Kyle gets gored at the bullring!
Written by Rich Hemstreet · August 24, 2008
Three race leaders… sounds boring. But it wasn’t! Carl Edwards took the early lead, only to give it up to Kyle Busch. Other than a single lap up front by Jeff Gordon, Busch was firmly in control for more than 400 laps. After every pit stop, with fresh rubber, Carl would challenge Kyle for the lead, occasionally pulling beside him, but never getting ahead of him. On lap 469, following yet another caution, Carl got under Kyle, bumped him, and went back into the lead. Kyle’s teammate Denny Hamlin also got past Kyle to run second.After a few more laps Kyle got back into second place, but never was able to pull close enough to tap Edwards, until the cool down lap, following the checkered flag. On the cool down Kyle hit Carl and Edwards used his car to slam Kyle back. In his radio interview after the race Kyle threatened to wreck Carl at a future event. A rivalry is fine, but I don’t think Kyle is mature enough to be involved in a rivalry. I think, to be fair, both of these drivers had better be talked to. And if Kyle puts Carl out of an event Kyle should be immediately black flagged and parked for multiple races. I don’t think points, or fines, would make enough of an impression on Kyle.
Juan Montoya finished two laps down, but he was one of the hardest cars to pass all night long. Carl first lost the lead to Gordon as he tried to lap Juan. He regained it a lap later only to lose it to Busch a few laps later all while still trying to lap Montoya. Juan finished two laps down, in 19th place, but he raced everybody for every pass. That’s good to see. It would be better racing if the leaders had to cleanly get past the traffic themselves, rather than drivers simply pulling over to let the leaders go.
We had a “big one” at Watkins Glenn. Now we had a “big one” at Bristol. With as many as eight cars involved, it proved to be very costly for Kasey Khane. Kahne finished 40th, losing three positions in the points standing, falling out oftheChase. It’s going to be tough for Kasey to earn a spot in the Chase now.
In other news, Childress Racing has signed Casey Mears to drive the #07 car next season. Clint Boyer will switch to the new Cheerios ride. I think Mears is a mistake. I expect he won’t even last a full year in tha ride. Especially if he drops out of the top 35 starting positions.
There’s still an opening at Penske racing, in the #12 car ’s empty seat. I hope Penske grabs a young performer from the truck, or ARCA series, not just another Cup retread. Of course I would be happy to see Robbby Gordon join forces with Penske, if the two of them could get along. That would still leave Penske with an empty seat, but I think it would be helpful enough to Robby that you would see him in the winner’s circle before the season ends.
Bill Elliott had a great qualifying run in the Wood’s Brothers’ car #21. With a #5 starting spot he kept the car on the lead lap for quite a while. Elliott finished 26th, three laps down. Maybe even the Woods are starting to turn things aound, with their Watkins Glen Finish and their Bristol qualifying. I’m not sure who will be in the driver’s seat in California, but I hope they have another encouraging run.
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Any NASCAR sanctions for Kyle and Carl due to the post race taps and rubbin’?