Revvin' and Ramblin'

When the Busch (now Nationwide) Series was running at PPIR, I used to like to get there early, as in at the opening of the gates. I would either catch a ride with my dear friend Debra (still dear, but now, sadly departed) or with someone I knew who worked at the track. One year I hitch-hiked and caught a ride with the team engineer from the Brewer Motorsports racing team. Anyway, I would get there early, and savor the experience of being there while things were relatively quiet, and I had the entire facility to myself, with the exception of a few others who practiced a similar race day ritual. I would walk along the catch fence, studying the track from every angle, going to the infield and visiting the garage area, when that was allowed, and walking the perimeter of the infield, and along the fence separating the pit area from the public. Then I would go to the top of the grandstands and take the whole thing in. I would have a big smile on my face, as I would declare to myself, "I love this place!"

I imagine that if I lived near the Darlington Speedway, in South Carolina, I would have a similar ritual. I love the place, even though I have never been there. There has never been a race there that wasn't exciting.

Even last year--which was the first race with the new Sprint Cup car at Darlington--when none of the teams had a car that their driver was happy with, it was exciting to watch Kyle Busch race by himself, bouncing off the wall in every turn. He not only had the expected Darlington Stripe off of turn two--he was bouncing off the walls in turn four. He won, because--even though the car wasn't set up well for Darlington--he got the most out of the car he could get. He had no idea of how to do it the "right way."

Nobody had a good car at Darlington last year--because nobody really knew what they needed to run at Darlington. Jeff Gordon had yet to get a handle on the new car, and Tony Stewart, who was driving for Joe Gibbs at the time, probably had one of the better cars--and was essentially taken out of the race early on, having been trapped by Elliott Sadler's Smoke Magnet. The only driver who had a chance to catch Kyle was Carl Edwards, and all he could do was watch Busch bounce off the walls as he continued to broaden the lead.

We have good reason to believe that this year, the situation will be different. First of all, over the last few races, it seems that Elliott has removed the Smoke magnet from his car. Jeff Gordon seems to have gotten a handle on his car, as have several other top drivers. There are guys like David Ragan, David Reutimann, Marcos Ambrose, and Sam Hornish, Jr., who seem poised to win their first race, and will likely give the usual suspects some competition in the race to get up front and be there for the most important lap.

All that being said, if I were to try to write a preview--which I won't since I always seemed to jinx the drivers whenever I did--my five drivers to watch would be as follows:

Jeff Gordon--Stating the obvious here. Jeff has found the handle on the car, and can race even while he is in serious pain and get a good finish anywhere. He knows how to drive smart, and he has five Darlington wins to prove it.

Kyle Busch--If he can't win it the way he did last year, he'll figure out another way to do it. The boy is a lot smarter than people give him credit for.

Tony Stewart--He is ready to get his first win as an owner-driver. He will be careful most of the race, and take the opportunity when it comes. He has yet to win at Darlington, which would add sweetness to the first victory for his own team. Out of sixteen starts, he has 8 top ten finishes including two top fives. He has finished out of the top twenty only two times--one thirty-sixth place due to a race ending crash after lap 225, and last years twenty-first place finish after his very bad start to the race.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr--I am not mentioning him just to get more hits this time. Last year, with all the "crappy" cars, he managed a fifth place finish. He has a knack for Darlington, and it is really fun to watch him race there. Fans who underate him, fail to notice that he is one of the best car control drivers there are, and Jr. can show us how that works at Darlington. He just needs to be patient, and if he can find that patience, he will be very likely to get a very good finish. It would be a good win for his cousin Tony Eury, Jr as well.

Matt Kenseth--If patience is what it takes to win at Darlington, Kenseth is the epitome of patience. He drives a lot like the all time Darlington winner, David Pearson, and perhaps that legacy will pay off. I know I promised my friend Babs that I wouldn't pick him to win in my previews, but, remember, this is not a real preview, this is only a "if I were writing a preview" preview.

So, I'm very excited in looking forward to Saturday night. Part of the anticipation is after the great race at Richmond last week, and part of it is that it is the second race in a row at a track for which I feel genuine affection. Hang on to your hats, this should be good!

Live on Type Delay: The Crown Royal Presents the Russ Friedman 400

Call me sentimental. I have never been to a race at Richmond, but it has always been part of my NASCAR experience. I remember reading about the action on the dirt track back when I was growing up, and the writers made that action seem very exciting. I could see legends being made there.

Even after its reconfiguration to a .75 mile paved track, Richmond is still a legend maker. In my opinion, it features some of the best pure racing in NASCAR today. It is a short track with plenty of room to pass. Every position has to be hard fought for, however, and to win at Richmond, a driver has to be on top of his game. Being a short track, the leader will quickly encounter lapped traffic, and most of the racing takes place in traffic. No mistakes are forgivable on pit road, and it is a true challenge to be successful at this track.

