Bump-Drafts.com

(A Weekly Special Edition of Bump-Drafts prepared for letsgoracingfans.com)

You could see the race was effectively over on the last two re-starts. Each time, Carl Edwards-in his #99 Dish Network Ford- took off like a scalded jack rabbit to win the UW-Dodge 400. This makes 6 wins for Team Roush at Las Vegas, to go with a pair of victories each by Jeff Burton and Matt Kenseth, as well as Mark Martin, who took the #6 to Victory Lane back in 1998.

Roush Racing did themselves proud. Not only was Edwards strong, Kenseth looked good up until the Gordon incident at the end, Greg Biffle finished 3rd, and even David Ragan got in on the fun by edging Kasey Kahne out for 6th. Jack Roush must have some magic in his hat that he uses for Vegas, because his teams are good to the point of making you think that somebody at the “Diamond In The Desert” must owe him a favor or two.

I was just sure this was Kyle Busch’s race to lose, in spite of the fact that no one has ever won from the pole at Sin City. The younger Busch made me look like a prophet for a bit until the handling on his car went south on him late in the race. Edwards ran with the #18 M&M’s Toyota all day, first overtaking Shrub on lap 21. By lap 117, Busch surrendered the lead, and although Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon had good runs- today seemed destined to be a Roush day.

It didn’t look that way at first. Roush driver Jamie Mc Murray almost took flight in the infield after a spin-out and Edwards darn near got penalized for a pit road incident involving a stray tire. Fortunately, crew chief Bob Osborne kept a cool head, stayed on top of officials, and they ultimately ruled in favor of Edwards, blaming a TV camera man for being in the way (Dang media types anyway).

There were a record number of cautions as it seems that NASCAR teams are still figuring out how to work the “new” car at Las Vegas. Accidents cut short the days of Tony Stewart (who bit the wall hard on lap 109) and Robby Gordon (victimized by a lfat tire on lap 144), Patrick Carpentier, DaleJarrett, Kurt Busch, and Scott Riggs.

Speaking of Riggs……it was nice to see some less familiar names up front. I thought the Haas-CNC cars of Scott Riggs and Jeremy Mayfield looked great in stretches, and it was good to see another solid performance by Elliott “Rabbit Release” Sadler. It was also weird seeing Ken Schrader up front, though he gave way later in the race.

It wasn’t a good day for Open Wheelers. Sam Hornish, Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti all saw their best laid plans go up in smoke.

I’m glad Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon weren’t hurt too seriously.Gordon had two words for track owner Bruton Smith concerning the inner wall “Safer Barriers.”

Though it was a bummer to see wrecks mess up otherwise good days, there’s no doubt this race belonged to Edwards. The Columbia, Missouri native was just too much. He and his Roush teammates (Kenseth and Biffle) were easily the most consistent cars out there, with apologies to RCR teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick, and the HMS combo of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

It just hit me- another random thought- no Jimmie Johnson today. Apparently, Johnson was a victim of Murphy’s Law. Everything that could go wrong apparently did to the #48.

This may not have been the best race I’d ever seen, but it was a good one. Today’s outcome springs forth yet more new story lines in a 2008 season that bears no resemblence to 2007.

Will Carl Edwards make it three in a row, to turn At-lanta into Hot-lanta? I wouldn’t bet against it.

For our first in a series of team previews for the 2008 season, I present you the New York Yankees of NASCAR: Hendrick Motorsports. Like the baseball team of re-known, the rich only seem to get richer, possessing a “Murderer’s Row” lineup of talent behind the wheel, in the pit box, and in the shop. Can these guys do any wrong? Meh, forget that question- while some may question the scruples of some within the organization, let’s just say that EVERYTHING and I mean EVERYTHING seems to go their way. They are home to a 2-time defending Cup champion, and he’s not even their “star” driver. Jimmie Johnson may be the man of the moment, but clearly, this is still the team that Jeff Gordon leads. As if not having a 4-time Cup champion is enough, Rick Hendrick now has NASCAR’s most popular driver-he of the legendary pedigree- that is one Dale Earnhardt Jr. And then speaking of pedigrees, let us not forget that Casey Mears (nephew of Indy car stud Rick Mears) is also on the team.

