Did Robby Do It?

Another yawner of a race with Tony Stewart winning. I love how there is all this talk that the Chase should be changed because drivers like Stewart, who are contenders, are excluded. That's a bunch of crap. The thing is, even Stewart himself said there shouldn't be any changes, even if he's now winning. He missed the Chase fair and square. I'm sick of these NASCAR "fans" who think Dale Jr., Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon need to be in the Chase every year or "changes need to be made." If they are consistent, then they're in, folks. That's the way it works. There should be no exceptions for anyone. I don't care of the ghost of Dale Earnhardt came back and drove. if he didn't make the Chase on points, he shouldn't be allowed in!

Now, let's get to the growing controversy surrounding Pad-gate. Did Robby intentionally throw out a roll-bar pad to get a debris caution? It's clear something came out of or underneath his car. It's on tape and we've all seen it. The question is whether or not he threw the padding out the window. He certainly benefited from the caution, as he got back on the lead lap. Robby's been fighting tooth and nail to stay well into the top 35 in points this year and has done a remarkable job. He finished 10th and currently sits 27th. According to Larry McReynolds at Fox, the top 25 at the end of the season get a check. 26th and below get ZIP. So, it's understandable why Robby may be desperate to hang in the top 25.

I've been a supporter of Robby for a while, even though he has a reputation for being a real jerk. I'm hoping it's not determined that he threw the padding out the window. If he did, well, then I hope NASCAR brings the hammer down on him. Hate to say it, but he'll deserve it.

Misc notes from Atlanta:

• I'm really bummed about Mark Martin. I really thought he had a chance this season to win it all, but after another wreck on Sunday, that looks very unlikely.
  
• Is anyone else bored with the 10-car-length finishes in NASCAR today? It was about a year and a half ago we saw Carl Edwards beat Jimmy Johnson at the line, banging and rubbing the entire last lap, car wagging all over... We need more of those finishes. I'm tired of seeing one car run out front the last 25 laps unchallenged.
  
• Speaking of Edwards, how bizarre is it that neither he nor Greg Biffle have been in contention AT ALL this season??? They were both in the Chase last year - in fact the whole Roush crew was - and now Kenseth is the only driver to see ANY success this year. Doesn't make any sense. What was the big change other than dumping that pain in the ass Kurt Busch?
  
• I'm going to go out on a limb and predict Juan Pablo Montoya finishes in the Top 10 at Homestead and wins a race in his first ten races in 2007. Call me crazy, but I think it's going to happen.
  

F1 - A Farewell to Remember

I've never been a huge fan of Michael Schumacher, mostly because it got rather boring to see on driver dominate a series for so long. But, I have to say I will always remember the Brazilian GP 2006, thanks to Schumi. It appeared his final race was jinxed (it was) when his fuel pump died during final qualifying and his rear tire was cut down after a bold pass on Fisichella (why renault is making him their #1 driver next year, I don't know). Unlike earlier in the year, the past few races really have been wild. We actually had a lot more passing and drama in Brazil.

Frankly, Schumacher's drive to climb from nearly a lap down to finishing in 6th is one of the most amazing drives I've ever seen. There's no doubt he would have won if he didn't have the tire issue. No doubt. How crazy is it for him to go out setting the fastest time of the race (and I believe fastest lap EVER at that track) on the next to final lap? It was as if he was a driver possessed. Outstanding. As amazing as it was, you can't discount Felipe Massa's run, as it was like someone put a snake in his pants and jet fuel in his car. Nice to see a guy win at his home track. Now, if Barichello could only do the same...

Next year is going to be quite interesting. McClaren seems to have its collective head in its ass. I'm thinking Alonso is going to be a big whiner all next year as Kimi finally starts winning again. I don't know if it was simply the change from 10 cylinder motors to 8, but they were pathetic this year. Kimi was a non-factor in just about every race. After last year's performance, I was stunned by that.

And how about the scrubs at Super Aguri??? Neither Sato nor yakamoto wrecked anyone and they were actually posting more than respectable times. They've looked like a joke this season, but I guess a lot of that has to do with scrambling to start 2006 and just didn't haev the prep time. One thing they desperately need to do is find a reliable second driver. Sato *is* a good driver and will be a contender once he gets better cars. The other seat has become a revolving door. Maybe Scott Speed will end up there as he's rumored to be out at Red Bull.

The countdown begins to the 2007 season - a long way off. :(

NASCAR - Bobby Labonte....So Close!

What a true bummer about Jeff Burton yesterday. You almost knew his luck wouldn't last, especially after the season he's had. At the same time, I'm amazed how the Chase is turning out. Guys like Jimmy Johnson were written off a couple of weeks ago, and now the top eight are still in contention!

I had a hard time watching yesterday's race. As I said earlier, I hate Martinsville. They should abandon it for Rockingham. The track just sucks (why can't people be honest and say this track only has TWO turns, not four?) and the races are a complete bore. This is no Bristol, that's for sure. (Although the last Bristol race was a bore....) I was rooting for Denny Hamlin at the end to take out himself and JJ. How sweet would it have been to see Bobby Labonte finally pull one off with his new team? He's creeping closer and close to Victory lane. I just hope it happens this season.

I'll jump on the anti-rookie bandwagon this week. NASCAR should have parked David Ragan. It seemed that everytime you looked, he was spinning around. It was like his car was on ice skates. I'm sure the guy will be a good driver and hopefully fill Mark Martin's humongous shoes, but it's pretty clear he's not even close to being ready for the prime time.

Next week, we get back to REAL racing. Let's hope for a door-to-door, wheel banging finish between two guys who HAVEN'T won in a while.

