Streak To The Finish...Toyota/Save Mart 350

Who would of thought that Kyle Busch would be winning this race. The way everyone has been talking about him and his lack of performance really put a fire in his belly and he was out to prove everyone wrong and he did it impressively. Once Kyle got out front, there was no looking back. There were a few times that drivers had a chance at him, especially Jamie McMurray and David Gilliland but the #18 was just too quick and Kyle did not miss his mark. Whether you like him or not, you have to admit that this kid is really on fire and has his eye on the prize to be the next Cup Champion.

Here are some of my observations from the race at Sonoma and most of them came with about 8 laps to go:

1. Was Kevin Harvick trying to make a 7-10 split in the closing laps of the race? He just drove that car too hard into the turn and completely lost it and in the process, took out two of the contenders that had a very good chance at giving Busch a run for his money in Tony Stewart and Jamie McMurray. Tony did recover and finished 10th but McMurray ended up with a disappointing 18th place finish.

2. How about that tire pressure. Elliott Sadler really did push the limits with two laps to go with that tire. Was it a risk to take? I can see the view of the team trying to push it and finish the race but what if Elliott's tire would of blown out, how many cars behind him would of been effected? You know that Clint Bowyer was really watching him carefully but on the flip side to that, a driver is so worried about that, that he loses his concentration about the other drivers around him. Do you think NASCAR should of black flagged him? It is all opinion and he ended up finishing 19th and wrecked his car. Was it really worth it?

3. Doing Donuts. That was one of the best burnouts I have seen in awhile and look how symmetrical those circles were that Kyle made right at the finish line although his rear drivers tire was completely vaporized.

4. Road Course Ringers not hearing the bell. What happened to all of the hired guns for this race? Most of them finished at the back of the field due to mechanical problems. One of the BIGGEST disappointments was Marcos Ambrose who was running in the Top 5 for most of the day until the incident with McMurray that knocked him out of the race and finished his day early. It is really disheartening when you have a guy that is driving his first cup race but let us not forget, he did not make too many friends out there on the track. He was driving a bit too aggressive and not doing the give and take. You need to gain the respect of your fellow drivers out there and with his style of driving, he did not gain any favor points.

5. More Empty Seats. Once again, we see the lack of filled seats at another race and it is probably not going to get any better in the future with skyrocketing gas prices, especially in California. I am surprised the smaller teams are being able to keep up. I have this gut feeling that some teams both in the Cup series and in the Nationwide series are going to be forced to bail out and retire their organizations. In a sport that is fueled by gas, no pun intended, it has to be a strain. It is not cheap to fuel those haulers when you are paying close to $5.00/gallon for diesel.

6. Hey Marty, get the hint. Marty Snider needs to pick and choose his words more carefully, especially when he is interviewing Tony Stewart. I give Tony a lot of credit for maintaining his composure during the post race interview. Tony was trying to tell Snider that he did not get to see the replay of the accident and Snider just kept pushing the issue until Tony, very calmly, said "You were not in the car and out on the field so how would you know what is going on." Umm Marty, that was a subtle hint to shut up before you were made to shut up. Snider did try to recover by saying that Tony had a great car but that is just adding more salt to the wound. Just another case of foot in mouth disease by these stellar reporters that are hired to cover the races.

7. Give credit where credit is due. As I mentioned earlier, critics have been really hard on Kyle Busch. Yes, he does have this "Rowdy" attitude about him but having 5 wins under his belt has to say something for the kid. He has shown that he is very versatile in his racing being able to race pretty much anywhere on any track. Now that he has put aside racing in the other leagues, he is staying focused on the #18 Team and winning the Cup this year. Does he remind you of another driver that was this young? Just in case you are wondering who I am talking about, it is Jeff Gordon. Fans either love him or hate him and that is the way the fans are seeing Kyle. Not too many boo's heard from the crowd after his victory. Does this signal a change in the way fans are viewing him? We shall wait and see.

Overall, my predictions for this race were a little skewed. I was expecting to see more from the Road course warriors and more of a challenge for the lead but we only saw two passes for the lead and once Kyle got out front, it was all over. We had to wait for the last 8 laps of this race for it to become exciting. Just your typical road course race. Better to just DVR it and watched it later. I do want to put out a congrats to David Gilliland and Yates Racing for finishing 2nd, his best finish of his career.

Next up is Loudon. Looks like those haulers will be paying big money at the pumps to get all the teams back across the country. Who is the rocket scientist that do the NASCAR schedules? Do you think we will see another schedule change for 2009 now that the economy is being hit so hard. If I am a betting man, we are going to see changes. We may even see some of the races cut from the schedule but alas that is just my opinion.

I hope everyone has a great week.