#3WideBlog Opinion: Earnhardt Jr. Snaps "The Streak", My Reaction.

     Sunday after the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan International Speedway, an entire nation had a reason to rejoice, JrNation that is. After 4 years, 143 races and surely mountains of frustration, Dale Earnhardt Jr. dominated the race leading 95 of 200 laps and eventually pulling away from defending Sprint Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart by almost 5.4 seconds on his way to victory.

 
     "I know you guys have been waiting on that one,", "I know I have." were the words Earnhardt Jr. said over the team radio moments after taking the checkered flag Sunday. This win marked Dale Earnhardt Jr's 19th Cup Series victory in his 450th start, and also marked the end of the most publicized losing streak in motorsports. After some "on the chip" crazy burnouts, came that long awaited visit to victory lane.

   
     Almost before Earnhardt Jr. came to a stop a cell phone was being handed to him. On the other end? Hendrick Motorsports team owner Rick Hendrick. Hendrick is quoted as saying "I just told him, 'I knew we were going to get it done,' ". " 'I'm so proud of you. Enjoy this. The world's been looking at you, and now you can take a deep breath and go have fun.' ". More had to be said because Earnhardt Jr. spent a lot of time on the phone before his shower of Diet Mountain Dew, but whatwas for sure, was his grin from ear to ear.

     After a nice "welcome home" to victory circle from TNT reporter Matt Yocum, Earnhardt Jr. was quick to start his thank-yous. "That was a great race, I want to thank my sponsors National Guard, Diet Mountain Dew, Great to have the Batman on the car today. We just had a really good car and this Chevrolet was fast, its just pretty amazing". After recalling how tense the last 15 laps were and a hug from crew chief Steve Letarte (who broke his own 115 race winless streak), Yocum asked Jr. "What is the most satisfying part of this victory?". To which Jr. answered "To do it for my fans, they've stuck behind me for all these years and I know exactly what they've been thinking about, and how long they've been wanting us to get to victory lane." Looking with a nod to the camera said "So this one's for them", "I appreciate their loyalty and their support, and we wouldn't have made it back to victory lane without it so, that's who we have to give all the credit to". I've got to admit, as a Dale Earnhardt Jr. fan, this was awesome to hear.

      The celebration was on but it wasn't too long after the critics started, with Tony Stewart ""It's no different than anybody else that does it -- it's not a national holiday, guys,". "This morning they were celebrating the fourth anniversary of his last win, so I guess we're all in a state of mourning now, 'cause he's broke that string now, so I wonder what we're all supposed to think." Typical Tony I guess because every other driver was quite congratulatory.


     It was on twitter too, the snide remarks, trying to downsize the hugeness of this victory. "One victory in four years? So what.", "Most over rated driver in Cup history". But all of that is ok, because the people who matter to Jr. were able to celebrate, his fans (me included). After so many close calls (7 second place finishes in those 143 races), I believe a larger than normal celebration for the sports undisputed most popular driver was more than merited, and I'm glad there was. Don't like him? Don't celebrate.


    As for the talk of championship. Earnhardt Jr., at this point is having a championship season. Having been a factor at all different tracks, getting the monkey off his back with the elusive victory and sitting only 4 points back of leader Matt Kenseth, one could argue that Earnhardt Jr. is poised for a championship. But this is NASCAR so only one thing I can say for sure: the next few weeks are going to be a roller coaster. It starts with Sonoma.


     We're in for a wild ride. Smitty OUT

** Quotes and pics from NASCAR.com **

#3WideBlog Opinion: Kurt Busch Suspension, My Take

     On Tuesday June 5th 2012, the inevitable happened. NASCAR suspended Kurt Busch until June 13th 2012, and has extended his already existing probation (originally set to end July 25th 2012) until Dec. 31st 2012 for his actions following the NASCAR Nationwide Series race June 2nd 2012 at Dover International Speedway. Busch violated Section 12-1 (actions detrimental to stock car racing; violation of probation; verbal abuse to a media member) of the 2012 NASCAR Rule Book.


