Trouble in Turn2

Lap 267 Kenseth wins in dominant fashion. Johnson wins his second Cup finishing 7th. I would think it’s somewhat awkward for a winner in the final race. Kenseth hasn’t won a race since California and is probably pretty stoked, but he has to cede to Johnson.

Lap 254 Stewart spins and wrecks. It’s been that kind of Chase for Stewart. 7th caution in a relatively clean race for a change.

Lap 250 Pit stops complete and Kenseth overtakes Truex. It’s was a worthy gamble for the #1 team. If everyone takes 4 tires then Kenseth wins, Truex tried to gain positin by doing something different. It didn’t work out, but kudos for trying. I would have applauded any car for that.

Lap 245 Wallace and Petree are discussing the idea of short pitting for Gordon. I think it’s a great idea. The risk outweighs the reward and Johnson won’t have a mistake at this rate.

Lap 220 The racing with Kenseth and Truex and later Truex and Gordon was the best of the day. It was similar to the action at Texas. Hopefully the finish can give some more of the same.

When ESPN went to break they played “The Final Countdown”. As a fan of Arrested Development, it just makes me laugh. If you haven’t seen Arrested Development, do yourself a favor and watch it.

Lap 195 Sam Hornish Jr gets introduced to the wall. Matt Kenseth has already locked up the most laps led and is in a class by himself. The only things that could stop him are mechanical problems or a caution with less than 20 laps to go. The fact that Gordon can’t lead the most laps also means Johnson can finish 22nd and still win the Cup.

Lap 170 I was literally in the middle of writing something about the nice day David Gilliland was having when he hit the wall. Gilliland started 12th and spent the entire day inside the top 15. It’s a shame. Now to truly test my psychic powers…This race is over and will be boring the rest of the way.

Lap 159 Caution. Patrick Car-Punt-ier starts a crash sending Johnny Sauter into the inside wall plus Brian Vickers.

Lap 148 Newman spins while running in the top 5. Turn 2 again. Of all the people that deserve to win a race in 2007, Newman and Earnhardt Jr are the top candidates. Kenseth says he’s having battery and brake trouble.

Lap 136 Elliott Sadler is too funny. I had forgotten about the Tylenol “Rabbit Release” Gels. I hope Evernham rights their ship for many reasons, but just to have Sadler back in the spotlight is reason enough.

Is it me or is this race heating up? I think it’s my mouth thanks to the salsa that’s been percolating in my fridge for three weeks. Hopefully the race follows suit.

Lap 118 ESPN returned to green flag racing long enough to give the positions of Gordon and Johnson, then went back to commercial. Less than 10 laps of programming between ad breaks.

Also, I just realized that as good as Kenseth is right now, it’s getting dark quickly. If anything changes who has the best car, it should show up in the next 50-75 laps.

Lap 110 One of the more underrated commercials is from Fedex. It’s not necessarily a NASCAR ad, but it’s always shown during races. It’s the one where a manager is reviewing everyone’s roles and then he says, “and I’ll go to Fedex Kinko’s and get the job done.” Anyway, my favorite line is, “Jerome, I need you to talk a big game and do nothing.”
“Let’s do it.”

Lap 99 The story of Kurt Busch’s season: run fast, lead laps and then get a vibration to take him out of contention. It’s hard to keep track, but it sure seems like every week for the elder Busch. Maybe he should have tried to wait until the wheel fell off. It worked for him in 2004.

Lap 90 We’re one third of the way home and a few trends are emerging. Jeff Gordon does not have a great car today. Just like at Atlanta and Texas, Gordon can run from 5th to 10th but can’t climb higher. The fact that Steve LeTarte is trying different strategies to play off track position is not encouraging.

Matt Kenseth does have a good car. It’s hard to say nothing will stop him from winning, because finishes get crazy, but on a long green run no one can stay with him.

Lap 63 Ryan Newman and Juan Pablo Montoya are running 3rd and 4th. If you recall they waged battle last year in Montoya’s Cup debut at Homestead that ended in Montoya wrecking and the car starting on fire.

Lap 57 The charitable Earnhardt Jr spins on the restart, allowing several cars including Truex, Gordon, Johnson, Martin and others to get their laps back. I also don’t need an announcer to tell me, “that’s not how they wanted their race/season to end” when a driver wrecks.

Trouble in Turn 2! I’m so glad I paid Allen Bestwick to say that. Junior spun around entering the pits after making contact with Kyle Busch. This will take some time to sort out all the positions.

Lap 46 Gordon passes Johnson for 5th. Johnson can be heard saying, alright now find another 85 points son. Beginning of green flag stops. I smell a caution coming.

Lap 31 If I could do a ride-along with any driver I’d choose Martin Truex Jr or Kyle Busch. Imagine how intense that would be. Riding either crazy loose with Busch or right up against the wall with Truex.

Lap 17 Burton loses a lap with a downed tire. Rusty is talking about how Stewart has won at Homestead and that’s why he’s good today. Most times when Rusty Wallace makes a point and I’m about to yell out in anger, Andy Petree is there to correct him and humbly suggest that Stewart hasn’t won at the new configuration. Say what want about ESPN, but Petree was the find of the year.

Lap 8 Burton got loose and hit the wall, but his left side tires didn’t have any lettering. He must have made contact, gotten loose as a result and then hit the wall.

Green Flag. Johnson gets his five points and then gets out of the way. Newman and Kenseth both take off.

Dale Earnhardt Jr had to start from the back due to a transmission change.