Sam's Town 300 & UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400 - Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Luck was not on a lot of drivers’ sides during the Busch and Cup races at Las Vegas. The newly repaved and rebanked track brought with it the possibilities of tire blowouts, forcing a harder compound. Unfortunately, hard tires do not grip well and the new setups threw plenty of teams for a loop.
David, after missing the Cup race, needed a good finish in the Aaron’s Dream Machine on Saturday. He started 25th and steadily moved up into the top-20. It looked like it was going to be a typical good day for the #99 team. However, they did not even make the halfway point. On Lap 64, the ignition box blew up as a result of faulty wiring. The team got back out on track many laps down and used the time remaining to experiment with changes. They finished 31st, 20 laps down. He is now down to 12th in driver points and 16th in owners points.
David, after missing the Cup race, needed a good finish in the Aaron’s Dream Machine on Saturday. He started 25th and steadily moved up into the top-20. It looked like it was going to be a typical good day for the #99 team. However, they did not even make the halfway point. On Lap 64, the ignition box blew up as a result of faulty wiring. The team got back out on track many laps down and used the time remaining to experiment with changes. They finished 31st, 20 laps down. He is now down to 12th in driver points and 16th in owners points.
Casey also had a bad day after getting caught up in an early crash. Matt Kenseth lost control and Casey had no where to go, hitting the wall. He finished a miserable 42nd.
Kurt Busch ran great all day but just didn't have enough at the end to contend for the win. He was passed late by Tony Stewart, ending up a respectable 4th.
Jeff Burton won the race in wild finish with hometown boy Kyle Busch. Burton took the high groove off of Turn 4 on the last lap, going neck and neck with Busch to the line. Just before the checkers, Burton sidedrafted slightly off of Busch and got the latter unstable. Kyle lost control and crashed across the line. Despite the accident, he still ended up second but was obviously disappointed. His brother Kurt even slowed after the finish near Kyle’s car to check if he was okay – this was something I loved to see! After the cool down lap, Jeff did not take any time to celebrate. He, too, drove his car near the wrecked #5. Discovering that Kyle was walking down pit road, he drove after him. Then came the second good thing to see – Kyle congratulated Jeff on his win, shaking his hand through the window. Kyle, a hardhead? Yep. A sore losing jerk? Nope.
The Cup race held apprehension for the hard tires. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as disastrous as was hyped. Casey Mears started far back in the pack in 34th and they always say you’re more likely to get in trouble in the back. As Casey was passing Ward Burton on the top entering a turn, Robby Gordon decided to dive underneath Ward’s #4, making it three-wide on a track that could barely support two-wide. He got loose and shoved into Ward, who spun and got into Casey. Casey’s car was severely damaged and so was his opinion on Robby.
"It amazes me - every time I think Robby can't do anything any more stupid than he's already done, he one-ups himself," he said. "It's such a long race and he puts us three-wide going into Turn 1. It's ridiculous. He's trying to pull something off in the first opening laps when it means nothing. I guess he's trying to be a hero, you know?"
The #25 team would get the car repaired, but they could only progress up to 40th. Casey is now 34th in both driver and owners points. His need for a good run has now turned desperate.
Dale Jarrett in the #44 UPS Toyota did not crash, but faced his own clouds. He began the race last and found it difficult to improve his position. The car was incredibly loose, something that was apparently caused by a malfunctioning tire gauge and incorrect tire pressures. Already two laps down, Dale then sped on pit road during green flag stops and had to serve a pass-through penalty. The dismal day resulted in a 33rd place finish, 4 laps down. Dale dropped to 32nd in points, flirting dangerously with the cutoff in 35th.
Kurt Busch also faced misfortune. He had an excellent car, but during green flag pit stops he, like Jarrett, sped and was penalized. To pour salt in the wound, the #2 Miller Lite Dodge then began to lose power and sent fumes into the cockpit for the last 100 laps or so. He fell to 23rd in points after salvaging a 26th place finish.
The #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy stayed clean all day and took home 12th – his best finish of the year – as a reward. They missed several wrecks after starting 26th and remained in the top-20 much of the day. The good finish launched him up to 27th in points.
