Kathy's Pit Stop

Martinsville puts on a better show than Bristol

I've always been a fan of Bristol races, but I have to say that this weeks Martinsville race definitely put on a better show for the fans.  We seemed to have seen more racing for position, inlcuding the lead (although only between two or three different drivers) and some typical beatin and bangin, which is typical of short tracks.  Johnson even almost spun Hamlin for the lead, but Hamlin held on and didn't wreck with 15 laps to go, I can just imagine the radio chatter on Hamlins scanner after that happened as Johnson seemed to pull away.

Both Gordon and Hamlin seemed to have the cars to beat, especially Gordon early on, but Gordon faded a bit near the end, but not that far, others running up front were Stewart, Johnson and Bowyer was quietly there in the top five.

Congrats to Johnson for the win, but I don't want to hear his fans say he's not aggressive and won't bump people out of the way, this race clearly showed he would, not saying that's a bad thing, just don't say your driver doesn't do it.

All in all, I think it was a good race, better than last week.

Your thoughts?

NASCAR Changes All-Star Format Again

Hopefully this will be the last change and we won't have another new change next year, but NASCAR has changed the format slightly for the All-Star race again. 

The format this time around is...

Segment One - 50 laps with a mandatory pit stop on lap 25 where teams have to change 4 tires.  After this segment, the caution flag will fly and teams may choose to pit or not.

Segment Two - 20 laps, after 20 laps the caution flag will fly again and teams may choose to pit or not.

Segment Three - 20 laps and then a 10 minute break where teams will be allowed to work on the cars and make adjustments.

Segment Four (Final Segment) - This is where the change comes in, this part is 10 laps with only green flag laps counting.

As with many of you, I am tired of NASCAR always changing things, but I think this change may actually be a good one.  A 10 lap shootout at the end of the All-Star race, with only green flag laps counting, could make for some exciting racing, something that has been lacking lately.

This weekend is Martinsville, let's hope it's better than Bristol was.

Your thoughts?

Long green flag runs at Bristol

Since the resurfacing, Bristol has given us longer green flag runs and today was no exception.  Yes, there were wrecks, as is typical of Bristol, but there was only one that involved multiple cars.

Kyle Busch definitely had the car to beat, leading the most laps and won the race over teammate Denny Hamlin in a green-white-checkered finish.  Good runs by Kahne (5th) and Ambrose (10th), cars we don't usually see in the top.

There were a few idiotic moves during the race, as usual.  Montoya didn't like the bumping with McMurray, so he bumped and spun him, getting him a warning by NASCAR.  Typical of Montoya, but later in the race Stremme did the same thing to the car in front of him and I didn't hear about any warning given to him.  Bumping is typical at Bristol, I guess NASCAR saw the Montoya incident as him be mad (retaliation) and Stremme's as a typical Bristol bump?

Congrats to Busch on the win, he definitely had the dominant car.

Your thoughts?

Back to Racing!

After a week off, it's time to go racing again!  Not just racing, short track racing at Bristol!!

Bristol is also the cutoff for using last years owners points for being guaranteed a spot, after this week it goes to this years points, for some teams that may be setting of alarms.

Going into Bristol, Mark Martin sits in 35th of the owner points standings, only 9 points ahead of Almirola.  You know these guys along with all the others barely holding on or trying to get back in are going to be fighting hard to get in the coveted top 35, but this is Bristol, where it's easy to get caught up in someone else's mess even if you're being careful.

While I'm not a fan of the top 35 rule, wish they'd get rid of it, it's going to be interesting to see the standings after Bristol, who'll be guaranteed a spot and who'll have to race their way in.

Who do you think will be in after Bristol?

What was he thinking????

Okay, yes I know it's early, but I had to get on and question the thinking of the #47's pit crew member that forced the caution catching all but five cars a lap or more down.

I realize that they want to get their tires when they get away, but this was during GREEN flag pitstops when pit road was busy and he runs across pit road into the grassy area to get the tire?  I'm glad NASCAR suspended the guy for the rest of the race for that stupid move.

I just want to know what he was thinking when he did that?  Did he think NASCAR didn't notice the tire get away and was trying to get it back before they did or what?  He put himself in danger of getting killed if there had been a wreck at that time on the frontstretch.  For once I actually agree with what NASCAR did, although it caught my guy and a lot of other drivers a lap or more down.  It definitely made for some interesting scanner conversations, to say the least.

As of the writing of this, Kurt Busch, not Kyle, is running away with this race, his car is like a rocket out there compared to everyone else.  Unless something happens, I predict that he will win this race even if it comes down to a green-white-checkered.

Your thoughts?

Busch wins Vegas and Fords have trouble

Kyle Busch was up front when it counted and got the win, congrats to Kyle.  While I may not be a big fan of his, he definitely had one of the dominant cars at the end of the race.

Last week it was Toyota's having engine problems, this week it was apparantly Ford's turn and the first Ford to go out with an engine problem was last week's winner, Matt Kenseth.

Granted a late caution that mixed up the field during some green flag pit stops jumbled up the running order, but there were some good finishes by some who we don't usually see up there in the top ten - Reutimann, LaBonte, Vickers, McMurray and Kahne all had good finishes. 

And the RCR boys didn't do too bad either, all in the top twelve as far as finishes go, Harvick even got caught a lap down because of that late caution, but was able to battle and get the lucky dog on another caution and then fought himself all the way to 12th by the end of the race.

Your thoughts?