New Hampshire International Speedway - Sylvania 300

RACE WINNER: CLINT BOWYER

Our Boys Running Order:
5. Martin (started 2nd)
8. Casey (started 15th)
16. Dale Jr. (started 19th)
25. Kurt (started 3rd)
26. David (started 20th)
43. Brian (started 42nd)
DNQ Michael
DNQ DJ

Despite it being a rather boring race to watch on TV, I was really happy to see Clint get his first win. Other than my boys winning, first-time winners are my favorite victory celebrations. He burned out so hard that he blew the engine and that’s always cool to see.

Martin and Casey had great days!

Dale Jr. was good in the beginning and led some laps but ended up spinning out at one point as a result of the handling going away.

Kurt’s day went downhill when his engine lost a cylinder but I’m glad it didn’t fail completely and that he salvaged a half-way decent finish. He was running very well before his problems so I’m not counting him out of the championship yet. He’s a good one for going on a tear when he needs it the most.

David’s car was a lot better than his finish showed. He got trapped a lap down and was too loose at the start of the run to fight for the Lucky Dog, which ensued in a lot of frustration over the radio. To add insult to injury, when David finally got out in front of the other lap cars the caution never flew again, and with a long green flag run he didn’t stand a chance with so many other cars getting lapped ahead of him.

Brian started in the back and stayed there, unfortunately. He got black-flagged at one point for running the paddle on pit road and that ended any chance of a good finish.

Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
6. Martin -40 behind 1st
12. Kurt -102 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
15. Casey -229 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. Brian -277 behind 35th
39. David -373 behind 35th
41. DJ -699 behind 35th
47. Michael -925 behind 35th

A Few Things in the News...

First of all, the most popular news for sure in the NASCAR world is in regards to Dale Jr. and his much anticipated move to Hendrick Motorsports. This week it was announced that Tony Eury Jr. will be jumping ship at DEI as well and moving over to the yet-to-be-numbered team of Dale Jr.’s! This is very exciting for me because I have a lot of faith in Tony Jr. and also in his pairing with Junebug. Some people think it has bad news written all over it but I think these are a misinformed bunch that don’t know this unique driver/crew chief relationship as well as I do (some are also jealous Michael Waltrip fans who wanted Tony Jr. to come to MWR…like there was ever a chance of that happening!). Yes, Junior and Tony Jr. fight. They yell at each other. They’ve also known each other since they were little kids and are like brothers. They were also in a rather hostile environment called Dale Earnhardt Inc.

Having Tony Jr. will likely make Junior feel comfortable at HMS outright because it will be a familiarity. On the other hand, I’m a little apprehensive about it because I don’t know how either will adapt to Hendrick cars, which according to Casey Mears drive very differently than what he was used to (this is supposing that there will be as much of a parallel between his situation and Junior’s, of course). The learning curve could be shortened with Tony Jr. or it could be lengthened, depending on how quickly Tony Jr. gets a handle on the cars. But in general I’m happy with it. Tony Jr. wanted out of DEI and wanted to be with his cousin.

Some less thrilling news was that Casey will now be driving the 5 car in 2008, not the 25. Selfishly, this is frustrating because he hasn’t had a number for more than a year since he was in the 41! Fans like identity with their driver and seemingly every time Casey gets one it gets taken away the next season. Emotionally, I’m disappointed because he won his first Cup race with this number and it also has personal meaning to him because of his father. I’m a little annoyed that Casey didn’t have much of a choice since the 5 was Rick’s first number, but Junior has his pick of whatever number he wants. Alan Gustafson will be Casey’s crew chief and I’m a little sad about that because Casey gets along very well with Darian Grubb and I’m not happy to see him put to another position. To top it all off, it’s looking like National Guard will be on Junior’s car, while Kellogg’s and Carquest will be on Casey’s (and sorry, but I’m not wearing a hat with Tony the Tiger on it!!). This leads to some fear that Casey is now the least important driver at HMS. But there is also some excitement because the 5 team is a great bunch, so I’m hoping Casey will gel with them and kick some ass.

