Track Trash – Newbie Hampster

A double whammy……… a fuel race and a rain dance. What on earth did we do to deserve this?? At least we got to see The Big One (with the finger pointing directly at Jr.)

Expand?: While this economy has put the whammy on some NA$CAR teams, some of the strong ones are considering adding another team in ’10. Stewart-Haas, Gibbs, Hendrick (via JRMotorsports) are all hinting about expanding, yet lesser teams are barely hanging on. Gee, I wonder how Teresa’s fingernails look about now. All of this expansion centers on one word: sponsorship.

Eating Crow: OK, I’ll turn up the Barbeque pit. Along with most others, I didn’t give Smoke much of a chance to pull off a good first year. The odds were against it. Suffice to say that he made a fool of every naysayer, and has a huge grin on his face. But let’s not forget that he got into this deal without putting up a wad of dough for the ‘partnership’. So it’s probably much easier for him to fall asleep at night, knowing he’s not gonna lose his shirt in this venture.

More Danica: The latest rumor has Danica joining Hendrick, and in the process bumping Jr. down to his JR Motorsports organization. If Jr. opts to move JR Motorsports up to Cup, he might have a place for Bradski as his teammate. This, of course, sounds awfully stupid, because that would allow Danica to jump from open wheel cars directly into a Cup car (with no Busch league season under her belt). Other open wheel drivers have jumped to Cup with little or limited success, so this would be a huge gamble by everyone involved. But at least the Rickster (or The Man in the Hat) would get one or two good years of hype and promotion before she either improves, or falls flat on her face.

JGR: Both KidKyle and DennyHambone have indicated in the press that JGR needs to beef up its organization if they want to get into the Playoffs. Both have had a lackluster year (compared to ’08 and beyond), so they seem to be drawing attention to a lacking element in JGR. As of now, there has been no response from JGR management. Hmmm.

Da Race: There’s no question the double file restarts have changed the Cup races. Unfortunately, the best of ‘em would’ve been the last one, and it was rained out. We were all set for an All Star type of shoot-out, but Mother Nature pointed her fickle finger of fate.

Improvement: If there were a winner today, it should be Lance McGrew. Aside from the last set of laps, he tuned Jr’s car and got him into the top 10 most of the day, and for awhile, even in the top 5. So it took awhile, but the chemistry seems to be jelling. Now let’s see how this team performs next weekend at Daytuna……..

Jr.: Before we leave this subject, it should be noted that the largest wreck of the day (tantamount to a Daytuna ‘big one’) was cause when Jr. spun his wheels on one of the restarts. He jammed up the whole field at the Start line, and it was like seeing dominos falling. All in all, about 8 cars were in various stages of demolition, and all due to an over-anxious right foot.

Da Rain: Another mixed up finish, with a couple drivers up front who shoulda been in back. Joey was one of ‘em, and Brad Keselowski (Bradski) was the other one. Both woulda run out of gas in a couple more laps, but Mother Nature was on their side today.

Flip Flop: As bad as the RCR and Roush cars are running, the Penske cars are finally in pretty good shape. das Kurt ran up front most of the day, sometimes giving Gordo some grey hairs, and we also saw Sam Hornish Jr (good grief…..another “Jr.”) in the top 10 toward the end.

Endings: I hate fuel races, but I hate rain dances even more. Both leave me cold. I don’t care how they justify the end results; this just ain’t a way to end a RACE. Three drivers in the final top 10 were lapped earlier, and would’ve stopped for fuel had rain not developed.

Soooo: Half kudos to Joey the Phenom who won his first Cup race, and became the youngest Cup winner in the process. The trophy really belongs to Zippy. Good runs by Gordo, das Kurt, Smoke, Sam Jr., and Jr.

Heaps of 3’s all over yer local Home Depot,
Racing Maniac #3