The Close Of Another Exciting Season
Could this get any more exciting?
Carl Edwards tried his best to derail history, but it was not enough to deny Jimmie Johnson.
Needing only to place 36th or better in Sunday’s Ford 400, Johnson played it safe and finished 15th to become the first driver to win three straight series championships since Cale Yarborough accomplished the feat from 1976-78.
Yes I was being sarcastic. This was the most disappointing NASCAR season ever. Congratulations for Jimmie Johnson for staying awake and alert long enough each week to win the championship.
If NASCAR makes things any more “equal” with the Car of Tomorrow, I think I’ll just die.
Sphere: Related ContentClint Bowyer Clinches The Nationwide Title
Congratulations to Clint Bowyer for winning the Nationwide Series championship.
Carl Edwards did all he could but still was unable to capture his second straight NASCAR Nationwide Series title.
Clint Bowyer claimed the series championship despite watching Edwards win Saturday’s Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Entering with a 56-point advantage over Edwards, Bowyer - who has been atop the standings for 29 straight weeks - finished fifth in a Chevrolet. The series-high 29th top-10 finish earned Bowyer 155 points, giving him a season total of 5,132.
The Cup race is going on right now, and I have to say, last night’s Nationwide race was a lot more exciting. It’s time for the NASCAR to ditch the Car of Tomorrow. Cup races just aren’t fun to watch anymore.
Sphere: Related ContentExcitement Coming To NASCAR
You know the economy has hit NASCAR hard when they ban testing of all cars on all tracks.
What will Hendricks, Rousch, and Gibbs do next year? Without all those testing days and all those cars collecting all that data, they’ll have to play on the same field as everyone else.
NASCAR on Friday informed racing teams that is has banned all testing at its sanctioned tracks beginning next season to save millions of dollars in their 2009 budgets.
The elimination of testing includes the traditional preseason Daytona 500 testing and is for all three of NASCAR’s top divisions. Teams will not be permitted to test at any track where a Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series or Truck Series event is held.
Thanks to the economy, next year’s NASCAR schedule could be a lot more exciting.
Sphere: Related ContentYou Say Merge, I Say Sell-Out
This may sound like a good idea right now, but something tells me this “deal” is not going to good for anyone involved.
Teresa Earnhardt and Chip Ganassi will combine their slumping race teams next season, an effort to stabilize their organizations in a tough economic time.
The combined team will be called Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. Martin Truex Jr. and Juan Pablo Montoya will drive the Nos. 1 and 42 and Aric Almirola will be behind the wheel of the No. 8. The driver of the No. 41 has not been named.
I know money is tight, and I know it’s a “partnership”, but the last thing either of these teams needs to be doing is selling out at this point.
Sphere: Related ContentBenson & BDR Are Calling It Quits
This just doesn’t make sense to me.
Craftsman Trucks Series points leader Johnny Benson will be leaving Bill Davis Racing at season’s end.
The 45-year-old leads the Trucks series by six points over Ron Hornaday Jr. with two races remaining, including Friday’s race at Phoenix International Raceway.
Benson, who raced in NASCAR’s Winston Cup level for a number of teams from 1996-2003, recorded 14 victories in the NCTS, placed second in points in 2006 and was third a year ago.
“Johnny Benson has been a huge part of our success in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series,” team owner Bill Davis said in a statement . “Johnny, as well as our other veteran driver, Mike Skinner, have helped us get our NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program where it is today, and I hate to see him go.
Johnny Benson is a rock star in the Craftsman Truck Series. He’s been second or third in the final standings for the past two years and he is currently leading in points. Benson says he wants to do something different, and may even retire.
If he doesn’t retire, what else is there to do? Lose?
Sphere: Related ContentJunior Talks. NASCAR Cringes.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. spoke, at length, to the press today.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. went from race car driver to philosopher Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. And in the process, stock car racing’s favorite son likely ruffled quite a few feathers in NASCAR’s front office.