     After leaving some time for it all to sink in, reading various articles from the media, reading drivers and fans mixed reaction I have formulated my own opinion. Honestlly I had two knee-jerk reactions when I read this news on my twitter feed at work. "It's about time" and "WOW". Now before you climb up on me as a "Kurt Busch hater" hear me out. Kurt Busch is one of NASCAR's elite drivers. Having captured the 2004 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Championship, and having amassed 24 victories, 88 top-5's and 170 top-10's in his Sprint Cup Series career, there is no question that Kurt Busch is a very talented driver.


     Busch's talent however, is often clouded by controversial events. He is well known for his on track run-ins with drivers, notably: Jimmy Spencer, Greg Biffle, Kevin Harvick, Robby Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and even his younger brother Kyle, who owns his NASCAR Nationwide Series car now. But that's more than expected at this level. With the most elite drivers and the highest competition level any driver is likely to have an on track run-in with another, its just how the aftermath is dealt with. There was the incident in the pits at Darlington between Ryan Newman and himself, innocent enough, it was in my opinion his reaction to Newman's crew members that landed him on probation.

Kurt Busch ripping the transcript
(YouTube screen cap)

     Herein lies Kurt Busch's problem, dealing with an issue once it arises. Its not even most often a driver he has an issue with, its the media. NASCAR has rules set out in its rulebook that prohibit drivers from verbally abusing or threatening media members, Busch has flagrantly disregarded this rule on several occasions. Notably: Richmond in September of 2011 Kurt and Jimmie Johnson had tangled on track, when NASCAR.com reporter Joe Menzer asked “Kurt, can either you or Jimmie win the Chase…”. Busch cut Menzer off replying “How did I see you were going to come with that? We’re good.” and turned to walk away. Busch ultimately shouted, swore and went after Menzer before Team Penske members had to restrain him. Associated Press reporter Jenna Fryer later in a press conference asked Johnson about the comment during the post race interview, Busch interrupted denying it and Fryer offered to show him the transcript. Busch then tore up the transcript (after reading) showing he had made these statements and walked out of the media center.

Kurt Busch & Jamie Little
(YouTube Screen cap)

     Another instance is, before the 2011 New Hampshire Motor Speedway race, Kurt's #22 Penske crew had to delay taking their car to the grid until after the anthem. This was due to issues with their rear-end housing. Pit reporter Jamie Little, who was walking with Busch, asked if it was okay for her to ask a question. Busch responded with: "Why the f#%k do you think it would be okay, I gotta get in my car. NASCAR told me I gotta get in my car"


     

Kurt Busch & Dr. Punch

     Then the incident at the 2011 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. While waiting for a live interview with senior pit road reporter Dr. Jerry Punch, Busch verbally berated him with repeated expletives until the interview was cancelled. This was caught on camera by a fan and posted on YouTube, ultimately it also led to his release from Penske. During the 2011 NASCAR Championship week, Busch revealed that he had been working with a sports psychologist to work on "personal issues". Untill Darlington of this year it had looked like Kurt had changed his ways. Then came his comments to Bob Pockrass that got him suspended.


     NASCAR sent a clear message and used Kurt Busch as the billboard. I was just as surprised as everyone to learn of the suspension but it was time, and it quickly became clear. NASCAR's probation is not to be taken lightly, once thought of as a "slap on the wrist", it now carries more weight than before. Another thing was that NASCAR will not tolerate continued abuse of media members. Fines and probation were not teaching Kurt the lesson so NASCAR was forced to take the next step. James Finch has agreed to continue to field his #51 Chevrolet with Kurt as the driver on a race by race basis, and is quoted saying  "Here's the deal: Quit wrecking the cars, get a good finish, be nice to people. That's not real hard to do." 


     Here's hoping for Kurt's career, his fans, and NASCAR that he can turn this around and not spoil his unquestionable talent.


     Untill next time Smitty Out.

