Kathy's Pit Stop

Sometimes it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for

While NASCAR loves it's newsworthiness of it's "star" drivers and the news that even their aggressive drivers bring about, sometimes it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for.

These aren't your drivers that make the news week after week with their driving style or with their "star" power hype that NASCAR has hyped, these aren't the ones that NASCAR and the media push on us week after week.  Weekly, we hear about Dale Earnhardt Jr. (when will he win for HMS), Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch, just to name a few, these drivers are the NASCAR's media favorites right now, but sometimes it's the quiet ones you have to look out for.

These guys aren't in the media every week, even when their in the top, but you can't count them out.  Who am I talking about?  The RCR drivers of Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer.  All three RCR drivers are in the top 5 in the standings and other than when Burton was in first in points, not much has been said about them.

Quiet and consistent this season so far, I expect all three to be in the Chase again this year.  I guess they're just not the kind of drivers the media likes to hype unless Harvick is in a feud with some other driver, which he hasn't been in a while, he's not considered a bad boy of NASCAR anymore.  Sure, we heard that Jeff Burton was in the points lead, but a big deal wasn't made about it, not like when other drivers had the points lead, he's too quiet and not controversial enough for the media it seems.

Here are a couple of little known facts about RCR drivers this season (hopefully this won't jinx them) -

Jeff Burton is the only driver to complete every lap this season and leads all drivers with the most runs on the lead lap.  But you have to go to RCR for that information, the media doesn't hype that, but if it had been one of NASCAR's "media darlings", we'd all know about it.

Kevin Harvick has the longest running streak of no DNF's at 54.  He's run 54 consecutive races without a DNF coming into Darlington.  Additional, Harvick hold the record in the modern era (1972 to present) with 58 consecutive races without a DNF.  Again, you won't hear about it, the media only seems to jump on Harvick if he's in disagreement with some other driver.

While Bowyer doesn't have the long career and stats to compare with his teammates, he's been consistent and always seems to be there at the end of the race, again quietly.

So while the media commentators are going on about Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch during the race, take a look at where the RCR drivers are, more often than not, they're quietly moving up.

Your thoughts?

No penalties for Waltrip or Hamlin???

NASCAR said yesterday at the testing session at Lowe's that no additional penalties will be handed out for Hamlin or Waltrip. 

And NASCAR wonders why people think they are not consistent?  There was a precedent with both of these acts to hand down penalties, yet none are given.  In 2004, Earnhardt Jr. was penalized 25 points and $10,000 for intentionally bringing out the caution, he purposely spun so he wouldn't go a lap down....fast forward to Richmond, Hamlin stops on the track and brings out the caution.  NASCAR believes it was an intentional move, but yet isn't going to hand out further penalties for it?

Now, on to the Waltrip one.  NASCAR believes that he intentionally took Mears out, but thinks the hit Waltrip took in points because of being parked was severe enough?  He fell one spot on the standings for taking his anger out on the track and that was severe enough?  Why was Kurt Busch fined for intentionally taking out Robby Gordon in the 2002 All-Star race?  Both moves were "intentional" in NASCAR's eyes and in the fans eyes, so why the different reactions from NASCAR?

Is this another case of who you drive for or who you are?  Is NASCAR playing favorites again?  It sure seems like it, but of course there's no proof, other than there is precedent for them to hand down penalties, which they already said they won't do.

If it had been Kevin Harvick or Robby Gordon instead of Michael Waltrip, it's pretty safe to say additional penalties would have been handed down citing the precedent as the reason.

Your thoughts?

Bowyer wins in Richmond - What a race!

Last season people thought Bowyer lucked into The Chase or it was just fluke, but whether you like him or not, he's there when it counts, including last nights Richmond race.  Bowyer slipped by during the Earnhardt Jr./Busch incident to take the lead and won in a green-white-checkered finish.

