Wow, what a finish. Worst day in memory for Hendricks. One broken suspension, two wrecks and Jr's screwups continue with the new team. WTF was Casey Mears doing there at the end anyway? He's lucky he didn't wreck half the field. As much as I love Big Orange, it looked like he made two bad decisions at the end. On the restart he should have gone with the 18 instead of going high. Then he had the lead and both Penske cars pushing him, but he went low to either try to block the 18 or hook up with him. If he stayed high, I think he is the winner. No way Newman passes him. The 18 had been the strongest car in the field all day, but for some reason couldn't close up on the 20, which basically hung Tony out to dry as the 12 and 2 steamed by him. In the old days Senor Juan Pablo would be eating a knuckle sandwich with Clint Boyer on the other end of it after he basically just ran over him. Sooner or later, he is going to be on the receiving end of some payback after all the wrecks he's caused. For once, no Big One in a plate race. The new package with the COT and slightly less restrictive restrictor plate seemed to work out OK. It certainly worked for the toyos and the dodge boys. I can't remember so many MOPARS in the top 10 since the 43 ruled. Next week the Fontana snoozefest.
Nap Time this week in Fontana. How the hell this damn track has two dates while Darlington has but one, I'll never understand. I wonder if the talking heads will try to convince the home viewer how the empty seats all represent fans under the grandstands shopping. Yup those diehard NASCAR Fans all went shopping for diecast cars just before the drop of the green flag. Yup. they said it on T.V. - it must be true. Go Gordo (and this week I want to be clear. I do not mean Go to the Garage!) - Spydertrader <img src=http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/attachment.php?s=&postid=1804494>
Wild Thing rules Atlanta. I love this kid. He is out there to win, preferably by leading every lap. Reminds me of Junior Johnson. It is ironic that a conservative, cautious guy like Joe Gibbs ends up with the three drivers he has. Wonder what the fallout will be from Smoke's blistering attack on Goodyear?
Took my sweetheart to her first race. She is hooked.. We sat in the Bill Elliot section and drank homemade Sangrias, followed up by a venti sized Starbucks, 20 hot wings, and a greasy cheeseburger. I'm not feeling so hot now fellas. But the race was great, even though Jr. only showed.
Not a bad race at all. Gordo didn't wreck out!! Also, good to see TOY grab their first win at the Cup Level. While I am no fan of The Brothers Busch, the kid flat out drove that car today. As to Smoke, and his blasting of Goodyear, Smoke may not have liked the tire, but we certainly didn't have the tire problems we did in the previous week. At Atlanta (with its fast speeds), its often better to err on the side of safety. Maybe, Goodyear did just that with this week's tire. I suspect NASCAR Brass will have little to say on the matter. I still remember my first live race - Rusty (in the MGD Car) won the Miller 400 at MIS. Take her to next week's race, and she'll be a fan for life. Bristol!! ...... racin' the way it oughtta' be! - Spydertrader
Goodyear Statement on Atlanta Race Tires: Based on Goodyearâs tire testing at Atlanta last August, October and December, we provided what we believed were the best possible products for the races this past weekend. We had no tire failures and no problems with heat or wear. We supplied the same tires for both the NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, and received zero complaints about our tires after the Nationwide race on Saturday. We believe that our engineering, research and tire development is second to none. We accept that drivers will have their own opinions about our tires. NASCAR president Mike Helton told us Monday that "NASCAR is very grateful for the commitment Goodyear has made on behalf of building a good and safe product for our competitors, including this past weekend at Atlanta. NASCAR stands by our relationship and is proud to have Goodyear as a partner." Even though both Goodyear and NASCAR were satisfied with the tireâs performance in Atlanta, if the drivers are not happy, then Goodyearâs not happy. Now that we know how this tire combination performed, weâll go back and retest for the fall race. We have the same goal as the drivers and NASCAR: to put the safest, best performing tires on these cars. There will be many instances this year when the new car is on a particular track for the first time, as was the case in Atlanta. That makes it tougher than usual to get a read on how the tires will perform. But if there is ever any doubt about the recommendation, we will always err on the conservative side. Finally, we would like to correct an erroneous comment made by Tony Stewart. Goodyear decided to leave other racing series only because of the escalating costs of competition in those series. At least one other tiremaker has done the same. For Goodyear, the enormous investment required to compete in those other forms of racing far outweighed the benefits derived from our participation. We see tremendous benefits in our 54-year relationship with NASCAR as the organizationâs longest continuing supplier. We remain fully committed to, and are proud of, our relationship with NASCAR.(Goodyear PR)(3-10-2008)