#3WideBlog Race Review: "Monster Mile"

     The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visited "The Monster Mile", Dover International Speedway today for the FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks. Being race 13 on the schedule, this race marked the halfway point of the Sprint Cup Series "Race to the Chase". Located in Dover Delaware, "The Monster Mile" is a 1 mile track that features a concrete surface, 24 degrees of banking in the corners and 9 degree banked straight-aways. The track has tight quarters with walls very close on both side, and the "self cleaning" banking makes the track close up quickly when a car spins. The tracks mascot "Miles the Monster" sits just outside the track waiting to "claim his victims".  Turns out he didn't have to wait long today.

Miles the Monster

     Mark Martin sat on the pole for the race, it was his 3rd pole of the year, his 5th at "The Monster Mile" and the 54th of his career, which is 8th on the all-time list. He drove his Aarons Dream machine past the edge of control, swinging it sideways to edge Jimmie Johnson for the pole by 0.005 seconds. Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick, Points leader Greg Biffle, Kyle, Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin started 3rd through 10th.

A 13 car pileup at lap 9 brought out the red flag (Getty Images)

     The green flag flew and Johnson took the lead from Martin on the backstretch to lead lap one, but Martin came back a few laps later to reclaim the lead. On lap 9 chaos ensued. 3-time and defending Cup Series champion Tony Stewart had a poor qualifying effort of 29th and was attempting to pick his way through the field. He had stuck his fender under Landon Cassil entering turn 1, and when Cassil arched the corner he made contact with Stewart. Regan Smith was coming with a run on the inside and couldn't slow up fast enough. With Cassil, Stewart and Smith spinning the track was blocked, the crash collected Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Speed, David Gilliland, Dave Blaney, Joe Nemecheck, Michael McDowell, Casey Mears, Reed Sorenson, Steven Leicht and Travis Kvapil. With 13 mangled racecars blocking the exit of turn 2 and most of the backstretch the race was red flagged for about half an hour. During the red flag Smith in an interview with a FOX reporter said he took full responsibility for the incident, and said that he could not slow down to avoid Stewart starting the chain reaction. Stewart wound up finishing 26th 69 laps down. It was the biggest multi-car crash of the season and the first since Talladega.

Johnson leads at "The Monster Mile (Getty Images)

     Most of the leaders stayed on track and  Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman and Kyle Busch were the top-5 on the restart. Johnson would snag the lead back from Martin at lap 30 and the two traded it back and forth through green flag pitstops between them, untill a caution at lap 111 when David Reutimann's engine expired. After pitstops Johnson, Martin, Kenseth, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon restarted top 5. Johnson continued to lead through a lap 164 caution where Carl Edwards saw his good run hit the wall,  but at lap 211 Gordon took the lead from Johnson, and Kyle Busch had taken his car to the garage with a blown engine just 6 laps prior. A lap 226 caution for debris on the frontstretch slowed the field and after pitstops it was Gordon, Johnson, Kenseth, Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the top 5. Harvick restarted 19th after almost missing his pitbox.


     After the green flag it was apparent that Jeff Gordon's bad luck was going to continue, he let Johnson pass for the lead at lap 244 and by lap 251 he was on pit road to repair a loose wheel and came out about 20th 2 laps down. He would pass the leader to gain a lap back and eventually retake the lead from Johnson but a debris caution at lap 340 foiled his plans as he was trapped a lap down being on a diffferent pit strategy as the front runners. He would get a wave around and wind up finishing 13th.

Jimmie Johnson celebrates Madagascar style (Getty Images)

     After two more quick cautions at laps 345 and 363 for Kurt Busch and Jeff Burtons engines expiring the top 5 were Johnson, Harvick who battled hard to recover from the earlier pit road miscue, Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth and Bowyer. The restart set up a 30 lap dash for the checkered flag where Jimmie Johnson drove off to beat Kevin Harvick by 2.550 seconds.  Johnson dominated leading 289 of 400 laps on his way to his 7th career Dover victory to tie Richard Petty and Bobby Allison for the most all time at the track. It was Johnson's 57th career victory (8th all-time), and his second victory of the year just in the last three races.


