Kathy's Pit Stop

Edwards wins the rain delayed Fontana race

Today fans finally got to see the race and it was typical of the California race today without a ton of cautions, unlike yesterday.  Today showed long green flag runs and the leader basically running away with the race, which is typical of this track.  After the last caution the race went green on lap 224 - Carl Edwards was in fourth, but thanks to Gordon and Johnson fighting for the lead among themselves, it allowed Edwards to get past the third place car and the other lap cars.  Johnson beat out Gordon in their fight for the lead, but Edwards was closing fast, Gordon didn't fight Edwards too much, which surprised me, but Johnson did put up a fight until Edwards finally cleared him and then he just cruised away.

Another good finish for Kahne and his fans, hopefully leaving last years dreadful performance behind them.  Kyle Busch and Martin Truex also had top ten finishes, drivers most people said wouldn't be a factor this year, add Vickers with his 11th place finish and we're seeing some different drivers finishing near the top so far this year, which is good.

Two races down and two different winners, a good start to the season!

Your thoughts?

NASCAR never should have started the race

NASCAR in their infinite wisdom decided to start the race shortly after 6PM ET even though the track still had seeping in turns three and four.  Because of this we sit under a red flag after a bad wreck because of that seepage, thank God all the drivers involved are OK, especially Casey Mears who ended up getting flipped by Sam Hornish Jr.

I was listening to the scanner before the race and drivers were talking about the seepage in turns three and four while they were under the pace laps, many saying that they need to fix it before they start the race.  But, NASCAR started it anyways and there have been two cautions in just 21 laps and a red flag because of it.

NASCAR should have just postponed both races until tomorrow.

Qualifying cancelled due to rain - whoever said it never rained in California?

Not only was Friday's practice cancelled due to the rain, but Cup qualifying was cancelled too.  The drivers will line up according to 2007 owner points, good for some, bad for others.  This means that Allmendinger, Schrader, Carpentier, Skinner and Lamar go home.

It also delayed/cancelled (haven't heard any official call yet) Truck qualifying, but the Trucks did get a chance to practice unlike the Cup or Nationwide cars. 

Hopefully the weather will permit tomorrow's activities of Cup practice, Nationwide qualifying and the Truck and Nationwide races.

Rain is in the forecast for Sunday also, which could possibly mean a Monday race.

So much for SUNNY California! 

Penalties handed down in all three series

Today, NASCAR handed out the penalties for infractions at Daytona. 

On the Cup side, Robby Gordon got docked 100 owner and driver points and his crew chief was fined $100,000 and suspended for six races. 

For the Nationwide Series, there's a long list.  The biggest one being Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s 50 point loss, along with owner Hendrick with the 50 owner point loss.  The crew chief was fined $25,000 and suspended for six races.

Additionally in the Nationwide Series, Kertus Davis, Johnny Sauter, David Gilliland, David Stremme, and Cale Gale, have also all lost 25 drivers points for infractions, their owners also lost 25 owner points and their crew chiefs have each been fined $15,000 and suspended for the next six races.

Over in the Truck Series, Todd Bodine lost 25 points and Germain lost 25 owner points.  The crew chief was fined $10,000 and suspended for the next four races.

Ron Hornaday's crew chief was also fined $5,000.

It looks like NASCAR had some fun handing down all these penalties, but I'm sure you noticed that Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch weren't up there, I guess NASCAR saying they are on probation was the penalty for their little spat.  I'm glad they didn't hand down fines for it and just let them be themselves.

Your thoughts?

Newman win his first and Penske's first Daytona 500

Ryan Newman won his first Daytona 500, also making it Roger Penske's first restrictor plate win, with the help of teammate Kurt Busch.

Busch pushed Newman pass Stewart, who couldn't get any drafting help from teammate Kyle Busch, ironically, Kyle helped Stewart win the Nationwide race the day before, but Busch just couldn't or wouldn't get right up behind Stewart the push he needed to get pass the Penske boys.  Stewart was definitely disappointed, as it showed in his interview, I'm sure Kyle will hear something about it from him.

