won six of the last eight ‘Dega races, including the four prior Spring races? No matter the predictions, we all knew it wouldn’t be decided until the final lap as it was in the last 4 of 5 races at the tri-oval monster.
Pre-race: What in the world has NA$CAR come to? DW shaking his money-maker on the stage while Toby Lightman belts out “NASCAR Love” was almost more than I could take, but then the bagpipes fired up during the song & I threw up in my mouth a little bit. I have nothing against bagpipes, but leave it for a great rendition of ‘Danny Boy.” The Boys in the Box and their Captain & Tennille reference ran my buddy out of the room in search of a stiff beverage. Then there was DW’s photo montage - I really don’t have anything printable to write so I’ll leave it at that.
Race Time: Well, I recorded the race with the intent of going back and timing the actual race coverage vs. commercials but I couldn’t force myself to sit through all the commercials again. Am I off base here or did it honestly seem like the total race footage was shorter than all the **** commercials? There didn’t seem to be a good block of race time until the closing laps (didn’t want to miss the “big one” I guess).
Mikey: As the laps wound down I really thought he would have a good finish after a surprisingly fortunate day. As the official results hit print poor Mikey ended up finishing 27th, the same spot he started the race.
Juan Pab: You all were thinking the same thing I was in the closing lap, Juan Pab is going to punch Baby Busch out of the way and head on to victory just as he did to Scott Pruett at the Autodromo last year. Or, as he did to Menard on lap 161. Unfortunately for the wild Colombian, the ‘Dega gremlins got Jr. loose who collected Blob-bonte who collected McMurry and the mosh pit began. Kudos to Juan Pab for his 2nd place finish (1st top ten in 2008 and previous best at ‘Dega was 15th)
Ragan: Great 4th place finish considering he didn’t have the help of any teammates or other Fords when it came down to the end. Just in his second year with the big boys and third trip to ‘Dega he has to be thrilled with his result. In a post-race interview he explained that his strategy was to “just stay in line,” react to everyone else and not try to make the “big move” that could be costly. It’s nice to see one of these young drivers take the patience & cautious approach vs. getting too aggressive and taking out half the field.
Demolition day: All in all the race was rather mellow compared to prior ‘Dega events that included shells of cars racing (barely at race speed) around the bottom of the track in search of points. Sunday brought 8 total cautions with only two of those being multi-car events. When the checkered dropped 36 cars were still running with only 5 out due to accidents (the other 2 DNFs were engine failures).
The Finish: I’m sure the race finish will bring out many arguments for and against the “lucky dog pass” considering Baby Busch was one of those lap-down boys who got to rejoin his buddies on the playground after falling behind after a pit error. Similarly, there will surely be complaints about the finish under caution since the yellow flew after the white flag fell. My guess is that had the yellow not been thrown Juan Pab would have launched Baby Busch on the final lap and sailed on to victory while the rest of the field was gathered up in a heap of iron behind him. Regardless, them’s the rules boys & girls and until NA$CAR makes any changes we’re expected to like it.
Congrats to the Sunday Warriors who you don’t normally see in the top ten: Juan Pab, David Ragan, Brian Vickers, Travis Kvapil & Casey Mears.
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