OK, one thing I just want to point out to all you Jimmie Johnson critics. The season is three races old, and the the four-time champ has two wins already.
So much for the “He just races hard and wins inside the Chase” talk. This win also makes Johnson the all-time leader in wins on mile-and-a-half tracks with 15.
What more can you say about the guy? He puts in a so-so qualifying effort, he’s not happy with his performance on re-starts, and he STILL wins the race.
Don’t get me wrong, Chad Knaus gets a lion’s share of the credit once again. To be honest, I really don’t think we’re ever going to find out what life for those two will be without each other. Heck, if I were Jimmie, with all that money I won, I’d be willing to take a cut in pay, offer to chip in some of money, or whatever I needed to do to keep the crew chief around. These two are magic.
Speaking of critics, I can tell you there will be more than a few calling for the head of Steve Letarte on the call for two tires on Jeff Gordon’s car. Never mind the fact, that some nimble thinking on Letarte’s part got Gordon through a bum pit stop where he’d crossed the line. Gordon had that race won, and I can just tell you that more than a few Gordon loyalists have been- right or wrong- down on Letarte for some time now. This won’t help.
How about Kevin Harvick? This “29” team and the Richard Childress organization are worlds apart different than last year. Harv overcame Friday’s troubles and snuck off with a second place finish. Never has being a bridesmaid felt so good. Not only did Harvick run well, Clint Bowyer took home a top ten, and considering all his issues, and eleventh-place run for Jeff Burton is something I’m sure he’ll be happy to escape Sin City with.
On these pages, space has been committed to wonder aloud about what’s up with the Roush organization. Some amount of backtracking may be appropriate considering Matt Kenseth’s racy run to a fifth place finish, just edging teenage upstart Joey Logano. A 10th place finish for Biffle has to feel a little like a moral victory with what he had to overcome.
And Joey Logano? How about this kid? Every race he’s run since the beginning of 2010 demonstrates huge improvement on the part of youngster. In his post race interview, the second year Cup driver sais a big test for him will be next week in Atlanta, where things didn’t go well at all.
When it comes to improvements- not only was Gordon a lot better than he’d been in previous starts, Marcos Ambrose came to life with a 14th place finish, and Kasey Kahne cleared the hurdles provided when he ran over a hose to finish ninth. Tony Stewart also came out of nowhere to take seventh.
While the exchanges between Johnson and Knaus demonstrated a good chemistry, it can’t feel good for “The Nation” to hear the jawing between Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and crew chief Lance Mc Grew. Listen, and draw your own conclusions about what’s going on there.
There was no joy for the hometown boys Kurt and Kyle. Gordon had Kurt eating his dust on the opening lap, and then he got caught up in the Jamie Mc Murray- Juan Pablo Montoya incident. As for his younger brother, Kyle rocked it for much of the race and just faded away.
When it’s all said and done, this is what I take away from this race: I am reminded of Jimmie Johnson’s place among the best ever. I don’t care where you are, all the guy does is just win race- any place, any time. The greatest ever? I won’t even go there, because that’s a question that will never be answered to anyone’s satisfaction.
Is he the greatest of the last ten years? In the spirit of Las Vegas, I’d bet the house on it. Keeping it real, you’d have to be blind not to see it.
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I was thinking with the race being in Vegas this week, we could take the “Hangover” aproach. Jeff, Jr. and Mark should have left Jimmie on top of a hotel roof until after the race. Chad could have run all over town looking for him and then Jeff could have remembered they left him there after the race. LOL At least Kyle Busch didn’t win.
@Joe W. Now THAT would have been entertaining. On races like these, I remind myself that not every football game is close, not is any basketball or baseball game. Sometimes a team (or in this case, two) just dominates.
The Hendrick Organization,thats the secret,the organization of the 48 team says it all.I bet they can tell you how much every quarter turn of the jackscrew,every half pound of air plus or minus does to that car.they still have it together .Homestead here we come..again. I think they also have there own cam packages too..Can you imagine if Rick had them an Indy car how awesome it could be,Roger would then have some competition.
@Leonard. I think they ought to call Knaus “Turd Blossom.” The dude could make a rose bed out of a pile of crap.
I don’t know Jim. If Johnson continues to win like this, the TV ratings and track attendance could drop dramatically. Checked a lot of various forums and the like and the general consensus isn’t that great. It could be a season of, “What if he won a championship and nobody watched?”. Of course, it could end up being that anyways thanks to the poor network coverage and commentary. No excuse at all for what was served up as a race broadcast on Sunday.
Think I’ll just cut my throat now. When the Danica coverage becomes more compelling than a Cup race result, I have nothing left.
@Mad Man. Is that kind of like a tree falling in the forest when no one’s around, does it make a sound?
Let me just say, I really don’t think the ratings and track attendance are Jimmie’s fault.
@mkrcr. Dude, wait! Put that knife down! You really don’t think the WHOLE season’s going to be like this? Remember, what goes up, must come down.
I think it’s more like “if a tree falls on a tree hugger does it still make a sound”. The poor TV ratings have a lot to do with the poor quality of the broadcast. Fans are simply getting fed up Jim so in some cases, they’re reacting to the most visible thing they see or the most touted by NASCAR.
Alright Jim, I’ll take a deep breath and remember NA$CAR is not the end all. But I still can’t get Aerosmith out of my head. “Same old story, same old song and dance, my friend”!
NA$CAR wants to come forward with their “aggressive” changes to racing but yet it’s all fluff. If they truly want to create closer racing then allow testing. Forcing teams to try to get a handle on these POS cars on a race weekend or at tracks, that really have little bearing on the tracks on the schedule, is ludicrous. Not all teams have the the kind of off track facilities Hendrick has access to (thanks Haas). Typical of NA$CAR’s mentality on saving money, how much is the sport losing across the board because of this rule?
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