Monday Race Rewind: Kobalt Tools 500

Straight from the rim-riding day at Atlanta.

The Story.
Winner: Jimmie Johnson
How it was done: Johnson got around Tony Stewart with 3 laps to go on a slide move through turn 2 and set sail from there.
Top 5: Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya
Yellow Flags: 6 cautions for 27 laps, just one incident
Points Situation: 1. Mark Martin, 2. Jeff Gordon (-8), 3. Jeff Burton (-11)

News/Notes/Ramblings.
Why apologize? I still can't figure out where the big deal is about Jimmie Johnson's pass around Tony Stewart. Stewart was described as being "miffed" that Jimmie slid up in front of him. Johnson apologized profusely in victory lane for the move that led to Stewart scraping the wall. I can't say this bodes well for the season, as apparently hard racing is no longer allowed. The fact of the matter is Jimmie Johnson had the line, and simply moved up in front of Tony's run. Sure, it's good that Tony backed off and didn't wreck them both, but at the same time, this is about winning, not people's feelings.
Miffed Part Two. Greg Biffle, a prerace favorite, ended up in a four-car accident going into turn 3 on lap 233 as a result of contact with David Reutimann. The #00 Toyota got into Biffle's rear, collecting Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne. Biffle was pretty upset after the race, feeling that it could have been a little payback from his dumping of Reutimann at California. Said Biffle, "The 00 right-reared me at the end of the backstretch and turned me in the fence. I guess it's payback from California, I don't know. I moved up a little bit to get a little air off of the 83 because we were side-by-side and, I don't know, he must have been splitting the difference or something and got my right-rear, I don't know. Maybe he didn't mean to do it, but those are the facts." (that's racin')
Martin Keeps His Word. Despite being the point leader, Mark Martin will not be anywhere near Bristol this weekend to defend the lead and try to Car of Tomorrow. Instead, Martin is sticking with his partial schedule this season and heading to Lake City, Fla. to North Florida Speedway to take on a different role. He will serve as the crew chief for Ricky Carmichael, the accomplished motorcycle racer who is making the jump to stock cars -- far away from the hordes of media.
Finally. Brian Vickers and Dave Blaney did something Sunday that has never been seen before. They put their Toyota Camry's out front, in the lead. Vickers held the point for five laps while Dave Blaney led one. It's progress, but Michael Waltrip has now missed 3 straight races, AJ Allmendinger hasn't been in one, and Dale Jarrett is going to run out of champions provisionals fast. Right now, the fears that Toyota Racing Development would dominate the sport are very unfounded -- but that could change when Toyota starts pumping more cash into this sport. Toyota hates to lose.

uaw daimler-chrysler 400 race rewind

Ridin' the "razor blade" of handling at Vegas, here's a rundown of Sunday's happenings.

The Story.
Winner: Jimmie Johnson
How it was done: Johnson passed Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton on lap 240 and held in for his 24th career victory.
Top 5: Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamiln, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin
Yellow Flags: 9 cautions for 40 laps, just 1 caution shy of track record
Points Situation: 1. Mark Martin, 2. Jeff Gordon (-6), 3. Jeff Burton (-42)

News/Notes/Ramblings.
It was all yellow. With 3 cautions early in the race, it looked like this one was going to be as bad as Kevin Harvick ("This race is gonna suck.") and Tony Stewart said it would be. And for all intents and purposes, the race did lack any real excitement. Cars couldn't run side by side easily because the tire was simply too hard. For the third race in 2 years, the drivers have complained and complained about a new pavement job at a speedway, and nothing has been done to fix the problem. It's true, in this day and age, the drivers should be able to race, not skate around for 400 miles.
Stupid Move. Robby Gordon might have shown Sunday just why he didn't have a sponsor on the race car this weekend. Early in the race, he decided that making a late dive into turn one under not 1, but 2 cars was a great idea. Racing side-by-side into the corner were Ward Burton and Casey Mears, and Robby made it three-wide, bottomed out on the apron on corner entrance and went up and slammed into Ward Burton, who made contact with Casey Mears. The only car to make it through the wreck? Robby Gordon. Just when you think that Robby Gordon might have decided to become a smart driver, he makes a move like this. Geez.
What happened?After Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Burton both overtook Jeff Gordon, it looked as if that would be the way they would finish. Instead, Burton started to fall off big time before the last caution. He ended up pitting under caution and wound up 15th, despite leading 4 laps sunday. Was it a tire issue?

Rank 'em will come later tonight

auto club 500 monday race rewind.

Comin' at 'cha with some news and notes from a long day in Fontana, Calif. on Sunday.

