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June 24, 2007
Gamble pays off for Montoya
A gamble on fuel gave Montoya his first Cup victory. I don't know what he was doing to conserve fuel, but somehow he did, even with his aggressive driving. I don't think he made too many friends out there today either, it seems like he hit just about everyone he passed, sometimes more than once. A few times he got a little bang back, but with the COT the beatin' and bangin' didn't spin as many cars as it could have like the old car. I kept thinking of that line in Days of Thunder where they said "he's hit everything out there but the pace car."
There were quite a few spins, a lot seemed to be due to over-braking in the corners, much like we saw in practice and there were quite a few full-course cautions. I remember when there was hardly any full course cautions, most were just in the area that had the trouble.
Montoya wasn't the only one to gamble on fuel, but he did win that battle where some others like Carl Edwards didn't, funny thing is that they had told Montoya he would be about one and a half laps short and Edwards was told he was good to go on fuel and Edwards was the one who ran out of fuel when he was running in fourth.
Harvick conserved fuel to make it to the end, hoping to finish first when Montoya ran out, but they settled for second, which was still a good points day for them and RCR teammates Burton and Bowyer finished right behind him in third and fourth.
Robby Gordon, who led the most laps looked to be the one to beat, but after he had to go in for his final pit stop under green, he was mired behind a lot of traffic and was only able to fight back and finish 16th.
Oh and what happened to the five second delay for the races? If they had that, I don't think we would have heard Kyle Petty utter that strong language that we did on lap one when he got caught up in that wreck. Wonder how much that'll cost him?
Your thoughts?
June 24, 2007 in NASCAR | Permalink
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Comments
What would NASCAR think about Smokey Yunick in todays NASCAR?
Posted by: jeff | Jun 26, 2007 8:13:56 PM
I don't want Brian France as the sheriff of my town. If this were an old western scenario France would be the corrupt sheriff being paid off by the bad guys..."we are going to lay down the law" how ridiculous let the bad guys ride out of town with a slap on the wrist...might as well rob the bank on your way out.
Posted by: lous | Jun 26, 2007 5:08:29 PM
,......Make that,..with BOTH hands tied!
Posted by: Twenty4Chevy | Jun 26, 2007 4:20:17 PM
NO PROBLEM!! HMS can do that with one hand tied behind their backs and eyes closed! They (Chad & Steve)can still run things from the shops.
Posted by: Twenty4Chevy | Jun 26, 2007 4:19:07 PM
Once again CUP chokes on the fines, points and suspension..
OPEN season to cheat
Posted by: Kurt2 | Jun 26, 2007 4:08:22 PM
100 points each, 6 races.
Enjoy.
Posted by: mary | Jun 26, 2007 4:03:28 PM
A local DJ up here in the Nord Woods summerized JPM's arrogant interview after the race very well as far as I am concerned.
He said: "The next time Montoya wins a race, let's not interview him if it's such an inconvience. Wait a minute... He has to win another race in order for this to happen... Ain't gonna' happen".. I think I agree with the DJ... Send this "bum" back to open wheel racing where he can strut his stuff because nobody gets within 15 feet of each other... He's a chicken shit, close wheel racing, Nascar driver.....
Nothing against the lady drivers, but, Janet, Danica, Shawna, et all could whip his ass in any form of racing that Mr Pablum would care to choose.... He's just another "corporate product" that the media is trying to sell.........
Posted by: jcee | Jun 26, 2007 2:52:19 PM
Now taking bets!
Taking bets on how long it take Kathy to repeat the news, once it is announced, of what the 24/48 penalty will be.
Place your bets here!
I'll be first......
Less than one minute.
My guess is she has taken Tuesday and Wednesday off work so she can monitor the news all day long. Gotta get this up quick!
Posted by: Bill | Jun 26, 2007 2:51:41 PM
For starters JPM is a great driver. Dont like him much but I hate JG and he is too. Nothing will come of the language because it was between driver and team. They had no way of knowing that the TV would broadcast it. I read a few years ago that the teams pay for the frequencies at each track.If that is true then fans and TV are invading these teams privacy.