It has been raining most of the day, but the track is mostly dry, and it is time to start the engines.

After a few caution laps to dry the track, Brian Vickers takes the point for the green flag, which officially begins lap three. Jeff Gordon, starting on the outside of the front row, makes a move to pass, and, after a lap long battle leads the first green flag lap. Vickers, however, retakes the lead, and leads until Dave Blaney loses control of his car and hits the wall, bringing out the caution on lap 9.

The race restarts on lap 13, with the top five being Vickers, Jeff Gordon, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex, Jr, and Mark Martin. Displaying his restart skill, Kyle Busch immediately moves from eleventh to seventh. Jeff Gordon retakes the lead on lap 23 and immediately begins pulling out on the field. On lap 44, Gordon encounters the tail end of the lead lap and begins lapping cars. This allows Denny Hamlin, who has taken second, to begin closing on the leader.

Kurt Busch is riding a rocket and has moved into the top five on lap 55. He takes fourth from Brian Vickers on that lap, with his brother Kyle right behind him. Gordon is held up by lapped traffic for several laps, and on lap 61, Hamlin is right on his bumper. It takes Hamlin twenty more laps to actually take the lead, but, when he does so, it is a textbook perfect pass on the bottom.

Green flag pit stops begin around lap 91. There will be a lot of adjustments done now, as the set ups that were made from Friday's practice weren't meant for a green track. As the pits cycle through, Ryan Newman, who has been running in the top ten for most of the race leads a lap, and pits on lap 102. After the leaders have cycled through their pit stops, the top five are now Denny Hamlin, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon.

Kyle Busch is on a roll. He takes third form the old kid, Mark Martin, on lap 114. And, we get a caution as Jeremy Mayfield's car literally loses it's suspension and hits the wall. Or, it may have been a cut tire. Anyway, the caution flew just as America's Driver, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, was about to be lapped, so Jr. gets saved, and remains on the lead lap.

We were beginning to worry we wouldn't have a chance to mention Dale Earnhardt, Jr at all, during the first half of the race.

All the lead lap cars pit, and Jimmie Johnson is penalized for too fast on pit road, while Clint Bowyer takes the lead coming out of the pits. Restart on lap 121, and the top five are Bowyer, Hamlin, Newman, Kurt Busch, and Mark Martin. Denny Hamlin retakes the lead on lap 124, and, while Bowyer and Newman are battling for second, pulls away from the field.

Newman finally wins that battle on lap 129, and takes second, while Kurt Busch passes Bowyer for third. Kurt Busch passes Newman for second on lap 30, and his brother, Kyle, follows him for third. There are 22 cars on the lead lap, with Juan Pablo Montoya in the 22nd position. Dale Earnhardt, Jr has moved up to nineteenth, and Reed Sorenson is the first car a lap down in twenty-third.

Kasey Kahne, who was struggling with his car in 34th place, finally loses any handle he had on his car and spins into the infield. Caution on lap 150.

Denny Hamlin leads the restart on lap 154, followed by Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, and Ryan Newman. Greg Biffle fights to stay on the lead lap, but gets passed by the leader on lap 157, as Hamlin feels pressure from Kyle Busch, who feels pressure from his brother, Kurt.

Tempers are flying back in the pack, and the rubbin' and racin' and beatin' and bangin' have begun. On lap 160, David Reutimann and Juan Montoya get together. AJ Allmendinger is unhappy with David Stremme as Stremme and Sam Hornish are racing each other for thirteenth, and make it three wide going into a turn. Allmendinger is a lap down, so he is already frustrated. A few laps later, Stremme hits Edwards, who is trying to pinch him into the wall, Edwards hits McMurray, and the Roush team mates spin into the infield, bringing out a caution. Stremme gets a bad rap for this, but I have to agree with DW on this one, Stremme really had no choice but to drive through the 99 car, or crash himself into the wall.

Restart on lap 174, with the top five being Hamlin, Kyle Busch, Kurt Busch, Martin, and Tony Stewart, who stayed out during the caution. On lap 174, the Kyle and Kurt show continues as the brothers continue their battle for second. Kurt the Klown finally gets around his brother on lap 177.

There is more action further back on lap 180 as Jimmie Johnson, having braking issues, rear ends Joey Logano, and while the cars are getting bounced around, Stremme puts Kenseth into the wall. No caution, and again, Stremme was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Remember, this writer really likes Matt Kenseth, and would love to call it Stremme's fault, but it really wasn't . It looked very much like it was a chain reaction. We stay impartial as we can, but our fingers hurt from exercising restraint.

Still green on lap 183 as Mark Martin passes Kyle Busch for third, and Ryan Newman follows through and takes fourth. Jimmie Johnson spins on lap 191, with no brakes at all, and the caution flies.

