The Milwaukee Mile - AT&T 250
RACE WINNER: DENNY HAMLIN … ER… ARIC ALMIROLA …ER …DARIC HALMIROLA?
Scott Wimmer: 2nd (started 3rd)
- Oh Scott…first of all, that win is coming. He says he doesn’t know if it is or not but it is!! I know it, I feel it.
- The #29 was a threat from the beginning. Scott and the whole team did a great job at keeping the car near the front and it was so fast after it ran for a while. Unfortunately, Denny Hamlin had such a fire under his behind on the short run that the cautions at the end really screwed Scott’s chances for the win. A two-tire pit call put Scott up front near the end of the race and he got a great restart, fending Jason Leffler off and stretching his lead. However this all came crashing down when the caution flew. During the subsequent restart Scott did a fine job at holding Leffler at bay until the 38 drove him up the track like a sucker (okay, okay, they were racing for the win, but I was still furious). This, of course, left a hole wide open for Hamlin, who shoved through, took the point and never gave it up. Another caution waved and Scott valiantly tried to chase the 20 down with a handful of laps to go – he was even faster than Hamlin on the last lap – but there wasn’t enough time left. Scott proceeded to down himself a little bit in his post-race interview. Apparently his crew chief told him on the last restart he had a bumper and knew what to do with it to get the win, but I’m glad that Scott chose not to follow that advice. Scott’s above that. At the end of the night, he may be second best at his home track, but he’s first in class.
David Reutimann: 7th (started 8th)
- A great run for D. Reut despite things looking very hairy where he was racing all night! I couldn’t be more proud of him…and I couldn’t be more upset for him. For once the ESPN booth paid attention to him (and I do not think it was a coincidence, as Allen Bestwick was wonderfully commentating!), but instead of putting a smile on my face it nearly made me cry. Remember how I was upset over the Sonoma deal, replacing David with PJ Jones? ESPN had done one of those special little interviews that they show throughout the race, and one of them was David explaining this situation. He that that although he understands it from a business view (to me, however, it looked as if he was still disapproving), personally it’s really hurting him to be forced to step out of the 00. It wasn’t just that he said that, but the expression on his face…it ripped my heart out. David wears his emotions on his sleeve and this was no different. Like he said, he signed a contract for an entire season. It was just broken. To further upset me, Rusty Wallace went on a surprising rampage on how good David is and that if Michael Waltrip isn’t careful many other teams are looking at David! My jaw dropped. Was he just bluffing to make Michael look worse than he already does, or is he speaking truth? Honestly I believe him. But I think an entire entry is more appropriate for the rest of my thoughts, for I’m thinking a lot about this…
- Because of Dave Blaney’s absence, David is now 2nd in driver points, a miniscule 776 points away from leader Carl Edwards.
Scott Wimmer: 2nd (started 3rd)
- Oh Scott…first of all, that win is coming. He says he doesn’t know if it is or not but it is!! I know it, I feel it.
- The #29 was a threat from the beginning. Scott and the whole team did a great job at keeping the car near the front and it was so fast after it ran for a while. Unfortunately, Denny Hamlin had such a fire under his behind on the short run that the cautions at the end really screwed Scott’s chances for the win. A two-tire pit call put Scott up front near the end of the race and he got a great restart, fending Jason Leffler off and stretching his lead. However this all came crashing down when the caution flew. During the subsequent restart Scott did a fine job at holding Leffler at bay until the 38 drove him up the track like a sucker (okay, okay, they were racing for the win, but I was still furious). This, of course, left a hole wide open for Hamlin, who shoved through, took the point and never gave it up. Another caution waved and Scott valiantly tried to chase the 20 down with a handful of laps to go – he was even faster than Hamlin on the last lap – but there wasn’t enough time left. Scott proceeded to down himself a little bit in his post-race interview. Apparently his crew chief told him on the last restart he had a bumper and knew what to do with it to get the win, but I’m glad that Scott chose not to follow that advice. Scott’s above that. At the end of the night, he may be second best at his home track, but he’s first in class.
