A Different Week, The Same Result
A Special Post-Race report prepared for letsgoracingfans.com.
It’s getting kind of like that scene from the movie Forrest Gump, where an honor is getting mundane. "So I became a hero…AGAIN, and I got invited to the White House…AGAIN." Jimmie Johnson wins a race….AGAIN, capturing his 9th win of the season and his 3rd visit to Victory Lane in a row by taking the checkered flag at Texas Motor Speedway in the Dickie’s 500. Johnson can now add a gun and a cowboy hat to his burgeoning trophy case.
A couple of promising young drivers who looked great in qualifying, Martin Truex and A.J. Allmendinger, quickly fell back after the flag went green. Allmendinger kissed the wall early in the race, and Truex promptly fell off the lead earned by his first 2007 pole. While Truex ran a pretty good race, was no real threat for the win.
Kyle Busch seized early control and led much of the race. As usual, Busch the Younger was lightening fast, and as usual, there were some problems with one of his later pit stops. Busch’s car, for the most part, cooperated with him, but he complained of "turnability" problems in one of his mid-race pit stops. Juan Pablo Montoya looked good early, taking a few turns in the clean air.
Not to be outdone, Kyle’s older brother Kurt also looked strong in the daylight, and fell back as day turned to night. Kurt ran into some real problems near the middle of the race with tires and some front end damage, but in many ways Kurt did well to hang around until the end.
Speaking of racers with troubles, Jeff Gordon looked all out of sorts as the race got underway. He gave up track position early, and Gordon teamed with Crew Chief Steve Letarte for some interesting pit strategy. Their pit stops were way out sync early on, but at times it looked like it would work. Gordon conceded that the car that ran 31st in Happy Hour just wasn’t good enough to threaten his HMS teammate.
There were a number of cautions early in the race, but things generally smoothed out as the race went on. A couple of old school drivers tangled fenders when Kyle Petty and Bill Elliott got together, and the fates played havoc with the efforts of Reed Sorenson, David Stremme, Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin and David Gilliland. Mechanical problems befell Carl Edwards and David Reutimann.
Once again, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had several good moments, but faded late. Chasers Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, and Kevin Harvick saw plenty of time in the top 10, but couldn’t close the deal. Mathematically- Burton, Harvick, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Martin Truex have been eliminated from title contention. It’s a real bummer for Kenseth, because he ran one heck of a race.
Kenseth was on his game today. He took a late lead and ran in typical Kensethian fashion, laying in the weeds and coming on strong at the end. He led many of the last 20 laps, before succumbing to Johnson. Any lesser man may resorted to dirty tactics to take Jimmie out, but everybody knows that’s not the Wisconsin native’s style. Ultimately, Chad Knaus’ decision to change 4 tires at the end trumped the decision of Kenseth and Crew Chief Robbie Reiser to go with 2, and the #48 Kobalt Chevy would not be denied.
Sure enough, the race result was a bit too familiar. Johnson wins, and Junior and Ryan Newman run solid races but can’t end their winless streaks. One refreshing difference was that this race did not end with a green/ white/ checkered finish- and for that, I am grateful.
It’s true that Jimmie Johnson is vanilla in a world of rocky road. It’s also true that watching one guy dominate can be a little anti-climatic. But you have to say this, that with Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and crew, and the Hendrick Motor Sports organization, you have an unbeatable combination.
That kind of trifecta is NOT something you see every year. If I dare say so, that kind of run is almost historic- though Jimmie Johnson would still have to win another 7 to match the insane streak Richard Petty racked up in the "Summer of Love"- when he reeled off 10 wins in a row, and 27 for the year in 1967.
Now that’s domination!