Finally, Dale Jr. was looking to take a huge jump in points. While running in the top-5, a caution came out. Jeff Burton, just in front of the #8, came down pit road to check on an engine problem. Dale Jr. and the team failed to realize pit road was closed and followed him. They were issued a penalty and had to start at the end of the line in 13th. Thankfully, there were more than 10 laps to go and several cars were off the lead lap. Junior was able to get back up to 11th. He moved up to 28th in points, a far cry from where he was previously.
Jimmie Johnson won Vegas for the third time in a row. Congrats to him!
Qualifying is today for Atlanta. David was 11th in practice after leading for some time! But…Michael was slow in 43rd and Dale even worse in 45th. Kurt led first practice, with Martin 11th, Junior 19th and Casey 39th. I am also happy to say that Scott Wimmer is attempting to qualify in the RCR #33 – he was 23rd. I know he is competing with David and Michael for the grid, but I wish him the best just the same. Good luck to all the star cars!
Jeff Burton won the race in wild finish with hometown boy Kyle Busch. Burton took the high groove off of Turn 4 on the last lap, going neck and neck with Busch to the line. Just before the checkers, Burton sidedrafted slightly off of Busch and got the latter unstable. Kyle lost control and crashed across the line. Despite the accident, he still ended up second but was obviously disappointed. His brother Kurt even slowed after the finish near Kyle’s car to check if he was okay – this was something I loved to see! After the cool down lap, Jeff did not take any time to celebrate. He, too, drove his car near the wrecked #5. Discovering that Kyle was walking down pit road, he drove after him. Then came the second good thing to see – Kyle congratulated Jeff on his win, shaking his hand through the window. Kyle, a hardhead? Yep. A sore losing jerk? Nope.
The Cup race held apprehension for the hard tires. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as disastrous as was hyped. Casey Mears started far back in the pack in 34th and they always say you’re more likely to get in trouble in the back. As Casey was passing Ward Burton on the top entering a turn, Robby Gordon decided to dive underneath Ward’s #4, making it three-wide on a track that could barely support two-wide. He got loose and shoved into Ward, who spun and got into Casey. Casey’s car was severely damaged and so was his opinion on Robby.
"It amazes me - every time I think Robby can't do anything any more stupid than he's already done, he one-ups himself," he said. "It's such a long race and he puts us three-wide going into Turn 1. It's ridiculous. He's trying to pull something off in the first opening laps when it means nothing. I guess he's trying to be a hero, you know?"
The #25 team would get the car repaired, but they could only progress up to 40th. Casey is now 34th in both driver and owners points. His need for a good run has now turned desperate.
Dale Jarrett in the #44 UPS Toyota did not crash, but faced his own clouds. He began the race last and found it difficult to improve his position. The car was incredibly loose, something that was apparently caused by a malfunctioning tire gauge and incorrect tire pressures. Already two laps down, Dale then sped on pit road during green flag stops and had to serve a pass-through penalty. The dismal day resulted in a 33rd place finish, 4 laps down. Dale dropped to 32nd in points, flirting dangerously with the cutoff in 35th.
Kurt Busch also faced misfortune. He had an excellent car, but during green flag pit stops he, like Jarrett, sped and was penalized. To pour salt in the wound, the #2 Miller Lite Dodge then began to lose power and sent fumes into the cockpit for the last 100 laps or so. He fell to 23rd in points after salvaging a 26th place finish.
The #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevy stayed clean all day and took home 12th – his best finish of the year – as a reward. They missed several wrecks after starting 26th and remained in the top-20 much of the day. The good finish launched him up to 27th in points.
Finally, Dale Jr. was looking to take a huge jump in points. While running in the top-5, a caution came out. Jeff Burton, just in front of the #8, came down pit road to check on an engine problem. Dale Jr. and the team failed to realize pit road was closed and followed him. They were issued a penalty and had to start at the end of the line in 13th. Thankfully, there were more than 10 laps to go and several cars were off the lead lap. Junior was able to get back up to 11th. He moved up to 28th in points, a far cry from where he was previously.
Jimmie Johnson won Vegas for the third time in a row. Congrats to him!
Qualifying is today for Atlanta. David was 11th in practice after leading for some time! But…Michael was slow in 43rd and Dale even worse in 45th. Kurt led first practice, with Martin 11th, Junior 19th and Casey 39th. I am also happy to say that Scott Wimmer is attempting to qualify in the RCR #33 – he was 23rd. I know he is competing with David and Michael for the grid, but I wish him the best just the same. Good luck to all the star cars!
