Sprint Cup Series race results and happenings

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for the update Garrett. I was gone all day and didn't hear any results until I saw your post. I see you finished your update with some bad news...no Sprint Cup next week. Well, remember what I told you last time....that just frees up some time for you to watch some of those NASCAR related Dukes episodes!!

I know what you mean about the driver who started the problem getting away with minimal damage. That does always seem to happen a lot! Thanks again for your great report.

[Garrett Duke]

You are welcome. I am glad to be able to fill you in on all that you missed! And you are right...it does give me time to watch NASCAR related Dukes or any Dukes episode. Am sure the drivers will enjoy the week off after the emotion packed race of Bristol.

Well, am glad to see I am not the only one noticing that the driver that starts the accidents drive away with minimal damage while the other car suffers greatly. Just frustrating, especially when it happens to a favorite driver or to one that I like. It just makes me wonder why that is or how that happens that way. I know with the rear spoiler, drivers can move another driver if they get close enough to the rear spoiler of the other car and that can cause accidents. But even like Johnson's accident today with Montoya running into the back, Montoya had tire issues from it, but even that worked itself out.

Sorry you missed the race, Roger. Hope you can catch the next one...two weeks away. As always, am glad to give you or anyone the race report. I look forward to doing it. Don't know what I'm going to do after Homestead when the season finishes.

[HossC]

I never did get to see the Michigan race, but I managed to get highlights of the Bristol race. That sure is a short track - I almost got dizzy watching it. Up until the 1970s some of the European tracks were huge - the Nürburgring in Germany had a track about 14 miles long. Due to safety issues and TV coverage the current track is much shorter, but you can still go there and pay to drive the old circuit (many motor manufacturers test cars there).

As an impartial viewer, I thought the Montoya/Johnson incident was 50/50. After seeing it from about 6 camera angles I'm not sure Montoya had much space to move. It was a shame because Johnson was in a good 3-way battle for the lead before that.

Still too soon to pick a favorite driver, but I enjoyed seeing Reutimann racing a double zero car. This not only reminded me of the Mustang from Dukes, but also Dick Dastardly's car from Wacky Races . In F1 the numbers change around from year to year with last year's champion being allocated #1. The only time #0 appears is when last year's champion retires. You'd find it hard to see the numbers though - teams argue that a big number cuts down the space for sponsors' logos. I know that in NASCAR the drivers are known by the car number they drive.

I've got another couple of questions which I'll post later in the Q & A thread.

[Garrett Duke]

As an impartial viewer, I thought the Montoya/Johnson incident was 50/50. After seeing it from about 6 camera angles I'm not sure Montoya had much space to move. It was a shame because Johnson was in a good 3-way battle for the lead before that.

.

Well perhaps I was wrong in my assessment there...I am not a Montoya fan due to his aggressive driving and am a pretty big Johnson fan, so perhaps my opinion is biased on that. I don't know...I saw it as Johnson passing Montoya and Montoya running into the back of Johnson to slam him into the wall. I never got to hear Montoya's side of the story and when they talked to Johnson he was unsure why Montoya did that. I don't know. That is just how I saw it from watching the race Sunday.

NASCAR drivers are known as their drivers...odd how that works out. But it is odd once a driver has a number for years and has to change numbers for one reason or another. Like Jr use to be 8 before going to Hendrick and his step mom wouldn't let him take his number with him; now he is 88...or Stewart use to be 20 and now he is 14 after one of his favorite drivers, AJ Foyt. 24 is one of my favorite numbers due to Gordon. The smaller the number for sponsors makes sense, I guess. But I'd rather have the numbers...LOL

David Reutimann is pretty good. He drives for Michael Waltrip who use to drive. I think his team as a whole has gotten better this year.

[HossC]

I remember seeing a documentary about Montoya's first year in NASCAR - if I remember correctly, he didn't make many friends that year. I'm not saying he didn't hit the back of Johnson's car, just that I'm not sure he could do a lot about it.

I've still got to work out the teams. I'm used to team cars being virtually identical, which obviously isn't the case in NASCAR. I know that when British American Tobacco bought an F1 team about 10 years ago (to try to delay the ban on tobacco sponsorship) they wanted to advertise Lucky Strikes on one car and another brand on the other (2 cars per team), but the governing body would not allow different liveries.