Lastly is some news that I’m 50-50 on: Todd Kluever is a free agent and will not be back with Roush in 2008. Half of me is bouncing off the walls with happiness because quite frankly Roush has treated Todd like crap. Does he not see that Greg Biffle is running about the same in that 3M #16 as Todd? I think Todd is more talented than his results show and deserves a better team owner. But I’m also terrified that he’ll fall off the radar; a team won’t be interested in him and he’ll go the route of Brandon Whitt and disappear. So if you’re some team looking for a talented, good-looking young driver and you have somehow stumbled upon this blog, pick Todd Kluever!!

Richmond Int'l Speedway - Emerson Radio 250

RACE WINNER: KYLE BUSCH

Brian Vickers: 6th (started 13th)
- A better result was in store, but for some reason the crew was off and kept losing the track position Brian gained. Still, a great night for the #10 team.

- Quotes:
“We weren't too bad tonight -- we were able to get a top-10 finish, but we could have been better. The tires really got us there at the end. I think we could have had a top-five, but our pit stops really hurt us the most. Trent Owens (crew chief) did a good job getting the car better all night long with all the pit stops -- we just got killed on the pit stops. Every time we would get some good track position, we would lose it in the pits. It happens sometimes -- everybody makes mistakes, but that's really what hurt us tonight.”

Scott Wimmer: 8th (started 18th)
- Unlike Brian, Scott had a mediocre car but was benefited greatly by his team’s good pit stops. He made up a lot of spots in the closing laps, which is always a plus.

David Reutimann: 23rd (started 17th)
- A spin during qualifying may have set the #00 team back a bit when they decided not to change tires and keep their starting spot. When the race started, David made contact with David Ragan and cut a left front tire. He had to pit under green despite leaving a formidable debris trail. After his service was done, the caution flew, trapping him two laps down. The rest of the night was a battle to survive till the end. David even got in front of leader Kyle Busch at one point in an effort to gain a lap back, but was eventually overtaken. Not the best showing for the team, but 23rd is not a horrendous finish.

- Quotes:
“We just struggled right from the beginning today. I had a cut left-front tire early in the race and had to come down pit road - that cost us track position and that's ultimately what we had to battle all night. We had a fast car and I think we were able to make a lot of changes to the car, but we could never make up the track position that we lost early on. It's real disappointing because I know we had a car that was a lot better than where we finished.”

- David’s finish was one spot above Kevin Harvick, so he is now tied with Harvick in driver standings.

Other Notes:

- It was great seeing Kyle win. He seemed so emotional in victory lane and appreciative of his team. There have been some tense moments between Kyle and the #5 group, especially Alan Gustafson, and I was worried that the rest of the year was going to be based on that. After Friday night, I am certain that Kyle and Alan will continue to be close friends.

- AJ Allmendinger was running in the top-10 near the end of the race before he was dumped by none other than Todd Bodine. Needless to say, I was not happy.

California Speedway - Sharp AQUOS 500

RACE WINNER: JIMMIE JOHNSON

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 5th (started 7th)
- This team is trying as hard as they can to get back into the Chase but even a 5th place finish and leading fifteen laps still puts him 128 points from 12th in the standings. Kurt and Kevin are going to have to have major problems at Richmond for Junior to have a chance.

- Quotes:
“It was fun, hot, sweaty and car was tight, loose, never perfect, but we worked hard. I am tired, real tired. I am so proud of my guys, they worked so hard and it was so hot this weekend, I am proud of them for sticking it out and giving us a good run. I don't know much about the system (points), never have. Never cared to. I just go out there as hard as can. It doesn't look like we are going to make it but we aren't going to quit trying. Until they say we aren't in the Chase. Just a long day out there, hot, real hot.”

Martin Truex Jr.: 6th (started 8th)
- For the first time Martin will be competing for the Cup Championship, since he only needs to start the race at Richmond to make it! He had a great night at California and did everything he needed to do for the big picture.

Brian Vickers: 8th (started 17th)
- Brian has been Toyota’s shining star consistently throughout the year and this race was no different. He led three laps and was very good all night but unfortunately a carburetor problem held the team back from possibly a higher finish.

- Quotes:
“The biggest thing is we had a carburetor problem that almost cost us tonight. Earlier in the race it cost us 25, 30 spots at one point. It was mainly a steering issue down pit road and when we finally got that fixed it was great. For a while there every time we came to pit road under caution, turning out of the pit box it would stall. Top-tens are what we need. It was good - that's how we are going to make up ground in the points. Making the race and finishing 43rd, we aren't going to make any points.”

