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.

You Want A Conspiracy? Here, Have At It

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Wednesday March 28, 2007
2:07pm UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Jack Roush
07mar-lsarge Debian KDE

There’s your match-up. Well, sort of. Anyone care to take a stab at why there have been “racing incidents” between the Roushketeers and folks in the Toyota camp? Not to mention the two Toy’s in question happen to be from Toyota’s “Flagship” team?

Reutimann played his off as a payback, DJ was just plain pissed off.

However, neither “incident” should have happened.

Here’s your conspiracy. It is a well know, and documented fact, that the ol’ Cat In The Hat despises Toyota’s presence in the Cup Series. Could it be a secret team order to cut Toyota’s absolutely no slack on the track, whatever the cost? Could it be a bump out as innocently as possible directive?

There you have it, for you conspiracy freaks out there. The Roushketeers on a mission to take out or hinder the Toyota’s. Biffle meet Reutimann, Kenseth meet Jarrett. Just in case you’ve missed your formal introductions. Oh yes, and here is our good friend Mr. Fence. Please ensure your Toyota has a pleasant conversation with him.

Of course, this is provided you believe there is this great big conspiracy factor in NASCAR.

Incureable Heartburn For Bill Davis Racing

By Luke, Thunder Lounge
Friday March 23, 2007
6:50am UTC
Published on Thunder Lounge.

Jeremy Mayfield There’s a rumor circulating around the garage that the #36 team fielded by Bill Davis Racing may be the first team to shut its doors. Wow. I’m “shocked”.

OK, not really. With just 4 races in the books, and on the morning of qualifying for race #5 at Bristol, this may shock some people. A team giving up already? So soon? Is it really? With 4 down, and no starts to show for it, there is no doubt that it is taking its toll not only the team but the sponsors as well. BDR isn’t the only one feeling the pressure, either. Michael Waltrip Racing is feeling the heat too. Reutiman has been the lone hope of the organization, as he’s been the only one to put the car in the show based on speed. Dale Jarrett’s used 4, soon to be 5 most likely, of his allotted 6 Champions Provisionals already, and is only 18 points from not being in the show.

Back to the BDR issues.

Bill Davis has insisted to his team this week to keep their heads up even if the sponsor (360 OTC) were to walk out, and that their jobs are safe. Bill Davis insists that he’s committed contractually with Toyota to field 2 teams, and that any other rumors in the media are false. He goes on to say that if the team were shutting down, they would find out from team owner Bill Davis and not through the media. Keep that in mind for a minute.

You know, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Something is going on, but the question is what. Is Toyota going to make up the funding difference if the sponsor walks out the door? Teams take money to run. Before you get into the science of it, you have to get cars to the track and people have to get paid. Logistics alone don’t come cheap, believe me on that one, and then you have all the science and manufacturing of it as well.

What about Dave Blaney? His points situation isn’t looking too good, 39^th in Owners at 43 points out of 35^th, and if he doesn’t pick it up this week at Bristol Bill Davis will find he has 2 teams trying to get in on speed at Martinsville. So what if that team meets the same obstacles that the #36 team is facing? CAT’s used to being in the show, and you can’t say they’re going to be too pleased if their not being in the show becomes a habit.

Is Toyota willing to fund a team out of its own pockets, a team that is struggling and has yet to make a race at that, just to save face and keep its push alive? Or would it make more sense to use those resources elsewhere to push other teams in its stable ahead?

People always comment about Toyota and how deep their pockets are. Now it’s time to see how long their arms are.

Oh yeah, by the way, if I were a member of that team, I’d be watching my mailbox and inbox. Bill Davis is known for his method of “telling” someone their no longer employed.

RCR, then came the field as Jeff Burton blazes Bristol

You Want A Conspiracy? Here, Have At It

Incureable Heartburn For Bill Davis Racing

Recent NASCAR Articles