[Garrett Duke]

I remember seeing a documentary about Montoya's first year in NASCAR - if I remember correctly, he didn't make many friends that year. I'm not saying he didn't hit the back of Johnson's car, just that I'm not sure he could do a lot about it.

I've still got to work out the teams. I'm used to team cars being virtually identical, which obviously isn't the case in NASCAR. I know that when British American Tobacco bought an F1 team about 10 years ago (to try to delay the ban on tobacco sponsorship) they wanted to advertise Lucky Strikes on one car and another brand on the other (2 cars per team), but the governing body would not allow different liveries.

I don't mean to be arguing with you, Hoss. Perhaps it wasn't Montoya's fault and I don't mean to be negative about Montoya if you are a Montoya fan. He's got to have talent to be out on the track every weekend like he is. I may not always pass, but I do try to be partial on here for all the drivers and not just the ones that I like or follow. I apologize if I am not doing a good job at that. Being a big fan, I have drivers that I love and a few drivers that I don't care all that much for, but I do understand that everyone has a right to their own opinion and the last thing I want to do is to create hard feelings by being negative about their driver. I know I get defensive when people start dissing Gordon and all that, so I know how it feels when someone isn't positive about favorite drivers and all that.

As for the accident, I just said how I saw it, but also as I said, that could be biased since Johnson is one of my favorite drivers and the accident' pretty much took out any chance of him winning. Johnson himself said he didn't think Montoya did it on purpose and going 200 mph, whether it was Johnson's fault or Montoya's fault, mistakes will happen, especially at that speed. And perhaps Johnson didn't give him much room, I don't know. Didn't look like a lot of room on the TV, but there is never a lot of room when passing out there it seems like. Anyway it had happened, it is over with and am sure they'll move on from it and be over it.

Tobacco products are no longer allowed in NASCAR. It use to be called the Winston Cup for the longest time, but they changed it I think because of the product. Most teams don't look alike in NASCAR. Only team I can think of that does is Red Bull and Red Bull sponsors both cars...NASCAR can have four drivers to a team and for the most part they have different sponsors from one another.

[HossC]

I'm certainly not here to start an argument about something I know so little about. I just know reputations aren't easy to lose - it may or may not have been Montoya's fault. Considering that you've told us who your favorite drivers are, I think you're doing alright when it comes to impartiality.

Red Bull owns 2 F1 teams (4 cars), and both teams look very similar at 200 mph. One team is Red Bull Racing, the other is Scuderia Toro Rosso (Italian for Team Red Bull).

[Garrett Duke]

Well you may know more...I only saw what they showed on the TV...don't know if they showed six different angles of it. LOL. I just said it how I saw it...and that may be biased considering who my favorite drivers are, and stuff like this always has more than just one view and opinion to. Don't think anyone is wrong here. I apologize if I did say it wrong or see it wrong. You are right, reputations tend to stick with you no matter what and in all situations. It is hard to lose a negative reputation like that. Montoya is a talented driver, especially when you look at his racing resume and the different cars he had raced and won in! Don't mean to take that away from him or mean anything negative about him. I know you are not arguing...you are just saying how you saw the incident between him and Johnson. Which is fine with me. I'm more than glad to hear how or if someone sees something differently than I.

Thanks. I do try to stay impartial despite having my favorites, but I know I don't always do all that great of a job because I generally watch and take more in of what or how my drivers are doing than I do everyone else. If that makes sense. So I try to stay impartial and include everyone and not to play favorites...just sometimes it's hard. LOL

It is interesting to hear and learn about F1 and the differences. I know little about F1. Very little. The only racing I really know is NASCAR.

[Garrett Duke]

Sadly there is no Sprint Cup race this weekend. Though the Nationwide Series race is, I think, today and they are road racing in Montreal. Doubt I'll get to watch it, but it would be an interesting race.

The Cup Series will be racing in Atlanta next Sunday. Wonder if we'll be seeing the Duke boys in the stands. . .LOL. I am looking forward to it, as I do every race. But am also looking forward to seeing Gordon's car (like always) where he'll be racing what they've been calling "My Papa's Car." It is for Jeff Gordon's Children Foundation (the foundation helps children fighting cancer it also helps support Jeff Gordon's Children's Hospital in Concord North Carolina) and is a car that Gordon's three year old daughter, Ella Sofia designed. Of what I have seen of the car on JeffGordon.com it looks pretty creative! Perhaps Ella will give Papa a little good luck to take him to the checkered flag first and into Victory Lane. (Of course that is of my own opinion.)

