Trouble in Turn2

Nigel Tufnel: You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don’t know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.

-“This is Spinal Tap”

I imagine that’s the way Humpy Wheeler might have described the Coca Cola 600 compared to other 500 mile events. He’s retiring after this weekend from his position as President and GM of Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Monte Dutton does a great job summarizing his impact.

Should we have been surprised by Kasey Kahne’s success at Lowe’s? So far this season Kahne has been solid but not quite a front runner and he supported that with a fifth place run in the All-Star undercard race. What we should have realized is that in his short career Kahne has been exceptional at Lowe’s. In 2004 he was one of the few cars capable of running down Jimmie Johnson in the Coke 600 before he brushed the wall on the final run, finishing 12th. Then in the fall race he was the dominant car, leading 207 of the first 267 laps, and in one of the coolest paint schemes in recent years. Unfortunately a cut tire sent him hard into the wall, spoiling a chance at his first career Cup win.

In 2005 Kahne led both races but again failed to garner good finishes. Then his big breakthrough came in 2006 when he swept both races in impressive fashion. He led 158 and 134 laps respectively in winning two of his six races that year. Last year was an unmitigated struggle for Kahne and Evernham but he still managed an eighth place finish in the fall race. It’s pretty clear that Kahne is very good at Charlotte regardless of how the rest of his season goes.

What Happened Last year

Jimmie Johnson was arguably the best car on the track. Jeff Gordon was involved in a wreck that sent him airborne. Tony Stewart was leading the race near the end when it became apparent that teams would not make it to the end on fuel. With most of the leaders pitting, Casey Mears stayed on track, had enough fuel to finish and claimed his first Cup win.

Other Notes

• Jimmie Johnson hasn’t won at Lowe’s in four races, but he’s still the top driver there. 5 wins plus two other wins in the exhibition All-Star race. His average finish is 6.8 and he has 8 top fives in 13 races. That’s pretty good, I guess.

• Racingone has a cool writeup on the history of the World/Coke 600. Especially interesting was the story of David Pearson’s win at Charlotte. He was working as a roofer when he got the call to subsitute for another driver. He went on to win the race.
  

  With a little over one lap to go, Pearson’s Pontiac blew a tire. He knew a pit stop would dash his hopes for a victory, so he pressed on. Pearson limped across the finish line in a shower of sparks for his first of 105 wins in NASCAR’s premier series.

• Has Bill Cosby ever been grand marshal of the Coke (and a smile) 600? He should be. What about Darryl Strawberry or Doc Gooden? They probably shouldn’t be.

Champs, Chumps and Sleepers

• Champs It makes a lot of sense to pick Kahne this week. Didn’t you read the previous notes?

• Chumps Kevin Harvick hasn’t scored a top ten at Lowe’s since 2003. He will obviously be running at the end because he never gets DNF’s, but where will he be running is the key? My guess is not on the lead lap.

• Sleepers Jamie McMurray has a win, 2 top 5’s and 5 top 10’s. He stands above the crowd in this group.

Who Will Win?

A lot can happen in 600 miles, almost anything can happen. That extra 100 miles can wreak havoc with the best laid plans. Which makes sense considering the team with the most success, the #48 team, is probably the best at adjusting on the fly. Johnson would be a good bet to run in the top five, but I’m going to take a slight risk and pick Greg Biffle for his first win of 2008.

Self Promotion

As the old adage says, be wary of Canadians promising things. It’s not a real proverb, but I was tricked by one this week. Bob at 4Ever3 conned me into answering my own questions about Blogging. So if you’ve made it this far in the post and still have have a fever for more cowbell info on me, head over to his site .You should probably make it a habit to check out his site regularly anyway.

Photo courtesy of NASCAR Media