NASCAR - Road Warriors
Man, what a weekend! Neither one of my picks won, but damn did they come close! Robby Gordon raced Kurt "Punk Ass" Busch good and hard to the bitter end on Saturday's Zippo 200, only to see Busch hang on for dear life and beat Robby by about a second. I don't know about any of you, but Kurt is on the same list for me as Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick. They're all arrogant jerks...who happen to be excellent drivers. So, you can imagine how irritated I was when Busch started doing his stupid snow angel thing at the Start/Finish line after his big win Saturday. Hopefully, Robby's day will come soon. But, if you don't normally watch Busch races, you missed a hell of a contest on Saturday at Watkins Glen, that's for sure. BTW, what the hell was Kurt all bent out of shape for after the race? He said during his post-victory interview that he wouldn't use Robby Gordon as an example to young racers how to race a roaad course. Uh, are you serious, Dumbo? That was a hell of a show he put on and would have had you if not for that last late caution. Stop being such a jerk an give some of your fellow racers some props, Kurt.
My boy Boris (Who Said? Boris Said!) came home in a respectable 8th, but I was hoping he'd be in contention. Although, he did a mighty job battling back from a few spins. How cool is it that he's got this fanatical following?? NBC did a great feature on the Said Heads yesterday. They've all got wigs and now t-shirts and follow him to every race. Count me in! One report I read this morning said they could be heard chanting for him during driver introductions on Sunday. And why isn't a huge-name sponsor stepping up for his this year?? Pepsi (who owns Sobe, who sponsors Boris' Cup ride) needs to take a look at what a great marketing opportunity they are missing here. Really. You don't see any other driver with such a following, do you? No.
Which brings us to Sunday's AMD at The Glen. Given Kurt Busch won the pole for both races this weekend, I was really hoping that both he and Tony Stewart would fall on hard times and give the rest of the field a chance to win. Sure enough, Busch got hosed when he tried to duck into the pits as the caution came out and the "pits closed" light came on about 10 feet before he entered. Bam! Good bye! So, his day was done. Even more so, kharma hit Busch a few more times and by the time the race ended, his car was practically destroyed.
The racing Sunday was just as good as on Saturday. You wouldn't think guys were rcaing for points - every corner saw two or three guys fighting tooth and nail for position from start to finish, which is nice to see in NASCAR. You have to feel for some guys, like Greg Biffle, Kasey Khane and even Michael Waltrip. It seems these drivers can't buy a break and they're all having dismal seasons now because of it. How screwed up is it that Khane has four victories this season and will likely MISS the Chase? Biffle? Well, his season has had a scarlett letter on it since Daytona for some unknown reason. Waltrip...Well, he's obviously too busy building his new team to devote the time needed to his current ride and he's paying a heavy price. Of course, driving for Bill Davis racing is almost a sure way to stay out of the top 35 anyway.
NBC's broadcasts was "better" this weekend, but I just don't see how the hell they can miss nearly every wreck. They also missed a start by at least 10 seconds. The field was already at the end of the esses when the commercial break was over. C'mon, guys. Give it some effort! Of more concern, though, was how Benny Parsons is doing. He missed Saturday's race due to a sore throat and sounded awful on Sunday. I know chemotherapy does that to a person's voice, but it had an eerie similarity to Peter Jennings and how he sounded on his last broadcast a year and a hlaf ago. BP was given a supposedly good diagnosis, but that's tough when you have lung cancer. So hopefully this was just a side effect of his treatment and nothing more. Go, BP!!!
So, "Happy" Harvick wins his first road course. Again, it was nice to NOT see Jeff Gordon (did anyone even notice him during the racee, btw?), Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, or Jimmy Johnson on the podium. But, Harvick isn't much better from a fan's perspective. He's a nice guy when things are going well, but you can't forget the way he treats other drivers when things don't go his way and he acts like a brat with poopy in his diaper. The one incident that sticks out in my mind is the Busch race in Milwaukee a couple of months ago. Harvick was behind John Menard with a few laps to go. (Mind you, Harvick has been running away with the Busch Series championship now for months, so there's no need to take people out) After a caution/restart, Harvick not only tried to spin Menard, but wreck him. It couldn't have been more blatant. Somehow Menard held on and didn't let him pass. As kharma would have it, Harvick got slammed in the rear by Clint Boyer and sent spinning into the wall. As if that wasn't bad enough, after Menard's victory, Harvick sped up to him and pinned his car against the wall to "express his displeasure." What an ass. Like Stewart, Harvick is an intense competitor but can be absolutely childish and unsportsmanlike when things go "wrong." I don't root for those guys. I just can't. Nonetheless, it IS good to see Richard Childress Racing back on top. Let's hope some of that luck rubs off on Jeff Burton. That's a guy I can root for.
