Kathy's Pit Stop

Johnson bounces back

After last weeks problems Johnson bounces back and wins at Phoenix.  Now all he has to do is finish 25th or better no matter what Martin does to win the championship.  Is it possible that something could happen at Martin win it all?  Yes, but with Johnson's luck and I'm sure they will be conservative also, Johnson's championship is just about sewn up.

The only real excitement came in the Nationwide race and afterwards with the Hamlin/Keselowski incident.  These two apparently don't like each other much, Hamlin's dislike of Keselowski was quite evident with his after the race comments.  Actually I think it's kind of comical considering the way Hamlin has been on the track, he really doesn't have room to be talking about anyone else, but it does give us something to discuss at the watercooler aside from the boring racing of late.

Also, congrats to Harvick for the win in the truck race and Hornaday for winning the championship for the truck series!

Your thoughts?

Busch wins and Johnson has some bad luck

Congrats to Kurt Busch on the win, their fuel mileage strategy paid off where others fell short and also congrats to the person who picked him and won a million.

Other than the accident on lap 3 and the typical who can make it on fuel, there wasn't much excitement during the race.  Johnson being caught up in the lap 3 wreck was a surprise, not because things like that can't happen, it just seems like things like that just don't happen to him.  His car was damaged pretty bad and spent almost two hours behind the wall fixing it, he ended up finishing 38th.  Mark Martin finished 4th and is now 73 points behind Johnson with two races to go. 

I still think it's too late and the championship is Johnson's, if there were more than two races to go maybe, but I think Johnson has got this won.

Your thoughts?

Wow! What an ending!

Congrats to McMurray for the win, he was at the right place at the right time when the final caution flew.

Dega has always brought us the big one, but this time we got two of them within a couple of laps of each other.  The first came when Newman got flipped and landed on top of Harvicks car.  There were a lot of tense moments for fans during that red flag, saying Newman was OK, but it seemed to take forever for them to get the car turned back over and get him out.  What did he think?  Well, he puts it all on NASCAR and you really can't blame him.  I mean how many times are they gonna change the restrictor plates to make the races "safer" and then things like this happen?  I wouldn't be surprised if there are changes made again using NASCAR's wisdom.

The second big one had Mark Martin flipping, although he didn't flip over and over again like Newman and actually landed right side up.  Mark tried to be good natured in his interview and laugh it off saying it's the way it is in racing, but you could tell he wasn't happy.

Unfortunately for Mark, Johnson lucked out and didn't get caught up in anything and although he didn't win, he increased his points lead over Mark.  Like I said before, unless something happens, which it didn't, Johnson would probably win the championship again. 

Your thoughts?

Hamlin wins and Johnson increases points lead

Denny Hamlin held of Jimmie Johnson from the last restart to win at Martinsville.  While Johnson came in second, he still increased his points lead and it seems everyone but him is saying he's won the championship. 

It was a wreck-filled race with 14 cautions, the last coming on lap 145, which set up the final laps and Hamlin and Johnson side by side.  Hamlin was able to pull away, but Johnson was right behind him in the end.

Johnson's lead is 118 points over Mark Martin and while Martin is good, I don't think he can do it, I think the championship has already been won by Johnson, he's just too good in the races left to see him having enough trouble to give Martin the lead.

Congrats again to Hamlin for the win.

Your thoughts?

Johnson wins again...it's his title to lose now

Johnson wins another one and is now 90 points ahead of Martin in 2nd and 135 ahead of Gordon in 3rd.  It seems like once again it's Johnson's title to lose now, unless he has some really bad luck or the magic hands of Knaus fail him. 

Gordon gave up a good fight on that last restart, everyone around here thought I lost my mind when I was rooting for Gordon to pull ahead and away.  I haven't lost my mind, I'd just prefer to see Gordon win than Johnson, unfortunately Gordon used up his car fighting with Johnson and Johnson was able to pull away.

Hoping next week will be a bit more exciting.

Johnson wins and takes over the points lead

Jimmie Johnson pulled off the win and took over the points lead with it and others saw their Chase hopes crash, literally.

I'm not a fan of Johnson or Gordon, but I was actually pulling for Gordon on that last restart, I would rather have seen him win that Johnson. 