Posted by: Nichols | Jun 26, 2007 11:28:10 AM
What a great day for all of the
other squeaky clean teams.
Posted by: Mary | Jun 26, 2007 9:11:18 AM
twenty4chevy wrote:".here's a point that hasn't been mentioned by anyone as of yet: The #8 team got their punishment a week after the infraction and didn't start serving it until the week after that. The HMS teams were both penalized IMMEDIATELY and SEVERELY. So don't get to crying too much if tomorrow(or Wednesday), the penalties imposed are merely ADDITIONAL penalties."
NO one wants to address THAT point it seems,..but don't be surprised if Nascar looks at it this way. (Remember the Kurt Busch/Tony Stewart incedent, I know it's not COT related but could result in same scenerio)
Posted by: Twenty4Chevy | Jun 26, 2007 9:02:00 AM
Rich,
Totally agree there with the Loudon race being extremely boring, when is nascar taking a date away from this snoozer of a track?
Greta,
Regarding JPM being a lousy driver...i suppose that his F1 Championship was just a fluke? JPM happens to be one of the best road track racers in the world. He gambled on fuel mileage and won, Robbys car was getting almost a mile per gallon less fuel mileage according to the end of the race calculations. Of course who really knows who is fudging what on that subject. As for Chad K..... he needs to sit for a long time, this is not the first infraction for him. If it was the first time i can see 100pts and 100k fine consistent with Jrs', but he has been caught many times. He needs the book thrown at him if Nascar has the balls to do it.
Posted by: DH | Jun 26, 2007 8:23:29 AM
Jon , you will be wrong.100T, 100Pts, & 6 weeks is my guess.
Posted by: Bill | Jun 26, 2007 6:54:35 AM
Anyone who thinks Sonoma was boring better get ready for Loudon this weekend. Talk about a parade!! All Loudon lacks is the Shriners in their little cars to make it complete.
Posted by: Rich | Jun 26, 2007 6:47:52 AM
Gretta,
He has been caught numerous times fudging the rules in the gray areas. Well sat them all down and said there was no gray areas and leave it to Chad to find what he wants to call a gray area. Must have taken a bit of extra testing to show them that fudging with that area of the fenders would give them that much of a downforce advantage.
We will se how consistance NASCAR is today or tomorrow when they traditionally have handed down penalities from the past weekends racing. If they don't give them the same if not more severe penalities than they handed down to Dale Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. I will be proven right one more time.
Posted by: Jon | Jun 26, 2007 5:07:57 AM
Jeff,
They already did and they approved of the design Hendrick Motorsports submitted for approval before the season started and now they have made an alteration and NASCAR said that they weren't allowed to make any changes to the COT after being certified and Chad and Steve both made alterations to gain a downforce advantage. Id the Hendrick cars are so much better, why do they have to find some advantage over all the other cars to win. Seems to me Chad doesn't think Jimmie can win when it is head to head over the other drivers in equal cars.
Posted by: Jon | Jun 26, 2007 5:00:19 AM
I think I'll stand on what I said Friday on the 24/48: 100 points, 100 thousand, 6 weeks for the crew chiefs.
I don't think Petty should be fined at all: heat of the moment in the car, and it was replay!
It was not as exciting as I would have hoped.. Had the caution that came with 43 laps to go had come instead with say 40 or 46 laps to go it would have been a more interesting.
Posted by: thomas | Jun 26, 2007 12:17:01 AM
hmmmmmmmmmmmmm interesting
When Knaus was suspended last year, they communicated via laptop and cell phone by housing Knaus in a hotel close to the track.
is this how K2 communicates with us here ??
Posted by: aggie | Jun 25, 2007 11:48:40 PM
the snoozer at sonoma was a strange race. but aren't most of them lately?
Juna Pablo...sorry he is so much like Stewart..all mouth. He did drive rough at the track, but stewart was worse. Im not a Gordon fan but he downright slammed him to get by. I like to watch races but not watching them slam their way forward. how much talent is that? I can do that much. And i won't complain when someone bumps me if i am also bumping into people. Wish they would get rid of the stewarts and Juan padloads. Plus i cannot stand road tracks. BORING. Lots of fast cars going slow in single file most of the time. whoopee
Posted by: Mark | Jun 25, 2007 10:27:41 PM
NASCAR is really putting itself out there for scrutiny by penalizing the 24/48 if they choose the same penalty as the 8. The cars were in compliance with the template but NASCAR saw something it didn't like between the templates.