Everyone thought that the hometown boy, Hamlin, was going to win, but as any race fan knows anything can and usually does happen.  Hamlin had a tire going down and instead of pitting to get it fixed, it eventually went flat bringing out the caution, I'm sure the way they planned.  The only problem is that Hamlin stopped on the track to bring out the caution (big no no - you can't stop on the track to bring out the caution), when he could have limped around and NASCAR black flagged him for two laps.

With Hamlin out of the way, that left Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch in the first and second position and you knew they were going to fight hard for the win.  That's also when it got real loud around here.  Last night was not the night to be near any Jr. fan after the incident with Busch.

My take on the incident was that it was just a racing deal, both were racing hard for the lead.  To listen to some Jr. fans, Kyle did it on purpose, others say Kyle should have backed off if he got loose.  In my opinion, it looked like both were getting loose racing side by side and that's what led to the wreck.  Saying a driver should have backed off when going for the lead and the win is a bit ridiculous, if drivers did that, races would be exciting because there would be no fighting for the lead.

While I changed the channel after the race, to avoid any further noisy reactions to the interviews, I read about Jr.'s post-race interview and it sounded like he handled it with class.  Unless the little snippet I read was wrong, Jr. basically said he didn't see the replay yet and that he was told Kyle got loose, although he was clearly disappointed.  Maybe some of his fans should take a hint.

The big wreck happened on lap 229 and what a wreck it was.  Carpentier car was hit multiple times after hitting the inside wall, luckily him and all the others in the wreck were unhurt.  They brought out the red flag to clean up the mess.  With the hits Carpentier took, it shows that NASCAR has come a long way in the safety of the cars where he was unhurt with all the vicious hits he took.

While there were others individual and two car wrecks, the other mentionable one was the Mears/Waltrip incident.  While it appeared to be a typical short track incident, Waltrip didn't seem to see it that way.  After the wreck, when the cars should just drive to pit road after the incident, Waltrip had a different idea.  He was obviously pissed and accelerated and drove Mears for a little bit before going off into the pits.  That was enough to get NASCARS attention, they parked him for the rest of the race.  I realize he was mad and thought it was all Mears' fault, but his reaction was childish and dangerous.

Congrats again to Bowyer.

Your thoughts?

Nationwide race pushed to ESPN Classic

For those fans wanting to tune in to tonight's Nationwide race from Richmond, I hope you have ESPN Classic.  The race was originally scheduled to air on ESPN2, but because of NBA playoffs, it's been pushed to ESPN Classic and ESPN360.com.  For those that don't have ESPN Classic on their cable or satellite service, the race is suppose to be shown in it's entirety (although recorded) after the playoff game.

NASCAR fans use to love ESPN for their coverage of NASCAR races and thought that when they started airing races again, it would improve coverage, unfortunately, ESPN cares more about other sports fans and NASCAR fans are not happy about it.  In this case, NASCAR fans are being pushed aside to accommodate basketball fans, ESPN use to care about their NASCAR fans, obviously other things are more important and there is really nothing fans can do about it.

For those of you fans that had plans and were planning on recording the race, set it to record it on ESPN Classic at 7 PM ET instead of ESPN2.  Fans that don't have ESPN Classic, but have ESPN2 will have to wait until after the basketball game to see the race.

Kyle Busch wins in a mess of a finish

Kyle Busch held off Montoya and Hamlin to win at Dega, while the rest of the field, or just about, wrecked behind them in the final laps.  Because the caution came out on the after the white flag was thrown, the race was over.

Busch said he had to block to keep them behind him, which he was able to do.  As for the finish, it was a total mess with the caution and some drivers made out quite well with the way NASCAR scored them and others didn't fair too well, some of them didn't make  sense, but that's NASCAR for ya.

Congrats to Brian Vickers and David Ragan on their top 5 finishes and also to Casey Mears (top finishing HMS driver) for his top 10 finish.  It was nice to see Vickers and Mears up there for a change.