(OK I aplogize for writing so much about Gordon. If it is annoying, please let me know and I will limit how much I put him in my writings on here. I just found it interesting and neat about his car and thought I'd share it with y'all. Especially since there is no race to really report on this week.)

[Garrett Duke]

Well they will be racing in Atlanta tomorrow night. I think it is 6:45 central time and will be on ESPN.

Here is the top ten starting positions:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Ryan Newman

3. Kyle Busch

4. Carl Edwards

5. Tony Stewart

6. Martin Truex Jr

7. Jimmie Johnson

8. Juan Pablo Montoya

9. David Ragen

10. Kasey Kahne

[RogerDuke]

Thanks for telling us Garrett. For some reason I thought that the Atlanta race was tonight. I bet the Duke boys will be at that race. It's not that far away from the farm.

[Garrett Duke]

Well Roger, I hope you weren't surfing the channels looking for it tonight. It is tomorrow night that they'll be racing in Atlanta since it is a long weekend and all. Would be great to see the Duke Boys there...I can see them attending a race or two there. I put this in another thread, but I do believe that John Schneider sang the National Anthem before a race one year...might have been Atlanta. But I could be totally wrong on both accounts so don't go quoting me there. Hope you and everyone can at least catch the end of the race.

[Garrett Duke]

Did anyone other than I watch the race last night in Atlanta? It was a wild one. It started out kinda dull with going a hundred and thirty or so laps under green, but it proved that cautions bred cautions. Once they got a caution more came it seemed last night. The first one was for some debri that they didn't show or talk about and then Denny Hamlin who had been dominant the whole race til then, his engine blew to take him out of the race. Then Greg Biffle who had a fast car went down on the track to run into Ryan Newman sent him crashing into Elliot Sadler who also was having a good race til then. Took Sadler out and Biffle was in the garage for over an hour before he return only to go back to the garage a few laps later with no power. The only good thing for Biffle was, was that he was able to come back out and finish the race for twelve points. Scott Speed who was having a decent race, later on, his engine blew as well which had caused fire under his car. Ironically, Speed didn't even know his car was on fire and had his crew yelling at him to just get out of the car once he was in the pit lane...he was even standing near his car afterwards. While the reporters were talking to him, he just saw the footage to see his car was on fire and admitted he didn't know his car was on fire or why his crew was so urgently telling him to get out.

Kyle Busch and Kurt Busch both started out with a bad race with Kyle getting caught speeding in pits in the first pit stop then had to go in with a vibration. Kurt had a horrible car and did all things possible to get it fixed. Lucky for them, they both turned it around to have top ten finishes.

Jimmie Johnson was back to his normal style and I think finished third. Tony Stewart won his first race of the season to score him ten extra bonus points for the chase. Gordon's daughter was at the race and even said a few words to the reporter in the prerace show and his car looked pretty good (even in pink. Not a fan of the color pink, but it was a good paint scheme) but his daughter didn't bring him the good luck I was hoping for...or he most likely. He fought with his car all day and didn't do much of anything with it all day and had fixed it with each pit stop. At one point it did look like he was getting better, but only for a little big. He finished thirteenth.

Kasey Kahne was at one point leading the race for a few laps towards the end of the race, he fell back a few spots when Ryan Newman bumped him from behind to give him a flat tire. He then brought on a caution when the tire blew completely. Kasey let Ryan know he was upset at him when he came back out to run in to him from behind to get him sideways. After the race, they showed them having a discussion. Think Ryan was trying to bump draft Kasey and Kasey didn't see it that way.

Points leader Kevin Harvick failed to finish the race after his tire blew half way through the race to bring on a caution. He locked his tires when he missed pit road which gave him the flat. He kept going in and around to do fixes and then go out before the pace car as to not lose a lap. He later brought it into the garage...it tore the front end up pretty good.

Here is the top ten drivers of Atlanta:

1. Tony Stewart

2. Carl Edwards

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Jeff Burton

5. Kyle Busch

6. Kurt Busch

7. Clint Bowyer

8. Ryan Newman

9. Juan Pablo Montoya

10. Marcos Ambrose

[Garrett Duke]

The next race will be at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) on Saturday night at 7:30 ET on ABC (not ESPN). RIR is an oval track that is .75 mile - we're going short track racing! LOL. Dale Jarrett holds the fast Sprint Cup race there...suppose it was for the fastes lap - 9/06/97 he went 109.047 while Jeff Gordon drove the fastest qualifying lap going 126.499 in 1999. (Also for Sprint Cup Series...though think both of them at the time was Whinston Cup.)

