Bump-Drafts.com

(From the pages of bump-drafts.com)

Up Next: The Checker Auto Parts 500, Phoenix International Raceway, Sunday November 11, 2007, 3:25 p.m. EST. The Valley of The Sun has hosted NASCAR since 1988. After two weeks on mile and a half tracks, NASCAR drivers will go at it this week on a 1-mile oval, with 9 to 11-degree banking in the turns, 3-degree banking on the front stretch, 9-degrees on the back.

Phoenix trivia- Alan Kulwicki won the first Cup event at Phoenix International Raceway on November 6, 1988. The Craftsman Truck Series started running here in 1995, the Busch Boys didn’t start running here until 1999.

The fastest qualifying speed here is owned by "Mr. Pole," Ryan "Rocket" Newman with a 26.499 lap in November, 2004 with a speed of 135.854. for the Busch Series, Kyle Busch turned in a best qualifying speed of 26.902 or 133.819 mph. In the Truck Series, Johnny Benson is the best all-time qualifier with a lap time of 27.137 seconds and a speed of 132.660.

For best race speeds, Tony Stewart ran an average speed of 118.132 in the #20 Pontiac in his 1999 victory, Jeff Burton set the pace in the November, 2000 Busch race with an average 115.145 in a Roush Ford. For CTS drivers, Kevin Harvick set the standard with an average speed of 108.014 from his November, 2002 win.

The Big Winners at Phoenix- 2001 & 2006 Busch champ Kevin "Happy" Harvick, now the 2nd winningest driver in Busch history (32 and 6 this year) has won 2 Cup races, a Busch race, and a Craftsman Truck race. 2002 Busch Series titleist Greg Biffle has won 2 Busch races and a truck race in the Grand Canyon State, Jack Sprague has 3 CTS checkereds.  In Cup driving, Davey Allison, Jeff Burton, Dale Earnhardt Jr. have all won 2 apiece. Chase leader Jimmie Johnson has never won at PIR, and 2nd place chaser Jeff Gordon just got his 1st Phoenix win back in April.

Caution- The record here is 11 in November, 2004. The fewest? Just 2 in 1999. A record 41 Cup drivers finished the fall, 1999 race. The record for the fewest finishers is 27 in the November, 1989 race.

In NASCAR news, Jimmie Johnson has seized the Chase lead from Jeff Gordon with a slim 30-point cushion, thank to his victory Sunday in Texas. This gives the 32-year old El Cajon, Ca. native 9 wins for the 2007 campaign, easily outdistancing teammate Jeff Gordon, second in the Chase and second in 2007 wins with 6. Richard Childress driver Clint Bowyer is still hanging tough, just 189 points back of Johnson in third. Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards round out the top 5. Tony Stewart checks in at number 6. Chasers Jeff Burton, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth round out the top 10, but have been eliminated from title contention, along with Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., who complete the top 12.

Carl Edwards clinched his first Busch Series title last week in Texas in the Dish Network #60 Ford Fusion, although Kevin Harvick made history with his 32nd Busch win, edging out Jack Ingram for 2nd all-time behind Mark Martin, who has won 47 in NASCAR’s 2nd Series.

Off the track, Gene Haas, one of the principals in Haas-CNC racing was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison after his conviction for tax fraud. Haas is owner of the #66 now being driven by Jeremy Mayfield, who replaced Jeff Green two weeks ago. He also owns the #70 Chevy currently driven by Johnny Sauter, who will reportedly be replaced by Scott Riggs in 2008.

Back to the Chase for the Cup, NASCAR followers are now speculating on whether or not Jimmie Johnson will manage a repeat of his 2006 NNC title. Adding to the intrigue is the fact his nearest competitor is his best friend and teammate. Chase naysayers are quick to point out that Gordon would be running away with the title under the old points system. For those of you keeping score, Gordon would be 439 out in front under the old scoring system. The Dupont Chevrolet driver is still very much alive in his "Drive For Five," but Johnson just looks so darn unbeatable. Every race, he’s running out front, avoiding the crashes that plagued him in mid-season, and Gordon, while good, just hasn’t had the car to keep up.

It’s a test of endurance for fans who dislike "Wonder Boy" and "J.J.". They try to maintain interest by speculating as to the end of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s winless streak, and they also wonder when recent strong runs by Ryan Newman and Matt Kenseth might translate into victories. Kenseth drove his Ford Fusion to the limit, but just didn’t have the tires to catch Johnson last Sunday. In a show of class, Matty backed off when when it was apparent that the only way he could catch the 48 was by risking a wreck by driving a speed that the tires wouldn’t likely handle.

