Talladega Observations
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By Bob Margolis, Yahoo! Sports
TALLADEGA, Ala. – Thoughts, observations and a few questions following the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway:
• Is there a hotter driver in NASCAR at the moment than Kyle Busch? If there is, I can’t think of one. One thing still bugs me: Why aren’t we seeing more M&Ms racewear on race fans? Do you know why?
• Here’s a statistic for you: Of the nine races run so far this season in the Cup Series, Joe Gibbs Racing has won three of them (two by Busch, one by Hamlin). In the Nationwide Series, their win record is even more impressive – six out of 10.
• When asked after the race to give a reason why Busch is so dominant this season, team owner Joe Gibbs described it as more or less the result of a perfect storm between a driver with unlimited passion to win; a crew chief who can communicate with him to such an extent as to be able to give him exactly the kind of car he needs week in and week out; and a racing organization that is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the streak going.
At one point early in the race, while Busch was tucked up under the rear bumper of teammate Tony Stewart and the two were basically toying with the field with their pair of powerful Toyotas, Busch made it clear he was having the time of his young life.
“Ah … this is awesome!” exclaimed Busch over his team radio.
He did it in a voice that sounded more like he was kicking back by the pool on a hot summer day with a cool iced tea instead of racing along at 200 mph just inches away from disaster.
• It was another classic Talladega performance for two-time Cup champion Stewart, who has yet to score a Cup win at the 2.66-mile speedway in 18 tries. After a nearly flawless day leading 61 laps and clearly having one of the handful of cars destined to be in the winner’s circle, Stewart’s day ended where it too often does here – standing next to a junked up race car, in front of the television camera and talking about his ‘Dega jinx.
• It wasn’t the kind of day Junior Nation was hoping for either. He too had one of a handful of cars that looked like a potential winner until he got involved in the day’s one true “Big One” along with Stewart (who later took the blame for its cause).
Earlier in the race, whenever the second generation NASCAR icon took the lead, which was 12 times for 46 laps, the crowd jumped to its feet with fists wildly swinging in the air and the once sea of red (now green) of the Junior Nation flashed across the expanse of the grandstands surrounding the track.
• At one point near the halfway mark in the race, third-place finisher Denny Hamlin radioed to crew chief Mike Ford that his right foot was aching so badly from having to keep it steadily glued to the floor on top of his gas pedal, that he was hoping for a caution so that he could give it a rest. Ford suggested he try using his left foot to give himself some relief. Hamlin did, but it provided only some help.
• Prior to the start of the race, most of the drivers I talked to told me that Hamlin’s Camry was the car to beat. Several called it “a rocketship.” Kevin Harvick said it was so fast, “he hardly knew what to do with it.”
• All afternoon, Hamlin was the guy who pushed everyone to the front and on many occasions, could just power himself past whomever he pleased anywhere on the track. It leads me to believe that there just might have been a different outcome to the race had there not been a caution thrown on the white flag lap.
After a few missteps earlier in the season, the FedEx team once again looks like the same team that delivered 12 top fives and 18 top 10s last season – only better.
• Sam Hornish Jr.’s first-rate performance at the Daytona 500 made for the promise of an equally strong run Sunday. However, some questionable pit strategy and an engine that eventually was running on only seven cylinders stymied his afternoon. The rookie of the year candidate barely remains in the top 35 in points (33rd).
• Fellow Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti’s accident in Saturday’s Nationwide race was one of those “hold your breath until you see him throw down his window net” deals. The Scotsman was lucky just to get out of that one with only a broken ankle. I wonder what the spotter for Larry Gunselman (who t-boned Franchitti under yellow) was looking at just prior to watching his driver nearly end Franchitti’s NASCAR career? It couldn’t have been what was happening on the race track.
• If you’ve not seen the video of Carl Edwards hitting Kevin Lepage’s car at nearly 200 mph, may I suggest that you do. Despite his (too late) apology for being responsible for wrecking more than $1 million in race cars (he originally insisted that he did nothing wrong – imagine that!), it quite likely will be the last time you see him in a race car, unless it’s one of his own. I can’t imagine anyone would want to jeopardize their team or their reputation by placing him behind the wheel of their race car.
“I have worked very hard over the years to gain the respect of NASCAR, the owners, competitors and the fans, and it will take a long time to gain it back after what happened,” said Lepage, the day after the incident.
It was one thing for rookie Patrick Carpentier to misunderstand the rules (for which the Canadian driver received a penalty). But it’s inexcusable for a veteran like Lepage to have done the same.
• Speaking of Carpentier, he had a rough weekend while receiving his first lessons in racing on restrictor plate tracks. (He missed the cut at the season opener in Daytona.)
During the final lap of the Nationwide race, Carpentier was in the position to push Earnhardt Jr. to the front, a move that would have potentially given Junior the win. But instead Carpentier thought he might have wrecked Junior doing it in the tri-oval section of the track.
On Sunday, while Carpentier was in front of Stewart in the latter stages of the race, Stewart radioed into crew chief Greg Zipadelli, “I’d rather draft with a John Deere tractor than with the 10 car.”
• What was Jamie McMurray thinking when on Lap 170 he drove his Fusion into the side of eventual race winner Busch? The result could have been a disaster, taking out much of the field. Get your road rage under control, Jamie!
• Because how you practice and where you start for a race at Talladega have little or no bearing on how you will do during the actual race, where conditions can only be duplicated in real time, the first two days of the three-day weekend are arduous affairs for team members.
I was told by one crewmember that it was like being on jury duty.
• The big news for much of the weekend wasn’t the lead up to what may have been the most competitive race this season. Instead, it was the hoopla surrounding the revelations about Stewart’s future.
Despite his allegations that he’s still talking about what direction his career will take when his current contract with Joe Gibbs Racing ends at the end of 2009, I suspect that the deal is done.
Stewart has been in too good a mood for someone who supposedly has as much on his plate concerning his future as he professes to have.
I mean a really good mood – including joking with the media, which supposedly has made public something Stewart has wanted to keep private.
• Kudos go out to Delana and Kevin Harvick for giving veteran team owner Morgan Shepherd a Nationwide car from the KHI stables so that the venerable and devout racer could compete this weekend.
• Harvick is serious about his intentions to expand their KHI operation into NHRA drag racing. He says he’d like to have a deal in place by Labor Day this year.
“If I could, I’d love to race one, too,” Harvick said. “I’d like to drive one of the Pro Stock cars on a off-weekend.”
Postscript
Despite all the questions from drivers, crew chiefs, team owners and fans prior to the start of Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 regarding what kind of race it would be, from the wave of the green flag until the wave of the checkers, the race was one of the most exciting and entertaining in quite some time.
Admittedly there were a larger than usual number of empty seats in the grandstands. I attribute it not to any lack of interest or enthusiasm by the regional crowd of NASCAR fans but more to the current economic climate.
With gasoline prices at historic highs, all Americans are being faced with hard choices when it comes to how they manage their finances. Fortunately for those fans whose circumstances prevent them from attending NASCAR races in person, they can watch a pretty good representation of the race on television.
Attendance figures may be down, but I doubt when the season is over, the television viewing numbers will mirror them.
Veteran motorsports writer Bob Margolis is Yahoo! Sports’ NASCAR reporter. Send Bob a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.