Yippee Kayay says Cousin Carl. The Streak To The Finish from the Dickies 500 at Texas

What everyone thought would be a clinching of the Championship for Jimmie Johnson turned south. Johnson was saying prior to the race that their car was really good and fast and that they were not going to hold back, well as luck would have it, the #48 team struggled with an ill handling car all day and just could not get it done. Jack Roush has to be buying some new hats especially when his teams all finish in the Top 10 with the exception of David Ragan but heck he finished 11th. Did anyone else notice the lack of attendance in the stands at Texas? Isn’t this one of those tracks that sells out all the time? Yet just another sign of how tough the economy is on the sport and I am sure it will not get any better in the future.

Here are some of my random thoughts on the race;

1. I’ll be your Huckleberry! I can just imagine hearing Carl say that as he won on Sunday at Texas as he closes in on Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Championship. Carl did not waste anytime moving up front and stayed up front for pretty much the entire race until the late pit stop where some teams opted for 2 tires vice 4. Despite being back in 7th place, Carl slowly but surely made his way back up to the front and there was no looking back. Hats off to the #99 Team, especially the gas mileage engineer, do you think he will be getting a bonus check from Jack?

2. An Eye for An Eye? Okay so Montoya fesses up that he was being a bit aggressive towards David Gilliland and giving him a shove here and a bump there but lets put this in perspective in that Montoya had a Top 10 car and the #38 was holding him up along with being a few laps down so do you really blame Montoya but when the #38 came rocketing down on the track and slammed into the #42 at over 185mph, that is just lunacy. I was happy to see NASCAR park the #38 and I wouldn’t be surprised if hefty fines along with points coupled with perhaps sitting out a race is not handed out. Drivers that do those types of things should be banned from the sport because both of them along with other drivers could have been seriously hurt if not killed. If you want to settle your differences, do it behind the haulers and NOT on the track.

3. The Beak was flying. David Reutimann showed that he belongs in the Cup series and may be the only glimmer of light over at MWR. David ran up in the Top 10 most of the day and finished 10th.

4. Crown Royal is Proud. Jamie McMurray looked like he was going to take home the victory but alas he could not close the deal but he has really come on strong since Dover and has been showing signs of improvement. He may not have had the most stellar season out of all the Roush drivers but he NEVER gave up and I am sure he will race his butt off in the last two races.

5. Ding Dong, the witch is not dead. Lets not give up on AJ Allmendinger, he could have had a Top 15 finish if not for his speeding penalty and still shows that he is one of those drivers that deserve to be driving in the Cup series.

6. Are Fords that good? Carl did mention about his fuel mileage from his Fusion and even teammate Greg Biffle was wondering how Carl lasted 8 laps more then he did. Okay Greg, did you see how Carl was racing the last 5 laps and it does matter on how heavy your right foot is on that gas pedal. The way Greg stated it in his post race interview almost sounded like he was accusing his teammate of cheating. Tip of the day Greg, make sure you clear those comments with your team owner first, he does write your paycheck.

7. Magic 8-ball. Does anyone else realize that with Carl’s win at Texas on Sunday, that ties him with Shrub? Both of them have 8 wins each this season but Kyle has come up short and is out of contention for the Championship. Consistency is the key.

Carl is only 106 points away from Jimmie Johnson and has made the Chase a bit more exciting to say the least. Next up is Phoenix where Jimmie does have a better record but lets not count out our Cousin Carl, he is going for broke. Watch that rear view mirror Jimmie, if you are not careful, you just may get passed.

The Biff Bounces Back...Streak To The Finish from the Sylvania 300 at Loudon

Way to go Greg!!! Hats off to Greg and the #16 Team for an impressive win at Loudon this past Sunday.

Am I alone when I say this but wasn't it nice to see someone else win a race, especially one of the drivers that has not been talked about all that much during the regular season and now into the Chase? Biffle has been flying under the radar this season and was like a submarine getting into the chase, he is silent and deadly. Out of the 12 drivers in the Chase, he is the most under rated. I am sure eyes have been opened after this race and they now realize that the Biff is not playing around anymore and is going for a Championship.

Some of my observations from the race:

1. Break out the Tissues: For all of your Kyle Busch fans out there, however many that there really are, how did it feel to see a driver that won 8 races during the season, had such a demanding lead coming into the Chase and now fall from 1st to 8th in just one race? It just goes to show that anything can happen in this sport and no matter how good of a driver you are, you can not help mechanical failures. Kyle is not out of the Chase one bit and will be surely back next week ready to redeem this ugly incident at Loudon.

2. Oh No Joey: For such an impressive driver at the young age of 18, how in the heck does he get a POS to drive during a cup race? Do you mean to tell me that Hall of Fame Racing could not give this kid a better piece of equipment? Are you trying to keep this kids spirits down? Don't you get your equipment from JGR? Someone needs to break out the calibration tool and use it on the #96 Team Crew Chief and owners. Don't worry about it Joey, you have the talent and persistence to take a horrible day like this and turn it around into something positive.

3. Fizzling Rocket: What is going on with Ryan Newman? He starts 17th and finishes 36th. His teammate, Kurt Busch, who started 20th and finished 6th definitely had the right set up. These two teams always seem to share their set ups with one another. Is it because Newman is leaving at the end of this year? Does Ryan have a short timers attitude? Maybe Penske should start docking his pay for his performance, do you think that would get his attention? Ryan is an outstanding driver but I just think that these drivers that are going to be with different teams next year, just really want to get this season over with and move on, this is just an assumption but stats always speak for themselves.

4. Stewart remembered his Ridlin: We saw a totally different Tony this weekend compared to his blow ups last week. He was very calm on the radio the entire race and even when his pit crew made two mistakes, he never once snapped at them for the errors. We even heard him joking on the radio during the race with Zippy, a big time 180 from last week when Tony chewed Zippy up one side and down the other. We all know this is a very emotional sport and the pressure of getting into the Chase just adds to it but lets face it, yelling and screaming will not get you no where. I am wondering if Joe Gibbs put Tony in a time out last week?.

5. Worst Hands Move of the Race: Allstate might have the Good Hands move of the race but this week we have a tie for the Worst hands move and the award goes to the two drivers, DRUM ROLL PLEASE........Robby Gordon for punting the #10 and Michael Waltrip and his little antics he played with Dale Jr. Okay so Robby was fighting to stay in the Top 35 in owners points but what in the hell was Mikey thinking driving that hard and aggressive with one of the Chase drivers? Yes, it is a race and everyone is entitled to try and win even though they may not be in the Chase but you have to draw the line somewhere and Mikey truly stepped over it. Tisk Tisk Mikey, maybe you can make a NAPA commerical out of that one.

Yes, it was an entertaining race this week and not as boring as most have been this season. We can see the attendance, despite being the first race of the chase, is still down and lets not try to blame it on the weather now folks, that is just a poor excuse. Diehard fans will show up no matter what the weather is like.

Next week we visit the Monster at Dover. Who will be victorious and who will fall prey to the Concrete Monster?