Sofa Sideline – Charlotte; McMurray, What Fun!
Wow, what a way to start a Winston Cup career! Just two races in the series
and a win – life could not be better for Jamie McMurray today. That car was the
one to beat; Bobby Labonte tried, but McMurray held him off to pick up the win.
Congratulations to Jamie for a job well done – but it sure is nice to have
really good equipment, eh?
Sterling Marlin, sidelined with injuries for the remainder of the season,
showed a great deal of class when he called to congratulate Jamie in victory
lane. After leading the point race for 25 weeks, Marlin’s hope for the
championship title was taken away, and it has to be hard for him to be
sidelined. Our thoughts are with Sterling; we wish him well and look forward to
his return next season.
Bobby Labonte finished second; finally a decent run for this team that has
been marred by so many problems. He tried his best to get by McMurray, but just
didn’t have enough steam going into the corners to make the pass. And for Bobby,
second place was just not enough. Maybe two for two in Virginia will be the
ticket.
Tony Stewart with a third place finish – it’s looking more and more like my
prediction will come true. Stewart holds a 97 point lead heading into
Martinsville this weekend, and if history prevails, he only gets stronger at the
end of the season.
How about that Todd Bodine! He couldn’t bring himself to lift off the gas,
gets into the grass, causes the wreck that takes out about ten cars, and then
has the nerve to say that’s just racing. He might want to talk to Richard
Childress about that. One might make the statement that’s just plain bad ‘racin.
The leaders in the point race remained pretty much in the same order.
However, Stewart is building his lead over Jimmie Johnson with Mark Martin, Ryan
Newman and Rusty Wallace rounding out the top five. If Tony’s car stays in one
piece, he should cinch the title.
The rumor has been out there for several weeks, but now its official – Penske
Racing is switching to Dodge. With the so-so performance of Bill Elliott, and
the lack of for both Atwood and Mayfield, it is clear the new "top
dogs" for Dodge will be Wallace and Newman. This move may give either one
of them the needed boost to propel them to the winner’s circle and even further
toward the championship next season. I suspect we’ll be hearing many cheers of
"Hello Newman" in 2003.
Other Notes:
This past weekend the ARCA/REMAX community sponsored the first annual
"Silent Auction" to benefit their series Chaplain, Bill Krick, and his
wife, Dianna, and their newly formed ministry, FOCUS MOTORSPORTS MINISTRIES. I
had the opportunity to help out, and I would personally like to thank Andy &
Michelle Hillenburg for the use of their space, Jason Jarrett and Andy Belmont
for their help and guidance, and Chaplain Bill and Dianna for their grace.
Unfortunately, there was never a more vivid reminder of how important Bill
and Dianna are to this community than this past weekend. Driver Eric Martin was
killed during a practice session in Charlotte last Wednesday, and the Krick’s
spent the remainder of the weekend attempting to counsel and meet the needs of
everyone associated with this series. They also drove to Virginia to conduct the
service at Eric’s funeral.
Their tireless efforts are and will continue to be greatly appreciated by the
drivers, team members, officials, family members – the list goes on and on…
To Eric’s family; our thoughts and prayers are with you. God bless you all.
For those of you wishing to help out, the Eric Martin Fund has been
established to raise money for his children. Contributions can be made to the
following address:
Eric Martin Fund
P.O. Box 1327
Soddy Daisy, TN 37384
Winston Cup moves on to Martinsville, Virginia this weekend; back to
short-track racing; my kind of fun.
See you there!
That’s it for now.