little thing called Freedom of Speech.
Second, drivers have tried to talk to NASCAR about the concerns they have about the COT. In fact they started talking to them before they even raced the cars. A few of them (Greg Biffle and Jeff Gordon off the top of my head) went to them after testing the cars at the end of 2006 to discuss that the cars could not complete a pass around another car BEFORE they were rolled out in 2007. So NASCAR has their panties in a wad cause drivers went to the media instead of coming to them? They have no one to blame but themselves.
Last, most importantly and the thing that aggravates me the most. I DO NOT NEED THE DRIVERS TELLING ME THE NEW CAR IS FLAWED AND THE RACING IS BORING; I CAN SEE IT FOR MYSELF! I have pointed it out repeatedly since the Bristol night race last year. For NASCAR to say they don't want the drivers saying these things because it will influence the race fans to quit watching is an insult to all race fans. That remark sounds like they think race fans are mindless idiots without the ability to think for themselves. OK now that I have address the "gag order" on to some other thoughts rumbling around in my head.
Once again the best race of the weekend was the truck race. No big surprise. Once again, the truck race had the smallest crowd of all three series. Shame on race fans for not filling the stands to watch the truck race.
Now there was a big wreck at the end of the truck race and no yellow flag but on Sunday a beer can brought out a yellow flag. Yeah that beer can sure was a bigger danger than cars spinning around willy nilly.
And about that truck race wreck....I like Kyle Busch but that boy is gonna end up in the wall this year at the hands of some one he has pissed off and it will be at a time when it will cost him the most. He is long on driving ability but real short on common sense. I'll give him this, as my friend Tracy AKA "Toe Tape" says "that boy is fearless". She's talking about on the track but I think it applies to off the track too. Ron Horniday may be over double Kyle's age but my money was on him if it came to blows. And Harvick ain't no slouch either. Heck I am surprised Delana didn't get in on that....and I would definitely put my money on her.
All the rave now is Joey Lagano. He is the next great thing. Let me say that it is way too early to tell if he is that good or just in real good equipment. As far as I am concerned anyone could have won in the car he had in the Rockingham ARCA race and Saturday's Busch race.
Did anyone else enjoy going to sleep Saturday night watching the 24 Hours at LeMans and waking up Sunday morning watching the finish while drinking their coffee?
Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 and probably thought "this year is gonna be great". It has been all downhill ever since.
And speaking about Penske Racing...who would have thought Sam Hornish would've been the driver gunning for the win? Unfortunately, a late-race spin cost him and he wound up 22nd.
The TV announcers were calling MIS "The Hotdog Wrapper Capital of the World" and they were right. What is up with that? Every person in the grandstands must have thrown their wrapper on the track...
At one point Michael Waltrip was running in the top ten then leading and to tell the truth we were a little surprised. Then the green flag pit stops cycled back around and all was normal again.
Once again Greg Biffle's pit crew made a costly mistake. Man he has to be tired of it.
Ok I'll say it, Matt Kenseth got screwed. That official cost him a few positions and NASCAR should have gave them back. They have done it in the past.
WOW what a shock! A race at Michigan came down to fuel mileage.....
I will tell you now...Brian Vickers will get to Victory Lane soon.
Paul Menard finished eleventh....Jimmy picked him as C driver this week in fantasy racing and scored!
Jamie McMurray started 23rd and finished 10th. You can always tell when I driver is looking for a ride.
Jr. was in a pickle when that caution came out and there was going to be a green, white, checkered finish. So there he was tooling around, passing the pace car to save gas. Can't blame him. He stretch the rules and wasn't called down until he had did it a few times. A few times to save him enough gas to win. Now we all know NASCAR plays loose with the rules at the end of the race when there is a caution. Remember Greg Biffle last year at Texas?
Now I did get a laugh when Jim Hunter said that Earnhardt did not violate a rule, saying that he needed only to maintain "a reasonable speed or a reasonable pace" behind the pace car and that once Earnhardt was warned not to surge ahead of it, Earnhardt complied. OK then, here's what I think, there was NO way they were gonna do anything to stop Jr from winning. They had a real bad week with the drivers complaining and the lawsuit and they needed the most popular driver to win to take the headlines off them for a few days.
Back to Junior's win...the only thing that will be listed is that Jr. won the first 2008 race at Michigan so everyone who doesn't like it needs to get over it. A win is a win and I bet Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon or anyone else that hasn't won this year would take it and be happy.
And on Jr. winning...I wonder how many of Junior Nation called in sick Monday after celebrating? All is right in the NASCAR universe once more....
And about that lawsuit. Usually they are two
sides to every story and the truth is some where
in between. If the allegations are true, as a
woman I am offended. If the allegations are
false, as a woman I am offended. So I guess
this whole thing is just offensive to me. I do
think 225 million is a little much. If that what
she would have earned as a NASCAR official
in her lifetime then we are all in the wrong
business.
REAL LAP LEADERS: They say there were 31
lead changes among 13 drivers. Only 9 of these
were green flag lead changes. All the rest
happened on green flag pit stops or when some one stayed out to lead under caution! (Info gathered at www.jayski.com and www.nascar.com )
THE READERS DIGEST VERSION OF THE RACE: A bunch of long green flag runs, a few debris cautions and a fuel mileage finish. It's Michigan and there is nothing else to expect. Oh and Junior finally wins.
COMING UP: The road course at Sonoma. As Jimmy always says "It takes a REAL driver to turn left and right while shifting and braking."
Go visit our home page, called appropriately The Pits & check out our photos & pages.
Our most popular page; Race Recon is where you get all the info you need to go to the
races including local camping, hotels, bars, restaurants, tracks, golf & other important
& recipes, stories, trivia, quotes & more! While you are surfing see if you are a
adventures with the tailgating race fan at NASCAR tracks.
