gNA$hCAR Notes
Sunday, April 17, 2005
Nine races, nine winners
Greg Biffle ran away with the race in Texas on Sunday. Yawn. He started dead last in his backup car and roared through the field to dominate the competition, leading the most laps en route to his second victory of the season. Ho-hum. Forgive me for not dancing in the aisles over Bif's big win, but the Biffster is boring. He's finally living up to his potential as a decent driver, but like all of Roush's racers it's all about business first, personality second. I know that Biffle fans would say so what, we'll take business and a winning way any day over some jokester like Kenny Wallace or Michael Waltrip who rarely find their way to the top 10, let alone victory lane. I guess I just wish the Biffles, Busches and Kenseths of the Roush camp were a little more interesting to watch while they're dominating the competition. Think Carl Edwards could teach the Biffster to do some backflips?
GLENN'S TEN (3-for-10... I stunk!):
* Kasey Kahne (winner) -- 35th, Kasey ruined his chances when something broke on his car and he spun hard into the wall inside of 80 laps to go. He had one of the strongest cars in the field yet never led.
* Jeff Gordon -- 15th, The #24 crew fixed a lot of problems with the car and ran strong early, but then Jeff faded and nearly went a lap down at one point.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 3rd, No matter how mediocre a day he has, Johnson always seems to find a way to the front by the checkers. That's why he'll be champion at the end of the season. He fell a bit shy of second on Sunday.
* Kurt Busch -- 7th, He stayed out of trouble for a change and got a decent finish.
* Matt Kenseth -- 18th, Thought Kenseth might be a contender, but the car went soft late in the race.
* Elliott Sadler -- 28th, Defending race champ struggled all day, then had mechanical troubles.
* Mark Martin -- 20th, What happened? He had a top 10 going.
* Tony Stewart -- 31st, Led a bunch of laps early, faded a bit, then the engine blew up with about 40 to go.
* Ryan Newman -- 16th, Typical Newman. He stuck pretty close to my scenario, except for the part where he led the first 50 laps -- he didn't. He went a lap down and took about 200 laps to get it back, then struggled up to where he finished. This was his 30th pole in 123 starts, and what does he have to show for it? Not enough.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 9th, Junior comes through for me at the track where he got his first career win. Made slow, steady progress to record another top 10. Up to 15th in points.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Greg Biffle -- 1st, I've already ragged on the Biffster, but I will say I knew I was in trouble not picking him after he'd passed about half the field by the time the third caution waved after lap 20. He deserved the win, even if it wasn't a particularly exciting one.
* Jamie McMurray -- 2nd, A country seldom heard from -- Gnassiland. He had nothing for Biffle, much like the rest of the field.
* Casey Mears -- 4th, I was rooting for Casey after the other Kasey crashed. Taking two tires on the final pit stop might have gotten him the lead, but it wasn't a race-winning move.
* Sterling Marlin -- 5th, Gnassi's vet completes the trifecta, using the two-tire strategy like his teammate Mears. Only difference was that Marlin hadn't been in a position to win. This was a better than could be expected finish.
* Michael Waltrip -- 6th, I ragged on Mikey earlier, but have to hand it to him for getting a good finish here.
* Ricky Rudd -- 8th, The Fatback Factor is starting to have an effect. Rudd's been running better lately. Now, when do we see him in Victory Lane again?
* Rusty Wallace -- 10th, A good day for veteran drivers. But let's hope we see the Blue Deuce back next week and not the puke yellow Kodak colors.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 11th, The only one of the Evernham Dodges that didn't encounter problems. He led a bit at the beginning of the race, but went down a lap to Biffle at one stage.
* Jason Leffler -- 36th, At some point we have to stop making excuses for why he keeps getting into wrecks and come to the inevitable conclusion that he simply isn't very good.
* Bobby Labonte -- 38th, Another wreck not of his making. Gotta be wondering when the bad luck ends.
Next week... An early visit to the Arizona desert.
Comments:
"Typical Newman"? Last time I checked he didn't climb out of his car, change a tire, and drop it. Place the blame where it is due... "Typical #12 ALLTEL Team."
# posted by 
: 12:50 AM
: 12:50 AM
You don't give Newman enough credit. He has a team that has on an almost weekly (or weakly) basis set him back with STUPID mistakes, and yet he's still setting comfortably in the top 10 in points. You put that driver in a Rousch or Hendrick ride and you'll see dominance like NASCAR (or motorsports) has never seen. I just hope the rumors of him taking over the #6 come to fruition.
# posted by : 12:55 AM
: 12:55 AM
Fair enough. Actually, I am a huge Newman fan and have been since the first time I watched him race at the '01 Winston. And if he had Roush or Hendrick behind him there's little doubt he'd be picking up about seven wins a season.
That said, part of being a great driver (in this day and age anyway) is being able to communicate with your crew and your teammates. Ryan and Matt Borland have been together long enough that they seem comfortable working together. But I think Ryan likes to overdrive his car and doesn't always do a good job letting the crew know what adjustments are needed when. A lot of his success in '03 came through Borland's pit strategy and playing the fuel mileage game. Not to take anything away from Ryan -- he still gutted out some tough wins on vapors and old rubber, but gNA$hCAR's rule changes have taken away a lot of the advantage he might have had. Now it comes down to knowing what to do to put yourself in contention for the win, and I don't know that Ryan always does that. It's not always about keeping your foot glued to the floor.
