Sharpie Mini 300 & Food City 500 - Bristol Motor Speedway
It was a typical Bristol weekend. Cars got moved out of the way, contact was made, tempers raged and the fab guys knew they would be putting in some extra hours during the following week. The Car of Tomorrow became the Car of Today in the Cup Series, but as some implied, Bristol’s personality overcame the historical event.
When the Busch drivers took the green flag, David Reutimann started 23rd. He quietly drove up through the field and sat in 12th place by Lap 185. As he was coming up off the corner, Bobby Labonte was giving him pressure from behind. Just as David got on the straight, he lifted his arm and appeared to indicate to Labonte to pass him. However, either Labonte did not understand, see or care. He ran into the back of the #99 Aaron’s Dream Machine, sending David hard into the inside wall. To make matters worse, I was infuriated by Rusty’s comments. Rusty went on a rampage about how much the #99 team had been struggling! Struggling?! Since when is running 12th struggling? Those remarks were completely unfounded and it seemed as if Rusty had some sort of problem with either David or MWR. David’s crew tore the car down and he got back out on the track to make some laps. He finished 33rd. He is now 12th in drivers points and 16th in owners points.
Two other drivers I watch had excellent days. Scott Wimmer finished 9th and Todd Kluever 12th.
To further turn me against ABC/ESPN’s coverage, I could not believe the end of the race. ABC should be ashamed of itself for barring fans from watching Carl Edwards even get out of his car, much less do his anticipated backflip! I say if you can’t make a commitment to a major sporting event enough to show several interviews after the race has finished, then you shouldn’t even bother broadcasting it! Oh no, but they can drag on a boring hour long prerace show that most fan couldn’t care less about. Just absolutely appalling.
Michael and David failed to make the COT debut, but the small highlight for MWR came when Dale Jarrett qualified on time for the first time this year. Personally, I was also thrilled that A.J. Allmendinger made his first race of the season. That guy has so much heart and really deserved it.
Martin Truex Jr. started 13th, Casey Mears 16th, D.J. 30th, Dale Jr. 31st and Kurt Busch a surprising 42nd. It didn’t take long for the nature of the beast to hit one of our drivers. On Lap 43, Jarrett was looking to pass Kyle Petty. He let off on the straight and Matt Kenseth got a nose under him. Jarrett turned down across Kenseth and spun, later getting T-boned by David Gilliland. Dale wasn’t too pleased with Kenseth and made it known with a walk up to the banking and a couple hand gestures as the 17 drove by (the broadcast failed to air this). I can understand Dale’s frustration, but it pretty much looked like an unfortunate racing incident. Dale, who was looking to lock himself in the top 35 for Martinsville, finished 42nd and dropped to 39th in owners points. He is 37th in drivers points.
Martin did not have a pleasant day either. On Lap 253 he had a flat left front tire and went 3 laps down on pit road. Then, a little more than 50 laps later, he was hit by Mike Bliss, spun and got ran into by Ryan Newman. The #1 team repaired the car and sent him back out, but Martin came back in for some more fixing. He finished the race in 37th place, falling to 25th in standings.
Kurt Busch ran well and even led the race, but his 29th finishing position does not show it. His car progressively got worse and he fell a lap down while running in the low 20s. The #2 team chose to pit under green, a move that was costly enough, but even more so when Kurt drove all the way around pit lane instead of exiting in Turn 3. Afterwards, it was just making laps, but even after the checkers he couldn’t stay out of trouble. A wreck ensued in front of him and as Kurt slowed, Regan Smith spun him. Despite his problems, he remained 20th in points.
On the other end of the spectrum, Casey Mears rallied from his mediocre year so far to the 10th position at one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. His only incident of the day occurred when Martin was spun. Casey went for a harmless ride as well. He was also involved in the postrace melee, but nothing was mentioned of it. Because of his finish, he jumped to 26th in standings.
Dale Jr. also had a great day but he had to really work for it as a result of his poor qualifying lap. On Lap 136, Juan Pablo Montoya spun and Dale Jr. was hitting from behind by David Stremme as he slowed down. Luckily, he didn’t hit anything and continued to claw his way forward all over again. Once he got into the top-10, he stayed there. At the end of the race he was 7th and climbed to 17th in points.
I was very pleased to see Kyle Busch win the race, especially because he had one of the best guys behind him – Jeff Burton. Those two have raced together for the win in the Busch Series and it was wonderful to see Jeff treat Kyle with the same respect Kyle has given him. I know a lot of people would have loved to watch Jeff dump Kyle so that makes his win all the more satisfying to me!
