Michigan Int'l Speedway - Lifelock 400
Danni
RESULTS
1. Dale Jr.
4. Brian
17. Martin
21. Kurt
23. Michael
30. Casey (2LD)
35. David (3LD)
First off, I can't explain how good it felt to see Junior in Victory Lane again!! I know a lot of his fans expected many wins by now and were already attacking Tony Eury Jr., so it was sweet to see them finally finish a deal through smart strategy by the crew chief.
Unfortunately, there was some controversy, but more on that later.
As to be expected at a wide track like Michigan, green flag runs dominated the race. That can be good if your car handles well, but can be devistating when a lot of work needs to be done. Obviously, looking at David and Casey's finishes, the latter fact was evident. It was upsetting to listen to David's radio because they just could not catch a break. They had to make a shock adjustment to get it from tight to loose, but then it was too loose. To make things worse, during a cycle of green flag pit stops, the caution came out a lap or two after the #44 pitted, trapping them 2 laps down and nixing any chance of them to get a decent finish. Despite everything, David remained calm even though the stress of running uncharacteristically bad was clear in everyones' voices.
Meanwhile, Michael was having an atypical day too - but in a good way! He drove into the top-20 easily and led a lap while the leaders pitted under green (five points toward the top-35!). Junior and Brian ran up front and led laps. A bit of a downer occurred when Kurt spun by himself off of Turn 2. It's so strange watching someone who should be winning races struggle so much. Most of the cautions that came out because of a wreck were single-car incidents - drivers just would lose it.
By the end of the race it was plain to see that fuel mileage would play out, something that is becoming a very common thing every race weekend (and I'm not a fan of it). Several drivers had no chance of making it and were forced to pit, but Dale Jr. was told to stay out and save as much as he could. When Jamie McMurray passed him for the lead, however, there was no more cruising! Watching them race each other kind of left a pit in my stomach because I could just see the gas burning away! Then, with only a couple laps to go, Sam Hornish spun and brought out the yellow.
What to do!
Cue controversy!
McMurray pitted, while Kasey Kahne stayed out and took 2nd place. Then the weird stuff started to happen. During pace laps, Junior passed the pace car on the backstretch, shut his engine off and coasted to conserve fuel. Now, it's fair to say that everyone knows that when you pass the pace car without NASCAR's permission, you get black-flagged. But Junior pulled the move more than once before NASCAR simply told him to stop it.
This puts me in a rough position as both an objective race-watcher and a Dale Jr. fan. I wanted so badly to see him win, but a rule is a rule and it made me uncomfortable to see NASCAR ignore it. I'm definitely not crying conspiracy - the #88 didn't have enough gas to make the green-white-checkers - but I know why fans and media are questioning the move and as far as I know NASCAR hasn't given an explanation, which makes them look biased. So as happy as I was for Junior, I wasn't excited about how it came about. It also was disappointing to not see a well-deserved celebration because the car sputtered out of juice across the line.
Another damper on the situation was the fact that the white flag crash that brought the Junior-saving caution out was between Martin and Michael. Martin got loose coming off of Turn 4 and bounced off the wall a bit. For some reason, Michael was right up against Martin when it happened. Like Newton's Law of Momentum states, the energy was tranferred to the #55 and sent the car flying into the frontstretch grass. I also felt bad for Pat Carpentier, a victim caught up in a wreck not of his doing while having one of the best runs of his short Cup career. It sucked, but it was racing. Thankfully, Michael still finished well enough to get back into the top-35!
While the team pushed Junior to Victory Lane, the look on his face was priceless. He looked like a kid again! His demeanor was giddy and it was so good to see that smile on his face. I was also very happy to see Mr. Hendrick there to celebrate with him. It was Father's Day, which is tough on both of them, but having each other I think heals the pain a little.
Some more confusion happened when Brian gave a post-race interview. Apparently, he had passed Mark Martin before the Hornish caution, but NASCAR told the #83 team that the #8 was to be in front of them on the restart. And on the restart, the #8 ran out of gas, marring everyone behind him. Obviously, Brian felt that it was both a bad call and a reason he couldn't vie for the win. Later, NASCAR admitted they made a mistake. Lucky for them, Brian is an understanding guy and didn't give NASCAR a tongue-lashing.
So it was kind of an up and down day. Hopefully Junior will win again without any arguments so everyone can forget about this one.
#44 Quotes of the Race
When David began to approach the #15
Ryan: "Get a good run here and set him up."
David (some time later): "It's so tight... I'll get him - I'll get him here. Hang on!"
POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Jr. -84
15. Martin -543
16. Brian -546
19. Kurt -676
27. Casey -862
28. David -866
34. Michael -1050 (35th in OP +13 from 36th)
1. Dale Jr.
4. Brian
17. Martin
21. Kurt
23. Michael
30. Casey (2LD)
35. David (3LD)
First off, I can't explain how good it felt to see Junior in Victory Lane again!! I know a lot of his fans expected many wins by now and were already attacking Tony Eury Jr., so it was sweet to see them finally finish a deal through smart strategy by the crew chief.
Unfortunately, there was some controversy, but more on that later.As to be expected at a wide track like Michigan, green flag runs dominated the race. That can be good if your car handles well, but can be devistating when a lot of work needs to be done. Obviously, looking at David and Casey's finishes, the latter fact was evident. It was upsetting to listen to David's radio because they just could not catch a break. They had to make a shock adjustment to get it from tight to loose, but then it was too loose. To make things worse, during a cycle of green flag pit stops, the caution came out a lap or two after the #44 pitted, trapping them 2 laps down and nixing any chance of them to get a decent finish. Despite everything, David remained calm even though the stress of running uncharacteristically bad was clear in everyones' voices.
Meanwhile, Michael was having an atypical day too - but in a good way! He drove into the top-20 easily and led a lap while the leaders pitted under green (five points toward the top-35!). Junior and Brian ran up front and led laps. A bit of a downer occurred when Kurt spun by himself off of Turn 2. It's so strange watching someone who should be winning races struggle so much. Most of the cautions that came out because of a wreck were single-car incidents - drivers just would lose it.
By the end of the race it was plain to see that fuel mileage would play out, something that is becoming a very common thing every race weekend (and I'm not a fan of it). Several drivers had no chance of making it and were forced to pit, but Dale Jr. was told to stay out and save as much as he could. When Jamie McMurray passed him for the lead, however, there was no more cruising! Watching them race each other kind of left a pit in my stomach because I could just see the gas burning away! Then, with only a couple laps to go, Sam Hornish spun and brought out the yellow.
What to do!
Cue controversy!
McMurray pitted, while Kasey Kahne stayed out and took 2nd place. Then the weird stuff started to happen. During pace laps, Junior passed the pace car on the backstretch, shut his engine off and coasted to conserve fuel. Now, it's fair to say that everyone knows that when you pass the pace car without NASCAR's permission, you get black-flagged. But Junior pulled the move more than once before NASCAR simply told him to stop it.
This puts me in a rough position as both an objective race-watcher and a Dale Jr. fan. I wanted so badly to see him win, but a rule is a rule and it made me uncomfortable to see NASCAR ignore it. I'm definitely not crying conspiracy - the #88 didn't have enough gas to make the green-white-checkers - but I know why fans and media are questioning the move and as far as I know NASCAR hasn't given an explanation, which makes them look biased. So as happy as I was for Junior, I wasn't excited about how it came about. It also was disappointing to not see a well-deserved celebration because the car sputtered out of juice across the line.Another damper on the situation was the fact that the white flag crash that brought the Junior-saving caution out was between Martin and Michael. Martin got loose coming off of Turn 4 and bounced off the wall a bit. For some reason, Michael was right up against Martin when it happened. Like Newton's Law of Momentum states, the energy was tranferred to the #55 and sent the car flying into the frontstretch grass. I also felt bad for Pat Carpentier, a victim caught up in a wreck not of his doing while having one of the best runs of his short Cup career. It sucked, but it was racing. Thankfully, Michael still finished well enough to get back into the top-35!
While the team pushed Junior to Victory Lane, the look on his face was priceless. He looked like a kid again! His demeanor was giddy and it was so good to see that smile on his face. I was also very happy to see Mr. Hendrick there to celebrate with him. It was Father's Day, which is tough on both of them, but having each other I think heals the pain a little.
Some more confusion happened when Brian gave a post-race interview. Apparently, he had passed Mark Martin before the Hornish caution, but NASCAR told the #83 team that the #8 was to be in front of them on the restart. And on the restart, the #8 ran out of gas, marring everyone behind him. Obviously, Brian felt that it was both a bad call and a reason he couldn't vie for the win. Later, NASCAR admitted they made a mistake. Lucky for them, Brian is an understanding guy and didn't give NASCAR a tongue-lashing.
So it was kind of an up and down day. Hopefully Junior will win again without any arguments so everyone can forget about this one.
#44 Quotes of the Race
When David began to approach the #15
Ryan: "Get a good run here and set him up."
David (some time later): "It's so tight... I'll get him - I'll get him here. Hang on!"
POINT STANDINGS
1. Kyle Busch
3. Dale Jr. -84
15. Martin -543
16. Brian -546
19. Kurt -676
27. Casey -862
28. David -866
34. Michael -1050 (35th in OP +13 from 36th)
