Richmond International Raceway…a short track. A track with more prestige than ever because it wraps up NASCAR’s version of a “regular season”. This race dictated who would be a part of the top 12 teams in the hunt for a Sprint Cup Championship. In a race requiring precision and guts from those who were outside the top 12, the only disappointment belonged to those who just didn’t have lady luck on their side.
As far as lady luck is concerned, she took the front seat with Denny Hamlin…who considers Richmond to be his home race track. Much like in football or basketball, home field advantage is always special. Many race car drivers don’t even have a race track to call “home.” Denny Hamlin’s victory at Richmond marked his territory not just at home, but also in the chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009.
The ESPN crew points out that it was the race off of pit road on a late set of pit stops that allowed Hamlin to assume the lead and run away with the show.
After many articles raved about Kyle Busch and the impact he would have on the chase, his Richmond performance proved that his team had overcome adversity. 5th place doesn’t look bad on the stat sheet…but despite the top 5, the M&Ms crew will have to race for 13th place in the points instead of contending for the title.
Throughout the 400 mile affair, ESPN’s director pushed his crew to concentrate on the drivers who were on the bubble (Brian Vickers, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch). Viewers were consistently updated with where each of these drivers was running on the track, especially at the end of the race. It seemed as if the leaders and the race for the win was completely overshadowed by a race between two drivers who were battling back between 5th and 7th place to make “the big dance.” It turns out that this in-race strategy’s presentation paid off and it had relevance to it, since Busch and Vickers were separated by only 8 points when the checkered flag flew.
As usual, after 26 races (Richmond being #26), the drivers in the top 12 are “seeded” based on wins. This means that even though Tony Stewart led the point standings for most of the season, he will be behind Mark Martin, who won 4 races, and thus acquired 40 bonus points. Stewart will be 2nd in points, 10 behind with his 3 race wins. The chase will also include Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, Ryan Newman, Juan Montoya, and Greg Biffle.
This means next weekend’s race at New Hampshire will begin the countdown to the cup…12 drivers, 10 races, ONE MISSION. Look for chase contenders Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle to be strong at this race track, especially with the added incentive of additional points for winning a race. I’m excited to see who is going to be the headline and who will start off the chase either a contender or pretender! LET’S GET CHASIN’!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
AWESOME ATLANTA AMAZES AGAIN!
Great to be back in the driver’s seat for the Borts is Burning…Rubber blog! After a summer of high excitement and downright off-the-chart racing action, the chase for the championship field is almost set. The NASCAR superstars set their sights on one of NASCAR’s fastest racetracks—the Atlanta Motor Speedway. The first race at this track under the lights did not disappoint; tons of side by side racing, a pass for the win inside of ten laps to go, and even fast pitwork to repair an axle for one of the top ten finishers!
Kasey Kahne pulled off the win, ensuring that a lot of hard work on Labor Day weekend would not go unrewarded. Kahne passed the shell/Pennzoil Chevy of Kevin Harvick on a short run inside of ten laps to go and zoomed away to his second victory of the season. Again, a racer proves that the fastest car doesn’t always win…but if you have the fastest car in the end, you’re almost guaranteed to contend.
Since our last blog at Talladega in April, we have motored from network to network…FOX, to TNT for their summer series of six races, to my personal favorite network—ESPN. I’m a man with a sense of humor, but ESPN has the true balance of fun and fact in their broadcasts. ESPN’s crew of announcers, including Dr. Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree, Allen Bestwick, Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham, Brad Daugherty and Tim Brewer have noticeable enjoyment doing what they do. They are informative but also fun. For example, Ray Evernham said that statistically a caution would fall with around 15 laps to go. Lo and behold, at the very instant he says this, a car spins into the infield, bringing out the caution with 15 laps to go! The whole crew could’ve spent the whole end of the race praising Evernham for his amazing “fortune teller skills”, but the crew had their laugh and got right back to business.
One of the grand strengths of ESPN is their ability to put any situation that occurs with a race car into a simple comparison with an everyday vehicle that we drive. In the Atlanta race, Brian Vickers’s car suffered a broken axle. The crew chiefs—Andy Petree and Tim Brewer—explained that repairing an axle and staying on the lead lap would’ve taken quite a long time. However the Red Bull crew somehow was able to change the car’s axle and stay on the lead lap! Plus, the crew went to their “Craftsman Tech Garage” to fully explain what was involved with changing an axle. The 83 team possibly made a chase-saving move to keep them in contention for making the chase with only one race remaining. Unfortunately for the 48 car, same problem, but no quick repair…
And while on the subject of one race remaining, it’s off to Richmond! Dale Jr. fans should definitely perch themselves in front of the TV for this one…he’s been on a roll lately, and while the finishes don’t reflect that, he’s run very well the last three or four weekends. Kyle Busch must do everything in his power to win the race to make the chase. Only 12 drivers will contend for the championship, and the ¾ mile Richmond International Raceway will provide all the action that could be asked for!
Kasey Kahne pulled off the win, ensuring that a lot of hard work on Labor Day weekend would not go unrewarded. Kahne passed the shell/Pennzoil Chevy of Kevin Harvick on a short run inside of ten laps to go and zoomed away to his second victory of the season. Again, a racer proves that the fastest car doesn’t always win…but if you have the fastest car in the end, you’re almost guaranteed to contend.
Since our last blog at Talladega in April, we have motored from network to network…FOX, to TNT for their summer series of six races, to my personal favorite network—ESPN. I’m a man with a sense of humor, but ESPN has the true balance of fun and fact in their broadcasts. ESPN’s crew of announcers, including Dr. Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree, Allen Bestwick, Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham, Brad Daugherty and Tim Brewer have noticeable enjoyment doing what they do. They are informative but also fun. For example, Ray Evernham said that statistically a caution would fall with around 15 laps to go. Lo and behold, at the very instant he says this, a car spins into the infield, bringing out the caution with 15 laps to go! The whole crew could’ve spent the whole end of the race praising Evernham for his amazing “fortune teller skills”, but the crew had their laugh and got right back to business.
One of the grand strengths of ESPN is their ability to put any situation that occurs with a race car into a simple comparison with an everyday vehicle that we drive. In the Atlanta race, Brian Vickers’s car suffered a broken axle. The crew chiefs—Andy Petree and Tim Brewer—explained that repairing an axle and staying on the lead lap would’ve taken quite a long time. However the Red Bull crew somehow was able to change the car’s axle and stay on the lead lap! Plus, the crew went to their “Craftsman Tech Garage” to fully explain what was involved with changing an axle. The 83 team possibly made a chase-saving move to keep them in contention for making the chase with only one race remaining. Unfortunately for the 48 car, same problem, but no quick repair…
And while on the subject of one race remaining, it’s off to Richmond! Dale Jr. fans should definitely perch themselves in front of the TV for this one…he’s been on a roll lately, and while the finishes don’t reflect that, he’s run very well the last three or four weekends. Kyle Busch must do everything in his power to win the race to make the chase. Only 12 drivers will contend for the championship, and the ¾ mile Richmond International Raceway will provide all the action that could be asked for!
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