Hamlin leads the field to the green on lap 196, followed by Kurt Busch, Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, and Martin Truex, Jr. Jimmie Johnson is black flagged for not restarting in the correct position.

Caution on lap 211, as Dale Earnhardt, Jr gets into the side of Jeff Burton in turn 4 and spins him. All the lead lap cars pit. Martin Truex, Jr takes two tires and the lead off of pit road. He restarts in first on lap 217, with Ryan Newman second, Denny Hamlin third, Sam Hornish, Jr fourth, and Mark Martin fifth.

On lap 218, Newman and Truex are side by side racing for the lead. Truex maintains for a while, while the bumping and beating and banging continue behind the leaders.

Ryan Newman continues to challenge Truex for the lead, and finally takes it on lap 236. Rain is coming, and the action picks up even more, as Denny Hamlin, who really, really, really wants this race moves into second on lap 239.

Newman tries desperately to hold the lead, and does a pretty good job of it until lap 249, when Hamlin passes him on the bottom of the track.

Hamlin continues to lap cars, while increasing his lead over Ryan Newman. As Mark Martin passes Truex for third, then Kurt Busch passes him for fourth, Hamlin is lapping Dale Earnhardt, Jr, David Ragan, and Carl Edwards. Jeff Gordon has found something in his car and has used it to move back into the top five.

Caution on lap 273 for debris. This is very close to the money stop. The cars should have enough fuel to make it to the end of the race if it is shortened by rain, or might have enough fuel if it goes all the way. Race leader Hamlin loses the lead to Ryan Newman, after Hamlin's crew has lug nut troubles during the pit stop.

Newman will lead the field to the restart on lap 278, followed by Jeff Gordon, who had a great stop, Mark Martin, Kyle Busch, and Kurt Busch.

On lap 281 Kyle Busch passes Mark Martin for third in a pretty good race, while Kurt Busch falls back to seventh. By lap 283, Denny Hamlin has overcome his pit road woes and has moved into sixth.

This is not a tame race. It was never meant to be. Things happen. What happens next is Joey Logano hits Greg Biffle on lap 285, and spins him. Caution flies again. The green flag comes out again on lap 290, but doesn't last long, as Kevin Harvick makes contact with another car--it's hard to see which one--and cuts a tire, hitting the wall in one of those crashes that lasts the entire backstretch before he finally hits something.

Restart on lap 299, with Newman in the lead, Kyle Busch second, Jeff Gordon--in a car he doesn't like--is third, Mark Martin fourth, and Truex fifth. Kyle Busch makes another great restart move and passes Newman for the lead. Ryan doesn't give up, though, and sticks to the bottom lane, regaining the lead on lap 302. Sam Hornish Jr slides into Marcos Ambrose on lap 306, and another caution comes out.

Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Sam Hornish, Jr, Robby Gordon, and David Stremme stay out while the other lead lap cars pit. Jeff Gordon inherits the lead, while Robby Gordon gives up fifth to pit. Restart on lap 317 with Jeff Gordon in the lead, Edwards second, McMurray third, Hornish fourth, and Stremme fifth.

It is especially true in short track racing that "cautions breed cautions," but the cars have been bunched up the entire race, and we have been seeing three and four wide racing. There is lots of contact, and nobody will come out of this unscathed. This is exciting and the Wow meter is pegged.

The inevitable happens on lap 325, David Stremme gets bumped by Bobby Labonte, after the cars in front of them check up. Kasey Kahne and Jimmie Johnson are caught up in the chain reaction, and the caution comes out again. None of the leaders pit. Jimmie Johnson takes his car to the garage.

The top five cars on the restart, on lap 335, are Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, McMurray, Hornish, and Hamlin. Allmendinger, starting on the inside, locks up his brakes going into turn three, and Gordon barely escapes disaster. Hornish falls back to seventh, while Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin move into the top five. On lap 345, Bobby Labonte, who is not on the lead lap, spins after being bumped by Kurt The Klown, spins and brings out caution number fourteen. Some cars pit, but most of the lead lap cars stay out, including the top five.

The restart is on lap 351, with Jeff Gordon, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray, and Denny Hamlin in the top five. Kyle Busch moves to the outside at the drop of the green and takes second, immediately challenging Gordon for the lead. This battle goes on for the entire lap, and Busch takes the lead on lap 352. The next caution comes out on lap 356, as Reutimann and Vickers get into it and spin.

The restart is on lap 362, with Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards, and Denny Hamlin in the top five.

This is obviously the Big Restart. Behind the top four, Stewart, Burton, Newman, and Hamlin are four wide trying to get into the top five. After the smoke clears, Smoke and Burton have cleared the mess, and Burton moves up into second, with Stewart behind him on lap 273. Meanwhile, Kyle Busch has increased his lead to over three seconds. Burton and Stewart have fresher tires than the leader, and seem to be gaining on him. Stewart feels that he has a better chance of catching Kyle, and takes second place from Burton. Kyle has a 2.7 second lead over Stewart with thirteen laps to go.