The race at Richmond this Saturday will be the last race of the regular season before the chase starts. We will know definately who is in and who is out after the race...though as stated elsewhere, the top ten have been locked in. Leaving only eleventh and twelveth to be up for grabs if Biffle and Bowyer have bad races. Which also means both Mark Martin and Dale Earnhardt Jr will be out of the race. To me it is just odd how seasons for drivers changes so dramatically. Last year all of the RCR cars did not make it into the chase and had dismal years. Now all three (Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, and Clint Bowyer) are in the chase, not only that, Keven Harvick is leading the points (for now.) Whereas Mark Martin was competeing for the championship last year to finish several points behind Johnson for second. As for Jr...he's had a frustrating year this year...again. That part hasn't changed from last year or the year before, but if you look at the points, he has shown some improvement. If I remember rightly, he finished the year 25th last year. Then again he is 19th right now...hopefully he can use these next eleven races to work with his team and his car and experiement for next year. According to what I've been hearing, Lance McGrew will continue to be his crew chief next year. Junior is a very talented driver and has the best equipment under him that is out there, so sooner or later something has to click and he'll be back to his winning format he had been in several years ago.

[Garrett Duke]

Here is the top ten starting lineup for tonight's race at Richmond:

1. Carl Edwards

2. Juan Pablo Montoy

3. AJ Allmindinger

4. Clint Bowyer

5. David Reutimann

6. Joey Lagano

7. Paul Menard

8. Brad Keselowski

9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

10. Kasey Kahne

Sadly for my fantasy team, the best qualifying driver I have on my team is Paul Menard in seventh and Dale Jr in nineth. Am exciting to see Jr have such a great qualifying run (even if I don't get any starting points for my team.) I am hoping he can keep it up through the whole race tonight and get a top ten finish...think he needs momentum and self confidence to run on the next ten race to help him improve. Again the race will be on ABC tonight at 7:30 ET...6:30 Central time which is my time. (I know the Dukes will be on at that time too. Life is full of hard decisions it seems. As for me, I guess I'll be giving up the Dukes to watch the race. Afterall, I can watch them on my DVD's, I miss the race, who knows what I'd miss. )

Am looking forward to an exciting race...every driver has a different agenda for tonight's race. With the top ten already locked into the chase, sure most of them are going for broke to win the race for extra points for the chase. The ones on the bubble and looking for the elventh and twelveth spot will probably work at points racing to get the best finish they can get...or to have a better finish than the other bubble drivers. And the rest, I'd imagine would probably be going for the win maybe doing a little experimenting for next year. Who knows what they'll be going for...we'll have to wait and see for tonight to see what everyone does, what will happen and who all will be in the case. Not to be overly dramatic or anything. . .

Make sure to look at the rest of the NASCAR threads, as I said before, I do tend to update them all at once if I do have more than one thread to write on.

[Garrett Duke]

Well the race has just gotten over and after Monday, the points will be reset. Though, I have to admit, I didn't watch the whole race. I was caught going back and forth from the Dukes to the race. Gordon had a rough race and with him a lap down for some of the race, I found myself going back to the Dukes. Of what I did see, there wasn't much caution and didn't see all the excitement that was predicted with it being the last race of the regular season. Gordon finished twelveth, which is better than I thought he would finish. Denny Hamlin won the race to gain ten extra points and will start first in the chase, in front of Jimmie Johnson.

Here is the top ten finishes of Richmond:

1. Denny Hamlin

2. Kyle Busch

3. Jimmie Johnson

4. Joey Lagono

5. Marcos Ambrose

6. Clint Bowyer

7. Juan Pablo Montoya

8. AJ Allmindinger

9. Kevin Harvick

10. Carl Edwards

[Garrett Duke]

This doesn't really go anywhere, but felt like posting it. I don't know if any of you really paid all that much attention to number 71 (I think) that is drove by Landon Cassil. I think he is a start and park car where he can only drive a limited miles or laps before he takes it behind the wall. But he drives part time in the number seven JR Nationwide car when Danica Patrick and another driver are not driving it. The only reason he is of interest to me is because he is from Iowa...where I live and am from, in fact after looking it up looks like he was born or lived in a town that is like twenty or thirty minutes away from me. Never heard of him until he made it to the Nationwide Series, but am hoping he will make it big time in Sprint. I am just excited to see a driver that is from Iowa and close to where I live...even if I never met him or see him race. LOL. Read he also helps Henrick Motorsports test drive or something which is the team that Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and Jr drive for. He is only twenty one years old, so hopefully he has a long successful career ahead of him.

