Sofa Sideline – DEI – Dale Jr’s Turn Again at ‘Dega
DEI takes the prize again at Talladega – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is the winner
again! And, he can thank Tony Stewart for making sure that happened. Tony parked
in second place, did not even attempt to go for the win; settled for blocking
and taking the point lead in the championship race. I suppose you can’t blame
Tony for wanting that, because that’s the way it works. It still sticks in your
‘craw (at least mine) when a driver doesn’t do everything you can to win.
This is the first time Stewart has ever led in points, and he’s probably
feeling pretty good about it.
Was that bizarre or what? The pre-race incident when Mark Martin’s steering
locked and he drove into Jimmie Johnson, caving in the right front fender,
before the race even started. What the heck was that? And then the argument that
ensued; Chad Knaus’ not quite understanding the rules, and thinking they were
not able to pit before the green flag. The rule is that you can pit without
losing a lap, as long as you don’t take on fuel. Mark Martin came in (ordered by
NASCAR), lost only half a lap at that point, but regardless, was lapped within a
short amount of time anyway. So it didn’t really matter; they were both done
before they started. Without a caution, there is no possible way to catch up at
this race track.
Okay the race went exactly as I predicted; and it was merely a coincidence
that there was no big wreck. For the first two thirds of the race, the pack was
intact. But then "the big one" generally doesn’t happen until the end
of the race anyway. The last two pit stops strung out the cars, where they
couldn’t catch up, and the race wound up with a seven car pack, nose to tail,
and no one really taking the chance to get out there. The rest of the group was
far behind. Ryan Newman the only one who tried, and it was reported that Kurt
Busch stepped out to go with him, but they couldn’t make it happen; got back in
line. Obviously there is still a problem with the aero package for some
manufacturers.
The jury is still out as far as whether or not this race will be run again
with smaller fuel cells; but as far as I’m concerned, it was not the answer.
Yawn…
Tough break for Sterling Marlin who is out for the rest of the season as a
result of injuries sustained during the race in Kansas last week. Sterling was
the point leader for most of the season, and was still in the hunt;
unfortunately he’s out for the remainder of the season. We wish him well and
hope he’s able to come back strong next season.
Other Notes:
The ARCA RE/MAX race was more competitive than usual on the Superspeedway
with several drivers vying for the lead throughout the race. Keith Segars came
up with his first win, with Chad Blount finishing in the second position. Series
point leader, Frank Kimmel came brought it home third, Rick Carelli was fourth,
and Jason Jarrett rounded out the top five.
Chase Montgomery was one of the faster cars throughout most of the weekend,
led a total of 27 laps, but on a late race restart failed to get up to speed and
got tagged from behind by Michael Vergers. I heard he missed a gear, and was
late on the pick up. Vergers who also had led some laps and was one of the
faster cars on track, unfortunately had no where to go and just clipped
Montgomery causing him to careen into the wall and ending his day. Needless to
say he was not a happy camper, obvious by his display on track toward Vergers.
From my vantage point, I thought on a prior restart; he didn’t get up to speed
then either. And was thinking he was trying to "slingshot" by the
leader. The problem there is that it stacks everyone and could cause "the
big one" if brakes start slamming on.
On an earlier restart as well, Frank Kimmel’s spotter obviously told him to
go and he made a third row; problem was that Shelby Howard started to go up the
track, didn’t know Frank was coming and Frank tagged him. Shelby did a heck of a
job saving it, but it seemed like it messed the car up and he didn’t run as well
after that incident.
Jason Jarrett started off great, but got shuffled backwards and at one point
was running around 20th. A late race pit stop, where they made the call to take
on only two tires put him back in the top ten. Jarrett said he got
"help" from the 75 which pushed him up into the top five. Jarrett said
he could run well with the Fords and Pontiacs, but didn’t seem to have enough to
get by the Carelli’s Chevy without a push from behind. He was wondering what
happened to the help he had been getting from the 75.
According to my friends, Renshaw (75) and Gordon were just plain
"banging each other around" the last few laps of the race, which
afforded Venturini and Benton the chance to get by them. The result; Renshaw
11th, Gordon 12th. They both were pretty fired up prior to the race with Renshaw
eager to get started with her move to the Busch series next season, and Gordon
with her first race since her horrific accident in May at the race in Charlotte.
Apparently they were letting off some late race "steam" on the track!
This week everyone’s in Charlotte; the ARCA RE/MAX Series season finale is
under the lights this coming Thursday night at 9:00 p.m.
Just a quick reminder to everyone that the "Silent Auction" to
benefit Focus Motorsports Ministries is being held Friday, October 11th from
Noon until 5:00 p.m. at Fast Track High Performance Driving School located on
Morehead Road which runs right alongside of the speedway – about a mile down the
road, on the right. Memorabilia from ARCA drivers, Winston Cup and Busch teams
will be put up for auction – so join us, don’t miss the fun!
That’s it for now.