Beer spills, Tony runs off at the mouth
Now that was fun, wasn't it? Where to begin with the Richmond recap... The fireworks began even before the green flag, with Tony Stewart dissing Darrell Waltrip something good during a prerace interview. Tony, apparently, is a little miffed at DW and the FOX boys for getting on his case about his on-track antics the past few weeks. Tony took umbrage at the suggestion that NASCAR should park him for a week to get his head straight and "reminded" DW that if it hadn't been for the past champion provisional starting spot that DW wouldn't have gotten to race his last two years on the circuit. Ouch! The look on Jaws' face said it all. But Tony didn't quit. After his strong finish he laid into DW again in the postrace interview. What a jerk. You made your case, shut up and race.
And then there was the #8 crew in their victory lane celebration, giving a Bud bath to Chris Berman and Jeff Hammond. What a classless show that was. Hammond was about to lose it on camera after that, but Berman calmed him down and they carried on with their phony jovial banter through beer-soaked microphones. Hammond later treated Tony Eury Sr. to a drink of Gatorade. This isn't the first time the #8 crew has gotten on Berman's case with potable liquids, and frankly he probably deserves it. But once is enough. It will be sweet if the Bud boys wind up missing the championship by a couple of points at the end of the season because they get docked a few points for unsportsmanlike conduct.
And then there was the race... An interesting night of short-tracking, even if the wrong guy won. Time to see how my picks fared. I was 8-of-10 until the caution came out on lap 102. It went downhill after that, but I still managed 6-of-10 overall:
* Ryan Newman (winner) -- 9th, Still looking for that first win of '04. He ran near the top five most of the night, but fell off near the end and barely held off Michael Waltrip at the finish. At least got to lead a few laps and moves up to 6th in points.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 2nd, Hendrick cars did well. Jimmie didn't have the tires to catch Little E.
* Jeff Gordon -- 6th, Once again Super G complained about his car most of the night, but he looked like he would be a contender after the final caution. Like Johnson, tires became an issue.
* Brian Vickers -- 8th, Hey! He finally cracks the top 10! Got back in traffic early, but the staggered pit strategies paid off in the end.
* Joe Nemechek -- 36th, Front Row Joe got victimized. That seems to happen a lot to the #01. Had a top 10 car before then.
* Kevin Harvick -- 25th, He was on the move until he cut a tire, then it happened again and he was up in the wall. Lost a few laps, but still managed a mid-pack finish. What might have been...
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 1st, What will stand out from this win (his second at Richmond in Cup) is the comment that was made mid-race when he said for a few minutes he felt like his old man. And his driving style looked like it. He took no prisoners in running up front much of the night. Made a good call not to pit on the last caution in order to preserve (the winning) track position.
* Kurt Busch -- 31st, I thought Kurt was going to make a mockery of this race the way he charged up from his 23rd starting spot in the first 100 laps. But then he lost a few belts in the engine compartment on the restart and lost about 15 laps in the garage.
* Tony Stewart -- 4th, When Tony wasn't making a moron of himself on camera he was actually racing, and racing well. This guy needs to get a win and settle down.
* Rusty Wallace -- 16th, I picked him over Mark Martin. Looks like I blew it. As did Rusty.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Bobby Labonte -- 3rd, Should have guessed that if one Gibbs car did well the other would too. You just never know what to expect from Labonte these days. Either he'll finish top five or check out early. Did the hero rather than zero at Richmond.
* Matt Kenseth -- 5th, Knew I'd be kicking myself for not picking him. Tried to delay a pit stop to lead a lap and paid the price by running out of fuel. But he got his 5 points.
* Mark Martin -- 7th, Rousch cars looked good until Busch's problem and Jeff Burton's spectacular spin at the scoring stripe as he was challenging for the lead.
* Michael Waltrip -- 10th, A top 10 for Mikey! Woo-hoo! Even led a few laps.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Ricky Rudd -- 11th, Quietly put together a solid night.
* Jeff Burton -- 14th, Never led, but came darn close. Just isn't the same old Jeff since he lost Citgo as sponsor. Won't be a Rouscher next season.
* Bobby Hamilton Jr. -- 17th, A lead lap car most of the night with mediocre equipment.
* Kasey Kahne -- 27th, Not about to let anyone push him around. Just ask Jeff Green...
* Jeff Green -- 37th, Great qualifying effort (3rd), but typical finish. Maybe next time you'll think twice before putting a bumper to the #9.
Next week... All Star action Saturday at Lowe's. I'll try and pick the winner.
