 Photo by Icon Sports Media |
What an outstanding race. Many lead changes, some Big One’s, and enough thrills and spills to make everyone happy.
It’s good to finally witness a RACE, instead of a boring ho hum waste of time. |
Apologies: Again, I apologize for not being able to report the whole race at Phoienix. I did encounter a bit of ‘eating my words’, cuz I had dissed SirMark for being a perenial loser. Yes, I ate Humble Pie (actually, it sorta tasted like Key Lime pie, cuz I was in Miami).
Switcheroo: RCR is switching the Chief and Crews of the 29 and 07 teams to improve the performance. Apparently Richard didn’t read my last rant, cuz he’s probably wasting more time and effort to get CaseOfMears into the top 20 (the top 12 would be entirely out of the question). Happy’s performance has been off this year, but running in the 16th position still leaves him room to jump up a number of spots in the next few months. Now, see how easy it was to change crews and chiefs……why can’t the Rickster do it with Jr.??
Switching too: Blobonte is getting Ben Leslie as his new crew chief, taking the place of Todd Parrot. This HoF racing team (an adjunct of Yates Racing) has had limited luck in 2009, although they did manage a 5th place at Vegas. But will they win a race in ’09? No way, Jose.
Indy: Goodyear still hasn’t figured out what tire to run at Indy, and they’re almost running out of time. They tested a softer tire last year that lasted 30 miles (a fuel run), but for some stupid reason decided to test a harder tire recently. It didn’t hold up, and shredded after about 12 laps (same as last year’s race). If they don’t ultimately use the softer tire, there’s gonna be a huge uproar from the drivers and fans. I’m sure we’ll be hearing more about this in the near future.
Gordo: OK, we’re picking up comments that Gordo has a back problem, and sometimes it starts acting up. And that certain tracks seem to inflame the problem. Hey, dude. Wake up and smell the coffee. YER GETTING’ OLD.
Da Race: This was by far one of the best races in a looong time. If you missed it, shame on you. If you taped it, all the better, cuz you can rerun the best parts of it. Man, I’m just sorry I didn’t use the ole TiVo myself.
The Big One (1): Just seven (7) laps into the race and we have T.B.O. Fourteen cars involved, and some of them (like SirMark’s), didn’t see any more daylight. MattyBoy started it, by running up into Gordo, and it was mayhem from then on. It was weird seeing all of the wrecking going on, then seeing the 77 car do several 360’s right in the middle of the track.
Saving Spins: Mikey and Kurt did almost identical spins, only separated by about 20 laps. They each lost it on the infield, and saved the spins from going into the inside wall. Both did superb driving, and were able to continue the race.
Da Push: For once we saw a two car breakaway, whereby the second car pushed the lead car way out front of the pack. This happened several times during the race, and it was interesting to see this new development unfold in front of our eyes.
Da Kid: KidKyle pretty much owned the race for awhile, but a momentary brain fart interrupt his brilliant day. He was so incensed about leading that he did the dastardly deed of ‘blocking’ one too many times. The last time he blocked, he came down on a car that owned the space, got turned, and slid into the infield with 17 laps to go. He went one lap down, and it was the end of his story.
The Big One (2): With 9 laps to go, everyone was feverish. DennyHambone got into Pablo, and wiped out a mess of cars. RoboGordo had a violent head–on crash into the inside wall, but thank goodness they had installed SAFER barriers there. Otherwise, it coulda been a very nasty collision.
The Dash and Crash: With 4 to go, there was a brief period when we thought Jr. was gonna push Rocketman around the track and into Victory Lane. But who woulda thunk that Jr.’s protégé was gonna do the same thing to da Flipster. Flip and BradK sailed past Rocket and Jr., sorta like they were standing still. Then coming down the home stretch on the last lap, Flip had a brain fart of his own. Trying to block BradK from making an inside move, Flip came down on Brad, got turned sideways, air lifted, and got smashed by Rocketman. This sent da Flipster sailing into the catch fence (luckily it held, and there was no report of debris hitting a fan in the stands), tore off his carb, and he landed just yards from the finish line. The amazing thing was to see the Flipster exit his car, helmet still on, and seeing him jog and jump over the finish line. He was determined to finish the race, and the fans roared their approval.
Kudos: To BradK, and his ragtag team for winning this race. The odds in Vegas woulda put him at a waaay long shot. To Jr. and Jr. for finally running the whole race without messing something up. To Marcos and Speedo for great top 5 finishes. And finally, to JoeNemo for an underfunded 13th place finish.
Heaps of 3’s all over yer local Miccosukee Resort and Gaming palace,
Racing Maniac #3
