• Home
• Blog
• Podcast
• Forum
• Racing On TV
• Speed Shop
• Archives
• About Us

Subscribe

• Channels:
• Formula 1
• IRL
• NASCAR
• Motorcycles
• NHRA

Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From Kansas

Well, since I’ve already covered some of the high spots of Sunday’s Camping World RV 400 here (what a stupid name for a race, by the way), let’s go ahead and jump right to the G, B, and the U from the home of Dorothy, the Jayhawks, and George Brett.

The Good:

Not every Willie Nelson song, Quentin Tarantino movie, or NASCAR races is good. But most are good and some are great. Sunday’s 400 was a good race with a great finish that actually happened because of the skill of the drivers and not because of a forced green-white-checker finish inspiring action. Over the last 10 laps race fans got the drama of one driver (Carl Edwards) relentlessly pursuing the leader (Jimmie Johsnon), catching him on the final lap, and then having the victory taken from him by his own aggressiveness. That was good, good stuff and Carl and Jimmie both added a great deal to their racing portfolio with that race and finish. Until further notice, these two are the top guys in the sport and not just because that’s what the points say, it’s because they’re just better than everyone else.

Also good, (and surprising to me) was NASCAR’s decision not to go yellow late in the race when someone (I disremember who) got into the wall and lost some of his car. Since the debris went off the track officials decided not to yellow flag the race, something I wish that they would do more often, as sometimes cautions are a bit too mysterious for my taste. I thought that was a good call, although an argument can be made that it’s just another example of NASCAR’s inconsistencies when it comes to such matters.

I’ve been very critical of Jeff Gordon here lately (and I’m not alone), but there was nothing wrong with Gordon’s fourth place finish Sunday. If reports are to be believed Gordon was sick as a dog during that race and wasn’t sure he could finish. Not only did he race, he competed strong all afternoon. Couple racing sick with reports that Gordon was very active with the crew during the week, and it’s not hard to figure that Gordon may be getting a little sick of something else and that’s criticism. If he runs like he did Sunday there will be nothing to critique.

The Bad:

Are there any Earnhardt fans out there besides me who are also sick of watching him come out of the gate smoking, looking like his car has a little something for everybody, and then having to watch the SOS as his team fails to make the corrections that his car needs to keep him at the front of the pack and he struggles to just stay near the top 10? Either Dale’s doing a sub-par job of letting his crew chief know how his car is performing, or Tony Eury, Jr is the Phillip Fulmer of NASCAR and just doesn’t know how to make winning adjustments. But I’m sure the 88 team will continue to work like heck (inside joke for any UT fans who may be reading and sharing in my pain) and will continue to wear out the middle of the pack in the weeks left to come.

Bad, bad luck for Martin Truex, Jr. After leading the race and running good all afternoon, Truex had the toilet bowl hung around his neck when his transmission went out and he ended up at the bottom of the Kansas ledger. A good finish would have been a great confidence builder for Martin and for DEI, but instead, it was just another entry in the DEI history of malfunctioning parts.

The Ugly:

Speaking of malfunctioning parts, is anyone else out there having trouble remembering when it looked like the only thing that was going to stop Kyle Busch from winning the championship would have been an alien abduction. Either that or other drivers and crew chiefs are taking Kyle’s engines pre-race and using them for pinatas. Kyle has gone from Superman to the Phantom Stranger in the space of three weeks. He’s virtually eliminated from consideration for the top prize. It’s not all Kyle’s fault (if any of it is), but if it’s just bad luck, then Kyle has worse luck than a seventeen-year-old me trying to find a date to the prom. I have to wonder how long it will be before Kyle’s frustration becomes apparent on the track. And I pose this question. If Kyle doesn’t have anything to race for and finds himself racing a Carl Edwards that does what will happen? Anyone that thinks that Kyle has forgotten Bristol needs to have their head examined, but it would be a shame if he decides that the only way that he can affect the Chase is by eliminating someone who can win it. Not saying that’s going to happen, but it wouldn’t really surprise me.

