SMOKE ON FIRE AT KANSAS

The race to the chase is now three races old…and the Price Chopper 400 at Kansas Speedway almost looked to be another “Jimmie Johnson steals the show” yawner. However the fans who packed the stands at the Kansas Speedway were treated to by far the most competitive race in the chase in 2009.
After a few rather subpar runs to start the Chase, it was Tony Stewart who finally broke into the win column. Stewart had a quiet afternoon, not really making any noise until the final segments of the race. He didn’t make any noise in the past six races, finishing no better than 9th. Fortunately, “Smoke” rose to the top of the leaderboard and never looked back. Watch Smoke take the lead on the video below.



While it was a fight at my parents’ house to watch either the race or the Cleveland Browns football game, I was still able to watch majority of the opening stages of the race. What really caught my eye was the outstanding use of surroundings by Dave Burns, one of the pit reporters. On lap 78, after a round of pit stops, Burns was in the pit of Juan Pablo Montoya reporting that Montoya’s tire was going flat. Much to the surprise of the announcers, Dave Burns placed his microphone right next to the leaking tire, emphasizing how loud and obvious it was. This was the first time that any of the announcers in the booth had heard this effect, and it won major brownie points with me as a viewer.
I would rate this broadcast a 9 out of 10. I think ESPN has a wonderful team running all of these races. The only thing that hurts this from being a perfect score is camera placement. For the second time, a camera was placed on the helmet of a crew member on the #7 Robby Gordon team. The angle where the camera was placed was not as consistent as it was before. Fans noticed a dizzying display of work on pit road when the camera was pointed too high above the target it was aiming toward. It was a minor issue, but it was definitely a dizzy angle.
Next weekend, we motor on to Auto Club Speedway in California. Being a Jeff Gordon fan, I highly anticipate a win from that team this weekend. Their intermediate program has been incredibly stout this season. He may have the best performance out of the chase contenders. Watch out for Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle too…they perform well here historically.
Sunday at 2:30 on ESPN…don’t miss it!