Misc. notes:

• Welcome back, Ward Burton. Ward had a respectable finish, coming in 26th.
  
• While my heart goes out to the hendrick family and organization, can we please finally stop trying to make such a huge deal about each October Martinsville race? I get nauseus hearing the announcers wax poetic about the tragedy. You're not dramatic, Bill Webber. Enough already.
  
• Do you realize every major racing series is done for the year, except NASCAR? Yes, I know the Speed GT cars still have another race, but ALMS, Rolex and now F1 are done. I hate this time of year.
  

NASCAR - Wild Weekend

Forgive me for so few updates, but a new little girl entered our lives two weeks ago and I've been quite preoccupied.

Anyway, what a fantastic weekend at Lowes Motor Speedway!!! Wrecks galore, REAL racing for the lead. No BS. The Busch race was nuts, but while Mears and Edwards spun out, I'd rather see battles like that each weekend (like we used to until a couple of years ago) than watching ONE guy dominate a race until the end. How boring was it getting watching Jimmy Johnson roll to another victory in his "home" track? Yawn. It was nice that he didn't win there at all this season.

Big cheers to Dave Blaney on his first victory in Busch. Blaney's been kind of a background kinda guy. If you didn't watch NASCAR religiously, you wouldn't know who he was. But, he's been making noise lately with several top ten finishes in Cup. Now, he drives the balls off his car fending off Matt Kenseth for the win Friday night - driving so hard, Kenseth spun out on the final turn while Blaney held the pedal down and the car stayed plated. Awesome!

Big JEERS go out to the morons at TNT for comepletly spoiling Blaney's win. Yeah, Kevin Harvick won the Busch Championship. But he had it won a lonnnnnng time ago and his clinching couldn't have been any more anti-climatic. Yet, instead of going straight to Victory Lane to celebrate a huge victory, they wasted a good ten minutes first on showing Kevin getting his trophy and a lame mini-celebration. Are you kidding me????? I was really pissed off when I thought they were actually skipping Blaney's celebration, but "only" made him wait in his car the whole time. Talk about a buzz kill. You folks at TNT should be ashamed of yourselves.

Meanwhile, Saturday night's Cup race was just as exciting. Plenty of chaos and there was simply no way to predict the outcome. To me, though, the biggest moment of the race was Mark Martin's wreck. Oh my god!!! Yeah, thank whoever came up with those soft walls or I think we would have seen the end of one of the best drivers ever in Cup. My god, that was a scary crash. It looked to be as hard as Kasey Khane's wreck at Indy - head on into the wall after being spun out, hitting so hard the car gets air. I couldn't believe he was able to get out with barely a bruise. Amazing. I'm also amazed he didn't hunt down JJ Yeley or Yeley's spotter for that asinine move diving for pit lane from the middle of the track. He could have very well killed Martin. I'm sure Mark will remember that when the time is right. But Mark Martin is pure class.

Also, great move by Dale Jarrett for his little "f you!" to Reed Sorenson by blocking his pit box after being spun out and then leaving broken parts on Sorenson's trailer. DJ seems to have some extra spring to his step since his 5th place finish at Talladega two weeks ago.

The past two weeks of racing have been excellent, so I'm reallllly bummed about Martinsville this weekend. This is by far the track I hate the most on the NASCAR schedule and wish they'd dump it completely. They might as well drive around the mall parking lot.

NASCAR - Vickers in the Right

WOW!!! What a crazy finish in Talladega today! Junior looked to be a lock, with JJ on his tail. No way anyone expected neither one of them to finish. If you didn't see it, Brian Vickers - outgoing Hendrick driver, looking for his first Nextel Cup win - was drafting behind Johnson on the back straight. He bumps Jimmy Johnson to help him move past Dale Jr. Jr makes a quick move to block, JJ moves to the inside of Jr., swerves and loses just a bit of speed. Well, Vickers was going with him, helping to push him past Jr. Unfortunately, Vickers clipped Johnson and wrecked both Jr. and Johnson. Unreal!!!

Now, of course, the debate rages and words fly. I've never cared much for Johnson. Something about him irks me. And his comments today afterwards made me shake my head. He blames Vickers for the wreck, when it was HIM who caused it! He was the one who let up on the gas if for a second. To blame his teammate in this instance is absurd.

Here's what he said to the Associated Press: "I know he was trying to get his first win, but he was in a position to finish second or third the way that was, and he gave me one hell of a push from behind and pushed me into [Earnhardt] and off we went."

Um, Jimmy, why don't you take a look at the tape. You didn't wreck because of a bump draft. You got wrecked because your teammate was following your lead and you all of a sudden slowed up when you moved down the track and Earnhardt swerved towards you. Period. End of Story. Now please, shut up.

Congrats to Vickers on his first win. He earned it and this wreck shouldn't take anything away from it. He raced clean. Johnson and Jr. just got caught up in an unfortunate incident plain and simple.

Misc notes:

• Mark Martin going to MB2 Motorsports...what is this world coming to? I know Mark can race still. That's obvious after his performance the past two years. But for him to move down to such a third-rate team blows my mind. Then again, it's not like he needs the money or the glory. But, he DOES want to be competitive. Judging from MB2's performance the past few years, I think Mr. Martin is going to be frustrated as hell.
  
  
• Talladega. Tons of lead changes. Nice!
  
  
• My man Burton is hanging on to his Chase lead by mere hairs. He had a solid run until a badly times flat ruined his day.
  
  
• Bobby Labonte - another Top 10 for Petty Enterprises. Let's hope he sees victory lane by the end of the season.