Kurt Busch: 9th (started 1st)
- He led twice for 21 laps after starting on the pole and basically had a good solid night to keep him in the Chase, passing Kevin Harvick. Now he is 141 points in front of Dale Jr.

- Quotes:
“The night was really interesting. I felt like our car as the race grew longer we just kept getting looser. I’m not sure what added to that, but maybe we were disguised by our good run at Michigan, but it was 60 degrees out at Michigan and it was 160 today. We were just on the loose side of things. The car started off okay, just every lap we made we kept getting worse and worse. We changed everything under the sun to make the Miller Lite Dodge better, but all in all we’ll take this finish in the top 10. That’s what consistency is all about.”

Casey Mears: 15th (started 13th)
- A pretty consistent day, maybe not as high as he’d like but better than it could have been.

David Reutimann: 32nd (started 28th)
- A great run that turned ugly! David sliced through the field and drove into the Top 10, making it all the way up to the lead during green flag pit stops! It was so awesome to see him running so well and over the radio you could hear the excitement in everyone’s voices. Then the crap hit the fan when Jeff Gordon got loose under Jeremy Mayfield (who was two laps down at the time), and a big wreck ensued that took David right out. He hit Ricky Rudd broadside and then sailed through the grass, tearing up the front of the BK Camry and ending the 00 team’s good night. David struggled on during the remaining laps in a foul mood, which no one could blame him for.

- Quotes:
“The pit stops were great, the car was good, everything you need to run up front. We just got caught up in a deal there. I’m still not entirely clear on what happened. The result was that we got screwed up and we tore the car all to heck and it just kind of screwed our night up. I’m really proud of the guys. The pit stops were great. The car was good. We ran like we should and that felt really good to do that. I mean you’re out there racing guys like Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, guys that are running good and winning races. You’re passing those guys and running up front with them and they’re racing with you. They’re giving you hand signals and motioning to you. I’m so used to just letting those guys go because they’ve been so much better than me. It’s nice to have the shoe on the other foot. I enjoyed the night. I thought I was going to get my first Raybestos Rookie of the Race award tonight but I’ll have to do it next week.”

Michael Waltrip: 23rd (started 16th)
- This whole situation just sucked. I don’t know what happened with the tire rub – if Mark Green couldn’t see in all the haze or what – but the rub was clearly not getting any better and I was screaming for Michael to pit! Then it went boom. It was such a scary wreck with all that fire, but although I think the safety crew should have been a little quicker with the fire extinguisher, they let Michael do what he wanted and get out of the car at his own pace.

- Quotes:
“I was trying to get by Ricky and he moved over. That caved in our left front fender. The tire rubbed and the left front tire blew off. When it blew it took some oil lines with it and those caught fire. The car filled up with smoke and fire. The crew does such a great job at sealing off the interior of the car. I saw just a little bit of flame by the shifter, nothing much. I'm bigger than the car - if I try to get out of the car in a hurry it is disastrous. I just took my time and took my stuff off. Right there at the end is when it started to flame and smoke up and I had to get out in a hurry. That is why I'm so thankful the Car of Tomorrow is here because I just can't get out of these cars in a hurry. I've tried it at the shop - basically I have to take my helmet off to get out. It was a short day for the NAPA Toyota, it was pretty fast before this happened.”

Dale Jarrett: DNQ

Other Notes:

- It was ridiculously hot at California!! 107 degrees, are you kidding me? It made me laugh because one of NASCAR’s excuses for replacing Darlington with Cali was that South Carolina is too hot at this time of year. Yeah, right. I was also oh-so impressed with the amount of fans in the grandstands. It’s not a good thing when you can see the color of the seats. California doesn’t warrant two dates on the NASCAR schedule.

- Congrats to AJ Allmendinger for his best career finish of 18th! It was so great to see him have the finish he’s been striving for!

- Ricky Rudd ended up separating his shoulder in the wreck with David, Jeff Gordon and Jeremy Mayfield, and won’t be racing the Cup race Saturday night. This also makes me question Fontana’s safety, for he is the third driver (after David in the spring and Brad Keselowski) to get into a serious crash here this year.

