Trouble in Turn2

Jimmie Johnson won his third straight-Hang on the yellow flag is flying again for caution on the raceway. That’s sure how it’s felt the last two weeks. Even when the racing has stopped I’m still seeing yellow. I don’t remember one debris caution in the last two races, only a steady flow of crashing cars. At least the final segment was clear this week because the green flag racing at Texas is great. It is arguably one of the best tracks in NASCAR for racing at the front and is certainly in the top 2 with Charlotte as far as 1.5 mile tracks are concerned.

First the battle with Matt Kenseth and Denny Hamlin was clean, yet aggressive with Hamlin ultimately losing it. As Andy Petree correctly noted, Kenseth learned something from this battle for the end of the race. For one he knew how hard it was to pass on the bottom, so he made it incredibly difficult for Johnson. In the end 4 tires beat 2, but Kenseth also learned from Hamlin how treacherous the track can be racing side by side. Once Johnson successfully cleared the #17, Kenseth realized it was better to finish 2nd with the emphasis on finish. Just like the spring, the finish was great, but more importantly the race as a whole featured long spans of good racing.

• Since his 3rd place run at Loudon, Tony Stewart has not scored a top five in seven races. Not only is he not finishing well, he has led a mere three races during the Chase. The 20 car’s slump in performance is the most shocking story of the Chase. I was expecting Stewart to be right with Gordon and Johnson, but it hasn’t happened. Sure he’s had bad luck with Paul Menard and the wreck at Kansas, but the majority of the races Stewart has siimply not run as well as he did during the first 26 races. Puzzling to say the least.

• It’s not my thing, but if you played a drinking game for every time Jerry Punch mentioned the current point standings with more than 100 laps to go, you would be a very wobbly NASCAR fan. Likewise for every time Rusty Wallace mentions the phrases “downforce” or “running the high line”.

• Rusty Wallace mindnumbing quote of the week, “Never can I remember a race finishing at night at Texas”. I can’t either, except for the last two fall races at Texas, including 2005 when Wallace himself finished 22nd. I realize Wallace is in the booth to shoot off the cuff, but shouldn’t he at least be occasionally accurate?

• Scott Riggs drove his final race for Evernham, er Gillette-Evernham-Motorsports, and finished 13th. Patrick Charpentier will take over for the final two races. For Riggs it caps a frustrating season. He has failed to qualify for seven races, fell out of the top 35 by the fifth race and only has one top 10 and three top 15 finishes all season. Compare that to 8 top 10’s and two poles in 2006 and it’s obvious why Riggs and GEM felt the need for change. Meanwhile teammate Elliott Sadler scored his second straight top 15 finish showing signs of progress for the 19 car.

• Jamie McMurray had a nice race and finally scored the finish (9th) he deserved, but that mustard-color paint scheme was not OK.

• It was nice to see Ricky Rudd lead 10 laps today and finish on the lead lap. After a rough season Rudd deserves some recognition for his long career. I’m sure it’s too late, but I thought if Tide and Yates got together and rolled out the orange and white Tide scheme at Homestead that would be a pretty fitting end to Rudd’s career. Tide is not sponsoring a Cup car and Yates is losing Snickers/MasterFoods after the season. It makes too much sense. While other drivers like Rusty Wallace, Terry Labonte and Mark Martin (remember when he was retiring?) received season long merchandise-driven sendoffs, Rudd deserves at least one special race. If one of the Yates’ reads this blog, take note.