CUP: Homestead-Miami Speedway

Jess

RESULTS
Winner: Carl Edwards
20. David (-1 lap)
38. Michael (-3 laps)
41. Dale Jr. (OUT - Wheel bearing)

Wow, kind of a disappointing end to the season for our heroes. David led the first lap after starting on the pole (and fought Matt Kenseth - who I knew was going to be tough - tooth and nail for that honor! ) and although he faded back a tad he was still competitively inside the top 5 for much of the race. He even had to overcome not just the pressure of running so close to the front, but a spring on the throttle falling off! That must have been such a distraction, but David is so adaptable and he made do with what he had. Being in the top 10 just about the entire event impressed me twofold since he was dealing with this problem. However, crappy luck struck once more as the final laps turned into another fuel mileage race and David had to pit, relegating him back to 20th.

Dale Jr. ran pretty well after a rather depressing start where he struggled to crack the top-25. Tony Jr. must have made a great adjustment, for he was soon charging to the front! He quietly remained there for the remainder of the race until he began to realize something was going wrong with a handful of laps to go. He pitted and then came back in quickly after. It turned out that the wheel bearing had broken and the #88 went to the garage. During his interview, I found it curious he made a bit of a speech thanking everyone at Hendrick until I realized that his DNF meant he would finish last in the Chase, therefore keeping him from the stage in New York.

But at least David and Dale didn't have a day like Michael. Apparently Michael chose to use David's setup and the whole thing blew up in his face (as it has before - I don't quite understand why Michael thinks just because David runs well with a certain setup, he will too). He was horrible from start to finish. Not a good way to end the season but hopefully Bootie will bring in some fresh air to that team. To top it off, Marcos Ambrose made a mistake and crashed, dropping him out of the top 35. It may not make a difference if teams inside the top 35 shut down and Marcos is bumped up, but it was still disappointing.

While I'm at it, I'll mentioned a few other things about my other favorites:

- Man am I glad that Kurt Busch's year is over. I don't think I've ever seen him more miserable! It seemed like whatever could go wrong did go wrong. Kurt is a champion and one of the best drivers out there - I hope next season Penske can get back to winning form, or I doubt Kurt will return.

- With DEI and Ganassi recently merging, it will be interesting to see what happens with Martin Truex Jr. and his guys. Juan Pablo Montoya is a strong personality so I'm anxious to find how he and Martin will get along.

- Brian Vickers didn't have a very good finish, maybe because he wasn't even with his team, since he switched with Scott Speed. I can't say the whole car swap made me feel very good; although Brian publicly appeared to want to help, it bothers me that Speed has taken such a priority with Red Bull all of a sudden (funny that TRB wasn't so quick to help AJ Allmendinger ). At first I loved the way TRB did things but now I'm not so sure.

- Casey Mears' last ride with HMS ended well and I'm looking forward to next season with Richard Childress!

Congratulations Jimmie Johnson on his third Cup Championship!!

FINAL POINT STANDINGS
Champion: Jimmie Johnson (congrats!)
12. Dale Jr.
22. David
29. Michael

Homestead Qualifying

Jess

CUP LINEUP
Pole: David Reutimann!!!!!
22. Dale Jr.
42. Michael

Holy crap!!! Congratulations David, Ryan, the #44 team and MWR! This is David's first Cup pole and he did it in grand fashion - what a lap! I'm so proud of him and how far he and MWR have come in their second year.

(Hey UPS, are you having some doubts leaving him? You should be!)

Junior didn't qualify all that great, but I was really unhappy with how the rest of the MWR cars did. Michael said his car felt good, but unfortunately he got a little high and hit a bump, which send the NAPA Camry pancaking into the wall. There wasn't a whole lot of damage, thankfully. Marcos Ambrose also had a dismal lap and I'm so relieved he was locked into this race or he would have gone home. In fact, both Michael and Marcos would have gone home if qualifying was based on speed alone (which is one reason I'm glad there is a top 35 rule).

NATIONWIDE LINEUP
Pole: Joey Logano
7. Dale Jr.
27. Scott
33. David

David said the Dream Machine wasn't very good and despite some wholesale changes made by Jerry Baxter, the #99 still isn't a happy car. Hopefully they'll be able to work on it during the race today.

It's cool to see Dale Jr. back in the Nationwide Series - maybe he can pull off a win in his own car! I'm quite annoyed Scott is in the #21 instead of the #29...I still think it's a huge mistake for RCR to let him go. There hasn't been much news on where Scott will end up next year - I hope it's somewhere where he'll finally be appreciated.

Also nice that Josh Wise made the race, though his car doesn't seem very good, either.

NATIONWIDE: Phoenix Int'l Raceway -Thoughts on the Hefty Odor Block 200

Jess

RESULTS
Winner: Carl Edwards
20. Scott (-1 lap)
31. David (-4 laps)

Despite a starting spot near the back of the field, it certainly didn't take long for David to make a charge to the front! He was just beginning to peek into the top 10 when disaster struck in the form of a hit to the wall. The only replay ESPN felt was necessary to show was one where you couldn't actually see what happened, and they only chose to show it once (how helpful). It looked as if David was on the outside of Brad Keselowski coming off a turn but it's unclear if there was any sort of contact between the two. Whatever happened, David's pretty Best Western Camry was hurt and NASCAR waited until the tire shot off the rim and came to a stop before throwing the yellow, even though he couldn't get down into the pits and there was other debris on the track. Unfortunately, while the #99 boys worked hard repairing the car, David was never in contention again. I truly believe David is the best driver with the worst luck...and he doesn't deserve an ounce of bad luck.