There were quite a few wrecks this time, at least it seemed that way, even one that brought out the red flag.  Kahne definitely had his share of bad luck, but I think the worst from this weekend would have to be Hamlin, wrecking in both races this weekend.  He totally surprised me when they interviewed him after the wreck in the Cup race, I think that's the first time I've heard him take the blame and not put it on someone else.

The Biffle/Logano thing in the Nationwide race was interesting, obviously there is no love lost between them or even Logano's father, since he got his hardcard pulled after confronting Biffle.  I would loved to been able to hear that conversation.  I'm just not a fan of Logano though, I gave the kid a chance, he's good, don't get me wrong there, but his attitude is what I don't like and I have never really liked any driver who has had that kind of attitude.  Having a passion is one thing, acting like you're God's gift to racing is quite another.

As for the Chase, I'm still pulling for Tony to get it all, still possible even though he's 84 points out, but it is doable and if anyone can pull that kind of thing off, it's Tony.

Your thoughts?

Stewart wins!

Tony Stewart kept his Chase hopes alive with the win at Kansas.  With that win, it puts Stewart in 4th, 67 points behind Martin who is still in the points lead.  I guess the biggest question is...is it too late or does he have a chance at the championship?  Martin's lead over Johnson is only 18 points and 51 points over Montoya. 

It's still a possibility with good runs for Stewart to pull it off, which is what I'm hoping, although the consistency of both Martin and Johnson will be tough to beat, Stewart can't afford any mistakes.  If Stewart can't win it, I'm hoping for Martin to get his first championship. 

As for my driver, I just can't wait for this season to be over and hopefully a lot of improvements for next season.

Your thoughts?

Wow...what a wreck!

Johnson may have dominated and won the race at Dover, but all the talk is the wreck that happened on lap 31 where Logano flipped during a four car wreck.  Logano was shaken up, but he was OK and was able to walk away from the car.  I may not be a Logano fan, but I was pretty surprised with his interview after getting out of the infield care center.  He didn't point fingers at anyone or place the blame on anyone because he didn't see the replay yet, he even admitted he wasn't sure what happene.  With as shaken up as he was, he wasn't sure he wanted to see the replay yet. 

Congrats to Johnson for winning the race, Martin is still in the lead though, should be an interesting run between these two.  Also, props to Logano for how he handled everything, maybe his teammate should take some pointers from that after the way he acted after the Nationwide race.  :)

Your thoughts?

The Chase is set

First congrats to Hamlin for the win.  That was a crazy race, but then again, Richmond usually is.

The Chase is set and surprisingly Vickers is in and Busch and Kenseth are out.  Although I was hoping Vickers could make it in, I was pretty sure that Kenseth was going to keep his spot in the Chase.  Fans of them or not, Kenseth and Busch both handled themselves nicely in their interviews after the race, yes they were disappointed, but I think they both handled the interviews well.

While Mark Martin may lead the standings right now, my pick for the Championship is Tony Stewart.  Nothing against Mark or anything, but my personal favorite would be Tony.

Your thoughts on the race, Chase and championship?

Kahne wins Atlanta

Kasey Kahne made a pass on Kevin Harvick after the final restart, took off and won the race.  It was nice to see in Kahne get the win, although I was rooting for Harvick to make it two races won this weekend.  That wasn't meant to be when his own teammate, Clint Bowyer, spun and brought out the caution, essentially ending the chance of the win for Harvick because his car was better on the longer runs, still a second place for Harvick isn't bad considering his dismal season.

Only 1st through 4th in the standings have clinched a spot in the Chase, Stewart, Gordon, Johnson and Hamlin.  While Edwards sits in 5th, you'd think he'd be safe, but he's only 105 points ahead of Vickers in 13th, so mathematically, he's not safe.  One more race to go to decide who's in and who's out, next weekend at Richmond.  It's fairly close, Edwards (in 5th) is 105 points ahead of 13th, which isn't quite safe and on the other end you have Kenseth in 12th, only 20 points ahead of 13th.  So it looks like Richmond will be very interesting and we'll see the kind of approach these drivers make.

Congrats to Kahne on the win.

Your thoughts?