Sofa Sideline – Harvick, Two For Two At Chicagoland!
Being more of a short-track fan, the
"cookie-cutter" tracks provide the least entertainment to me. In the
scheme of things, the most enjoyment comes from trying to figure out when the
infamous "debris" call is going to be made and who will be the
resulting beneficiary of same.
Kevin Harvick — who would
have thought that Harvick would wind up the winner after the incident on lap 198
where he attempted to pass Kurt Busch using the apron, and almost completely
lost it in the process? After all, it seemed to be a pretty dumb move at the
time. Harvick saved himself from disaster, managing to wind up just spinning in
the grass, but with no serious damage to the car itself. He was fast and pit
strategy placed him at the front of the pack; with clean air, no one quite quick
enough to beat him. In his own words; "I learned from Johnny Sauter,"
said Harvick. "Track position was everything." Pretty much the case
here, as Harvick comes up with the win.
Jeff Gordon – just quietly in the money most of
the day; winding up with a second place finish. I’m rethinking my prediction
for the championship; I am beginning to think we are going to see a fifth title
this year. Everyone talks about his number of races without a win; the second
half of the season will bring more than one.
Tony Stewart — led several laps, was right there
most of the day, but just didn’t have enough to even make a bid at the end.
After last week’s dismal finish in Daytona, it was good to see him run up
front. However, because of the problems that keep surfacing with the car, I’m
going to lay off my prediction of him winning this year. His time will come, but
it won’t be 2002.
Jimmie Johnson – where the heck did he come from?
He was running like gangbusters at the end of the race. You have to give him
credit; backup car, a provisional start, a fourth place finish, third in points.
You can’t ask for more as an owner, eh Jeff?
Ryan Newman – "Hello Newman!" Ryan was
fast, it’s only a matter of time before that points win comes about. Newman
led the most laps; 87, but he blew a tire with 28 laps to go and just couldn’t
make it back to the front. One of these days…Newman…one of these days.
Kurt Busch – another driver who started from the
back and worked his way to the front. Two blown engines during separate
practices, forced this team to start at the rear of the pack. Busch managed to
move himself up to the sixth position; not an easy thing to do on, for all
intensive purposes, a one groove track.
Bill Elliott – kept his
nose clean, started up front; finished seventh, rather non—descript (kind of
the norm), finished reasonably well.
Robby Gordon – comes home 8th;
however, still managed to hit the wall at one point during the race. Maybe with
a few finishes without any mishaps at all, none, nada, and then we might be able
to say okay, well, he can stay and play with the big boys. The jury is still out
on this one.
Mark Martin – visions of "championship"
have got to be running through this guy’s mind. He keeps finishing in the top
ten; just 45 points out of the lead right now; it may happen!
Dale Earnhardt Jr. – read where he was a little
ticked off by the call for four tires on the last restart and as a result, only
wound up in tenth place. There were just not enough laps left to gain that many
positions. Had he gotten gas only, he more than likely would have finished in
the top three. A bad call, the Busch race proved that you could win without new
tires. What were they thinking?
Other Notes:
Sterling Marlin – had better pick it up if he
wants to continue to be a player in the battle for the championship. A penalty
for pitting outside the box caused him to end up 16th, one lap down,
and now has several drivers hot on his heels in the points race.
Rusty Wallace – still feel this year he’s not
showing us the norm, and predict the slide will continue and he will not be
considered a contender for the championship.
Johnny Benson – injuries sustained will cause him
to be out until at least "The Brickyard," possibly longer. We wish JB
a speedy recovery and hope to see him back in the number 10 car soon. Jerry
Nadeau will be behind the wheel in Loudon next week.
They’re calling it "Muppetgate." Muppets
images were depicted on the hoods of eight Winston Cup cars, but track officials
would not allow the characters to participate in pre-race activities. Track
officials announced that they were not part of the program put together with the
Muppets. Yah know, greed is an ugly thing…
I’m going to show restraint regarding the Al Unser Jr.
situation; however, if some or all of these allegations are true, it will be
prove to be a sad day for the racing industry. Up until this point, we’ve
almost tried to act naïve about the possibility that there are drivers out
there with drinking or drug problems. I cannot fathom a driver getting behind
the wheel, many times going almost 200 miles per hour, and being under the
influence…
Its official – the Gibbs crew is switching to Chevy and
it may be sooner than the 2003 season. Gibbs teams will be testing both models
at Indy this week, and Labonte has stated he will talk about the Chevy after
logging some time in the car this week. In the meantime, Pontiac has stated they
have been courting other teams, and will definitely be running the new model in
2003.
That’s it for now.