Kathy's Pit Stop

Caution 600

It should have been called the Caution 600, with a record 22 cautions, two more than any other NASCAR race, Bristol held the record with 20 cautions, twice.

The track and impatience seemed to have led to many of the cautions being brought out.  Gordon got bit by the track again, when the front valence got damaged by a piece of the patch work on the track, similar to what happened at Martinsville.  If that wasn't bad enough, Gordon got more damage when caught up in the wreck caused by teammate Brian Vickers, who admitted to getting too impatient.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. was trying to pass teammate Michael Waltrip, but wasn't clear and wrecked both of them and catching Kenseth, Labonte and Newman in the wreck.  He said he thought he was clear to pass, but obviously not, when he hit him in the rear.  A lot of speculation about problems at DEI are coming up because of this incident and past problems with the teams as a whole.

It was a long race and many drivers said passing was nearly impossible, not sure if the work done to the track had anything to do with it or not, but that appears to be the case, that and the new aero package this year.

It was a race to the finish with Bobby Labonte and Jimmie Johnson, Johnson edging Labonte out at the finish line, the high line was the way to go in this race.  While I'm not a Johnson fan, he had the best car there at the end and I give him credit for racing Labonte clean in the end to win the race.

Newman, although caught up in the Earnhardt Jr. wreck, managed to struggle back with a damaged nose and finish in fifth, moving him up in to fourth in points.  Rusty had an up and down race, at times the car was good and at other times it seemed to be terrible, but he battled back from a lap down to finish tenth, moving him up one position in the points.

Most of the news after the race was about Earnhardt Jr. and the fallout that could ensue, seems that Eury Sr. is pretty upset and plans to deal with the situation over at DEI.  What is the situation?  It's anyone's guess and what will be said or done isn't known either.

Newman takes pole in record fashion

Most people expected Newman to get the pole, but I didn't expect the time he got.  Newman made the lap around Lowe's in 27.981 seconds.  I admit, I expected him to get the pole, or at least have  good shot at it, but I don't think anyone expected a lap under 28 seconds.

But what does this mean for race day?  It means he starts first and get first choice at pit stalls, which can give him a good chance of coming out first on yellow flag pit stops.  It's a long race and one that can be hard on engines near the end, so hopefully everyone has theirs running perfect.

Other than that, we have the usual drivers starting in the top five with one exception.  Matt Kenseth seems to have finally come alive during qualifying and starts third, hopefully his luck will continue and he'll have a good run.

Who to watch in the 600

Because of his sweep last year, Jimmie Johnson is obviously a favorite for the 600, but who are the others that will do well and possibly battle for the win?

I think Tony Stewart should be one to watch, he's done well at Lowe's and had a heck of a car in the All-Star race.  I guess a lot will depend on how close the new car is to that one.  Stewart's teammate Bobby Labonte is one to watch too.  Granted he hasn't been doing well this season, but he typically does well at Lowe's, so I think he'll be up there too.  His bad luck has to end somewhere right?

Others to watch, going by previous races and the All-Star are Mark Martin, Rusty Wallace, Ryan Newman, Elliott Sadler and probably Jeff Gordon.

As with all the 600's we'll be seeing blown engines, which will give drivers a pause if it happens to their teammate.  They have to take care of those engines.  This is not an impound race, but with 600 miles to race on Sunday, these drivers will take the least amount of laps as they can during practice to save on the car and don't be surprised if there are a few engine changes, if they have any inkling that there may be the slightest possible problem with the engine, they'll change it.

Other than the obvious favorite of Jimmie Johnson, who do you think has the biggest chance of winning the 600?

Rumors running rampant in NASCAR

Rumors seem to be running rampant early about next season in NASCAR.  These are some of things heard in or around the garage lately.

*Ryan Newman - With Borland signed, officials at Penske are saying that they should have a new contract with Newman soon.  But, a few weeks ago, Newman was seen leaving a meeting with all the Roush drivers.  Could Roush be courting Newman for the #6?  I could see them (Roush) doing it, although I really can't see Newman leaving the #12, especially since Borland has a new contract, they just work together too well.

