Blowin' In The Wind(y City)

I don't think I would be one of those fans at Chicagoland throwing stuff at Jeff Gordon. I'm not that kind of fan. But, since there are a lot of fans from Wisconson there, I really couldn't blame them, as deplorable as their behavior was.
I really wanted to blame the spin of the #17 car on Gordon--it looked like one of his trademark bump and dump moves--but it actually did look like M checked up a bit, and there wasn't time for Jeffy to back off or room for him to go around. My readers know I am not a Jeffy fan, and it feels strange trying to defend him, but "I calls 'em as I sees 'em,"
It didn't matter in the end, the #17 shortly ran out of gas. A good thing coming out of this, though. is that M will come back stronger and with greater determination. If it was a case of retaliation from Bristol, Jeff is clever and talented (*cough*sneaky*) enough to make it look like anything but. However, we think that it was nothing more than a typical racing incident. I almost hate myself for writing that.
Feel free to disagree with me. Also feel free to voice your disagreement, in the comments section here, or in my forum. I would rather see folks dumping on Jeff. I will avidly enjoy reading comments that bash Jeff, and I will not argue with you.
It was, all in all, a good race. The drivers we expected to see up front were up front. Stewart ran out of gas on the last caution lap before the green-white-checkered restart, and had to drop out of what could have been an exciting finish. Pole sitter Jeff Burton took a well-deserved second place and my congratulations go to him. Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr for a strong third place finish, and to Reed Sorenson, a talented rookie, for a top ten finish.

Congratulations also go to Casey Mears, for winning his first NASCAR race, in the Busch Series race at Chicagoland, Saturday. It was only a matter of time, for no-one will disagree
that Mears is one of the best drivers who had never won a race in NASCAR. Winning breeds winning, and we hope to see more from Casey Mears. I have predicted that he will win a Cup race this season, and that is within his sights.

In other big news, the racing world was rocked this weekend, when Chip Ganassi announced that Formula One superstar, former Cart Champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Juan Pablo Montoya will join Ganassi's NASCAR Nextel Cup team in 2007. Montoya is an exeptional driver, currently sixth in Formula One World Championship points. Like Tony Stewart, Montoya can drive the wheels off of any kind of race car, and, once he gets a handle on the NASCAR sleds, will most likely be a strong contender. Don't expect his rookie year to be that great, though. Formula One racing is worlds apart from NASCAR racing, and years of F1 indoctrination have to be undone before Montoya can get the hang of the smaller wheels, heavier weights, and closer racing of the stock cars. It should be noted that, infectious as Juan Pablo's personality is, he has a temper that makes Smoke look calm and even-natured. NASCAR drivers will not want to make him angry.