Random ramblings:
My boy Boris (Who Said? Boris Said!) came home in a respectable 8th, but I was hoping he'd be in contention. Although, he did a mighty job battling back from a few spins. How cool is it that he's got this fanatical following?? NBC did a great feature on the Said Heads yesterday. They've all got wigs and now t-shirts and follow him to every race. Count me in! One report I read this morning said they could be heard chanting for him during driver introductions on Sunday. And why isn't a huge-name sponsor stepping up for his this year?? Pepsi (who owns Sobe, who sponsors Boris' Cup ride) needs to take a look at what a great marketing opportunity they are missing here. Really. You don't see any other driver with such a following, do you? No.
Which brings us to Sunday's AMD at The Glen. Given Kurt Busch won the pole for both races this weekend, I was really hoping that both he and Tony Stewart would fall on hard times and give the rest of the field a chance to win. Sure enough, Busch got hosed when he tried to duck into the pits as the caution came out and the "pits closed" light came on about 10 feet before he entered. Bam! Good bye! So, his day was done. Even more so, kharma hit Busch a few more times and by the time the race ended, his car was practically destroyed.
The racing Sunday was just as good as on Saturday. You wouldn't think guys were rcaing for points - every corner saw two or three guys fighting tooth and nail for position from start to finish, which is nice to see in NASCAR. You have to feel for some guys, like Greg Biffle, Kasey Khane and even Michael Waltrip. It seems these drivers can't buy a break and they're all having dismal seasons now because of it. How screwed up is it that Khane has four victories this season and will likely MISS the Chase? Biffle? Well, his season has had a scarlett letter on it since Daytona for some unknown reason. Waltrip...Well, he's obviously too busy building his new team to devote the time needed to his current ride and he's paying a heavy price. Of course, driving for Bill Davis racing is almost a sure way to stay out of the top 35 anyway.
NBC's broadcasts was "better" this weekend, but I just don't see how the hell they can miss nearly every wreck. They also missed a start by at least 10 seconds. The field was already at the end of the esses when the commercial break was over. C'mon, guys. Give it some effort! Of more concern, though, was how Benny Parsons is doing. He missed Saturday's race due to a sore throat and sounded awful on Sunday. I know chemotherapy does that to a person's voice, but it had an eerie similarity to Peter Jennings and how he sounded on his last broadcast a year and a hlaf ago. BP was given a supposedly good diagnosis, but that's tough when you have lung cancer. So hopefully this was just a side effect of his treatment and nothing more. Go, BP!!!
So, "Happy" Harvick wins his first road course. Again, it was nice to NOT see Jeff Gordon (did anyone even notice him during the racee, btw?), Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, or Jimmy Johnson on the podium. But, Harvick isn't much better from a fan's perspective. He's a nice guy when things are going well, but you can't forget the way he treats other drivers when things don't go his way and he acts like a brat with poopy in his diaper. The one incident that sticks out in my mind is the Busch race in Milwaukee a couple of months ago. Harvick was behind John Menard with a few laps to go. (Mind you, Harvick has been running away with the Busch Series championship now for months, so there's no need to take people out) After a caution/restart, Harvick not only tried to spin Menard, but wreck him. It couldn't have been more blatant. Somehow Menard held on and didn't let him pass. As kharma would have it, Harvick got slammed in the rear by Clint Boyer and sent spinning into the wall. As if that wasn't bad enough, after Menard's victory, Harvick sped up to him and pinned his car against the wall to "express his displeasure." What an ass. Like Stewart, Harvick is an intense competitor but can be absolutely childish and unsportsmanlike when things go "wrong." I don't root for those guys. I just can't. Nonetheless, it IS good to see Richard Childress Racing back on top. Let's hope some of that luck rubs off on Jeff Burton. That's a guy I can root for.
Random ramblings:
- The Lucky Dog rule needs some serious fixing. It's complete BS that a guy who was OFF THE TRACK for five laps can finish in the Top 10. That's absurd. Kyle Busch was the recipient of almost every Lucky Dog pass. That's not right and it needs to be fixed before the next race, NASCAR.
- Three cheers for NASCAR making a point to discourage the lead car from jumping the start. Two years ago, Tony Stewart made a mockery of this race by brake-checking the field and then launching way ahead on the last 3 restarts. He was told not to pull that stunt again and no one did.
- What's with the super-lenghty cautions? Watkins Glen is a huge course. For a simepl spin, there's absolutely no need to have 3 or 4 laps of caution.
- So, Ray, was it really worth booting Jeremy Mayfield for Bill Elliot? I say a 27th place finish says no. Then again, it was probably better to cut ties and move on.
- How did Boris Said finish 31st?? Wasn't he scored as being in 8th? Something happened at the end with Ryan Newman and it appears NASCAR gave Newman 8th and slapped Boris back to 31st as a penalty. Did I miss something?
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