*Rusty Wallace - Rumors started resurfacing this weekend that Rusty may not be retiring quite yet.  Nothing substantial has been said, other than a heavy tax burden from the sale of his share of Penske South.  Some rumors are saying that Miller may be pressuring Penske, but I don't think that's it.  Other rumors have said that Ford and Chevy officials have been talking to Wallace, although no offers have been made and nothing really has been confirmed.  While I would love to see him not retire, I don't think that will happen, we may see him in a few races, but I highly doubt he'll run full time.

*Driver for the #2 - Not a lot has been said by Penske officials on this one.  The latest rumors are that Penske wants to have just one IRL car next season and that Sam Hornish might take over the #2, others are saying there may be a trade going on.  If Penske goes to a car team next year in IRL, Hornish could move over to NASCAR, either in the Penske #2 or be sent to Ganassi in a trade for McMurray, so he could go to the #2.  I'm hoping things can be worked out and McMurray can get the ride in the #2, I've been rooting for the #2 for 12 years now and it'll be hard to continue if they put a driver in I don't particularly care about.

*New crew chief for the #8? - That's what the rumor is and it could happen as early as this week if true.  Supposedly, officials at the front office of DEI think a stronger hand is needed to motivate the team.  Who could be the replacement?  Names being thrown around are Jimmy Elledge and Mike Ford.  Tony Eury Jr. supposedly gave word to his men this weekend that he would not abandon them during the season. 

*Martin Truex Jr. - Rumor has that he still isn't signed by DEI and when asked if we should expect an announcement this week about his signing to drive the #1 in Cup next year, he declined to comment.  That doesn't necessarily mean it won't happen, but leaves people to speculate about it and brought back the rumor about his possibly signing with Gibbs to driver the #11.

All of these are rumors (found on jayski.com) going around right now, some may be complete fantasy and some may have some truth to them, no one knows for sure.

What are your thoughts about the rumors?

Mark Martin wins All-Star Challenge

Mark Martin held off a charge by Elliott Sadler to win the All-Star race.  Sadler's car was strong all night and I think he probably would have won it if they had taken four tires on the last pit stop instead of only two.

It was great to see Mark win and he's already promised to be back for next year's race, as long as Roush gives him a ride.  As Mark said as he crossed the finish line - "Thank you guys! Thank you!  I'll be back next year if you give me a ride!

Because he is a winner of the All-Star race he is eligible for all the others, even if he doesn't race that year or not, all he needs is a car, which I'm sure Roush would be happy to provide.

In the Open, it was Vickers who came out the winner.  Depending on who you talk to, you'll get varying answers.  Vickers said Bliss tried to block him and clipped the nose of his car, Bliss said, "he wrecked me."  While I'm not a fan of the "wreck to win" club, this was expected if there was a close race for the finish.  This was either go home or go on to the All-Star race and I think just about any driver in that situation would try something.

And what about Harvick and Nemechek after the wreck in the All-Star race?  Wow!  Both of them were pretty heated at each other and the wreck wasn't either of their faults and had to be separated by officials.  I can understand why Harvick was mad, he obviously thought Nemechek started/caused the wreck.  Nemecheck, I'm not really sure why he was mad at Harvick though, unless it was just because Harvick was blaming him.  Either way, both of them were in the wrong the way they acted and should apologize. 

It will be interesting to see how NASCAR handles this one, I'm sure fines are coming, but how NASCAR handles this is anyone's guess.  Would they take points away even though this wasn't a points race?  Would they sit someone out for the next race?  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Picture credit: Martin and Vickers photos - credit Autostock - Harvick and Nemechek photo - credit AP

Friday Happenings

Missed the All-Star qualifying (not of my doing, a fire two buildings down knocked out cable and phone service), but heard that Ryan Newman got the pole, which really isn't much of a surprise to anyone, he's very good at getting poles.

Luckily we got cable back in time for the start of the truck race, lots of cautions and trucks getting loose when they were on the inside of someone, hopefully we won't see as much during the races tonight.  Musgrave finished 3rd and got the points lead back, Hamilton ran into some bad luck and got caught up in a wreck, he finished in 28th. 

