NASCAR 2006 Season

Unofficial Top 10:
1)Jimmie Johnson
2)Casey Mears
3)Ryan Newman
4)Elliot Sadler
5)Tony Stewart
6)Clint Bowyer
7)Brian Vickers
8)Dale Earnhardt Jr.
9)Ken Schrader
10)Dale Jarrett


Not as exciting as last years 500, but it was still a good start for the season. I certainly didn't expect Jimmie Johnson to win. You know Chad Knaus must have been grinding his teeth into stumps having to watch his driver win it without him. I didn't care to see it end the way it did though, even if it was mere seconds from actually finishing under green.

Jr. had a good day coming in 8th, he could have easily won had he gotten some solid drafting help. His car was one of the strongest in the field, as usual. No matter how well he does on ST's, and SW's this year, he will always be a frontrunner on the SS's. I expect he will be really strong this season overall.

Jeff Gordon and his crew put forth a great effort for opening day. After making contact with Tony Stewart on lap 49, sending them both into the wall, the 24 car sustained significant damage and returned from the pits in 41st. They made it back into the top 10 after getting the car back into shape, but losing 3rd gear, and further trouble on the track, relegated him to a 26th place finish. Not as disasterous of an end as I had anticipated, in light of all the trouble he'd been dealt. I think the run bodes well for their season. Letarte definitely knows what he's doing at this point.

Biggest story of the day for me, was Tony Stewart. After all week of him complaining about aggressive driving, he sure backs up all that talk in a very strange way. Not checking up on Jeff was one thing, but the way he blatantly took Matt Kenseth out was just fucked up. At 190+ you don't play around like that no matter what the retaliation is for. Save that kinda bangin' for the short tracks.

I'm just so glad FOX takes over now.
Next race-Fontana,CA: 02/26/06

Stewart is, as Stewart does.

What a fuckhole he was during his post-race interview, not to mention his reckless behavior on the track all day. Gibbs better start reelin' up that huge slack he's let out on Tony's leesh...and he better do it quick.

Ryan Newman sure has a hard on for Jimmie Johnson. In all his post race interviews he's ripping on JJ and his crew, calling them out as cheaters. I can remember it wasn't long ago everyone was saying the same about Ryan when he was enjoying his big win streak in '04. Drivers and crewchiefs said Ryan and his crew were finding ways to pass NASCAR inspections while sneaking in more fuel than was allowed. He won so many of those fuel mileage races, while all the other Fords(Rusty Wallace included)couldn't make it as far as he did after each pit stop. Sounds like sour grapes to me, with a splash of guilty conscience stirred into the mix. What do you think?

Tony Stewart is behaving rather poorly as the reigning champion. I thought after he was successful in keeping his cool throughout last season, he would finally be over the hurdle of being his own worst enemy. He's just gotta be able to see how much of a total ass he was in his interview right after the race. I think his skill on the track is second only to Gordon's, but I know his people skills are just about as developmentally challenged as Mike Tyson's. "This aggression will not stand, man."

Greg Biffle is the clear frontrunner to win at todays 2 mile downforce track:California, winning this race last year, as well as the Busch race yesterday. I predict it's going to be a Rousch Racing day with Biffle, Martin, Kenseth, and Edwards out front all day. Kurt Busch will be very strong as well in light of how fast his time was in nabbing the pole, and he's undoubtedly hungry for a win today to offset his 38th place finish at Tona last week. All the Ford's(even non-Rousch ones)have an advantage with their aero package at these 2 mile downforce tracks(California, Michigan)having won more races since 2000 than all the other manufacturers combined.

Any predictions for a winner today? I honestly have to say Biffle. I don't want to see him win by any means, but the numbers indicating a Ford will be pulling into Victory Lane at the end of the day, are simply overwhelming. Barring aside any on track mishaps, I predict that all the Rousch Ford's will finish in the top 10, hell, maybe even top 5.

Top 10:California

1)Matt Kenseth
2)Jimmie Johnson
3)Carl Edwards
4)Kasey Kahne
5)Jeff Burton
6)Jamie McMurray
7)Casey Mears
8)J.J. Yeley
9)Mark Martin
10)Kyle Busch

Not quite the results I had predicted, but it looked to be dead on the money until the 20 and 16 blew up. Not a very fun race to watch, but California(one of my least favorite)never really is IMO. There's a break this week, with the next race at Las Vegas, another one of my least favorite tracks unfortunately. But then the next three are some of my favorites:Atlanta, Bristol, Martinsville. The two best short tracks back to back this year, that's gonna be some fun shit right there.