The Story.
Winner: Matt Kenseth
How it was done: Held off Jeff Gordon after a late restart with 4 laps to go for his second victory of the weekend
Top 5: Matt Kenseth, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Burton, Mark Martin
Yellow Flags: 9 for 37 laps with 1 red flag (David Reutimann Turn 3 Crash)
Points Situation: 1.Mark Martin, 2.Jeff Burton (-5), 3. Jeff Gordon (-26)

News/Notes/Ramblings.
-Just Another Day - Once again, just another ho-hum day at California Speedway. Kenseth walked away from the field on the final restart, illustrating how much the "dirty air" behind the lead car hurts handling. The final stats will show 28 lead changes among 12 drivers, but you'll get that with 2 green-flag pit stops. According to David Poole the announced crowd was 87,000, however the stands should a story much below that. NASCAR, it is time to realize that boring racing doesn't bring in the glitzy fans that Brian France so dreams about. Rockingham, how we miss you.
-Hard Hit. David Reutimann provided some very dramatic television after he pounded the turn 3 wall after being wrecked by Greg Biffle with less than 10 laps to go Sunday. When FOX cut to his in-car, Reutimann was slumped over the steering wheel and the radio traffic from his pit was unable to make contact with him. Reutimann finally came to and dropped the window net. It'll be interesting to see if NASCAR releases the g-force count from that hit. Let's just say Mr. Reutimann walked away from that crash today, but 6 years ago, that would have been a different story.
- New Digs. In case you didn't notice, FOX sports unveiled a new "Hollywood Hotel" for the pre-race show and in-race updates with Jeff Hammond and Chris Myers. The new space appears to have windows in the background like the old version -- except now they are large plasma displays with a direct camera feed. The reason for ditching the windows? Now, the "Hotel" can be placed closer to drivers and the garage area for more interviews throughout the weekend because it doesn't need to have a scenic backdrop.
- Power Outage. - Two DEI cars suffered engine failures early in the race, leaving perennial championship favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. stuck in 41st in the points standings. Martin Truex, Jr. blew up first and Junior later reported trouble. The attempted to fix the 8 car, but once on the track the engine blew up big -- and for good. The oil leaving the engine spun Earnhardt's car around in turn 3 and he somehow kept the car off the wall. After getting out, Dale Jr. bowed -- fitting for his miraculous job of keeping the car off the wall. Give that guy an Oscar!
- Hendrick Surge. Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Kyle Busch got off to good starts for the intermediate tracks this season. All 3 finished in the top ten Sunday. Gordon overcame terrible handling early in the race by pitting early and often, and then racing his way back to the front. Johnson ran solidly in the top 10 all day and even led quite a bit. He was sidetracked, however, with 25 laps to go when one of NASCAR's mysterious debris cautions showed up again. Is anyone getting tired of NASCAR's consitent attempts at trying to make the race more exciting? They might as well just institute a mandatory caution with 20 laps to go in every race to get some credibility back.

Rank 'Em
(a new feature that I'll do on rewind to rank the top 10 drivers each week.)
1. Jeff Burton - How can you argue with a 3rd and 4th place to start the year?
2. Kevin Harvick - This team is on it right now, flat tire or not.
3. Jeff Gordon - Salvaged a top-ten at Daytona and came back yesterday. Solid.
4. Matt Kenseth - I'd make him higher if I got a full Arby's combo instead of fries. Matt, talk to your agent.
5. Jimmie Johnson - Has there been a champion that has been more under the radar than JJ?
6. Mark Martin - He'll move up if he stays consistent. And races at Bristol.
7. Tony Stewart - The team made a questionable call to put 4 tires on with just 4 laps to go. He has some points to make up.
8. Kyle Busch - He seemed a lot a bit too aggressive Sunday. Simmer, shrub.
9. Denny Hamlin - C'mon Denny, do more FedEx commercials. Like more donuts on a lown mower.
10. David Stremme - He's just getting a shout for being 10th in the points. Nice.

Next Race: The 3/11/07 UAW Daimer-Chrysler 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway on FOX

daytona 500 monday recap.

some news and notes after settling down from a fantastic race.

- 8th best.
the finish on sunday with kevin harvick edging mark martin by .020 seconds (less than 4 feet) was the 8th closest finish in nascar history

- parked.
after flying through pit road trying to avoid a near wreck with about 15 laps to go, dave blaney ended up being the caution. thanks to gps telemetry, fox was able to show blaney traveling at 150mph entering pit road -- and he even faster leaving it. trouble was blaney had a flat right front tire, making the quick turn onto the track impossible. blaney took out ken schrader after the move that nascar was none too pleased with. they parked him for 5 laps, and then decided he was done for the race.

- yellow flag.
should nascar have thrown the yellow flag when kyle busch wrecked before the leaders made it to the start finish line? no way. i think you have to give race director david hoots credit for making the call to finish it under green. however, no love to the nascar spokesman who insisted the caution came out when clint bowyer's car turned over. if that was the case, the race would have officially finished under caution because the leaders had not yet reached the stripe.

- good tony.
can you believe the reaction tony stewart had after his wreck? i thought the shoe-in favorite to win the 500 would have come out fists a-blazin'. but instead, we got the humble tony everyone knows him as off the track. i'll call it now, there's no way he'll keep it up all year.

- ouch.
the jackman for the #31 cingular wireless chevy suffered a severe achilles heel injury in talladega two years ago, forcing him to be bound to a wheelchair and learning to walk again. he was back on pit road sunday, and appeared to incur the same injury for the second time. let's hope for the best for josh yost.