on Sunday night, a big pat on the back to all the drunk bubbas (and there were a bunch of them) in Elliott Grandstand, Section 61 & 62. Even though most were so drunk they could hardly stand up, they stopped woo-hooing, took off their hats, stood quietly and sang respectful with Diamond Rio. We Southern maybe considered rednecks but we are a patriotic bunch of rednecks.
So Bobby Labonte gets the boot from the 96 to make room for Erik Darnell. David Gilliland gets booted from the 71 to make room for Labonte. Gilliland ends up in the 21 because Bill Elliott gets booted from a dirt track car. Labonte finishes 18th, Gilliland 19th and Darnell 30th; karma or just 2 drivers ticked off that they got booted in the first place?
Did the race Sunday night remind anyone else of a certain track we used to race at on Labor Day weekend? There was a big ole “stripe” on the wall starting in turn 1 and going all the way thru to the exit of turn 2. There were a few drivers whose cars were handling well rim riding around the track just like you know where. Of course, there were drivers not handling well hitting the walls repeatedly just like you know where.
And speaking about the similarity to my beloved Darlington, AMS was chewing up the tires and making the drivers man-handle their cars. Every driver I listen to on the scanner kept commenting about the track’s ever changing conditions
AMS was simply magically on the humid September night. I have said over and over again, all this track needed was a better race date. It was as if the racin’ gods were smiling on the race fans giving them the type of race they deserved to see on Labor Day weekend.
Now if we can just do something about the snowy March date…and I don’t mean move it to Kentucky either!
Kevin Harvick’s second place finish had to feel like a win to him and RCR racing. If not for that last caution, he would have been in victory lane. Kahne was just better on the short runs.
And how about Petty Motorsports in the hunt for a championship again?
Juan Pablo has AMS figured out….the other drivers better hope he isn’t as good on other D-shaped tri-ovals since so many of them are in the chase.
Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch will be duking it out for the final spot in the chase. That should spice things up in Richmond. Of course Markie Mark and Biffle ain’t safe yet either so they had better pull up their gloves and hold on tight.
Note to track owners of D-shaped tri-ovals: THIS IS HOW RACING SHOULD BE ON YOUR TRACKS! 16 green flag passes for the lead!!!! Tons of side by side racing all around the track…need I say more?
By far this was the best over all race of the season. It was also the best race with the COT on a 1.5-2.0 mile D-Shaped Tri-Oval since they rolled out that spec car.
A big “good job” to the pit crew of the 83. I can’t believe they changed a rear axle without losing a lap. Vickers did his job by wheeling the heck out of his car to a seventh place finish.
Ok I hammered Goodyear for the fiasco in the spring of 08 so let me say “way to go” to Goodyear for this race. They got it right with the tires.
Besides having the best ticket price at AMS, the Elliott Grandstand offers the best view of the infield “badlands”. Let me tell you, they were racked, stacked and packed in that turn. I counted 30 people on top of a platform on a work van…not an RV but a work van!
And how about that crowd? AMS has
124,000 grandstand seats and I would
say they were about 90 to 95% full. I
would love to know how many were in the
infield. Like I said they were racked,
stacked and packed. And with the Braves
playing at home and the start of college
football I would say that was a great turn
out. (To those of you that don’t know, in
the south college football is second only
to God.)
Don’t believe what I just said about
college football? They had a giant TV
outside the main entrance with the local college teams playing all day and night Saturday. And the fans kept stopping to watch. I also saw almost as many “Roll Tide” and Bulldog shirts as I did driver shirts.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution continues their tradition of crappy race coverage.
Best T-Shirt of the weekend: It was an Old Spice/Tony Stewart shirt that had “Your driver may not suck but at least mine don’t stink”
Final Thought: If you are a regular reader you know how much I loved the Darlington Labor Day Southern 500. And while no track or race can match it, the race Sunday night at Atlanta Motor Speedway came as close as any race or track could. So while it ain't Darlington it will do.
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