Also, I had to turn the volume down because the sound of Joey Logano’s knees knocking was getting on my nerves. The kid’s going to be a hell of a racer but he took some lumps on Sunday with his 39th place finish. In the long run, it’ll be good for him to take some lumps these last few races, and get those nerves out of the way while it doesn’t mean anything. When he steps into the big car next year, he’ll have to be ready to go and the learning curve will be very, very short. But, on the bright side, he still finished higher than Smoke.

That’s it folks. Any cards, cares, or criticisms of the crazy guy can be sent to wwwthreestrikesandout@yahoo.com.

Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly From New Hampshire

Wow, if Kyle Busch had fallen any farther back to Earth, he would have incinerated upon re-entry. Brutal race for Kurt’s little brother as he watched all of his hard work this season vaporized in the first race of the Chase.

I’m sure that just breaks every one’s hearts, doesn’t it?

On to the G, B, and U from the Granite State:

The Good:

Good job by Greg Biffle. He’s been on the cusp of a victory all year and he finally pulled one off at Loudon. More importantly, he moved up six spots in the Chase standings into third place. Biff is a good enough driver to be a fly in the ointment during this Chase and this win should give him and his team the confidence that they can compete with the favorites.

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good and the man that made the most out of Kyle Busch’s troubles was Cousin Carl Edwards, who took the lead in the points with a strong third place finish.

Jimmie Johnson is still hotter than a trailer in the summertime. He sits at second in the points and had a great race Sunday, running right there with Biffle until the end. If I had to bet the truck on anyone right now it would probably be on Johnson. He’s the New England Patriots in the playoffs; he might not be the favorite, but I’ll believe he’s out of it when I see him lose.

The Bad:

I’ve harped on Jeff Gordon for awhile, and Rich also mentioned it in his post here. Gordon looks bored, but more than that he just appears to be completely unsure of what his car can do, and I believe that may be making him question his own abilities. A fourteenth place finish isn’t bad…if you’re Bobby Labonte, but Gordon is supposed to be one of the guys racing at the front. He can’t use the COT argument anymore, not with DE88 and JJ in the top five. If Gordon can’t get his act together soon, its going to be too late.

The Ugly:

Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch, Kyle Busch.

Did I mention Kyle Busch?

A “broken” sway bar cause Busch some problems early. (I heard Dr. Punch say that it was nearly impossible to break a sway bar and that he suspected that some one in Kyle’s pit had actually not put it on correctly.) If that speculation is correct, that’s the kind of mistake that you can’t have by a crew for a car that’s sitting as the favorite to win the Chase. Busch had about as bad a day as you can without a DNF. There’s no reason to panic after one race, but Busch better get his bad races out of the way early or he’s going to have people whispering that he’s going to choke the title away.

Whisper, whisper, whisper.

Rocky Kitts can be reached at wwwthreestrikesandout@yahoo.com and he can assure you that his sway bar is working like it’s supposed to.

Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly After Richmond

Well, that race certainly doesn’t leave me with much room to complain.

The NASCAR regular season closed itself out on Sunday with one slobberknocker of an event at Richmond.  In one of the better races of the season, Jimmie Johnson held off Tony Stewart to win his second race in a row and set himself up to make a legitimate run at his third straight championship, which is kind of impressive.  Kind of impressive in the same way that walking into a frat party with a Playboy Bunny on your arm is impressive.  Anyways, the Rock and Roll 400 had a little bit of entertainment for everyone, so let’s get started with the G, B, and U:

The Good:

I’ve already made an argument that we may not really appreciate how good Jimmie Johnson is, so I’m not going to go over that again, but when you’re the best driver on a team that has a four-time champ and the son of Dale Earnhardt, you’re probably going to be a tad bit under the radar.

