RCR, then came the field as Jeff Burton blazes Bristol

Sunday, March 16th, 2008 7:04pm UTC

Latest Nascar News And Info! By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Published on Thunder Lounge.

It ain’t over, ’til it’s over.

With 5 to go, Burton was running 5th. A Top-5 at Bristol is an accomplishment, but the race was far from over as they came to the green from a caution with 11 to go.

Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, and Dale Earnhardt Jr stayed the course while the rest of the cars on the lead lap came in for tires. With the restart, Kevin Harvick started in 4th, followed by Burton and Clint Bowyer.

Stewart jumped out to a slight lead, which was quickly erased and removed entirely by Denny Hamlin. Along came Harvick to the inside of Stewart, Kevin lost it and slided up into Stewart who backed it into the fence bringing out the caution with 2 to go and setting up overtime. As this happened, Burton squeezed by Harvick who slid in behind Burton.

Hamlin lead the attack to the green, white, checker finish but had fuel pickup issues which let Burton, Harvick, and Bowyer slip by to the outside for an RCR 1, 2, 3 finish.

Wow.

Up until that point, it had been another episode of Joe Gibbs Show, with all three leads taking the credit. Kyle Busch was strong, and possibly the strongest car in the field. However, JGR had a power steering box failure for the second week in a row, but this time it bit Rowdy instead of Denny. He went into the corner, in the lead no less, and just lost it.

Denny and Tony were also very strong, with Stewart leading the most laps [again] yet failing to seal the deal. We know what happened to Hamlin, who ended up 6th. Stewart finished 14th.

For the 4th time in 5 races, Dale Earnhardt Jr. carried the banner for Hendrick Motorsports by finishing 5th. Next best from the stable was Jeff Gordon in 11th. Jimmie Johnson brought it home in 18th, while again Casey Mears found his luck payments still due and ended up in 42nd.

Roush wasn’t bad at Bristol either. Greg Biffle carried the flag with a 4th place run, Matt Kenseth was 10th, and Carl Edwards was 16th. David Ragan was the first car not in the Top-20, while Jamie McMurray brought up the rear of the field after an early accident where Dario Franchitti slipped and punted him to the fence.

It was Bristol, what else can you say?

I counted no less than 4 lines, and there were probably more. There were 3 lanes through the corner, although the middle and top were all but on top of each other. Naturally you had your bottom, and also the diamond approach.

It will be interesting watching this track surface age. After its debut last August, a little more wear on it should make it quite interesting. When you have a track where people leave their tickets in their will, you know it’s going to be good.

Bristol did not disappoint.

Next up is Martinsville in two weeks, as the Cup Series takes it’s first off-weekend for Easter. After that, it’s time to pound down them beers at the one and only, Thunder Lounge.

Daytona 500: 8 Days and Counting

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Saturday February 9, 2008
11:20pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Jeff Burton

2007 Stats
- Organization: Richard Childress Racing
- Car Number: 31
- Crew Chief: Scott Miller
- Sponsor: AT&T
- Points: 8th :: 6231 :: -491
- Starts: 36
- Poles: 0
- Wins: 1
- Top 5′s: 9
- Top 10′s: 18
- Winnings: $6,015,670
2008 Preview
- Organization: Richard Childress Racing
- Car Number: 31
- Crew Chief: Scott Miller
- Sponsor: AT&T

Well, it’s about time the guy who grew up on (we assume) the north side of the house got into the thick of things. Luck was rolling well for Jeff Burton in the Chase, and he looked to be a serious contender for a while. Then of course, lady luck knocks on the door looking for a handout. Which is something we thought inevitible for Chase contenders until last season, more on that in a week, as they all raced their way through to Homestead.

The 2007 season was one which will be remembered for its controversy instead of Burtons incredible 18 Top-10 finishes. With AT&T buying out Cingular and then later on rebranding their wireless service as AT&T, it would seem natural that the logo be changed. Pretty simple, right? Oh no. Hello Sprint, Mr. Shyster, and the rest of the process in raising “the flag”. Yes, you know which “flag” I’m referring to. We’ll skip all the basics, and leave this with the outcome. Sprint finally agreed to allow AT&T back on the car at Richmond (which was surprising to watch transform and see a blank car in practice roll out fully dressed), and would allow them to remain through 2008. Wow, how nice. I’ll cut it there, as I’m not exactly a happy Sprint customer at the moment.

Moving on to 2008, performance is expected to be high again this season. Without many changes to the team, nothing real big anyway, it looks to be another opportunity to finally grab that elusive title for Jeff Burton. Something missing from the Roush days, but definitely not out of the question at RCR.

Note: information is accurate as of date published. Check Thunder Lounge for additional updates and information.

AT&T/Cingular vs. NASCAR: Round 327

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Monday August 13, 2007
5:20pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Brickyard 400, July 28, 2007 297 Ruh Roh!

According to Marty Smith, a Federal Court has granted NASCAR’s appeal against AT&T/Cingular.

According to the ruling, the Feds say that because Cingular (AT&T, whoever they want to be called now) had an agreement with RCR and NOT NASCAR, that the so-called “Grandfather Clause” does not apply to them, and therefore the previous ruling in favor of Cingular/AT&T was overturned.

What this mean specifically for Michigan wasn’t known, but is suspected that “Plan B” would be to put the Cingular name back on the #31 of Jeff Burton.

This is one big mess, and it isn’t getting any better.

Sheesh. Sprint can buy out their competition, Nextel, and change whatever the hell they want to, why not allow a name change from Cingular to AT&T?

What exactly is Sprint afraid of? Competition?

Here’s a friendly suggestion to RCR. AT&T is more than wireless, and its only “wireless” that has this “rule” against it.

Same logo, and everything else is in the “paperwork”.

Then again, NASCAR threw a hissy fit over Motorola, which merely makes phones, although Sprint does offer that brand of phone amongst others.

Naturally NASCAR feels this is a remarkable “win”, but I’m calling shenanigans.

End result:

Fans are the real losers here, and both entities seem to have forgotten them.

RCR, then came the field as Jeff Burton blazes Bristol

Daytona 500: 8 Days and Counting

Jeff Burton

2007 Stats

2008 Preview

AT&T/Cingular vs. NASCAR: Round 327

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