If I recall, back in 1997, NASCAR didn't like the T-Rex car that Gordon had at the Winston. It wasn't illegial, NASCAR just didn't like it.
Oh well, its NASCAR's game and its they can do what they want.
Posted by: Chad B. | Jun 25, 2007 9:30:32 PM
Jon~
That's Chad's job! Figure out how to make Jimmie's car be the best it can be. Kyle Petty even said that all the team's do it. All the teams "fudge" with the car as much as they can. They all screw w/the "grey" area. Don't go pointing fingers at Chad. He just happened to be the guy that got caught this week.
Posted by: Greta | Jun 25, 2007 8:12:48 PM
DH~
The deal is, the man (kyle) just said a prayer!! Come on!! What a hypocrit! In this country we don't allow that "language" on tv. Sorry I don't make the rules, thats just how it is.
Yes, JPM did win the race. Deserve to win it? I would definitely not go that far. The man is a complete idiot. Can't drive, just happened to be lucky to be in the front at the right time for the cautions. It could have happened to anybody. A clean pass? Barely, but it looked like a child was driving. The man can't make a turn to save his life!
Posted by: Greta | Jun 25, 2007 8:10:47 PM
Big deal with the F-bomb, who cares, heat of the moment stuff. JPM deserved the win, i like him and think he is a deserving winner. He will be a force to be reckoned with especially if he gets good cars. Get over all the "SHOCK" with the F word stuff. This is a word that has many connotations and is used in everyday speech,stop with all the PC crap and don't be so uptight.
Posted by: DH | Jun 25, 2007 7:54:33 PM
If NASCAR wants to limit the creativity of the teams. They should issue a composite body all molded to the same specs. A spec engine in a sealed crate and employees of NASCAR to supervise car assembly. IROC is gone and NASCAR wouldn't be far behind.
Posted by: jeff | Jun 25, 2007 7:42:20 PM
NASCAR wopuldn't have to worry about if Chad Knaus had something better do to than figure out how to get around the rules (gray areas). Chad admitted he was trying to gain an advantage over all of the other cars and he got caught and now he has to live with the punishment and I hope it is severe. I think it is a joke that Hendrick is actually calling for NASCAR to better define the gray areas. NASCAR said don't mess with the body that was approved by NASCAR and yet they did exactly that and they have the audacity to wonder why NASCAR is going to penalize them.
Posted by: Jon | Jun 25, 2007 7:06:00 PM
I guess we'll agree to disagree Michael and move on.
24chevy, sorry, you won't get no amens from me.
Mary, what the hell is a garage squealer?
Posted by: keith12 | Jun 25, 2007 5:17:33 PM
Keith12...are you the garage
squealer?
Posted by: Mary | Jun 25, 2007 5:01:40 PM
Actually Keith 12, I do think it's enough. And I'd be saying it if it was any other driver besides the 24/48. Actually, I think even sitting them was too much a of penalty. They didn't break any Nascar rule. Nascar told them to build the cars to fit the templates and that's what they did. They didn't mess with any of the "certified" parts on the car. They saw an opportunity to work within the rules that were established and they went for it. Nascar is just pissed because someone figured out a way to get by their new toy.
This isn't the IROC series. Trying to find advantage in the car's setup has been at the root of Nascar since it's inception. I think it's idiotic to take that away from the teams.
Posted by: Michael | Jun 25, 2007 5:00:53 PM
Harvicks team threw that race away Sunday. I heard several times during that last run the RCR cars were good on fuel. I think they got snookered by the 42 team. I guess you can't believe everything you hear on the teams radio.
