Charlotte Motor Speedway - Bank of America 500
RACE WINNER: JEFF GORDON
Our Boys Running Order:
10. Michael (started 19th)
17. Martin (started 32nd)
19. Dale Jr. (started 22nd)
21. Casey (started 9th)
26. Kurt (started 8th)
29. David (started 20th)
DNQ DJ
DNQ Brian
It didn’t take long for Dale Jr. to again mingle with Charlotte’s craziness and nearly put me into congestive heart failure again! Lap freaking 1 and he was 3-wide on the top, causing a big panic among the drivers he was passing. To add to my dismay David hit the wall moments later, so I fumed for a while and was annoyed at June, but I don’t really know how much he had to do with David’s brush with the fence. Dale Jr. continued to have an interesting night messing with future teammate Jeff Gordon, but his threats on the radio didn’t amount to any on-track retaliation (thankfully).
David’s night spiraled downhill for a while and a few choice words were used to describe the car’s handling, but Frank did a wonderful job rallying the team and making the car good enough to pass others that weren’t damaged. David apologized and took all the blame at one point but Frank had none of that and quickly told him they were all in this together. That definitely made me smile. They held on despite a flat tire and survived the rest of the night.
Michael’s race is one to gloat about, for he took a car that he thought was horrible and finished 10th with it! I’m so proud of him and honestly didn’t think he’d have two top 10s under his belt by now. He even spun through the grass (and almost crapped himself from what he said on INC because it surprised him so much!) but came back and cut through the field like a surgeon (another INC saying).
I felt incredibly bad for Kurt when he smashed into another car on pit road during a gas-only stop, but was a bit miffed with whoever told him he was clear. In my opinion, if you’re the guy doing something different like two tires or gas only you should be the one keeping a sharp eye out for the guys in the back that will be coming into pit as you’re leaving. Things got worse when Kurt dropped a cylinder later on, which killed his dreams of a good finish. His second engine problem in the Chase…
Casey was having a decent night before a tire failure sent him screeching into Bill Elliott. That really sucked…but by hitting Elliott the damage wasn’t so bad to Casey’s car and the crew was able to make enough repairs to salvage a top 25.
A mistake on Martin’s part almost cost him a top 20 when he ran out of gas after failing to come down pit road when Bono called him in. Fortunately it worked out fairly well in the end.
And I still miss the old Charlotte. Although with Bruton Smith’s recent hissy fit about his precious drag strip, maybe he’ll tear the track down and build it somewhere else!! Ha ha, I wouldn’t be so lucky.
Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
7. Kurt -315 behind 1st
11. Martin -378 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
14. Casey -122 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. David -405 behind 35th
39. Brian -450 behind 35th
41. Michael -891 behind 35th
42. DJ -892 behind 35th
Our Boys Running Order:
10. Michael (started 19th)
17. Martin (started 32nd)
19. Dale Jr. (started 22nd)
21. Casey (started 9th)
26. Kurt (started 8th)
29. David (started 20th)
DNQ DJ
DNQ Brian
It didn’t take long for Dale Jr. to again mingle with Charlotte’s craziness and nearly put me into congestive heart failure again! Lap freaking 1 and he was 3-wide on the top, causing a big panic among the drivers he was passing. To add to my dismay David hit the wall moments later, so I fumed for a while and was annoyed at June, but I don’t really know how much he had to do with David’s brush with the fence. Dale Jr. continued to have an interesting night messing with future teammate Jeff Gordon, but his threats on the radio didn’t amount to any on-track retaliation (thankfully).
David’s night spiraled downhill for a while and a few choice words were used to describe the car’s handling, but Frank did a wonderful job rallying the team and making the car good enough to pass others that weren’t damaged. David apologized and took all the blame at one point but Frank had none of that and quickly told him they were all in this together. That definitely made me smile. They held on despite a flat tire and survived the rest of the night.
Michael’s race is one to gloat about, for he took a car that he thought was horrible and finished 10th with it! I’m so proud of him and honestly didn’t think he’d have two top 10s under his belt by now. He even spun through the grass (and almost crapped himself from what he said on INC because it surprised him so much!) but came back and cut through the field like a surgeon (another INC saying).
I felt incredibly bad for Kurt when he smashed into another car on pit road during a gas-only stop, but was a bit miffed with whoever told him he was clear. In my opinion, if you’re the guy doing something different like two tires or gas only you should be the one keeping a sharp eye out for the guys in the back that will be coming into pit as you’re leaving. Things got worse when Kurt dropped a cylinder later on, which killed his dreams of a good finish. His second engine problem in the Chase…
Casey was having a decent night before a tire failure sent him screeching into Bill Elliott. That really sucked…but by hitting Elliott the damage wasn’t so bad to Casey’s car and the crew was able to make enough repairs to salvage a top 25.
A mistake on Martin’s part almost cost him a top 20 when he ran out of gas after failing to come down pit road when Bono called him in. Fortunately it worked out fairly well in the end.
And I still miss the old Charlotte. Although with Bruton Smith’s recent hissy fit about his precious drag strip, maybe he’ll tear the track down and build it somewhere else!! Ha ha, I wouldn’t be so lucky.
Our Boys Point Standings
- Driver Points -
7. Kurt -315 behind 1st
11. Martin -378 behind 1st
13. Dale Jr. --
14. Casey -122 behind 13th
- Owner Points -
38. David -405 behind 35th
39. Brian -450 behind 35th
41. Michael -891 behind 35th
42. DJ -892 behind 35th