Burton and Stewart race each other some more on lap 291, but Stewart stays in second, and Kyle is still increasing his lead. Nothing will change the outcome, now, except for maybe a caution flag.

There is no caution flag. Kyle Busch takes the checkers 2.75 seconds ahead of Stewart. Burton hangs in for third, Ryan Newman comes in fourth, and Mark Martin is fifth. Sam Hornish, Jr, Jamie McMurray, Jeff Gordon, Casey Mears, and Juan Pablo Montoya fill out the top ten. With all the racing and the cautions, with the free passes, the race ended with 26 cars on the lead lap, with Carl Edwards in twenty-sixth. Dale Earnhardt, Jr finished as the first car one lap down, never having had a chance to "get back" at Kyle Busch for last year, as his fans wanted to see. And Kyle Busch got cheered for winning this race, his second victory this weekend. Well, this is his twenty-fourth birthday. Happy Birthday, young man.

The joy of NASCAR Cup level short track racing has not been diminished. Every driver was a hero in his own right. Many of the cars that finished in the top ten were involved in crashes earlier in the race. Now that is short track racing at its best.

While the Fortress Burns

Yesterday, our esteemed and hard-working United States House of Representatives to the Congress began investigation the important and economically stimulating issue of championship playoffs for college football. It shouldn't be long now, before they turn their attention to NASCAR. I'm sure Congress will make sure they mold NASCAR into a pastime that is fair, ecologically friendly, and politically correct. The following is some examples of legislation we may expect Congress to pass concerning NASCAR:

All vehicles participating in each event will produce a fuel mileage of no less than 50 miles per gallon.

The top speed of any vehicle participating in each event shall not exceed 55 miles per hour.

Any participant who is female, African-American, Hispanic, Homosexual, or an undocumented immigrant shall be awarded, at the start of any event, a 20 lap lead over any other participants.

For safety purposes, spectators shall be separated from the track by a 200 foot tall, 20 foot thick reinforced concrete wall.

In order to ensure that citizens who earn less than $40,000 per year do not mis-spend their income, the following excise taxes will be levied:

1. On the price of admission to all NASCAR events a 200,000 percent excise tax will be levied.

2. On the price of all souvenirs and collectibles, a 1,000,000 percent excise tax will be levied.

The revenue collected from this tax will be allocated to funds covering a 200 percent salary increase for all members of Congress, thus returning the investment of the taxpayers to the people.

There will be a 100 percent tax on all winnings awarded from each event. Members of Congress and the Executive Branch of the United States Government shall be exempt from this tax. Revenues from this tax will be allocated to the campaign funds of all political candidates who represent the Democratic or Republican parties.

The minimum wage for all pit crew members shall be no less than $500 per hour, or an equivalent salary.

The Federal Income Tax on the wages and salaries of pit crew members shall be levied at 95%, under the "New Millionaires" tax rate.

All vehicles used in NASCAR events shall be converted to operate on wind energy by the year 2013.

I'm sure Congress will do to NASCAR what it thinks is best for every American and undocumented immigrant. The above suggestions should give them a good start.

David Poole will be missed

David Poole was an important element in satisfying our fix for daily NASCAR news. He was the NASCAR writer for the Charlotte Observer, as well as an active participant on That's Racing.com. He also hosted the Sirius Satellite Radio program The Morning Drive.

He made himself accessible to his readers and fans, often participating in the That's Racing fan forums, and presenting his views in his own blog "Life in The Turn Lane," allowing comments even from those who strongly disagreed with him and were wont to insult him. We feel that a piece of our passion for the sport is missing with his passing. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his friends and family.

For more information, please read the item on NASCAR.Com

Image credit: The Charlotte Observer

Live on Type Delay: The Aaron's 499

Love it or not, restrictor-plate racing is here to stay. Certainly, we don't see the racing at Talladega as being the same thing as we see at the 1.5 mile intermediate tracks, which isn't the same as what we see at the short tracks, which isn't the same as we see on road courses, which isn't the same as we see at Talladega and Daytona (thank-you "Scooters" Scooters, by the way, is no relation to Digger).

Indeed, to many of us mashing the pedal and waiting for something to happen isn't even what many of us consider racing. It really is racing, however, of the sort that requires a different set of skills from both the drivers and their teams, and in that sense, it is a facet in the myriad of accomplishments the drivers and their teams have to master in order to be the best at what they do.

What we can usually expect is anything. The restrictor-plates cause the cars to run at nearly 200 mph while only inches apart. The slightest driver error, the most minute mechanical fail, or any other element that could cause the car to get out of line could result in a very big wreck.

Note, to save time for those who may not want to read the entire post, there is some text in bold script to mark the highlights.