Posted by: jeff | Jun 25, 2007 4:56:13 PM
All indications are that Nascar will try to boast their dictorial ruling by giving HMS additional penalties for the sake of "saving face" for simply NOT covering ALL the areas in the COT rules. How severe is yet to be determined,but BEFORE all you HMS haters and ones that are trying to compare Dale Jr.'s team punishment with this past weekend's,..here's a point that hasn't been mentioned by anyone as of yet: The #8 team got their punishment a week after the infraction and didn't start serving it until the week after that. The HMS teams were both penalized IMMEDIATELY and SEVERELY. So don't get to crying too much if tomorrow(or Wednesday), the penalties imposed are merely ADDITIONAL penalties. Can I get some "Amens" on this?
Posted by: Twenty4Chevy | Jun 25, 2007 4:52:06 PM
Michael, You can't honestly believe that parking Johnson and Gordon for a day is a sufficient penalty. Just because they couldn't qualify or practice, it is not really a big deal. They still finished where they finished and did not lose pts. To get their attention, fine them some points. It sure got the 8's attention I bet. And Johnson fans should be used to this by now. How many times have they been penalized in the last five years.
Posted by: keith12 | Jun 25, 2007 4:09:35 PM
Rocket Man,
Hendrick has given it's car on a couple of times to Nascar for them to take to the R&D for them to go over it and see how the COT is affected after race conditions.
The area in question is not part of templates and is not specifically checked. It was caught by the naked eye of an inspector at the track. The reason being, at a road course you want to create more down force on the front, unlike some of the other COT races so far this year.
I'd say there a lot teams that have fudged a little in this area, because it's not an area that's checked. But, Hendrick teams made it a little more obvious this time.
Posted by: Michael | Jun 25, 2007 3:58:28 PM
As much as I dislike Montoya, I have to agree with many of you bloggers. He won this race fair and square. He drove hard, took the lead and held onto it when it counted.
As far as TNT coverage, it flat out sucks. All the instances above are bad enough, but dammit, I tune in to watch races, not commercials. They should change their name to TMC, TOO MANY COMMERCIALS!!!
As far as the infractions against Gordon and Johnson, why did NASCAR just catch these now? Were they going on in all the previous COT races? Did they contribute to earlier wins? If not, why did those teams make those changes for this race? It all smells kind of fishy to me? Any one else's thoughts on this?
Posted by: Rocket_Man_Fan | Jun 25, 2007 3:15:28 PM
Larry,
What are you talking about "did nothing to them". They parked them for a day and held them out of qualifying for something there is not even a rule for. The rule book says the car has to fit the template, their cars did. Frankly, I think Nascar backed themselves into a corner with that stupid penalty against Jr. Nascar can't get out of the way of itself. They are so short sighted on everything it's unbelievable.
Charles,
check the results, JPM wasn't the only car to make it on two stops. All of the Childress cars made it on the strategy to name a few. Lots of things you can do to a car to save gas. It was pointed out pretty clearly that JPM's car along with others kept the horsepower down to conserve fuel. You can do that in road racing because of the limited passing opportunities. Watch some sports car racing to see what I'm talking about. Horsepower doesn't always win when it comes to road racing. Just ask Dodge and the Viper they try to race against Porche and Corvette.
Posted by: Michael | Jun 25, 2007 2:54:29 PM
grumpyoldman:
I couldn't agree with you more! Alan Bestwick should be in the booth calling these races. He is smarter/easier on the ears and overall, a much better callguy! Why he was ever replaced beats me! I miss him calling these races! He and Mike Joy are tops in my book!
I think what seperates them from the others is that they actually follow NASCAR and know stuff...they don't just read off the telepromter or cue cards!
Posted by: Mandy24 | Jun 25, 2007 2:51:53 PM
he is nascar new BOY, lets talk about jeff gordon and jimmie johnson cheating again, i see the news people are sucking up to them how many races have they won and nascar did nothing to them ,if it was kurt they would have a field day with it.i see nascar will never run a clean sport.
Posted by: larry | Jun 25, 2007 1:49:07 PM
Kinda of reminds me of when they said NASCAR set it up for Sr to win the 500 and then Jr to win the 400 after Sr died.
