Kathy's Pit Stop

Stewart wins Daytona in a wild finish

For most of the race it seemed like Tony was going to win it, but being Daytona, we know anything can happen and it did.  With the last lap pass that Kyle Busch made on Tony, I thought for sure that Kyle was gonna win...Tony led for most of the race and gets beat on the last lap.  What I didn't expect was the run Tony got and I'm sure Kyle didn't expect it either. 

Both drivers did what they were suppose to do, yes some may say it's Tony's fault and others may say it's Kyle's fault, but both were just trying to win the race and I doubt the plan was to wreck anyone.  Kyle just went to block, what any other driver would have done in his position, unfortunately for Kyle, Tony was already there and he went across the nose of the car.  That was one horrific wreck and I'm glad no one was seriously injured, either Kyle or any of the others caught up in it.

I'm sure all the Busch haters will come out and say he deserved it, but he did what any other driver would have done in that position.  While I may not be a fan of his, I ask you to look at it objectively, would you think he deserved it if it had been your driver pulling the block?  Probably not, but I guess that's what makes race fans unique.

Your thoughts?

Logano gets the win at rain-shortened NH race

While the big news should have been Logano's first Cup victory, the biggest news seemed to have been the wreck and who's fault it was.

Most seem to put the blame clearly on Kyle Busch, including a few drivers involved in the wreck, but haven't we seen this kind of thing happen before in many races?  In other races we've seen it blamed on the lead car and the car that spun it's tires, but actually isn't it just a racing deal?  I mean I highly doubt that Jr. intended to spin his tires and although I'm not a fan of Busch, I highly doubt he intentionally wrecked 8 cars.  Busch even apologized for what happened and accepted blame, something he usually doesn't do, even when something is clearly his fault.

Yes, drivers and fans were mad, rightly so, they got their cars tore up, but you can't put the blame solely on Busch, it was one of those racing deals, could he have lifted a bit more, probably, but still it's a racing deal.  No matter, people love to hate on Busch and I'm sure he will take the brunt of the flack for the outcome.

Your thoughts?

Kahne gets his first road course win at Sonoma

Kasey Kahne held off Tony Stewart to get the win in a green/white/checkered finish at Sonoma.  Congrats to Kahne!

I have to say that this race was a bit more interesting than in has been in the past, these guys are getting a lot more aggressive on these road courses and it was definitely more interesting than last weeks race.  The double file restarts added to the action, especially in the latter laps and definitely on the last restart.  Lots of beatin' and bangin' during this race and it wasn't a short track, but it made for some interesting racing.

With his 2nd place finish, Stewart added to his points lead over Gordon, he now leads by 84 points, Johnson is in 3rd, 157 points down.

Congrats again to Kahne for his win.

Your thoughts?

Boring Michigan

Michigan definitely proved itself to be the typical follow the leader track, with the leader getting a huge lead.  It seems to be that way at all the d-shaped ovals, add the loose factor in and it makes a boring race. 

I don't know about the rest of you, but I like to see racing for position from first on back, not just a line of cars, looking more like a parade than a race.

Congrats to Mark Martin for his win.

I'm not sure if everyone heard about Benson's wreck on Saturday, he is expected to be fine, but he has multiple injuries from that wreck.  Ironic is he wouldn't have been in that race if he still had his truck ride, his team folded last week due to sponsorship troubles.  My best wishes go out to Benson for a speedy recovery.

Stewart wins!

Tony Stewart, shut up his naysayers by getting his first win as owner/driver at Pocono.  While this has never been an exciting race, it was great to see Tony get his win. 

So many people said Tony and Ryan wouldn't do well this year because of the new team, well I think they've both proved those naysayers wrong.  Tony leads the points standings over Gordon by 71 points and Newman is 4th in points.

I also read an interesting stat about Tony, he's only led the points in two other seasons and he went on to win the championship in those seasons, maybe he could do it again this year.

Your thoughts?

Double-File restarts ~ starting this weekend

NASCAR made the announcement this afternoon, starting with this weekends race in Pocono, all restarts in the Cup series will be double-file, regardless of how many laps left. 