The green flag waves, and Juan Pablo Montoya leads the field to the start. Before the first lap is complete the cars are going three wide as they form lines. Montoya leads the first lap with his team mate Martin Truex, Jr. in his draft. Dale Earnhardt, Jr takes the lead on lap 5, with drafting help from Denny Hamlin. Then, on lap 8, shortly after Montoya has retaken the lead, only to be passed by David Ragan, that wreck we mentioned before the race started happens.

Jeff Gordon tries to move down to avoid David Gilliland, who is making a fourth lane on the outside. At the same time Matt Kenseth is moving up to avoid a car that is moving up on his inside. The two make contact, and many, many cars are unable to avoid the accident.

Gordon, Gilliland, Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Mark Martin, Kurt Busch, AJ Allmendinger, Scott Riggs, Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, and Casey Mears are all involved in the wreck. We think that Digger may possibly have been a casualty, as we haven't seen him yet. No matter, there have to be a lot of fans out there who are as disappointed and frusterated as the drivers with the "Big One" happening so early in the race.

The race restarts on lap 14. Some of the cars that were involved in the wreck were able to make some repairs during the caution and join the restart. Because of the nature of the type of racing, where the lead and the top five positions are usually in a constant state of flux, it is almost pointless to list the top five at the green, but Joey Logano is on the point. He is soon overtaken by Martin Truex, Jr., who is overtaken by Juan Montoya on lap 18, who is overtaken by Kurt Busch--who was, remember, involved in that wreck. Denny Hamlin takes the lead on lap 20.

It's futile to try to keep up with the lead changes and try to watch the race, so while Live on Type Delay tries to catch up with the action, we will try to stick with the most significant events.

Jeff Burton leads on lap 24, and then reports alternator problems, and Kurt Busch retakes the lead on lap 27, and we get a caution for debris on lap 28. Kyle Busch takes the lead out of the pits and the restart is on lap 34, with Elliott Sadler in second, Michael Waltrip third, Matt Kenseth--another crash survivor--in fourth, and Martin Truex, Jr in fifth.

Lap 42 features a heroic and terrific save by Michael Waltrip, as he cuts in front of Marcos Ambrose, who taps Waltrip's behind in a show of man love for his team mate and boss. Waltrip misses the outside wall, then shoots into the infield and misses the inside wall as well. With a show of some uncharacteristically great driving, Waltrip hits nothing, and his car comes out unscathed.

On lap 46 Kyle Busch leads the field at the restart, followed by Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, Casey Mears--who recovered nicely from the Big One--and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Jeff Burton's crew changed his alternator, and he is scored two laps down. Joonyer takes the lead on lap 48, and Matt Kenseth takes the lead on lap 50. Kevin Harvick returned to the race on lap 49, but returns to the pits on lap 54, being unable to maintain a reasonable speed. Dale Jr retakes the lead on lap 53, and by lap 57 everyone has settled into single file behind him. That relatively safe condition lasts only a short while, however, as Kurt Busch loses control and takes an excursion through the infield that is very similar to the one taken by Waltrip earlier. The caution flies on lap 60.

The restart is on lap 64, with Martin Truex, Jr leading, Sadler second, Dale Jr third, and Kyle Busch fourth. Those four cars break away from the field, and the field is mostly single file. Hamlin and Kenthis--DW has taken elocution lessons from Rusty Wallace, and has learned not to call Matt Kenseth "Kensis"--form a line of four cars on the inside.

Hamlin takes the lead on lap 75, then loses it as Montoya moves out of his draft, and gets bumped to the lead by Dale Earnhardt, Jr on lap 77. Earnhardt, Hamlin, and Montoya all trade the lead,.with Hamlin prevailing on lap 80. On lap 82, while the field is going four wide, Dale Jr and Brad Keselowski avoid disaster, as both fall below the yellow line, trying to avoid each other. Jr makes it back in the same general position he held, but Keselowski falls to the rear of the pack. On lap 83 Sam "How 'Bout That?" Hornish takes the lead. How 'bout that?

On lap 86, there is a caution for debris on the backstretch. Paul Menard takes the lead by staying out while everyone else pits, and leads the restart on lap 88. He is followed by Denny Hamlin, Elliott Sadler, Joey Logano, and David Reutimann. Hamlin takes the lead on the next lap.

At the halfway point, things have settled down a bit. Jeff Burton got the free pass on the last caution and is now only one lap down. Since he is the only car one lap down, the next caution will put him back on the lead lap. On lap 103 the top five are Hamlin, Reutimann, Stremme, Vickers, and Sorenson. There are 33 cars on the lead lap, with Carl Edwards and John Andretti bringing up the rear of the field. 49 laps back, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon are racing for the 37th position.