The only Chevy finishing in the top ten was Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished ninth, which was a surprise since the Chevy's seemed strong all during Speedweeks.  Greg Biffle made a showing by finishing tenth, the only Ford in the top ten.  Stewart and Kyle Busch were the only Toyota's in the top ten, finishing third and fourth, the rest of the top ten cars were Dodge's, six Dodge's in all finished in the top ten.

Good showings and the start of a good season for all that finished in the top ten, but there were a few surprises, Sorenson, Sadler, Kahne and Robby Gordon all finished in the top ten, not the usual names we're use to seeing, but a welcome surprise for their fans.

And it seems that Montoya hasn't reigned himself in yet and caused another wreck today, I'm sure Bowyer is just thrilled with him, I wonder how many it will be this year.

Your thoughts?

Stewart wins the Nationwide race from the pole

Tony Stewart won from the pole in the Nationwide Series opener at Daytona.  Stewart's first win in a Toyota and from the looks of it, many more to come.

The race was fairly tame compared to the truck race, but at least it got a little exciting there at the end.  I'm hoping the Cup race is a bit more exciting than today's race, which it should be.

For anyone keeping track this weekend, it's tied 2 to 2.  Two wins each for HMS (Jr. in the Bud Shootout and 125) and two for JGR (Hamlin's 125 and Stewart's Nationwide win).  If their cars are as good in the 500 as they were in this weekend's previous races, it should be a pretty good race between these teams, RCR and Penske seems to be the top Dodges.

Your thoughts?

Bodine wins in an exciting finish at Daytona

As usual, fans were expecting excitement from the Trucks at Daytona and that's what they got.  Todd Bodine held off Kyle Busch and Johnny Benson in a typical finish for the trucks.

The race was marred by cautions, including two big ones that took out some of the top contenders including Mike Skinner.  The first big one brought out a red flag to clean up the debris, including the burned truck of PJ Jones, luckily Jones, nor anyone else was hurt, but it did take out quite a few trucks.

I honestly thought Busch was going to get pass Bodine there at the end and he probably would have if Benson hadn't made his move to the outside of Busch right before he made his move, which hurt Busch's momentum.

Your thoughts?

Duels

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the first Duel, as if that is a big surprise to anyone.  The transfer spots went to Kenny Wallce (finished 8th) and Brian Vickers (finished 11th).

It looked like Vickers wasn't going to make it when he got spun early by Boris Said, but he stayed on the lead lap at least.  Then he had tire problems and had to pit early under green.  Luckily for him, the race stayed green for a while after that and green flag pit stop happened for the rest of the field.

Congrats to Dale Earnhardt Jr.for winning, and Kenny Wallace and Brian Vickers for racing their way into the Daytona 500.

Two red flags later and the second Duel is finally over.  Denny Hamlin won thanks to a push by teammate Tony Stewart and Dale Jarrett and John Andretti raced their way in.

Nemechek and Reutimann got in on their qualifying speeds, the rest of the guys out of the top-35 other that Waltrip, get to pack it up and go home.

Your thoughts?

Who's in and who's out - Top 35 rule makes it more confusing with the Duels

We already know only so many drivers can make a race and with the Top 35 rule, we know that some have to make it in on speed.  That can be confusing enough for some fans, as to who can make it and who can't during regular qualifying, this week the Duels add a little more confusion for them.

As of right now, only four drivers outside the Top 35 have a guaranteed starting spot for the Daytona 500 - Joe Nemechek, Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann and Kurt Busch.  The first three make it in on qualifying speed and Kurt Busch will automatically make it in on the Championship Provisional, although others are hoping he doesn't have to use it.