As I said, this doesn't really go anywhere, just felt like posting it for some odd reason. I probably wouldn't take that much note from him since he is a start and park car, but knowing he is from Iowa and seeing his name listed to drive in the Sprint Cup, I generally look and see where he is during the race. Hopefully he can move beyond a start and park car and can start every race and not just a limited schedule that he seems to be on this year.

[Garrett Duke]

Well I have to honestly say that I did NOT watch the race today, but I had listened to it on the radio. I didn't and don't feel well today so instead of staying at my parents' house to watch the race on cable, I went home to take a nap. Missed the first seventy laps, but it didn't sound like I missed things. Though I am more of a visaul person, so I feel I missed a lot today by just listening to it on the radio (especially since it took them forever to list where each driver was at through out the race. With TV you can just look up on the top of the screen to see where the drivers are located.) Jimmie Johnson had a rotten race when he got caught up in Kurt Busch's accident. He finished 25th (I think) and te first car a lap down. Hamlin and Edwards spun each other out it sounds like, but Hamlin got a decent finish out of it by finishing second behind Clint Bowyer who led the most laps today. There was a few drivers who gambled without stopping for gas with seventy laps to go...including Bowyer and Stewart. Stewart led a lot of laps towards the end and had claimed he had enough gas to make it towards the end where Bowyer said he didn't think he could make it.

Sadly for Stewart, he led several laps as I said, only to run out of gas as soon as the white flag flew. He finished the last car on the lead lap...Burton ran out of gas at the end. Bowyer held on to win the race, only to run out of gas doing his victory burn out.

1. Clint Bowyer

2. Denny Hamlin

3. Jamie McMurray

4. Dale Earnhardt Jr (who started 32nd today! Way to go Jr!)

5. Kevin Harick

6. Jeff Gordon

7. David Reutimann

8. Ryan Newman

9. Kyle Busch

10. Sam Hornish Jr

If anyone else has more info about what happened in the race, feel free to comment on them here. As I said, I listened to most of it and got the general feel of what was going on, but I am way more a visual person than an audio person when it comes to sports. They have the unofficial points up, but I will post that tomorrow or later on this week when they are more official and I feel more up to it. Hope y'all have a great week!

[RogerDuke]

Awww, poor Garrett. I hope you start feeling better real fast!

I spent the day in Niagara Falls so I sure didn't see any racing on TV.

[redneck woman]

I thought it was a pretty interesting race. It wasn't the most exciting, but it had a lot of good stuff. lol Only nine races left in the season.

[Garrett Duke]

Welcome back, Redneck Woman! I figured you'd find the NASCAR thread once you returned! Am glad to see you back!

Thanks for reminding of the sad and depressing thought that there is only nine races left of the season! LOL. Can't believe it's chase time already.

Roger - Was Niagra Falls worth missing the race for? Hope you had a great time!

[redneck woman]

Yes I know, only nine left, but I'm going to enjoy each and every one of them while I can. lol I know you will too.

[RogerDuke]

It's sounds like you two will be spending a little extra time on the HazzardNet to cheer you up after the Chase is over. Don't cry on your keyboards too much or you'll short circuit them.

It's good to hear from you again redneck woman!

[redneck woman]

Thanks Roger. It's good to be back. I must admit, it does help through the winter months to have Garrett and everyone else who likes Nascar to talk to. I don't know how I'd make it without ya'll. lol And I promise not to cry on my keyboard, but I make no such promise about crying on the tv remote!

[Garrett Duke]

It does make it a little easier to have friends online to talk NASCAR about...especially during the long three months that they are out of season! Talk about the longest three months of the year! Thanks for the advice, Roger...I'll try to find something other than the keyboard to cry on. Perhaps on the TV once they cross the finish line at Homestead in November.