On lap 111, the inside line is formed by Dale Jr, Jeff Burton, and Matt Kensis, Kenthis, or Kenseth. Jr takes the lead with Burton in his draft. They gain a gap on the rest of the field. On lap 114, disaster is narrowly avoided by Reed Sorenson as he cuts a tire and makes it safely to the pits, with no accidents and no caution. Martin Truex, Jr takes the lead. Joey Logano momentarily takes the lead on lap 117, but Truex gets it back. Vickers gets the lead on lap 121, and it looks like we may have a green flag pit cycle for the first time in the race. Caution on lap 124, and Burton is back on the lead lap. He raced his way back to that lap, so Paul Menard gets a lap back.

Kyle Busch gets out of the pits ahead of Jimmie Johnson, while Carl Edwards leads a lap by staying out. Jeremy Mayfield also stays out and is in second. Hey, we almost forgot the #41 car was in the race, but there he is and he has stayed on the lead lap the entire time, so far. Those guys pit, and on lap 127, Kyle Busch leads the field at the restart, followed by Jimmie Johnson, Martin Truex, Jr, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, and Brian Vickers.

Man it is fun to watch The Most Hated Driver in the lead at a restrictor plate race. He is constantly moving up and down the track to keep the others behind him. Then they settle into three wide. Michael Waltrip has made it into fifth. Kyle Busch is on the inside line, and Denny Hamlin is on the outside, with David Ragan in the middle. Busch thrills us with some more three-wide driving, and Keselowski pushes Elliott Sadler into the lead on lap 134. That three wide racing that Kyle Busch does by himself never seems to work out well in the long run. At some point, he has to let someone by, as he is elsewhere.

Kurt Busch takes the lead on lap 137, Denny Hamlin on lap 140, Casey Mears on lap 141. Jeff Burton--who, remember, was three laps down after electrical problems--takes the lead on lap 143, with help from Dale Jr, then Jr passes him in the middle and takes the lead. Kurt Busch momentarily takes the lead, but Jr gets it back as a caution for debris flies on lap 146.

During what could be "The Money Stop," there were several different strategies in play. The restart is on lap 150, with Kurt Busch in the lead, Sam Hornish, Jr. second, Casey Mears third, Montoya fourth, and--check this out--Da Biff is fifth.

On lap 151, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, and Dale Earnhardt, Jr move the inside line from mid-pack to the front, and on lap 154, Dale Earnhardt, Jr pushes Kyle Busch to the lead. Did you see that, Junior Nation? Don't panic, Jr knows what he is doing.

On lap 157, as if to let the tension and expectations grow slowly, the entire field is in single file. The top five is Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Jimmie Johnson, and Brian Vickers.

Kenseth is making a move on lap 168, on the inside, with Dale Earnhardt, Jr in his draft. He takes the lead on lap 169, then Kyle gets it back, much to his detriment. You know how Jeff Burton would never spin someone on purpose? Kyle must have really made him mad, as he spins from a bump by Burton. It took a long time for him to spin--he almost saved it, while Truex spun while the cars in front of him checked up, but, Busch finally spun out in turn three, bringing out the caution on lap 172.

Kenseth leads the restart on lap 175, with Earnhardt, Jr second, Burton third, Kurt Busch fourth, and Joey Logano. On lap 177, Denny Hamlin pushes Ryan Newman to the front of the field. They speed into the lead, and build a gap. As we know, gaps close quickly in restrictor plate racing.

Just when you think things might be over, it isn't. In the fashion of a classic horror film, action in the midfield of the pack results in Denny Hamlin making contact with Juan Montoya, Montoya making contact with Robby Gordon, and the Big One--Part Deaux happens. Jimmie Johnson's car is one of the ones that gets taken out of the race because of the wreck. "It sucks racing here," the disappointed reigning champion declares. For him, certainly, he had a chance to take the points lead, and that chance got brutally taken away.

The most important restart in the race comes with four laps to go. We have to stop typing to watch. We will stop to groan as Tony Stewart's #14 car, trying to restart in eighth, fails to restart.

With two laps to go, it is almost exactly like the finish of yesterday's race, with Newman leading and Jr pushing him around the track. But on turn one of the white flag lap, Carl Edwards, with Brad Keselowski's help takes the lead on the outside. Newman and Jr can't catch them. Going into the tri-oval, Keselowski fakes to the outside, and Edwards moves up to block. Keselowski takes the inside, and is moving forward as Edwards tries to come back to the inside. Keselowski is already there, and Edwards makes contact with the '09 car with his left rear quarter panel. This sends Edwards spinning and airborne. The flying #99 car flies across the hood of Newman's car, taking all the body work off the front of the #39. Edwards car hits the catchfence, spewing debris in all directions, and falls back to the track.