To make my mood better, Josh Wise - in a second MWR car - was the next to go, taken out in an accordion-effect wreck during a restart. He'd been running very well all day so it was really disappointing to see his race ruined by something not of his doing.

Finally, Scott Wimmer blew a tire after being a top-5 car literally the entire race.

Did I do something bad to put a cloud over my drivers or something??

POINT STANDINGS
Leader: Clint Bowyer
7. David -713

CUP: Texas Motor Speedway -Thoughts on the Dickies 500

Jess

RESULTS
Winner: Carl Edwards
10. David
20. Dale Jr. (-2 laps)
27. Michael (-3 laps)

Although David and the #44 UPS team ran inside the top 10 nearly the entire race, it was not an easy event for them. At the beginning of the afternoon David was flying and man was it breathtaking to see him grab the lead away from Clint Bowyer! However, the car's handling was never where David wanted it to be and after restarts it took a while to come in, which made it difficult because he'd be passed and then have to re-pass while also battling lap traffic. Green-flag pit stops made it a challenge to make a charge after the leader even if he was running the fastest laps of the field for the majority of the race, but the pit crew was excellent every single stop and definitely made up some ground for him a few times! David was very frustrated with 10th, which at first sounds strange for a team that last season was missing races, but in fact it's very telling of how far they've come. They are a Chase-caliber team - they want top 5s and wins!

Dale Jr. had an up-and-down adventure that unfortunately ended with him coasting to pit lane after running out of fuel with a handful of laps to go. He was running very well to start but then the crew left a wheel loose during green pit stops. Luckily a caution came out soon after and he was able to pit again to get that potentially dire problem resolved. From then on it was a struggle to stay on the lead lap and the #88 team's chances of getting a good finish was low, even after receiving the free pass. As the laps drew to a close they decided to gamble on fuel, which bit them when they ran out while in 2nd place. Honestly these guys don't have much to lose, but it sure would be nice if Dale Jr. could be on stage for the awards ceremony...

My hopes for a great race for Michael after last weekend didn't come to fruition. He seemed to struggle from the drop of the green to the waving of the checkers. I guess it could have been worse but it was still a bummer. Thankfully Marcos Ambrose did a wonderful job, finishing 21st in only his second start with MWR! This was even after getting caught up in an accident! I feel some Frank Kerr magic going on with this team!!

Other than fretting about the #44, I didn't find this race all that exciting, but neither was the Nationwide race. I'm not all that crazy about races that end based on fuel mileage, either - especially ones like this where the leader is going so slow it's laughable - but you take 'em how you can get 'em, I guess!

One rather shocking moment occurred when David Gilliland and Juan Pablo Montoya got into it on Lap 263. From the replays, it looked like Gilliland (a lapped car) slid up into Montoya (on the lead lap), which can make anyone a little angry. Montoya gave him a bump to show his displeasure, which is fine, no one got hurt. Well, on the backstretch, Gilliland all of a sudden made a dead turn left and hooked the #42 straight into the wall! What was he thinking?! That was so dangerous it's not funny in the least - it's one thing to retaliate under caution, but during a green run? NASCAR initially held the #38 for five laps but then decided to park him for the rest of the race (good call) and call him to the hauler for a chat. The oddest part of this deal was his interview with ESPN, where he said it was simply a misjudgment and not revenge. Um...yeah, right. At the very least Gilliland should be docked a significant number of points and I would seriously consider a suspension, but it turns out NASCAR believed Gilliland's story since they're leaving it as is. I don't think I've ever been more shocked by a retaliation during my time watching NASCAR and it's ridiculous there was little consequence for such a violent act!

#44 Quotes of the Race

(Right before pit stops, Ryan tends to his driver)

Ryan: "You want an ice bag or a drink or anything?"

David: "Nah, I'm good."

Ryan: "Yeah, 10-4! You're great, you're great!"

Ryan always loves to encourage.

POINT STANDINGS
Leader: Jimmie Johnson
11. Dale Jr. -429
---
23. David (-129 from 20th)
29. Michael

Texas Qualifying

Jess

CUP RESULTS
1. Jeff Gordon
5. Dale Jr.
12. David
15. Michael

Hell yes! I knew David would have better starting spots if he could just qualify (wow, it's nice that it wasn't raining for once!), but I was shocked that Michael did so well! Way to go MWR! Better yet, Marcos Ambrose did a wonderful job making the show in his #47 and it was all the more impressive because he spanked a couple of "big boys" in big equipment: Brad Keselowki and Joey Logano. Both drivers just barely squeaked into the race. I felt a little for Logano - he looked just about sick. I guess there's nothing like having to be a star car to get you off your high horse. I'm willing to bet Logano is twice as thankful now he's going to have owner points next year!

Unfortunately Max Papis - in an MWR-supported car - didn't qualify and wasn't even close. I like Max a lot but I'm not quite sure what he and Germain Racing are thinking with this Cup ride. Sadly I don't think they'll be making many races next season unless the fields shrink significantly...it's hard enough for veteran drivers to qualify, much less a driver with little NASCAR experience.

NATIONWIDE RESULTS
1. Carl Edwards
10. Brian
15. Scott
19. David

Pretty decent for our guys. Josh Wise also made the race in the #00 NAPA Camry and I'm looking forward to watching him!