The Lowe's-down on Week 12
I told ya! I told ya! You knew Jimmie Johnson wouldn't go home empty-handed twice in a row at this track. Not only did he nail the victory, but he led something like 334 of the 400 laps while making it look easy. Maybe just a little too easy -- I had to pinch myself to stay awake after he lapped the entire field around lap 135. But thanks to late cautions there were at least a dozen lead-lap cars that had a chance to make things interesting.
After suffering through the rain-delayed Indy 500, I thought the 600-miler would be a treat to watch. In hindsight I wish I'd headed out for that Memorial Day picnic. Ah well. Here's my reflections on my predictions (5-of-10):
* Jimmie Johnson (winner) -- Winner! What does that make now? Three correct picks this season? A .250 average would make me millions in Major League Baseball. Jimmie's car was "on rails" as they like to say. His daring pass on Kasey Kahne and Jeremy Mayfield with less than 30 laps to go sealed the deal. What a sweet win (from the pole) for a most deserving team. Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans can hear the footsteps, or perhaps smell the tire smoke...
* Tony Stewart -- 9th, Never got the car going the way you'd expect. Lucked out to finish where he did.
* Matt Kenseth -- 3rd, Natch. All those late cautions helped him scrape together a great finish.
* Jamie McMurray -- 4th, If he could do this every week he'd be in the top 10 in points. Great run by the #42 team, but he did a Ryan Newman at the end and stayed out when the rest of the leaders pitted. Who knows, this might have been the best call, as his car wasn't strong enough to win otherwise.
* Jeff Gordon -- 30th, Ouch! Should have brought back the rainbow crunch car from last week's all-star. Went backward in a hurry and wound up seven laps off the pace.
* Ryan Newman -- 35th, Too painful for words. OK, I have just a few... He was on pace for a top 15, running a lap down most of the race. Then he got together with Derrike Cope and crunched the rear end. Still looked like he was going to have a top 20 thanks to all the lapped cars, but his engine failed spectacularly with about eight laps to go. Shades of early 2003. This bodes well for Dover, however, as Ryan usually finds a way to bounce back from catastrophe the following week.
* Greg Biffle -- 21st, It really wasn't Kurt Busch's fault, but there were those who wondered if Biffle wasn't trying to rough up the #97 when he brushed into the wall. The car wasn't quite the same after that.
* Sterling Marlin -- 39th, I worried about this pick going in. Shoulda listened to my intuition. Sterling had engine problems after running in the 20's.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 6th, Danged if the Bud boys didn't put together a good finish after looking mediocre much of the race. He even led a lap, which is the reason he is still in sole possession of the top spot in the points instead of tied with Jimmie Johnson. Give it time...
* Bobby Labonte -- 13th, Crashing on the last lap won't help your finish any. Thought for a while he might snare a win from Johnson. But he faded down the stretch.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Michael Waltrip -- 2nd, Yeah, Mikey! Looked exhausted at the post-race interview.
* Elliott Sadler -- 5th, Only guy beside Johnson to lead a lot of laps. Sorry I underestimated him.
* Casey Mears -- 7th, Finds his magic number for the third time this season. Still waiting for a top 5.
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 8th, My dark horse pick looked good for a while, but finished in true Mayfield fashion, fading when the heat was on.
* Rusty Wallace -- 10th, Where did he come from? Oh yeah, lucky dog beneficiary.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Kasey Kahne -- 11th, Too bad he couldn't make the show. Brushed the wall in the late frantic dash for the checkers and it wasn't as good as it had been. Best rookie finisher.
* John Andretti -- 19th, Was in the top 15 for a time.
* Kyle Busch -- 32nd, Saturday's Busch Series winner had a decent run, despite being down seven laps. At least he was there for the finish.
* Mark Martin -- 36th, How come equipment failures bite Mark so often when he's running well?
INDY 500 PREDICTION:
I was close. Robby Gordon's car finished 29th at Indy (without Robby Gordon in it) and then he struggled his way to 20th at Lowe's. Wonder if he'll try the double again next year? Will anyone? I hope not. Then I won't have to watch both races.
Here's another Indy stat: First two drivers out were AJ Foyt IV and Larry Foyt (whose claim to "fame" in gNA$hCAR is ramming into Steve Park's car at Pocono in a Busch race three years ago, effectively derailing Park's career). AJ Foyt Sr. should rest on his laurels as a 4-time Indy champ and get out of racing, or hire some talented people who can turn his program into something other than the joke it has become. Maybe Foyt and the Pettys can merge operations and field one good driver, rather than trying to run a lot of mediocre drivers a lot of different places in a lot of mediocre equipment.
Next week... One of Ryan Newman's favorite tracks (last year, at any rate) -- Dover.