Oh and so much for the crew chief swap over at Ganassi helping BOTH teams, the 42 finished second and the 41 blew and engine on lap 5.  Hmm, seemed like it helped one, but not the other...did we really expect any different?  I sure didn't, he still only cares about one car and that's not going to change.

Your thoughts?

Tony Stewart gets his first Dega win

Tony Stewart held off Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Stremme to win from the pole and his first victory at Dega.

The race was marred by two big wrecks, one early in the race and one late.  The early one injured Dario Frachitti, who was t-boned on the drivers side by Gunselman after Franchitti blew a tire, hit the outside wall and then came back down the track.  Franchitti was taken to the hospital and it was announced that he broke his left ankle and suffered minor contusions.  David Stremme, who ironically Franchitti replaced, will sub for Franchitti in the #40 for the Cup race at Dega on Sunday.  No word yet on how long Franchitti could be sidelined by his injury.

The other wreck could have been avoided, even though Lepage (the driver that caused it) doesn't think so.  Lepage was coming off pit road, not up to speed, when the field came upon him.  Instead of staying down below the yellow line, which would have been the logical thing to do, Lepage decided to blend back up on the track in turn one, which he said NASCAR told them that's what they are suppose to do.  Well, yeah, but not if the entire field is right there!  The first few cars got by him before he got all the way onto the track, but not all, Carl Edwards' Ford drove up on the back of Lepage and then all hell broke loose on the track, cars were going everywhere.  That wreck collected 14 cars, including six of the top 10 in points.

I just don't understand what Lepage and his spotter were thinking with the whole field going by the way it was, I mean it may have been different if he was up to speed, but he wasn't anywhere near up to speed yet and it just would have made more sense for him to "blend in" as they call it, after the field went by, he was already a lap down anyways.

Oh and also want to say congratulations to Joe Nemechek for getting the pole for Sundays race, never saw that coming.

Your thoughts?

Is Tony Stewart really leaving Joe Gibbs Racing?

Last years big Silly Season question was Dale Earnhardt Jr., this year it seems to be Tony Stewart, even though he has one year left on his contract.

Unless you've been living under a rock, the rumors started flying about Tony Stewart leaving JGR when they announced their move to Toyota last year, now the rumors have really heated up, could Stewart really be leaving?

When the latest rumor about Stewart being offered half-ownership of Haas CNC came out, it didn't take Stewart too long to speak out about it.

We've got multiple offers on the table right now, and there's a couple in particular that really have caught our interest.  We haven't made a 100% decision yet on what we're going to do, but we're going to look at all the options. And the options are exciting, all the way around.

Stewart did say that staying at JGR is still one of those options.

A wise person told me it never cost a dime to listen, so right now we're all ears.  Right now it's just a matter of figuring out what we want to do, and being smart. We've had a great run at Joe Gibbs Racing. It doesn't mean it's over. We're just going to look at everything that's out there.

Stewart said that JGR has been informed of the offers, including ownership, but he says that he has not asked to be let out of his contract early, despite some rumors that have reported he has.  This isn't to say that he won't, just that he hasn't as of yet.

Most know that Stewart wasn't thrilled with the move to Toyota and that Chevy wants Stewart back into their fold, so it really wouldn't be surprising to see Stewart leave Gibbs after all these years.  How he leaves and where he goes remains to be seen.

So far I've heard the half-ownership in Haas CNC and the fourth car at RCR, but as Stewart said, he's had multiple offers, so there are some that haven't been found out yet.

I guess the biggest question is that if he does the Haas CNC deal, could he bring that team around to being in contention week in and week out?  They haven't had a lot of luck finding the right drivers or sponsors, so could a big name like Stewart turn that team around?  And who would be his teammate?

If that happened and right now it's still a big if, being the old sentimental fool I am, I would love to see Bobby Labonte go to the second car and see old teammates back together again before they retire, just like they were back in the early days at Gibbs.

Your thoughts?

NASCAR needs to say no to Mexico City until Safer Barriers are put in

First, congrats to Kyle Busch on a hard-charged win.