Regarding teammates, there is no love lost between Newman and Rusty Wallace. I don't know how Penske tollerates that situation. (Wait, yes I do -- $$$) Look at Jimmie Johnson/Jeff Gordon or Kurt Busch/Mark Martin and you can see how much those relationships have improved the performance of both teams. All you see with Newman/Wallace is catfights and lack of cooperation on the track. Just wait till Talladega this weekend and I'll bet you anything this issue will come into play again.
Ryan wants to win and goes out there every weekend with that in mind. The problem is, he'd trample Wallace and probably Travis Kvapil too before he'll work with them for the common good. That hurts his chances in the long haul, I think. He may be in the top 10 in points, but it's anything but solidly. A couple DNF's and he'll find himself in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s position of having to claw out of the gutter. He still hasn't found the consistency that Johnson is using to make a run for the title. I guess you can blame some of that on crew mistakes, but the driver has to share some of the blame.
As to Newman going to the #6 next year, I suppose anything is possible. I just don't see Penske (or Miller Beer) giving up on the Rocket Man easily. My scenario is that Miller moves its sponsorship to the #12 and Ryan starts getting more control over his ride, which with Wallace out of the picture allows him to focus on improving the whole team's performance.
Thanks for your comments.
That said, part of being a great driver (in this day and age anyway) is being able to communicate with your crew and your teammates. Ryan and Matt Borland have been together long enough that they seem comfortable working together. But I think Ryan likes to overdrive his car and doesn't always do a good job letting the crew know what adjustments are needed when. A lot of his success in '03 came through Borland's pit strategy and playing the fuel mileage game. Not to take anything away from Ryan -- he still gutted out some tough wins on vapors and old rubber, but gNA$hCAR's rule changes have taken away a lot of the advantage he might have had. Now it comes down to knowing what to do to put yourself in contention for the win, and I don't know that Ryan always does that. It's not always about keeping your foot glued to the floor.
Regarding teammates, there is no love lost between Newman and Rusty Wallace. I don't know how Penske tollerates that situation. (Wait, yes I do -- $$$) Look at Jimmie Johnson/Jeff Gordon or Kurt Busch/Mark Martin and you can see how much those relationships have improved the performance of both teams. All you see with Newman/Wallace is catfights and lack of cooperation on the track. Just wait till Talladega this weekend and I'll bet you anything this issue will come into play again.
Ryan wants to win and goes out there every weekend with that in mind. The problem is, he'd trample Wallace and probably Travis Kvapil too before he'll work with them for the common good. That hurts his chances in the long haul, I think. He may be in the top 10 in points, but it's anything but solidly. A couple DNF's and he'll find himself in Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s position of having to claw out of the gutter. He still hasn't found the consistency that Johnson is using to make a run for the title. I guess you can blame some of that on crew mistakes, but the driver has to share some of the blame.
As to Newman going to the #6 next year, I suppose anything is possible. I just don't see Penske (or Miller Beer) giving up on the Rocket Man easily. My scenario is that Miller moves its sponsorship to the #12 and Ryan starts getting more control over his ride, which with Wallace out of the picture allows him to focus on improving the whole team's performance.
Thanks for your comments.
Very interesting points. As for Newman staying with Penske, that's all up in the air. Unfortunately it's not up to Roger - Newman's his little golden boy. It comes down to whether or not Rusty will sell his part of the #12 to Penske. From everything I've heard, if Rusty holds on then Ryan and Matt need to find a new ride. And as much as I love Penske, I'm to the point where I almost hope Newman does lose his ride so he'll have a shot at the #6.
As for Borland, I think he hurts the team more than he helps it. I'm sick and tired of seeing the same thing every race. The only way he knows how to win a race is on a gamble. Even if he has a top 5 or 10 car, he won't just let his driver drive for the win. He ALWAYS tries to win with some cheap high-risk gamble (2 tires/no pit/fuel only). End result: instead of having his car in contention and giving his driver a chance to race for a win, he sends Ryan out in the front in a car that he needs to hold on for dear life and drive the wheels off it just to struggle to stay in the top 10 or top 15. Just my humble (but I think you'll agree accurate) observation.
As for Borland, I think he hurts the team more than he helps it. I'm sick and tired of seeing the same thing every race. The only way he knows how to win a race is on a gamble. Even if he has a top 5 or 10 car, he won't just let his driver drive for the win. He ALWAYS tries to win with some cheap high-risk gamble (2 tires/no pit/fuel only). End result: instead of having his car in contention and giving his driver a chance to race for a win, he sends Ryan out in the front in a car that he needs to hold on for dear life and drive the wheels off it just to struggle to stay in the top 10 or top 15. Just my humble (but I think you'll agree accurate) observation.
# posted by : 10:17 AM
: 10:17 AM
Oh yeah, and it would also help if SOMEONE could figure out the Charger. Good 'ol Ray seems to be making some progress, but still has a bit more to go.
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# posted by : 10:24 AM
: 10:24 AM