The leader will be able to choose whether he wants to restart on the inside or outside and second will line up next to him and the rest will double up behind them with odd number positions on the inside and even on the outside.

At this time it's only for the Cup series, but will be implemented in the Nationwide and Truck series in the near future.

I'm glad they finally decided to do it this way, no more lap cars getting in the way, but they (lap cars) are still able to race against each other for the free pass.  NASCAR made a great decision on this one!

Your thoughts?

Johnson dominates Dover

Jimmie Johnson dominated the race at Dover and won.  Unlike the other races this weekend, the fastest car did win, as was shown in the final 20 laps of the race with how fast he closed in on the leaders.  I will say that I'm not a Johnson fan, but Knaus really knows how to set up a car and if they happen to miss the setup, he adds his magical touch to make the car better by the end of the race, just wondering how long that'll last.

Oh and look who's in the points lead...Tony Stewart.  Where are all the naysayers and detractors that said he was gonna do bad this year with his new team?  Don't hear them anymore do you?  Tony proved that it's a combination that puts you up there and even though they haven't won a points race yet, he's first in points now.

You're thoughts?

Tony Eury Jr. out as Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s crew chief

It was announced today, that Tony Eury Jr. will not be Jr.'s crew chief anymore.  Brian Whitesell will be in for this weekend at Dover and then Lance McGrew will take over next week while they look for a replacement. 

Honestly, I thought it was a bad move for Jr. to take Eury Jr. with him, he needed a clean break, which this season has shown.  Not that Eury Jr. is a bad crew chief, not that at all, it's just it hasn't worked well with them for quite a while, even before Jr. made the move to Hendrick. 

There had been a lot of talk as to when this might happen and I guess this last weekend was just the nail in the coffin that told them the move had to be made now.  I'm actually surprised it took this long, but I wish them all well.

Your thoughts?

Rain shortened 600 - what a joke

NASCAR really proved it's inconsistency this time.  I realize that they can't do much about the weather, but, NASCAR aways says that they will only start a race when they think they can get the whole race in.  If anyone had any doubts, they were proven yesterday with the 600.  Everyone knew there was no way they could get the whole race in, heck, look how long it took to get 227 laps in, which is just past halfway.  Why can't NASCAR just be honest and say we're gonna try to make it halfway before the rain ruins everything?  That's what they do, I mean everyone knew there was no way they were going to get the whole race in, but NASCAR still spouted their line.

Reutimann ended up being the benefactor at the end, electing not to pit and ended up winning.  I was a bit confused with how many actually pitted, I guess they were thinking they'd get back out there and run a few more laps.

I definitely can't say there was anything exciting about the race, with the small amounts of racing in between the rain delays, it made it difficult to get into the race.  I can only imagine how frustrated and/or boring it was for the drivers and pit crews.

Hopefully the next race will hold some excitement.

Your thoughts?

Gordon undergoes procedure for back problems

We've heard for a while now about Jeff Gordon's re-occurring back pain, some say it's an excuse for his performance last, but back pain is no laughing matter and I can see how it can easily affect a drivers performance.  Yes, I guess you could say I'm defending him in this case, you can take the shocked look of your faces now.

Gordon underwent a procedure on Monday to see if it can alleviate some of the pain, obviously the physical therapy and other things they were doing didn't help much.  Gordon wanted this done mainly because the 600 is such a grueling race for a driver, even in perfect condition.

So far there has been no updates as to if the procedure helped or not, but after reading up a little on this procedure, it seems like it's only a temporary fix.  If it helps, I imagine they would keep doing the procedure whenever it bothers him again, but from what I read, if this doesn't work, surgery is the next option.

Back pain or not, he'll still be racing, just like any other injured driver.  I remember before Mark Martin had his back surgery, he had to be helped and even lifted in and out of the car, the pain was so bad.  I hope Gordon's never gets that bad, but surgery may be in his future, before or after he leaves the sport.

Even though I'm not a Gordon fan, I wish him well and hope this helps his back.    As for the race this weekend, I'm looking forward to it and am hoping that there is no rain!