California Speedway - Camping World 300

RACE WINNER: JEFF BURTON

Scott Wimmer: 12th (started 25th)
- It was really nice of Kevin Harvick to put Scott in his #77 Busch car this weekend and Scott came back from starting from the rear being a lap down early on to a decent finish.

David Reutimann: 15th (started 13th)
- I was a little surprised that David didn’t run better, but you have an off night sooner or later. It was very interesting when it came down to the last lap, and who is David racing to the line like a dragster? Jason Leffler! Leffler got the position, but I was glad to see no smoke or sparks and ripping of sheet metal…I’m all for these two racing hard, but no more wrecking! David dropped back down to 3rd in points behind Harvick, but with Carl Edwards’ continuing problems he is now (only) 657 points from the lead!

- Quotes:
“The car wasn't running as well as it should have all night. Our Camry was capable of running in the top-10, but we had some lug nut issues. On that last pit stop, we came in and the lug nuts came loose as we were pitting . The left rear tire came off and messed up our quarter panel. Overall, it was a good day for the points but we would have liked to give Toyota a solid finish in their backyard. We are going to put this behind us and go to Richmond next weekend.”

Brian Vickers: 27th (started 9th)
- A strong car early faded a bit at the end, which seems to be a bit typical, but he ran well all night until a wreck took him out. Matt Kenseth turned himself across Steven Leicht during a restart and smashed into teammate Carl Edwards, sending both into the wall and, of course, right in front of Brian…

- Quotes:
“Tonight we had a really, really strong car - especially on long runs. We weren't as good as some guys the first 10, 15, maybe 20 laps, but the second half of the run we were strong. We were so fast. Everybody did a good job. Coming in for four tires on the last pit stop was the right call. We were getting ready to smoke those guys who didn't get tires. I don't know what happened, who wrecked who or who got into who. I don't think it was intentional, it was just one of those racing accidents. Toyota has a great car here in the Busch series - I'm glad I had the opportunity to race it.”

Other Notes:

- Brad Keselowski was involved in a horrifying wreck on Lap 69 and it made me very thankful that SAFER barriers are installed at California. AJ Allmendinger was racing hard with JJ Yeley while Brad ran at the bottom of the track beneath them. Eric McClure rode up top, trying to stay out of everyone’s way, but when these four drivers lined up side-by-side disaster struck. Yeley made contact with AJ’s right rear quarter panel, sending AJ flying down the track and right into Brad. Brad shot back up, taking AJ with him, and slammed astonishingly hard into the wall. The 88 soared into the air trailing a curtain of flames and AJ found himself briefly trapped under him. Brad’s rear tire was hung on the wall for a few scary moments before it hit the track again and slid down to the grass. It was evident as soon as Brad began to be helped out of the car by safety workers that he was hurt, and several workers held him up. Brad grimaced in pain the entire time until he was brought into an ambulance via a stretcher and was later transported to a hospital. He was released from the hospital with no broken bones (according to ESPN’s Cup broadcast) – that’s unbelievable! I so glad he is okay, for he is a young talent and in my opinion a perfect fit for JR Motorsports.

- AJ Allmendinger is driving for Ganassi in the Busch Series for several races now, which I think is really cool of both Toyota and Dodge to allow to happen. More than anything, AJ needs seat time and he was doing a great job last night from starting at the rear of the field and making his way forward. It really sucked when he got into that accident, but his post-race interview was nothing but class.

- ESPN coverage continues to make me want to vomit! Not only did we miss all the pre-race ceremonies except the command because of some lame football game, but when the race actually started the booth guys were awful. Brian “Vicker”? “Kevin” Hamlin? Kyle Busch was called Kasey Kahne. Rusty suddenly thought “nervy” was the coolest, trendiest word ever and used it about five times in ten minutes. I’m also getting really irritated when they see one replay of an incident and instantly “know” what happened. Andy Petree really screwed up with the Kenseth/Leicht incident, immediately blaming it all on Leicht. When it was clear from the second angle that Kenseth turned across Leicht, Petree just shut his mouth and didn’t speak another word about it. Learn from the other broadcasters, boys! When you think you know what happened, say, “Well, it looks like from this angle that…” instead of, “So-and-so did this!!”