Hendrick Motorsports is without a doubt “King of the Mountain” in NASCAR (with all apologies to Brian France). With all the talent throughout the organization, it’s hard to imagine a bad season for HMS because with the acquisition of Junior, they’ve only gotten better. Think about it- this team won half of the races ran in 2007, and now they’re adding one very motivated superstar eager to prove he’s worthy of his rock star status.

Let’s not forget- it’s not only the drivers who are great here. With Steve Letarte, Chad Knaus and Tony Eury Jr. (to name a few), you have the best pit bosses in the business. All their styles may vary, but they all get great results.

In 2008, it’s hard to imagine much will change. A 3-peat for Johnson may be asking a bit much, but certainly a top 5 finish at season’send is not. My gut tells me that Gordon may lose some of his edge as he gets older and he settles in more with his new found role as a father, but this is more than made up for by Earnhardt and Mears. Besides already having a great relationship with Rick Hendrick- Dale Jr. is here primarily for one reason- a reason big enough to leave the racing team his late father founded: by joining HMS, Junior places himself in the best position to be a winner. There’s a discipline with this organization missing from DEI. These guys start early and finish late with a single minded dedication to achieving great results. With 10 wins for Johnson, 6 wins for Gordon, a victory for the upstart Mears and one for the departed Kyle Busch, I’d say they have a formula that works. This team was clearly ahead of the curve on the “Car of Tomorrow” and just about anything else.

Other teams are catching up. That’s true. But guess what? I think Rick Hendrick and company know that and have taken that into consideration. Knowing this, it’s hard to imagine Hendrick Motorsports being anything less stellar in the upcoming season.

Junior Nation is banking on it.

For the past several weeks, I’ve been pondering NASCAR fan displeasure with soon-to-be repeat Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. What did he ever do to NASCAR Nation? Other than being the catalyst for the "Big One" at Talladega a couple of years back, the driver of the Lowe’s #48 Chevy has never been one to cause on-track controversy. A trouble maker? No. Johnson seems to be one of the quieter figures in the shop. Off-track mishaps? Nope, the 32-year-old El Cajon, California native has been a model citizen- he even engineered a donation of over a million dollars to victims of the recent southern California wildfires. Is he a cad? No way. Johnson is a happily married man with a beautiful wife who is ever at his side. So what gives? I think I’ve figured it out.

I found the answer as I recalled my favorite football team from the 1970’s: the Dallas Cowboys. Led by Coach Tom Landry and star signal caller Roger Staubach these guys were the original Boy Scouts of professional sports. In spite of the squeaky clean image, they still had fans who hated them. Trust me, wearing the #12 jersey to school got me some nasty glances. I digress.

This was part of the problem for the Cowboys and I think this is a part of the problem for Jimmie Johnson, and for that matter, the rest of the gang in the Hendrick garage. Like the NFL, NASCAR’s popularity stems from being a popular hang-out for the rough and tumble. The NFL gave us the "Purple People Eaters," Al Davis (also known as the "Darth Raider"), "Night Train" Lane and the playboy antics of Paul Hornung (who was also suspended for gambling). Likewise, NASCAR has given us "The Intimidator", infield fist fights, Curtis Turner, and the wild and wacky Flock brothers. Now compare this to the likes of Staubach and Jimmie Johnson, and they look as exciting as your high school science teacher.

So while controversy makes enemies, it also has a strange way of making you friends. Consider NASCAR driver Robby Gordon. His career victory total is less than one-third of Johnson’s season total. Yet- Gordon enjoys a certain popularity because he doesn’t back down from a fight, and has been known to exact a little frontier justice on the track. In the macho world of NASCAR, this has earned the journeyman racer a following.