David Reutimann: 7th (started 8th)
- A great run for D. Reut despite things looking very hairy where he was racing all night! I couldn’t be more proud of him…and I couldn’t be more upset for him. For once the ESPN booth paid attention to him (and I do not think it was a coincidence, as Allen Bestwick was wonderfully commentating!), but instead of putting a smile on my face it nearly made me cry. Remember how I was upset over the Sonoma deal, replacing David with PJ Jones? ESPN had done one of those special little interviews that they show throughout the race, and one of them was David explaining this situation. He that that although he understands it from a business view (to me, however, it looked as if he was still disapproving), personally it’s really hurting him to be forced to step out of the 00. It wasn’t just that he said that, but the expression on his face…it ripped my heart out. David wears his emotions on his sleeve and this was no different. Like he said, he signed a contract for an entire season. It was just broken. To further upset me, Rusty Wallace went on a surprising rampage on how good David is and that if Michael Waltrip isn’t careful many other teams are looking at David! My jaw dropped. Was he just bluffing to make Michael look worse than he already does, or is he speaking truth? Honestly I believe him. But I think an entire entry is more appropriate for the rest of my thoughts, for I’m thinking a lot about this…
- Because of Dave Blaney’s absence, David is now 2nd in driver points, a miniscule 776 points away from leader Carl Edwards.
- Quotes:
"We weren't very good all night. We almost went a lap down at one point. I'm very disappointed on how bad we ran early on. We kept beating on the thing and kept changing stuff. Finally, at the end, we got it where we could hustle a little bit and drive it. We were able to come back to the front a little bit but just ran out of time. I think we were better than a lot of the guys in front of us, but the yellows hurt us a little bit. All in all, it was a good effort. We ended up a whole lot better than I thought we would."
Todd Kluever: 18th (started 23rd)
- I’m sure Todd was hoping for a better finish, being another Wisconsin native and having the rare opportunity at not being bullied by a field of Buschwackers. He had an incident with Ron Hornaday, which isn’t surprising because well, it’s Hornaday. Todd had the position coming down the straight and Hornaday simply cut him off. If he thought he was intimidating Todd he was sorely disappointed, for Todd held his line and left the 77 spin across his nose. Todd basically stayed steady in the low 20s and high teens for the rest of the night, thankfully avoiding any more wrecks.
Todd Kluever: 18th (started 23rd)
- I’m sure Todd was hoping for a better finish, being another Wisconsin native and having the rare opportunity at not being bullied by a field of Buschwackers. He had an incident with Ron Hornaday, which isn’t surprising because well, it’s Hornaday. Todd had the position coming down the straight and Hornaday simply cut him off. If he thought he was intimidating Todd he was sorely disappointed, for Todd held his line and left the 77 spin across his nose. Todd basically stayed steady in the low 20s and high teens for the rest of the night, thankfully avoiding any more wrecks.
-Quotes:
“I’m a little disappointed in our finish, I thought we had a better car than that. Eddie [Pardue, crew chief] and the guys did a great job. I can’t say enough about them. We unloaded and weren’t real good at all. It’s really cool to have a team that when you’re not real good off the truck, they put their heads down and dig real hard. That’s what they did. I’m real proud of them. But, I thought we had a car that could run better than that. We had some contact with the 77 there and I feel like I had the spot going into turn one and he was trying to come down on us. So, we knocked the front fender and had to pit off sequence, which put us last there on the restart. Then it just happened to be that restart where we had the longest green flag run of the night. I ran as hard as I could. I was passing as many as I could, but just ran out of time. We didn’t need that caution to come up at the end and we would have been all right. We could have been on the lead lap without that caution, maybe a top-10 car. It was an unfortunate night. But I’m real proud of my guys and hope to do better in New Hampshire.”
