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Sooo, you thought it was an exciting finish…… The only thing more exciting woulda been if the first three cars ran outta fumes before the finish line. Get with the program. This is supposed to be racing to the front, and not fume management. Just my humble opinion…..

Da Biff: With contract negotiations dragging to a standstill, Da Biff is in play in the rumor mill. Will he reunite with Pat Tryson at DEI? Or is this just another rumor to jazz up his negotiations with Roush? All of these rumors and negotiations are just like playing poker. The first one that flinches is the loser. Luckily, da Biff is in the drivers seat, and will be welcomed wherever he lands.

Yeleybean: Meanwhile, over at JGR, Yeleybean is being told he’d better step it up a notch or he’s gonna be history next year. There’s nothing like an idle threat to make you sweat bullets. Unfortunately, the best racing is being done by those having fun, not those that desperately need a W. At the same time, it tells us volumes about JGR management.

Humpster: Humpy Wheeler is openly advocating that NA$CAR change the qualifying process. With qualifying attendance steadily going down, he wants to spice it up running by 4 different qualifying heats, putting 1/4th of the cars in mini-races to determine who will be in the race. Unfortunately, this wide open racing might lead to more torn up cars, because some of those dudes will be hangin’ it out to dry. Which will lead to that extremely overused phrase “I just hate it when I wreck someone”. You can hate it any way you want to, but the bottom line is that you just wrecked someone because of your stupidity.

Still smiling: One look at the DNQ list and we still see Mikey as the predominate [doofus] (just trying to beat the censure by the misspelling… EDITOR’S NOTE: Keep tryin’ RM!). If I were Mikey, I’d try to re-ignite my confidence by entering a few Bandelero races. If he wins a few, he can jump up to the Legends. Wow……..smokin’………

Boxcars: OK, they’re gonna race them full time next year. Perhaps now the teams can concentrate 100% of their efforts to get the durn thing to perform. Most of the drivers’ negative comments relate to their inability to drive this car in the corners. But if history repeats itself, one team will figure it out…….and get a huge fine for altering the car without Big Brother’s permission.

Nostalgia: Two years ago this weekend: Leffler missed the race running in the FedEx car for JGR. Pete Rondeau was Jr’s crew chief.

Three years ago this weekend: Da Biff was renegotiating his contract, and rumors were flying that he was gonna jump to either DEI or RCR. ICS is looking for a site on Staten Island for a new track. JJ blew the doors off of everyone.

Da Race: If you slice this pie into thirds, you get three great races. Unfortunately, any front-runners in the first 2/3rds of the race are probably gonna be no-shows in the last third. And what about the lurking JJ and his possibility for extending his winning streak here??

First wall banger: The title goes to…….da Biff. So das Roush didn’t do him any favors by changing his crew chief in the past week. Maybe it’s an omen that Roush wants to unload da Biff. Who knows?? Da Biff oughta move on in life. DEI is waiting…..

Big One: Within 10 laps there were two significant wrecks, and on Lap 53 was the first, the Big One. JJ had to slow up cuz his LR tire tread was about to hit the pavement (rolling), and the slowing field touched off a Talladega type melee. Sixteen cars got collected, thus ending a lot of high hopes. Eight laps later, the DLP car swung the 24 car around. Gordo spun and T-boned the outside wall, then immediately got nailed by AllmyDingDingDinger. Gordo got lifted clear off the pavement, and at that point we were thinking this could be the first sizeable wreck of his career. Not to worry, the SAFER walls absorbed the impact, and Gordo walked away unscathed. However, it was his 5th straight DNF at the Coke 600.

First 1/3rd: The Blue Deuce owned the first part of the race. He was head and shoulders above anyone else. But alas, he bit the dust on lap 298 when he tried to make a new exit ramp through the inside wall. From good to bad in a matter of hours, and we need to blame his crew chief for his failure to keep up with the ever changing track conditions. But let’s face it: Bad Boy Curt’s not going to lead any popularity contests for awhile, so not many fans were disappointed.

Second 1/3rd: Of all people to dominate the middle of the race, it was none other than VickersVapoRub, tooling around in his Oyota. He was stout. He controlled the track. He was the envy of everyone driving a foreign made car. But alas, he started having power steering problems. You’d think he’s a veritable Popeye, with bulging forearms that could muscle the car for another 200 laps. To his credit, he did a great job, and eventually brought the car home with a 5th place finish.

Bad Hair Day: KidKyle went from a contender to a battered wreck. First he had battery problems, then he played tag with the walls a few times. By the end of his day, you could hardly determine if he was driving the 5 car, or a scrunched up sardine can.

Oyota engines: DJ blew his on Lap 90. JerryMaybefield later spun, doing a 360, and in the process ran his engine backwards. Sure enough, 90 laps later it blew. But otherwise, Vickers set the stage for hope of the future. The redone engine program just might be competitive.

Final 1/3rd: Everything was pointing to another abysmal win by JJ. He consistently marched up to the front, and led a number of laps. Then he came into the pits for tires on Lap 64. For once, his pit crew screwed up and left a loose lug nut. It was caught, but precious time went by, moving him from the leader to 10th place on the restart.

Da end: Now, some of you might think that this was an exciting ending of a long, drawn out race. However, I may be one of the few that wants the race determined by the strongest cars, and not who has the most gas fumes left. So whereas you may regale CaseOfMears first win, Yeleybean’s second place finish, and Mr.Pigtails astounding 3rd place finish, the purist in me says that these guys shoulda been in 8th, 9th and 10th place under normal conditions. In my record book, it was TrimTony, followed by Jr. and DennyHambone.

Kudos: To CaseOfMears for momentarily shaking off the 25 car jinx. This W has solidified his seat with Hendrick, thereby shutting the door on a possible entry by Jr. Same goes with Yeleybean. His second place endeared him with The Coach, and probably shut the door on the rumors that Jr. could be slipping in the back door. And could this race mark the return of the Petty organization? Perhaps, but remember that the future is in the boxcar, and not the ‘old’ style cars. It may take Petty another 5 to 10 years to figure out the boxcar……..

Heaps of 3’s all over yer local National Guard unit,
Racing Maniac #3, Jr.e