     Its going to take a lot to stop the Hendrick train heading into Pocono next week, Hendrick drivers (Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne) now have won four races in a row, including the All-Star. In those four races Jeff Gordon has often had the fastest car to only have problems and Dale Earnhardt Jr. has been beating on the door of a victory with finishes of 6th and 3rd in the last two races, winning the Sprint Showdown and placing 5th in the All Star race. Can anyone stop the train?


               Unofficial race results: FedEx 400 Benefiting Autism Speaks       

FIN	ST	CAR	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	PTS/BNS	LAPS	STATUS
1	2	48	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe's Madagascar	48/5	400	Running
2	6	29	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Jimmy Johns	42/0	400	Running
3	5	17	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Best Buy	42/1	400	Running
4	17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	AMP Energy / Diet Mtn. Dew / National Guard	41/1	400	Running
5	4	15	Clint Bowyer	Toyota	5-hour Energy	39/0	400	Running
6	12	43	Aric Almirola	Ford	Jani-King / Smithfield	38/0	400	Running
7	18	56	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	37/0	400	Running
8	11	20	Joey Logano	Toyota	The Home Depot	36/0	400	Running
9	13	5	Kasey Kahne	Chevrolet	HendrickCars.com	35/0	400	Running
10	21	9	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	Stanley	34/0	400	Running
11	7	16	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M / Heilind (EMD)	33/0	400	Running
12	16	2	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	32/0	400	Running
13	14	24	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	DuPont	32/1	400	Running
14	1	55	Mark Martin	Toyota	Aaron's Dream Machine	31/1	400	Running
15	3	39	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Quicken Loans	29/0	400	Running
16	23	22	AJ Allmendinger	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil	28/0	400	Running
17	20	27	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Menards / Pittsburgh Paints	27/0	400	Running
18	10	11	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Freight / Autism Speaks	27/1	400	Running
19	24	1	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / Allstate	25/0	400	Running
20	22	47	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Scott Products	24/0	399	Running
21	28	34	David Ragan	Ford	MHP / 8 Hour Alert	24/1	398	Running
22	15	31	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	BB&T	22/0	364	Engine
23	42	93	Travis Kvapil	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	21/0	348	Running
24	9	51	Kurt Busch	Chevrolet	Phoenix Construction Services	20/0	338	Engine
25	29	14	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Mobil 1 / Office Depot	19/0	331	Running
26	19	99	Carl Edwards	Ford	Subway	18/0	318	Running
27	26	78	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row / CSX "Play it Safe"	17/0	306	Running
28	31	42	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	16/0	296	Running
29	8	18	Kyle Busch	Toyota	M&M's	15/0	202	Engine
30	38	32	Reed Sorenson	Ford	FAS Lane Racing	0	124	Accident
31	39	10	David Reutimann	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	13/0	110	Engine
32	41	36	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	Tommy Baldwin Racing	12/0	65	Accident
33	32	30	David Stremme	Toyota	Inception Motorsports	11/0	63	Overheating
34	34	249	J.J. Yeley	Toyota	America Israel Racing / JPO Absorbents	10/0	41	Overheating
35	37	33	Stephen Leicht *	Chevrolet	Little Joes Autos.com	9/0	29	Accident
36	36	119	Mike Bliss	Toyota	Humphrey Smith Racing	0	23	Steering
37	43	23	Scott Riggs	Chevrolet	North Texas Pipe	7/0	21	Vibration
38	27	83	Landon Cassill	Toyota	Burger King / Dr Pepper	6/0	9	Accident
39	35	87	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	AM / FM Energy Wood & Pellet Stoves	0	9	Accident
40	30	38	David Gilliland	Ford	Autism Speaks	4/0	9	Accident
41	40	13	Casey Mears	Ford	GEICO	3/0	8	Accident
42	33	98	Michael McDowell	Ford	Phil Parsons Racing	2/0	8	Accident
43	25	179	Scott Speed	Ford	Team Kyle / Koma Unwind	1/0	8	Accident

* Denotes Rookie                                              Unofficial race results via NASCAR.com