Track Terminology (your shot at impressing your friends with your knowledge of all things racing):

"A-frame" (it’s not just those funny looking houses they built in the 70s). "Either the upper or lower connecting suspension piece (in the shape of an "A") locking the frame to the spindle."

"Drag"- Besides what you take off a cigarette (which would be a "drag" I guess), drag is "The resistance a car experiences when passing through air at high speeds. A resisting force exerted on a car parallel to its airstream and opposite in direction to its motion."

"Greenhouse"- Al Gore loves to entertain us with talk of "greenhouse gasses." In NASCAR speak, however, the greenhouse is "The upper area of the race car that extends from the base of the windshield in the front, the tops of the doors on the sides and the base of the rear window in the back. Includes all of the A, B, and C pillars, the entire glass area and the car’s roof."

"Pit Road"- Not "Pit Row" for those of you in Rio Linda. "The area where pit crews service the cars. Generally located along the front straightaway, but because of space limitations, some race tracks sport pit roads on both the front and the back straightaways." 

Get all that? You’ll be quizzed on it later.

That’s all for this week. It’s hard to believe we just have 2 more races left before 2007 is in the books. A shout out to our family hairdresser Lisa. Lisa and her muffler shop-owner husband Mike  were given a trip from one of his vendors. Have fun and be safe! I expect a report.

That’s all for now. Keep your fenders away from the wall now, ya here?

Special Thanks to Drew, Amanda and Dixie Lady.

Extra Special Thanks to God, Lynnae, and the "Chicklettes."

Extra, Extra Special Thanks to….YOU for reading.

Sources: Yahoo! Sports and The Sporting News Officially Licensed NASCAR Record & Fact Book Book- 2007 edition.

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!

There was some serious running going on at Texas Motor Speedway. The NASCAR Nextel Cup boys were pushing 200 mile per hour, and a good many of them ran good enough on the first lap they said "Forget it!" about a second.

Our current crop of NASCAR drivers are pretty impressive, from the old pros like Bill Elliott and Mark Martin, to the "young guns"- fresh faces who are new the scene, such as  Juan Pablo Montoya and David Ragan. Today, none looked more impressive to me than a pair of guys who look less like the traditional NASCAR driver: southern Californian Toyota driver A.J. Allmendinger and New Jersey’s own Martin Truex.

While most followers of the DEI team are following the trials and tribulations of Dale Earnhardt Jr., another guy in their shop, Martin Truex has been steadily building his NASCAR resume. The former Busch Series champ has not only notched his first career win (in June at Dover), he has also made some great runs, and enough of those to have made the Chase. The driver of the #1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet has been overshadowed by the exploits of Clint Bowyer since the Chase began, but Truex has in many ways been no less impressive. Truex looked like the car to beat late in the Atlanta race before falling victim to the messy affairs at the end. Fans writing obituaries for DEI had better old up a moment, because Truex looks well poised to carry the banner for Teresa Earnhardt and Company. Today, Martin drove the wheels off his car, just enough better than Juan Pablo, Kevin Harvick and some guy named Jeff Gordon to capture the pole. With his performance, alongside veteran Mark Martin and other promising prospects like Paul Menard and Aric Almirola, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated will be just fine.

Allmendinger has just shot off like a rocket these last few races. The former open-wheeler has been running like a demon with that fearlessness the 25 year old Los Gatos native had been so famous for. His reckless abandon is apparent in how he’s driven his car during qualifying the last two weeks in particular. Much has made been, and rightly so, about how Allmendinger has benefited from extra cockpit time running for Chip Ganassi in the Busch Series for the last two months. What we’re seeing now is that his race performances are catching up to his qualifying performances. The folks at Red Bull Racing would sure be happy to see that. From a marketing standpoint, Allmendinger and teammate Brian Vickers seem like fitting images for the organization famous for their energy drink that "gives you wings." These guys are starting to run like like they’re flying low.

There’s been much speculation as to who would get the first win for Toyota in the Nextel Cup Series. At one point in the season, I would have said Vickers. Then there’s been other occasions where I thought it would be David Reutimann. On the basis of what I’ve seen lately, I am now saying it will be A.J. Allmendinger who will do it, long before Tony Stewart and the gang get to try their hand at it in 2008. I’ve got a feeling it could happen this Sunday.

But he’ll have to get past Martin Truex to do it.