I'm not a fan of Hmiel, but that win should have been his and not Kyle Busch's, special sponsor for the race (ditech) wanted Busch in the truck, so Hmiel had to sit out.

Also, take time to check out the new Infield Blog for an insider's view of the weekend from the infield at Lowes.

Now it's time to sit back and wait for the races tonight, hopefully they won't be as wreck-filled as the truck race.

Back in Black at Chicago

Rusty Wallace is going retro, he will sport his most popular paint scheme at the July 10th Chicago race.

This is great for Rusty fans, most have been asking if he'd ever go back to the black paint scheme and when he announced his retirement, they only hinted that they might run one, but never committed to anything.  I'm glad they brought the black and gold back for one more race, I've always liked that paint scheme better than the Miller Lite one.  It would be nice if they would bring it back for the final race at Homestead too, but I'm sure that's just wishful thinking on my part.

I can't wait to see that black and gold car back on the track!

*picture credit - racingusa.com

All-Star Challenge

With the All-Star Challenge on the line this weekend, a non-points event, it should be interesting.  How many chances will the drivers take when points are not on the line?  Some may take more risks than they normally do, which could make it an interesting race. 

While I would love to see Rusty, Mark or Newman win the race, I don't think they will.  The new surface on the track and the car specifications this year makes last years notes almost useless.  I think the drive who can adapt the quickest will win and for that reason I think Biffle has a good shot at winning the race.  I know Humpy Wheeler picked Gordon (and he did well in testing), but I think Biffle and his team has done a better job this year adapting to the tracks. 

I could be wrong, we'll have to wait and see.  I'll still be rooting for my drivers (Rusty, Mark and Newman), but wish all of them good luck and hope it's a good, clean race.

What are your thoughts and predictions for the race?

Vagueness in rules leads to questionable calls

We've all disagreed at one time or another with a call that NASCAR makes and the punishment that goes along with it.  NASCAR's vagueness makes it easy for them to make these calls because nothing seems to be clear cut.  Most of these have to do with something that is "detrimental to the sport of stock car racing", but what about the other calls?  One of them happened just yesterday in the Craftsman Truck Series race.

Ron Hornaday, known for his great restarts, was leading and had a strong truck that he kept up front all day, but NASCAR decided that he jumped the restart.  His crew was clearly arguing their case, but Hornaday had to answer the black flag. 

During the broadcast it was mentioned a few times that the drivers were told that they needed to restart "in the vicinity of the double red lines" on the outside wall, Hornaday and his crew thought he did, NASCAR saw it differently.  Yes, he did hit the gas before the red lines, but he didn't appear to be too far from then when he restarted. 

I think it was a bad call by NASCAR, but they make the rules, I just wish they would be more clear with them.  If they don't want them to start until the red lines, they need to say so, not say "in the vicinity of."  If you saw the race, what did you think of the call?

As we've seen over the years, vagueness doesn't work, all it does it get everyone confused, drivers, teams and fans. If they don't want them doing something or want them to do it a certain way, say so, don't say things like - "we would like" or "we wish you wouldn't" or "in the vicinity of."  Why do you think so many drives and fans get upset at calls?  Most don't understand why they got the penalty in the first place.

The vagueness needs to stop, make the rules clear cut.

Kahne finally wins

Kasey Kahne led most of the laps and he pulled away on the final restart to seal his first Cup win, not only was it the first win for him, but for Dodge too, making it more special. Stewart finished second, with Newman, Kyle Busch and Harvick close behind.  For a while there it was a battle for second, but then they all fell into line.

McMurray was running fourth until he was given an unintentional bump from Kyle Busch, McMurray ended up finishing tenth.  Busch admitted the bump, said it wasn't intentional and did apologize.

The other big story of the night was the two DNF's scored by points leader Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.  Johnson retained the points lead, only 41 points ahead of Biffle and Gordon dropped to third.  A lot of people were able to gain points and even some positions with the bad luck of Johnson and Gordon, but I still think only the top ten will make The Chase.

On to the All-Star race next week.