Martinsville qualifying is today. It isn’t even worth trying to predict if Michael and David can make it. The fields are just too close. But…good luck to them regardless!
When the Busch drivers took the green flag, David Reutimann started 23rd. He quietly drove up through the field and sat in 12th place by Lap 185. As he was coming up off the corner, Bobby Labonte was giving him pressure from behind. Just as David got on the straight, he lifted his arm and appeared to indicate to Labonte to pass him. However, either Labonte did not understand, see or care. He ran into the back of the #99 Aaron’s Dream Machine, sending David hard into the inside wall. To make matters worse, I was infuriated by Rusty’s comments. Rusty went on a rampage about how much the #99 team had been struggling! Struggling?! Since when is running 12th struggling? Those remarks were completely unfounded and it seemed as if Rusty had some sort of problem with either David or MWR. David’s crew tore the car down and he got back out on the track to make some laps. He finished 33rd. He is now 12th in drivers points and 16th in owners points.
Two other drivers I watch had excellent days. Scott Wimmer finished 9th and Todd Kluever 12th.
To further turn me against ABC/ESPN’s coverage, I could not believe the end of the race. ABC should be ashamed of itself for barring fans from watching Carl Edwards even get out of his car, much less do his anticipated backflip! I say if you can’t make a commitment to a major sporting event enough to show several interviews after the race has finished, then you shouldn’t even bother broadcasting it! Oh no, but they can drag on a boring hour long prerace show that most fan couldn’t care less about. Just absolutely appalling.
Michael and David failed to make the COT debut, but the small highlight for MWR came when Dale Jarrett qualified on time for the first time this year. Personally, I was also thrilled that A.J. Allmendinger made his first race of the season. That guy has so much heart and really deserved it.
Martin Truex Jr. started 13th, Casey Mears 16th, D.J. 30th, Dale Jr. 31st and Kurt Busch a surprising 42nd. It didn’t take long for the nature of the beast to hit one of our drivers. On Lap 43, Jarrett was looking to pass Kyle Petty. He let off on the straight and Matt Kenseth got a nose under him. Jarrett turned down across Kenseth and spun, later getting T-boned by David Gilliland. Dale wasn’t too pleased with Kenseth and made it known with a walk up to the banking and a couple hand gestures as the 17 drove by (the broadcast failed to air this). I can understand Dale’s frustration, but it pretty much looked like an unfortunate racing incident. Dale, who was looking to lock himself in the top 35 for Martinsville, finished 42nd and dropped to 39th in owners points. He is 37th in drivers points.
Martin did not have a pleasant day either. On Lap 253 he had a flat left front tire and went 3 laps down on pit road. Then, a little more than 50 laps later, he was hit by Mike Bliss, spun and got ran into by Ryan Newman. The #1 team repaired the car and sent him back out, but Martin came back in for some more fixing. He finished the race in 37th place, falling to 25th in standings.
Kurt Busch ran well and even led the race, but his 29th finishing position does not show it. His car progressively got worse and he fell a lap down while running in the low 20s. The #2 team chose to pit under green, a move that was costly enough, but even more so when Kurt drove all the way around pit lane instead of exiting in Turn 3. Afterwards, it was just making laps, but even after the checkers he couldn’t stay out of trouble. A wreck ensued in front of him and as Kurt slowed, Regan Smith spun him. Despite his problems, he remained 20th in points.
On the other end of the spectrum, Casey Mears rallied from his mediocre year so far to the 10th position at one of the toughest tracks on the circuit. His only incident of the day occurred when Martin was spun. Casey went for a harmless ride as well. He was also involved in the postrace melee, but nothing was mentioned of it. Because of his finish, he jumped to 26th in standings.
Dale Jr. also had a great day but he had to really work for it as a result of his poor qualifying lap. On Lap 136, Juan Pablo Montoya spun and Dale Jr. was hitting from behind by David Stremme as he slowed down. Luckily, he didn’t hit anything and continued to claw his way forward all over again. Once he got into the top-10, he stayed there. At the end of the race he was 7th and climbed to 17th in points.
I was very pleased to see Kyle Busch win the race, especially because he had one of the best guys behind him – Jeff Burton. Those two have raced together for the win in the Busch Series and it was wonderful to see Jeff treat Kyle with the same respect Kyle has given him. I know a lot of people would have loved to watch Jeff dump Kyle so that makes his win all the more satisfying to me!
Martinsville qualifying is today. It isn’t even worth trying to predict if Michael and David can make it. The fields are just too close. But…good luck to them regardless!