Thankfully, Edwards isn't hurt, and he gets out of his car and runs across the finish line to finish the race. But Keselowski is the winner, the eighth driver in NASCAR history to get his first career victory at Talladega.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr finished second, after an incredibly good race, and Newman managed to get his wrecked car across the finish line in third. Marcos Ambrose finished fourth, and Scott Speed got his first Sprint Cup top five finish in fifth. Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Brian Vickers, Joey Logano, and Jeff Burton round out the top ten.

Kyle Busch negates any good will he may have gained recently by bumping Keselowski while he is performing his victory celebration. He couldn't find Jeff Burton, so he went for the first black painted car he could find. Actually, according to the Fox Sports Booth Bunnies, Keselowski drove up to Kyle's car in celebration and got bumped. I was busy typing, and didn't see what happened, so I will leave it up to the reader to decide what happened, if it is really that important.

This was truley a unique race with an amazing finish. There was no way we could have guessed the outcome of the race until the final 100 feet. Wow.

Update: Reports are that 8 fans in the grandstands were injured by flying debris, but none were seriously injured.

Kyle Busch was minding his own business on the cool down lap, when the victorious Keselowski spun into him while doing donuts.

And Digger seems to be okay.

Can't get enough of The Kid

Mark Martin deserves every bit of the respect and accolades he has recieved. Even though he has not won a single championship in the top tiers of NASCAR racing, he has truly earned the title of "Legend." It is always good to see a legend in action, and especially good when that legend wins a race.

Martin's first full time Cup season was in 1983, when he raced for car owner Bud Reeder, alternating between Pontiacs and Buicks. For most of the season, his sponsor was Apache Stove, but, after having to sponsor his car at Dover that year, he picked up Jolly Rancher as a sponsor. He had 8 top tens out of 30 races, with 2 of those being in the top 5. After 1983, he raced limited schedules in Cup with various owners, including Morgan-McClure. In 1987, Martin completed only 83 laps at Charlotte, in the Cup series, but raced full time in the Busch series for Bruce Lawmaster. In 27 races he had 3 wins, 5 top fives, and 13 top tens. His Cup career probably would have been finished had his performance in the Busch Series--as well as his performance in the ASA--not caught the attention of Jack Roush.

In 1988, his first full Cup season with Roush, he had 10 top ten finishes, with three top fives and one pole. He won his first Cup victory in 1989, at Rockhingham. Since then , he has won a total of 36 Cup races, including last Saturday's race. Add to that his record setting 48 victories in the Nationwide aka Busch series and his 7 wins in the truck series, and he as a total of 91 wins in the top tier divisions of NASCAR. That is legendary by any definition.

On Saturday, April 18, 2009 Mark Martin became the oldest man to win a race in a major racing series. We can be sure that won't stop him from winning more.

Stats via Racing Reference.info

The Racing Weekend in Review--NASCAR Phoenix Weekend

The NASCAR racing all took place on Friday and Saturday last weekend, but that didn't mean the racing weekend was over.

The new rules in Formula 1 are turning things upside down. With a new car design, new tire design, and a slower top speed, all the teams in the world's most prestigious racing series have to start from square one. Gone is the dominance by team Ferrari and team McClaren/Mercedes. Now we see the start up team of Brawn Racing--created from the ashes of Team Honda, and racing with Mercedes power--and their driver Jenson Button dominating. I remember many F-1 fans claiming that Button wasn't good enough to be racing in Formula One.

Early Sunday morning, when most of us were asleep, the Bejing Gran Prix was run in wet weather in China. Sebastion Vettle, who surprised everyone in his first win last year with Toro Rosso, took the victory. This was the first victory for Team Red Bull, the "big brother" of Toro Rosso, which is. of course, Italian for "Red Bull."

Mark Webber, Vettle's Red Bull team mate, finished second. Points leader Jenson Button finished third, keeping his podium percentage at 100%.

Add to that, the Formula One "COT" if that is what we may call it, has put the racing more in the hands of the drivers. Hmmm, that sounds familiar.

Yesterday the ALMS Gran Prix was held at Long Beach, California. ESPN/ABC decided to broadcast the race today. Although we already knew that racing legend Gil de Ferran won the race--his first since coming out of retirement--we had to watch anyway. ALMS can give us some of the most exciting street course racing there is, and Saturday's race on Sunday was no exception. With around sixteen laps to go, Boris Said, driving a Corvette in the GT 2 class, was blind-sided by a BMW driver trying to make a heroic, but ill-advised pass on the inside, after Said had already made his commitment. Both cars spun, but continued the race. With six laps to go, Said's Corvette burst into flames. Boris exited the car safely, but the race ended under caution.

Team Corvette, running their final US race in the GT 1 class, took the awesome and dominating C6.R to victory one last time. Although they will still have a presence in the GT-2 class of ALMS, and will race in GT 1 at Le Mans, this feels like the beginning of the end for the last American factory team in motorsports.