Now, on to the safer barrier thing...oops, I forgot there are no safer barriers in Mexico City.  Why is this?  All the other tracks that NASCAR races at had to put them in, some even coming under fire for not having them on the inside walls, but at least they have safer barriers on the outside walls.

Two red flags because of wrecks and to fix the walls, the concrete walls, with no safety features, at that.  Luckily this was a road course and the speeds weren't higher.

I think NASCAR needs to say, "You want us to race there, put in the safer barriers," if they choose not to, for whatever reason, say "adios" to the Mexico City race. 

Your thoughts?

Crew Chief Switching Game - This Time it's Ganassi

After his public displeasure at the way his teams are doing, Chip Ganassi decided it's time to play the crew chief switching game, Montoya and Sorenson will be switching crew chiefs.  Ganassi thinks it's a great idea...

I really feel that these changes can be instrumental in moving Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates to the next level. I have a lot of respect for both Donnie and Jimmy and the jobs that they do and they both agree that this move can be very beneficial to the entire organization. I have said all along that I believe us to be a championship organization and that Felix and I will do whatever we can to make us better. This is toward that end.

Honestly, I don't see how this will help anything.  We've seen crew chief switches in the past in other teams not really work, yes some have worked, but most don't seem to work out too well and ends up with either the driver or one of the crew chiefs getting fired.  Even if it does work, it won't have the instant results Ganassi wants, look at Edwards as an example, he struggled when his crew chief was switched, he's back up there now, but it wasn't instant.

Another problem I see is that these crew chiefs are the only ones that these drivers have had during their Cup career.  Granted I'm not a Montoya fan, but I do like Sorenson and think he has potential, unfortunately not with Ganassi, I foresee him being "replaced" by another open-wheel driver and if that happens, I hope he gets a decent ride in good equipment.

Equipment is where I think Ganassi is lacking, I don't think he's ever had all of his cars doing well at the same time.  I think he focuses too much on one team/car instead of the whole team/organization.  Back when Marlin drove for him, it was all about the #40 car, now it's all about Montoya, how does he expect for all his teams to do well when he focuses on just one?  Drivers can not do well if they don't have the equipment to do it in, hence Sorensons problem, that and he keeps getting caught up in wrecks.  And while I'm not a fan of the open-wheelers, I think Ganassi is expecting way too much of Franchitti in his first year.

Your thoughts?

Johnson Gambles and Coasts His Way To Victory

OK, he didn't coast, but he may as well have, he certainly backed down enough to save on the fuel.  While I'm not a Johnson fan, he and crew chief Knaus made the gutsy call and it won them the race and they had a good car to begin with also.

Some may say, quite loudly I might add, that Johnson slowed down too much in the closing laps and should have been black flagged for not going the minimum speed, but I think he was keeping minimum speed and while I'm not a fan, he won the race fair and square.

Second place finisher Clint Bowyer is the only other car that gambled on fuel, everyone else pitted in the closing laps.

As usual, I was following Harvick and wasn't too thrilled at the beginning of the race, way too tight in the center and loose off, they worked on it throughout the race though and did get the car better, not completely to Harvick's liking, but they got it better.  I thought he was going to have a great finish there at the end, they were discussing back and forth about whether or not to pit, at first they were going to gamble, then they decided with about two or three laps to go to pit next time for just a splash.  Well, Harvick was coming anyways, he was out of fuel...grrrr.  Running fourth at the time he ended up eighteenth and dropped three spots in the standings to fifth.  Hopefully they get a good car for Dega in two weeks!

Burton kept the points lead with his sixth place finish, not bad for spinning earlier in the race because of someone's blown engine.  His lead is eighty points over Kyle Busch who moved up to second in points.

And what was with the beginning of the race?  It's bad enough it was delayed because of stupid baseball, but then to miss the start of the race when the baseball game was on FX was just completely ridiculous.  NASCAR and FOX need to get their act together!

Your thoughts?