In one of his most poignant interviews ever, Earnhardt confirmed what a lot of people – most notably disenchanted or former NASCAR fans – have been thinking for a long time.
Namely, NASCAR has grown too big, the season is too long and the watered-down result, particularly the Chase for the Sprint Cup, is hurting the sport dramatically, with potentially even more damage to come as the world remains in economic crisis.
I agree with him, 100%. Several years ago, it was fun to follow NASCAR. Just ask my kids. They knew every driver’s number. They knew every manufacturer, and they loved watching the sport.
This year, they were interested for about 10 races, and that’s all she wrote. They haven’t been back. I record the races on DVR just in case I feel like watching them, but I’m with Junior. The season is too long, and the ‘events’ have become too big.
Sphere: Related ContentAnother Rainy Friday In NASCAR
For the third week in a row, and the tenth time this season the starting order for the cup race was based on points because qualifying was cancelled due to rain. So, let’s see… There have been 32 races, Atlanta will be the 33rd. This has happened in 30% of the races.
For the third consecutive week, rain played a role in putting Jimmie Johnson ahead of the field.
Rain washed out Sprint Cup qualifying for the third consecutive week on Friday, forcing NASCAR to set the field on points. Therefore, Johnson will start from the pole position in his Chevrolet in Sunday’s Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Doesn’t NASCAR see this is becoming routine? We all know they hate consistency. Why aren’t they changing the days for qualifying? Why not do it a day early, that way, if there is rain, they can do it the next day? What happened to planning ahead? This is ridiculous.
Sphere: Related ContentIt’s Time To Go Camping
Wow. Camping World is taking over sponsorship of the truck series. I wonder if that means any “camping” related companies won’t be allowed to sponsor trucks?
On a sidenote, check out the following paragraph from the article. Notice anything?
Camping World on Thursday was named the new sponsor for NASCAR’s Truck Series.
The sponsorship deal is four seven years.
Camping World has been a prominent brand in NASCAR and especially the Truck Series, sponsoring the Kevin Harvick Inc. No. 33 Chevrolet that Ron Hornaday Jr. drove to a championship last season.
Four seven years is a long time.
Sphere: Related ContentRains Cancels Qualifying, Again
I have a serious problem with NASCAR lately. As you know, I have said for months that the races are boring. As long as they restrict everyone to use the same EVERYTHING in the cars, there will be no more exciting races. I don’t see why they can’t keep the technology and safety of the car of tomorrow, but can the design and the tight restrictions. Let’s see some real racing.
Anyway, back to my point. Not only are the races boring, but qualifying this season has been a complete joke. We don’t get to see them qualify, to know whose cars might actually be better, and then we watch a race that is throttled in creativity, imagination, and competitiveness.
Jimmie Johnson will lead the field to green for the NASCAR Sprint Cup TUMS QuikPak 500 at Martinsville Speedway after qualifying was rained out on Friday.
That is bad news for the rest of the field, as no one has been better recently on the .526-mile oval than Johnson, the two-time reigning series champion.
Oh sure, I’ll record the race. I don’t watch them live anymore though. It’s too much of a waste of time when nothing is going to be any different than the race before. Oh, except maybe someone will get lucky on pit road and unexpectedly win the race.
Sphere: Related ContentJeff Burton Wins At Lowe’s Motor Speedway
Jeff Burton pulled off an excellent win on Saturday night.
Jeff Burton failed to win a championship when he was anointed NASCAR’s next big star, the guy everyone thought would challenge for multiple titles.
He couldn’t win one years later, when, after years of mediocrity, he suddenly found himself back in the mix.
A win Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway rocketed Burton onto Jimmie Johnson’s bumper with five races to go to decide the championship, and Burton is convinced he’s as capable of winning a title now as he was when he was a young hotshot.
Burton and his team took a gamble late in the race and it paid off big time. He’s just 69 points behind Jimmie Johnson with 5 races left in the Chase. Finally, a reason to be excited during the Chase.
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