Other Notes:
- Well! I think I’d be pretty stupid if I didn’t mention the unbelievable events that commenced around the #20. It all started when Denny Hamlin slept in and missed half of second practice for Sonoma. I won’t even go into how juvenile that is…set your alarm clock! Then, after Carl Edwards and David Ragan were already on a plane to Milwaukee, Hamlin was practicing in Happy Hour! Um, okay, this was a recipe for disaster from the start. While Hamlin was on the plane to Milwaukee, Aric Almirola qualifed the #20 Busch car on the pole! Fast forward to the prerace ceremonies and Hamlin’s helicopter was just arriving, but couldn’t land because there were cars parked on the helipad. Therefore, the Rockwell team put Aric into the car and told him he would stay there as long as he wanted to. Hamlin stormed into the pit area with a clear scowl on his face and proceeded to complain (seeming to forget he started this mess in the first place by sleeping in). Interestingly enough, after the Lap 57 caution involving Todd and Hornaday, Aric was taken out of the car and replaced by Hamlin. Now, I could understand this if Aric was running poorly. Unless Joe Gibbs Racing thinks leading 43 laps and currently in 3rd place is a poor showing! The ESPN booth went crazy. They couldn’t believe it! I couldn’t believe it. Hamlin lost a lap with the driver change and Aric walked off and left the track, dejected and undeniably livid. Well, Hamlin bullied and beat his way back onto the lead lap and won. Oh wait. Aric won. Yeah. Right. Media members were denied explanation until the very end, when we got two different stories. the crew chief said – after an awkward pause – that it was a “group decision”. Hamlin said it was Rockwell and that he didn’t want Aric to get out of the car. You know what I think? I think Hamlin had a tantrum and got his way. If he wanted Aric in the car he would have let him stay in the car, not wave his arms around with a murderous expression. Now Aric Almirola has his “first win” with Denny Hamlin, who ESPN has the nerve to call a “relief driver”?? As DW and Larry McReynolds would say, “Have you ever?” “No I never!” Ridiculous.
- On a happier note, the racing was excellent. The ESPN coverage (am I really saying this?) was excellent (no doubt because of Allen) despite the bimbo Shannon Spake, who very professionally said, “Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum…” I’m sorry but, oh my God who hired her? And then her scanner’s batteries went dead, as she announced loudly. Nice job.
Other Notes:
- Well! I think I’d be pretty stupid if I didn’t mention the unbelievable events that commenced around the #20. It all started when Denny Hamlin slept in and missed half of second practice for Sonoma. I won’t even go into how juvenile that is…set your alarm clock! Then, after Carl Edwards and David Ragan were already on a plane to Milwaukee, Hamlin was practicing in Happy Hour! Um, okay, this was a recipe for disaster from the start. While Hamlin was on the plane to Milwaukee, Aric Almirola qualifed the #20 Busch car on the pole! Fast forward to the prerace ceremonies and Hamlin’s helicopter was just arriving, but couldn’t land because there were cars parked on the helipad. Therefore, the Rockwell team put Aric into the car and told him he would stay there as long as he wanted to. Hamlin stormed into the pit area with a clear scowl on his face and proceeded to complain (seeming to forget he started this mess in the first place by sleeping in). Interestingly enough, after the Lap 57 caution involving Todd and Hornaday, Aric was taken out of the car and replaced by Hamlin. Now, I could understand this if Aric was running poorly. Unless Joe Gibbs Racing thinks leading 43 laps and currently in 3rd place is a poor showing! The ESPN booth went crazy. They couldn’t believe it! I couldn’t believe it. Hamlin lost a lap with the driver change and Aric walked off and left the track, dejected and undeniably livid. Well, Hamlin bullied and beat his way back onto the lead lap and won. Oh wait. Aric won. Yeah. Right. Media members were denied explanation until the very end, when we got two different stories. the crew chief said – after an awkward pause – that it was a “group decision”. Hamlin said it was Rockwell and that he didn’t want Aric to get out of the car. You know what I think? I think Hamlin had a tantrum and got his way. If he wanted Aric in the car he would have let him stay in the car, not wave his arms around with a murderous expression. Now Aric Almirola has his “first win” with Denny Hamlin, who ESPN has the nerve to call a “relief driver”?? As DW and Larry McReynolds would say, “Have you ever?” “No I never!” Ridiculous.
- On a happier note, the racing was excellent. The ESPN coverage (am I really saying this?) was excellent (no doubt because of Allen) despite the bimbo Shannon Spake, who very professionally said, “Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuum…” I’m sorry but, oh my God who hired her? And then her scanner’s batteries went dead, as she announced loudly. Nice job.
- All quotes from Race2Win