Many race fans claim outrage that NASCAR dropped Rockingham from its schedule nine years ago, and that the new Sprint Cup car has ruined racing as they knew it. So, one would expect that when Andy Hillenberg bought the race track at Rockingham, and landed the ARCA Carolina 200 as the main attraction, that these disgruntled fans would flock to that track to watch the aero-cars race. One would think that they would congregate to watch racing untainted by the competition, publicity, and high dollar sponsorships that they complain about in NASCAR. One would apparently be wrong. Less than 10,000 people showed up for last years event, and there were only about a thousand this year. If there was an ARCA race today at PPIR, I bet there would be at least 20,000 people there. I could almost guarantee it.

Anyway, most of the young ARCA stars from last year have moved up to the NASCAR developmental programs, or elswhere. Michael Annett and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr have moved to the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and Annett is still making a good showing in the Rolex Grand American Series. Justin Allgiaer is the new Next Great Racer in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. We did see Ken Schrader dominate most of the race, until he ran out of fuel with less than one lap to go.

All of the cautions during the race came in the first 100 laps, and apparantly that was just sorting out the chaff, because the final 100 laps were caution free, which actually caused more problems than Schrader running out of gas. Tires aren't supposed to last that long, especially at Rockingham.

The drivers who hung in there, so to speak, for that final 100 laps were race winner Sean Caisse, Up and coming NASCAR Star and fourteen time AMA Supercross champion Ricky Carmichael--who had tire problems in the closing laps of the race, and finished three laps down--and Brian Ickler, who is Kyle Busch's developmental driver. Ickler stayed on the lead lap for most of the race, but tire and fuel problems forced him to make a pit stop late in the race, after he was lapped. Only six cars finished on the lead lap.

If there isn't more enthusiasm for this race in South Carolina, I don't think it will be there much longer, and race fans will once again lose Rockingham. This time the only fingers they can point will be at themselves.

The street course at Long Beach, CA is the oldest active street course in the USA, at the age of 35. Sunday marked the first time the IRL held a race there. It also marked the return of Helio Castroneves to racing, after he was acquitted of six counts related to tax evasion. Claiming that he was out of shape and out of practiced, he still managed to finish seventh in the difficult race.

Risky pit strategy and full course cautions combined to help Dario Franchitti take the victory, as well as earning Danica a fourth place, after starting at the back of the field. It was almost as if their teams could predict the full course cautions, because the strategy of "pitting just before the caution" worked. It was an interesting race, and watching the long, low slung racing machines go around the infamous hairpin nose to tail was fascinating. We knew that was a recipe for disaster if one of the leading cars were to slip up, and at one point of the race, it did happen, collecting 5 cars whose drivers were unable to avoid the big one.

Also interesting was watching Danica hold her own against road ace Will Power (love that name!). Street racing has not been a strong point for Danica, but she has obviously been practicing. She actually gained time on Power, in some of the most difficult parts of the course. A great racer never stops learning, and although she is not yet a great racer, Danica Patrick will not stop learning. Say what you will about the temperamental, titillating, and tiny bundle of eye candy, but, if Danica continues to improve her racing skills, she will one day be an IRL Champion.

Before we finish this post, we have to remark some more on Saturday night's Subway Fresh Fit 500 from PIR. Night racing is fun to watch, and the drivers, for the most part, like it. It provides a challenge for the crew chiefs in keeping up the car set up with the changing track conditions. The racing always seems better at night.

However, we would not recommend that NASCAR add even more night races to the schedule. For one thing, the folks on the East Coast can not, or perhaps should not, stay up that late. Night racing in NASCAR is fun as long as it remains somewhat of a novelty in the top series. Otherwise, we may find that too much of a good thing is just too much.

Besides Mark Martin's outstanding domination of the race, Tony Stewart, David Reutimann, and Sam Hornish, Jr all had notable performances. Tony Stewart finished in the runner up spot, scoring his third consecutive top five finish, and making his top ten score 6 out of 8 races. This is with a team we believed would be slow in building to success, but, so for, Smoke has proven us wrong. We are very happy that we have been proven wrong.

David Reutimann is showing up these days as "The Franchise" for MWR. That nickname is more than just a lark. Racing for a team that is definitely thought of as an underdog, he has 2 top tens and one top five so far this season. He finished eighth Saturday, and currently sits ninth in the points standings.

In the "Where did that guy come from?" category, Sam Hornish, Jr finished ninth, scoring his first top ten in his Sprint Cup career. Hornish, a three time IRL series Champion, reportedly turned down a chance to return to the IRL in favor of continuing his education in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. His learning curve has risen much slower than AJ Allmendinger's, but he has been plugging along, learning little by little. Who knows? Along with Allmendinger, Gilliland, Martin, Stewart, and Smith, he could become one of the feel good stories of the year.

And with all the turmoil in our world, we can use as many feel good stories as we can get.