There’s also a very corporate flair to Team Hendrick and the Cowboys of the 70’s. The result from this creates a perception of favored status by the powers that be of the league. Raider fans (often Cowboy detractors) cried "foul" with every ruling against them, claiming that if the Cowboy brain trust were making a particular move, they’d get away with it because they were perceived to be "good for the NFL." Those same charges are often leveled by NASCAR fans not fond of Hendrick Motor Sports. It is claimed that Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon are often on the receiving end of favorable cautions, rulings, and other such manipulations that create a winning climate. It’s a leap in logic upon examination of the facts and looks at the broader context of the circumstances and the overall effects- yet nonetheless when teams like HMS and the Cowboys win as often as they do, it’s not hard to see why people might conclude they get a helping hand.

In my opinion, we have a case of two organizations that are victims of circumstances, their own success and a lack of color. People like to root for the underdog. These guys aren’t. In the world of sports, there’s a certain attraction to the bad boys. These guys aren’t. When a team dominates like these guys have, it’s easy to fear that the ruler of the day will rule forever.

Look at history. History tells us Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Company won’t dominate forever. Times change. Teams will catch up and slowly but surely, aging drivers will lose their reflexes and their passion.

It’s just a matter of time. We’ve seen it before. 

(A special post-race edition prepared for letsgoracingfans.com. Also known as shameless cross-promotion).

In preparing for the Pep Boys’ 500, I think Jimmie Johnson and Crew Chief Chad Knauss stole a page from General George Sherman. The driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet showed tactical brilliance down the stretch to collect his eighth victory of the 2007 campaign, narrowing his defecit to Jeff Gordon down to nine points.

Admit, like me, you had your doubts at times. Kurt Busch looked “scary fast” early on, and after he faded, Martin Truex looked like the guy to beat. For quite some time, it just looked like Johnson and his buddy Jeff Gordon had a lackluster day going. Heck, it looked Junior had a good run going. It says a lot for the Budweiser Chevy driver that he overcame a commitment cone penalty and an unscheduled pit stop to fix bum tire to be in top five position at the end. The DEI boys had GREAT engines today. Once again, Roush- Fenway was well-represented with Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards getting in the mix and playing nice today. But 99% of the race it was the Truex- Busch Show.

You hear a lot from fans about racers getting lucky. Racing is no different than any other sport- if you prepare well, play smart, and put some good weapons in your corner, you’ll get some luck. Plenty of it.

I know a lot fans are bored with HMS dominating the Chase, but what can you do? If you happen to be lucky enough to race against them, learn what they do and imitate it. To me, it’s interesting to see how the top two guys in this year’s chase lay back for about three-quarters of the race, in a middle-of-the-pack but competitive position, and then strike at the end. The only real risk to this strategy is that you might get collected in a slobberknocker with an also-ran. That’s where the luck comes in. Is that what Johnson doing? If he is, he’s not telling. I’ve said it before, I think there’s a little David Pearson influence on HMS.

You need it with all these green-white-checkered finishes. What a mess! I don’t know how you remedy that, but it’s ridiculous how many we’ve had this year.

Call dominance boring if you want. I’m sure said the same thing about the Cowboys, the Celtics, and the Yankees.

Other observations:

Tough Day For The Old School- It was a real bummer to see Mark Martin go down early. He handled his mishap with David Gilliland with his signature class. I was also looking for good things from 6-time AMS winner Bobby Labonte, but he was one of many drivers today with tire troubles.

Juan Pablo Montoya “Bonehead Manuever of The Day” Award- It stinks to run out of gas at the moment Denny Hamlin did. They HAD to be thinking about it. Everybody else was. It’s got to be a bummer when you know your mistake collected a potential winner. This was not a good day for the Gibbs family. Papa Joe’s Redskins got mauled by the Patriots 52-7 (ouch!) and then Smoke has a crap day, to go with this little foible by Hamlin.

The Ryan Newman “Creative Way To Lose” Award- Can somebody explain to me how in the name of Junior Johnson that a wheel comes off a race car in a NASCAR event? What did Junior do in a previous life to end up with this kind of luck? Some of Newmans’ mojo must have rubbed off on him. Poor guy- he had a car quite capable of winning.

Now it’s off to Texas. I don’t know if the Fat Lady has sung yet for the Chasers not named Johnson or Gordon, but I do believe I heard her warming up. Certainly she’s singing a sad swan song over the ruins of Atlanta.