Track Trash – CHARLOTTE Motor Speedway

All you JJ fans must be pretty smug about now, with visions of ’4 peat’ dancing through your head. There’s no question that the JJ/dasKnaus/Hendrick combo is a fantastic pairing, and is privately causing Gordo a huge amount of heartburn.

Bradski: While commenting about looking for a crew chief for the 12 car for next year, Bradski mentioned that there seemed to be quite an uneasy feeling amongst the employees at Petty Motorsports. “That whole company is scared to death. Everybody that works there is scared and we’ve got a lot of interest from some of their people and that’s interesting.” No kidding. They’ve gone through X number of mergers and they’re still floundering. Petty Motorsports is in dire need of a first class management team, and unless that happens, I would expect KaseOfKahne to bail as soon as he possibly can.

Jr.: This dude is flat out frustrated, and his shell is beginning to crack. For the past year he’s been driving the 88 car much like I play golf….flashes of brilliance surrounded by mediocrity. He can drive when he gets a finely tuned machine, but it doesn’t seem to last long (certainly not long enough to even challenge for a W). 10 to 1 that McGrew is on a very short leash and may not even last the season. From what I’ve been reading, Jr. needs Eury Sr. (who guided him to the majority of his W’s), but that probably won’t happen.

JamieMac: The rumor mill is no longer placing him in the #1 car next year, so the question is, where is he gonna drive? There seems to be an abundance of C class drivers available in 2010, so picking a seat may not be as easy as it used to be. Now, if he had a sponsor in tow, this would be an entirely different story.

TexasTerry: Tlobonte is thinking about running a partial schedule next year. What on earth does he think he’s gonna accomplish? Is he going to finish in the top 10 in any of those races (not in my life time), or is he doing it for macho reasons (you bet yer sweet bippy). There is no acceptable reason why Terry should even think that he will be competitive, so he’s just wasting time, and taking a seat away from some more deserving driver. Sorry. I read something like this and I want to barf.

Jerry: JerryMaybefield was in the news again, this time via his new lawyer. He apparently didn’t hire the shark lawyer, and this one seems more level headed. Maybe he’ll have a positive effect on Jerry, and tell him to open up that Subway shop and drift with the tide, away from big bad NA$CAR. Sooner or later he’d have to sever the tie with racing, and in his case, the sooner the better.

CMS: Yes, there soon will no longer be a Lowes Motor Speedway. No more JJ’s “house”. Naming a speedway after a product or company is financially beneficial, but not permanent. In the meantime, the fans lose a sense of where the race is actually being run (aka ‘tradition’), and is just another way for us fans to be thrown off kilter.

Babes: It’s been a while since we touched upon this subject, and in the meantime, things have abated a bit. But the two steadfast culprits of being ‘babeless’ are our heroes Jr. and Smoke. Every other notable driver has a nice babe hanging on his arm…..even that dweeb KidKyle. So I ask you. Where is Smoke’s babe? Where is Jr.’s babe? Do they have a babe? Do they like…….no, I won’t go there. Suffice to say they ain’t getting’ any younger, but they must have deep seated reasons why they haven’t allowed any sweet young things into their public lives. Hey. If VileKyle can get a babe, chances are that both of these guys could come up with a winner.

Da Race: Before the race Rustoleum was spouting off about the number of crashes we were to expect in Turns 1 and 4. Once again, Rustard was way off the mark. His announcing skills lead one to remember the phrase “open mouth, insert foot”.

Losers: Early on, Sam Hornish Jr. had his hands full, what with two separate spinouts in the first 10 laps. Some days it just doesn’t pay you to get out of bed…… And we could say the same about Jr. He showed absolutely no positive confirmation that he has a first class crew chief, and could have watched this race from the sidelines. Adding insult to injury, Bradski (driving part time in the 25 car) finished waaay ahead of Jr.’s tarnished team. DennyHambone and Flip Edwards also had bum luck, and both relegated themselves to the bottom of the Playoffs heap.

On the other hand, there’s PheenomJoey who screwed up an early pit stop and came back on track some 30 places toward the rear. At the end of the race he made a 5th place finish. There’s no moral to this story, except that it takes talent, fortitude, and a huge amount of luck to overcome adversity.

Pablo: Before the race someone questioned if a driver could with the Championship without winning one race in the Playoffs. This question was pointed at Pablo, but it now becomes a mute point. When he damaged his RR fender, his chances of being a contender suddenly took a nose dive. Bummer, dude.

The End: In the end, it was again JJ claiming glory in his “house”. Super kudos to MattyBoy and KaseOfKahne for their Top 5’s. And lo and behold, the RCR teams of Bowyer and Mears placed 6th and 7th; perhaps indicating that RCR is indeed beginning to turn the corner.

Heaps of 3’s all over yer local Lowe’s store,

Racing Maniac #3