It doesn’t matter whether or not Dale Junior intentionally crashed Kyle Busch or not, the fact is that the timing of it couldn’t be funnier.  The guys in the booth had just finished talking about how if Junior was going to get payback that this would not be the time he would get it, and then the next thing you know, Kyle goes for a teacups ride.  For the record, I don’t really think that DE88 did it on purpose, but the Kyle Busch haters in the crowd really could have cared less.

A strong second-place finish by Tony Stewart is going to give Smoke some fabulous momentum going into the Chase.  Also, anyone who doubts that Stewart is still focused on bringing a championship home and winning races, needs to wind back the DVR and check out Stewart’s reaction upon finishing second.  He wanted to win, thought that he had a good chance at the win, and second place was not a bit satisfying to him.

Clint Bowyer clinched the final spot in the Chase with a exclamation mark by moving up seven spots in the final pecking order.  Bowyer and his team are having a great season and he’s really positioned himself as a dark horse/wild card/whatever cliche that you want to use, going into the Chase.

The Bad:

I found out the only thing that can stop Kyle Busch’s winning ways.  I predicted a win for him on Sunday and he ended up getting used as a pinball for much of the day.  Sorry, Kyle.  However; even with those obstacles, Kyle still finished 15th, but that’s not acceptable for K Quick.  Kyle either belongs up front or in the rear.  He’s not a middle-of-the-pack kind of guy. Read more

NASCAR Tells Kyle And Carl To Play Nice

If you were wondering whether or not there were going to be any penalties due to Carl Edwards’ hands slipping on the wheel and turning Kyle Busch into a really fast pinata; the answer to that question has been given, and the great and mighty Oz of NASCAR had this to say:

“It was a postrace incident involving two highly competitive drivers, both of whom are in the midst of battling for a championship. The issue has been addressed with both drivers and they both know where they stand,” (Kerry) Tharp said. Read more

Double Clutchin’-The Good, Bad, And Ugly From Bristol

I bump you, you bump me, we’re a NASCAR family…

No Christmas cards will be exchanged between Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards this year, and there probably wouldn’t have been before Carl took Kyle’s bump during the cool-down lap and gave him his best heavy metal left hook.

I love Bristol. Read more

Busch Bashed By Backflipper at Bristol

Ok, that’s really a very misleading headline, but Rocky beat me to the punch in his post, and I wouldn’t be able to sum it up any better than that.  So it’s back to the fallback “random thoughts” format for me.  By the way, this column was missing last week, and I apologize for that.  My computer got zapped due to some ill-placed JGR magnets near my hard drive. Read more

Double Clutchin’-The G, B, And U From Michigan: Part Two

Busch>Edwards>Everybody Else.

If you wanted to sum up this season in NASCAR. you could use the formula above to sum it up and it would be hard to dispute.  There have been 23 races this season and 13 of them have been won by the duo.  And that’s just in the Cup.  The two have also combined for nine wins on the Nationwide Series, which gives them a grand total of 22 wins in both Read more

JGR Caught With Hand In Cookie Jar

Well, there are a lot of people upset with Joe Gibbs Racing right now, and it’s no surprise that most of those people are drivers and owners who have seen the rear end of Gibbs cars more than they would like to this season.  JGR and Toyotas have been dominant in both series and that’s raised many eyebrows about how they got so good, so quick.  Read more

Vickers Sits On Pole For Michigan, Stewart And Newman, Olympic Racing

The last time that Brian Vickers sat on a pole, was 2006.  Big difference between now and 2006?  In 2006 he drove for Hendrick.

Now Vickers, of course, drives for Red Bull Racing, and this is the first time that team has put a driver on the pole in their two season existence.  But when the 3M Performance Read more

Double Clutchin’-The Good, The Bad, And The Glen

What was it that The Who said?  Oh yeah, that song went a little something like this:

Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss

And I think they followed that part up with something about Read more