Everyone else that is not in the Top 35 are going to being fighting for those last remaining spots.  Some have a couple of scenarios to work with, others just plain have to race their way in.  It can get quite confusing, but it could mean the Duels will be very interesting with so many trying to race their way into the 500.  I definitely don't expect the Duels to be ho-hum, because with the drivers I already mentioned that are guaranteed in, that should leave fourteen drivers trying for four spots, definitely should be interesting.

I'd like to see at least Vickers and Said get in, both had some good qualifying efforts last season that were dashed by rain, if it hadn't been for that rain and canceling of qualifying they would have made more races.

Your thoughts?  Who do you think will make it in?

Earnhardt Jr. wins the Shootout

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Bud Shootout with his new number and team, but is it really that surprising?  Not to me, but I've been in a few discussions already that I don't give him enough credit for winning.  Yes, he won, but it's at Daytona and he was in "better equipment" according to his fans.  Dale Jr. was expected to win Daytona, he has always had good runs and wins at the restrictor plate tracks of Daytona and Dega, so it wasn't a surprise that he won the Shootout.  He ran a good race, yes, I'll give him that and I've never said he was a bad driver, but this was Daytona. 

Dale Jr. led the most laps , 47 I believe, and Tony Stewart, who finished second, led laps, which was the second most laps led.  There were only 4 cautions and 5 drivers finished out of the race.

It seems as if Denny Hamlin was his usual aggressive self, taking a bit more chances than he should, almost causing a couple more cautions, especially when he ran Bowyer down the track and below the yellow line. 

Your thoughts?

NASCAR needs to allow drivers to show the passion of the sport

I remember back when the drivers were allowed to show their passion, that's not the way it is today.  In the last twenty years or so, NASCAR has tried to dumb down the passion of the drivers, not allowing them to show emotion, making them seem more like PC robots.

I know that a lot of the fans that read this blog, love it when drivers get fired up about something and they get even more fired up when the drivers in question get penalized for showing their passion.  I know this is suppose to be a family sport, but come on, NASCAR is not a love fest, drivers aren't going to sit around and sing Kumbaya.  I want to see the drivers get angry and show emotion and I'd like to see it more often, without NASCAR's interference.

There are just too many drivers that don't show the passion and that's sad.  Luckily we still have a few that aren't afraid to shake things up and speak their minds or actually get angry and if NASCAR would actually pay attention, they'd see the fans love that.

Drivers like Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Kyle Busch and the "old" Kurt Busch, those are the drivers that show their passion.  I just wish there were more of them.  Remember the Harvick and Montoya confrontation at the road course?  We need more of that, driver confrontations to show they're not robots programmed to drive cars.  Heck, even Jeff Gordon showed his passion when he shoved Kenseth in the pits, granted we don't see him do something like that that often, but it shows his passion for the sport and the competition of the sport.

But NASCAR seems to think that's bad for the sport, that it'll give the sport a black eye or something.  Well, why do you think NASCAR has lost so many longtime fans?  One of the reasons is because the sport has become so PC that the fans can't stand it, throw in all the cookie cutter tracks and megateams and you'll see why fans are leaving.

NASCAR needs to allow the drivers to show their emotions, whether it be happy or mad and the fans will eat it up.

Your thoughts?

Robby Gordon makes the move to Dodge

Robby Gordon signed an agreement with GEM and moves over to the Dodge stable, one year after moving to Ford.  The agreement with GEM gives Gordon the technical support, manufacture support and marketing support for his team. 

Robby Gordon said he made the move for more "stability" for his team, obviously something he didn't feel was there with Ford.

While I didn't understand why he moved from Chevy to Ford in the first place, I think this is a good move for him since he didn't have any affiliation with Roush, I don't think he was going to be able to get the help he needed for his team, especially where he needed it.

According to Gordon, it was strictly a business decision for the forward movement of his team, not a slam against Ford.

It'll be interesting to see how Gordon does, all his testing was done in a Ford, so GEM will have to help him out a bit with information from testing.  Gordon's first foray in a Dodge, including GEM engines, will be when practice starts at Daytona next week.

Your thoughts?