JPM, like him or hate him, won the race hands down. He drove hard, like many others and he deserves the win. I don't like JPM but let's not tear down what CGR was able to do. I mean come on they've not had anything to be happy about since SM got hurt a few years back.
Posted by: Tony | Jun 25, 2007 1:43:13 PM
Charles, I'm not picking on u personally or anything, but that "idea" u and a lot of people have about Nascar "letting" people win races is a bunch of CRAP. I don't care how "identical" the cars will ever be, there will always be 43 different DRIVING STYLES. If a car isn't driving as well as another, that particular driver will have to either get-up ON the gas or up-off the gas sooner or later than the next man. There's also gear ratio, placement of the gas pick-up pump (which can vary within inches from car to car) and simply put,.ALL SORTS of variations.
Then there's the thing called "Lady Luck" which can play into ANY scenerio. I think ALL of these drivers are the BEST the sport has to offer and they should at least be given their credits whether they win or lose. I'm not really a JPM fan, and DEFINITELY NOT a Nascar (administrative or officiating crew) fan by even a stretch,..but Nascar can do a lot of things right and perhaps even MORE wrong, but the ONE thing they can't do is "LET" anybody win anything.
P.S. oh by the way,...did everyone see how Nascar "let" Jeff and Jimmie run from the back to the front and almost pull off a win,....well,...almost,...IF they had "LET" them.
Posted by: Twenty4Chevy | Jun 25, 2007 12:38:11 PM
Well I'm glad to see I'm not alone in my dislike for TNT's coverage. I normally never criticize today's live flag-to-flag TV coverage of NASCAR because I still remember the ABC Wide World of Sports and SETN days, and the years where the spring Martinsville or North Wilkesboro race was tape-delayed by ESPN until Monday because of the NFL draft, and even the days where ABC dumped the 1995 Brickyard 400 and CBS dumped the 1996 DieHard 500 at Talladega because of rain delays.
As for Montoya, he had a lot of chances to dump Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, and several others and didn't do it. The Montoya that raced in Mexico in March probably would have wrecked a half-dozen guys Sunday but I think he's finally learning to be patient. The Kurt Busch incident wasn't his fault in my eyes and the other bumping incidents were just racing incidents on a tight road course and happened all throughout the field all day long.
Posted by: stricklinfan82 | Jun 25, 2007 12:01:00 PM
Mike i agree with his accomplishments he is driven and feisty a hell, him and the 20 want to win more than anyone.
He can drive…..the rest of the guys if they could at all would all have to go to skip barber for year’s to as much JPM’s seat time on road courses and experience that he got in F1
Any of you guys catch that bs IRL race with what 6 cars running at the end/lead lap??…….unreal how people go and watch the IRL or the PT smash em up derby in Cart?? Sad state for open wheel racing in the usa!
Posted by: aggie | Jun 25, 2007 12:00:44 PM
JPM got his Nascar Christmas early..They knew they were giong to let him win!!!!
If These cars are supposed to be built so close to each other,please explain how he could get 5 to 6 more laps per tank..It just don't happen!!!
Posted by: charles | Jun 25, 2007 11:55:00 AM
Harvick was just as close on fuel, he was told he was 1 lap short and to save. Hard to speculate if he raced harder could he have gotten past JPM and whether he would have made it on fuel. He raced smart, he's sitting 8th in the points. Look what happend to McMurray, he finished 37th and now how has more ground to make up to get in the top 12. He's somehting like over 200 points outside of it now.
I wouldn't say JPM was coasting around either racing McMurray as hard as he did. He was short shifting, but he still was racing his ass off. Not until he got out front did he back off.
JPM may not be the greatest on ovals, but check out the points standings. He's just outside the top 20 and he is ahead of a lot of other good drivers. The guy can race a car. Hell, you don't win a Cart championship, Indi 500, and 7 F1 races if you can't wheel a car.
Posted by: Michael | Jun 25, 2007 11:30:22 AM
TNT stinks. Even before the race, when they showed the standings, they had Mark Martin in the 17 car.
And going off the air without showing the race results? How about showing some cars besides just the top 2 cross the finish line?
But didn't Alan Beswick sound great on the Busch race??
