Every sport seems to have those guys upon whom sun (and the powers that be) smile favorably. The NBA seemed to stop making "traveling" calls on Michael Jordan after his second season. If Barry Bonds didn’t swing at it, it must not have been a strike. Oops! Somebody’s breathing in the general direction of Tom Brady, better toss that hanky for roughing the passer (ok, maybe that’s a bit of a stretch, but you get my point).
Maybe it’s just me, but Jimmie Johnson sure seemed to get away with a lot Sunday at Martinsville. How about that hesitation on that re-start? Or what about some of the shenanigans on pit road? If I’m an official, I’m watching Jimmie like Robert De Niro did Ben Stiller in Meet The Parents. And for the love of Mike, will somebody please race this guy? Remember that race, I think it was Bristol, where the "48" team asked Mark Martin for the temporary lead for five bonus points? If I were Martin, I would have said, "You want your five points, come up here and get ‘em."
I kept waiting for war to break out between Denny Hamlin and Johnson after what happened the last time they raced Martinsville. I also kept hoping Juan Pablo Montoya would get up in the front to show the "48" the same love he showed Jeff Gordon earlier in the race. Or what about Gordon? Where was that spunk that used to be a part of the old champ’s game? Are you really going to let Johnson drive off with this championship or aren’t you going to put up a little fight?
If you know me, you know I’m not a Jimmie hater. I still maintain that NASCAR hasn’t fixed this chase for the defending champion, because you can see by the ratings and empty seats already, that the governing body derives little upside from watching him drive away with it.
Perhaps a fourth straight championship is inevitable. I just wish they’d stop making it so easy for him. Johnson needs no help from the officials, or his competition.
Anybody watch the Nationwide race on Saturday? Now there’s some paint tradin’ right there. There’s one part of me that admires Brad Keselowski for being unafraid to fight for position, even if it means a chrome horn for a veteran driver like Carl Edwards. His post race interviews tells you he knows a lot of fans like it, and history suggests (see Denny Hamlin for reference) this is how "Kez" drives, and if you don’t like it, too bad.
On the other hand, I can’t help but wonder how it will go for Keselowski when he runs with the big dogs, and more of them, next season in his new ride at Penske. My guess is his cars will sport a few more dings than Logano’s car or Speed’s ride this year. I also wouldn’t be too surprised if a few of his fans who adopted him because he drove for Dale Jr. might abandon ship if he crosses the wrong driver.
Then again, who knows? Maybe it’s a driver like Keselowski who halts that juggernaut with the yellow number 48 painted on the sides.
Here’s one from the "Don’t say you weren’t warned" department: 
Do you know which driver is the most popular on Ask.com for costume searches? Is it Jimmie Johnson? Nope, not number one on this chart. Jeff Gordon? Not even close. of course, it would be NASCAR’s favorite son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Guess again. Would you believe it’s Kyle Busch? (See chart). Yes, Kyle "Wild Thing" Busch is number one in something besides the Nationwide Series this year. Now, is that wild or what? Does make you wonder if that costume won;t be a little, uh, modified come Halloween.
On the other hand, the sight of a little Shrub wannabe on my doorstep Halloween night might be enough to literally scare the Hell of out of me.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
I was wondering what has happened to the Stewart Haas cars???? There was always the question of when the chase started would Hendrick give them the “same” great engines …. and low and behold a few weeks before the Chase started it seemed (especially Tony’s car) wasn’t getting off the line as fast…and it seems to be “sluggish” week after week? Just wondering….
@Josie. While not being inclined to be a conspiracy theory believer, I do know that Smoke hasn’t forgotten how to drive. Your point is well-taken. It’s a bit hard to argue with the results, although I’d at least LIKE to think there are other reasons.
Funny thing there,
Kes does EVERYTHING that hater fans accuse Kyle Busch of doing — plows through the field like a bulldozer, wrecks people for wins, is arrogant enough to tell Roger Penske how he should run his team before he’s ever so much as sat in a Penske car — and the fan and media silence about it is absolutely deafening.
But they’re still more than happy to take potshots at Kyle, who is a clean enough driver to have not wrecked Kes, even though he easily could have and even though he knows that Kes had already wrecked a couple cars that very day and would have wrecked him in that position.
Nascar fan hypocrisy gets worse and worse.
@3KillerBs. Just remember what they say about paybacks. Next year could be an interesting one. I’m not a real fan of this kind of driving, but considering the number of fans that think today’s NASCAR lack personality, I beg to differ with the likes of Smoke, Harvick, Robby, Kezand Kyle around.
I really am not thinking “fix” when it comes to Stewart Haas/Hendrick…my husband kept telling me..”just wait till the Chase and let’s see how good Tony’s cars are”….it just seems alittle ..well strange. I just have noticed Tony’s cars don’t seem have the same power…he manages to get towards the front after a slew of racing and pit stops…but it has been taking them almost the entire race to get it going and then it’s too late. It’s too bad..whatever the problem..they did better in the first 23 races (the downturn started a few races before the Chase..guess Hendrick didn’t want it to look TOO obvious) but they did alot better earlier in the season when they were at new team “first time racing together” tracks…which is backwards to what one would think would happen. It would be interesting to get some more info..although I am sure TS doesn’t want to lose his Hendrick backing so maybe there is not much talk out there…????
Jim, ditto!!!! And the sport does need drivers like Kyle and Kez. Did you see Montoya ruffle Gordon’s feathers? I loved it. Dale Sr. proved the intimidation factor does work. As for Tony Stewart, do you really think Hendrick is gonna give his best stuff to him? Not a chance!
I love the way Special K drives! It’s the way all of them should drive. They ain’t out there to sell cereal…wait! Aw well. Kez will do fine as a Cup driver just ’cause most of them haven’t raced against this kind of driver before. The ‘milk toast’ brigade of PC racers are going to have to contend with a Sr-style racer. It’s gonna be fun to watch!
You noticed the way certain penalties didn’t get called at Martinsville Jim. Had NASCAR enforced their own rules regarding Johnson’s car being out of spec a couple of weeks ago, he would currently be in 2nd place. Who knows what place he’d be in if they had enforced their rules at Martinsville. Like it or not, believe it or not, NASCAR does play favorites. Always has, always will unless some changes take place at the leadership level.
The empty seats and poor ratings are from a combination of things. The cars, the cookie cutter tracks, poor management and leadership, and horrible TV coverage just to name a few.
I absolutely agree with 3KillerBs. Kesolowski is as much of a jerk as Kyle has ever been and right now he is getting a free pass from the fans and the media. Kyle could easily have wrecked him at the end of the Memphis race, but chose not to. Maybe it is maturity on Shrub’s part, realizing that he dare not risk a championship even to avoid the tragedy of another second place finish.
But the double standard for Kes? That is bizarre, and I hope to see it come to a quick end when he drives in the Cup series. Also, driving Penske rather than Hendrick equipment may make him a sitting duck for any Cup driver who wants to give a little payback to the brat.
Nobody’s going to race the “Anointed One”. Imagine all the wasted time NA$CAR and the media will have spent crowning Him if another driver, God forbid, should crash Him.