Good win for Kenseth. Too bad Stewart blew his engine though, as he was poised to take the lead from Biffle towards the end. I was surprised Biffle and crew felt they needed to run so hot yesterday, since they've dominated there with less for at least two years now. All the Rousch cars are essentially the same setup engine-wise, so I imagine Biffle must have gone with too much tape as extra insurance against his teamates, since the rest of their rides held up to finish the race.

Current Standings

1)J. Johnson 355
2)C. Mears -39
3)M. Kenseth -47
4)K. Kahne -60
5)Earnhardt Jr. -68
6)M. Martin -80
7)R. Newman -82
8)C. Bowyer -84
9)B. Vickers -95
10)E. Sadler -96

Yeah, Dariun Grubb's record is 2 wins, and a 2nd place finish, out of only three races as a crewchief, ever. That's just insane. They might want to renegotiate Knaus's contract.

That was a nice move by Johnson through 3 & 4 to take it away from Kenseth clean, exactly what Carl Edwards did to JJ last year in Atlanta.

Gordon had a strong day and finished 5th. I think Jeff will have a good run this week in Atlanta too, maybe win it. He's due for a win and he's always been strong there.

Hell no! I don't want it to die! I've just been really busy lately, sorry about that.

Bristol Top 10
1)Kurt Busch
2)Kevin Harvick
3)Matt Kenseth
4)Carl Edwards
5)Bobby Labonte
6)Mark Martin
7)Greg Biffle
8)Kyle Busch
9)Ryan Newman
10)Kasey Kahne

So now then... about Matt Kenseth. He shocked me by doing that to my boy, and on the last lap no less. Jeff dropped from 3rd to 21st with Matt's little outburst. I'm pretty damn sure Matt was just misdirecting his anger he felt towards Busch taking away his lead(though in Kurt's defense, it was about as "nice" of a bump and run manuever that you will ever see)and Jeff just happened to be the only one nearby for Matt do dish some hate out on.

Jeff passed Matt clean, and was faster than Matt, but he got held up by the car in front of him after he made the pass. Matt, still fuming over Kurt's move, simply lost his cool at that point and didn't bother to lift, or apply any brake at all to stay off of Jeff's bumper. Matt is one of the cleanest, most respectful drivers on the track every week. It was just extremely unfortunate for Jeff that Matt wasn't his usual self this time out.

In regards to, "the shove". I must admit I lept from my chair and cheered my boy on for that one. Jeff and his crew work hard all day to achieve yet another top 5 finish(it "would" have been 3 top 5's, for 3 weeks in a row)only to have Matt take it all away with his stupid mistake on the last lap. I wished for a punch to follow, but as far as shoves go, it was a good one, and almost knocked Matt on his ass.

Now if Jeff misses out on making the Top 10 after the 26th race this year, I will be looking back on this incident with much more disdain for Matt than I do now. He better be looking out for Jeff in his rearview all day at Martinsville, he owes Jeff a lot of favors right about now.

Top 10 Standings after 5 races
1)M. Kenseth
2)K. Kahne -8
3)J. Johnson -19
4)M. Martin -32
5)K. Busch -105
6)Earnhardt Jr. -118
7)J. Gordon -138
8)C. Mears -140
9)T. Stewart -181
10)D. Jarrett -189

Next week: Martinsville

That sounds like an idea Matt Goldberg would have submitted to Dateline for a NASCAR themed segment.

An example of Matt's love for NASCAR, right here...

http://chud.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88377

That was pretty damn scary when Jeff's right front brake went out going into T1. That was the hardest hit I've ever seen him take in a race. The fact that he was able get out of his car immediately after is a testament to how safe the cars, safety devices and new softer barriers in the cup series really are.

Rookie Denny Hamlin was the man today. He started on the pole, spun out on lap 50 and fell to 40th, and yet the kid still won in dominant fashion. It's the 3rd race this year that a driver has won from the pole. He goes from 11th to 9th in points. This guy is clearly the real deal.

Rain delay is over for now, it just went green.

Just in case you guys weren't already aware, the Cup series race (Daytona) is tonight on FOX. Pre-race coverage is almost over now, so we're just minutes away from going green.

edit- Brandon Routh is the Grand Marshall tonight... lol