Posted by: grumpyoldman | Jun 25, 2007 11:24:29 AM
The guy I was kinda WTF is that was KH…….if your going to rag on JPM’s aggression then rag on KH non-aggressive driving. Or ask yourself do you like racing or watching guys coast.
KH just sat back, set the cruise adjusted the stereo and thought oh well he going to run out of gas and its an easy win. A true racer knowing that would have just pressed him and made him use up his gas or got him off the track so his team mates would have moved up also. Makes you wonder if kH has the killer instinct the 24 or 20 or 8 do. I bet you the 20 would have been all over JPM and made him get zero miles to gallon. KH was letting JPM short shift and coast down that hill. The RCR guys had lots of gas and they should ran down JPM its racing not coasting and looking for an easy win!!
Posted by: aggie | Jun 25, 2007 10:45:21 AM
In an earlier post, Kathy showed her bias against Juan in her comments, so I'm not surprised with respect to her feelings toward Juan winning a race. Don't feel bad Juan you're in good company, 'cause she hates Jeff Gordon too.
Jeff banged against Tony, Kyle banged against Matt, Jimmie against Juan, it's racing.
The idiot in my book during this race is Kevin Harvick, who laid back under the impression that Juan was gonna either have to pit to top off or would run out of go juice. He should have been worrying Juan to no end, forcing him to use up needed fuel. Instead, Juan was able to conserve his fuel and win the race. Bad decision by KH and his team.
Posted by: JonDOS | Jun 25, 2007 10:41:23 AM
JPM won a race that he was by far not the fastest car. I guess everyone does at some point in their career. But let's not get all wrapped up in Montoya-mania until he can show that he can be somewhat competitive on an oval. He has been below average, with the exception of Texas and Atlanta, where there is alot of attrition.
And Michael, I wouldn't consider 48 a top road racer.
Posted by: keith12 | Jun 25, 2007 10:20:31 AM
Thomas,
I don't have a beef with the 20/24. The top road racers in the sport (20, 24, 2, 48, 7, etc.) drove just as hard and agressive as JPM did, but he is the only one getting chastised for driving hard to win a race. It's clear that people don't like JPM for whatever reason, and that's fine. But, don't discredit his accomplishment of winning by saying he didn't drive a clean race. He drove just as hard as those other guys did. He proved he can win. And only JPM and Mario Andretti have ever accomplished the feet of winning in all 3 series.
Posted by: Michael | Jun 25, 2007 10:12:53 AM
Hey gang! Enjoyed the Race! Here's my Nickel minus three pennies:
TNT Sucks! (that's all I'm gonna say about that)
Nascar didn't even ATTEMPT to police this race. It was like watching an extended short-track race without the oval track.
JPM: Congrats, but mannn,...have you got a lot to learn yet about stock car racing!
Kyle Petty: Not his fault. TNT not only made the mistake of broadcasting the "misuse of words",..but they actually did it over a REPLAY! how IGNANT can u get. As far as fines or penalties, I agree with most,..this was CABLE not network so, it'll probably be overlooked.
Jeff Gordon & Jimmie Johnson: Way to rack up more points and showing everyone WHY you guys are the best!!
Posted by: Twenty4Chevy | Jun 25, 2007 9:36:00 AM
I just can't believe how Bill Weber keeps reading wrong stats and information. Granted, researchers look this stuff up and put it on cards to read, but this one was so bad I about fell off the couch:
"Montoya is the first foreign born racer to win since Canadian Earl Ross won at Martinsville in 1974 and only the second ever to win a Nextel Cup race."
Um, Weber, ever heard of a guy named Mario Andretti? He won the 1967 Daytona 500...
Posted by: cale | Jun 25, 2007 9:35:52 AM
I find it funny when someone says a driver won on fuel mileage and wasn't the fastest car. This is a distance race, not a drag race. The first car to the finish got there in the shortest amount of time. Distance divided by time = speed. Thus the winner is the fastest car FOR THE RACE DISTANCE. DUH!!! If you don't believe me, go ask the hare about his friend, the tortoise.
Posted by: syrus | Jun 25, 2007 9:27:55 AM
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