Tony smokes 'em at Sonoma
I stink.
There. I admit it. I had about as much luck with my positively pathetic predictions on this road course Sunday as Hendrick Motorsports had getting its drivers out of third gear. Fortunately for Tony Stewart, he had no such difficulties in running up front most of the afternoon and grabbing the lead for good when he needed to. About time we saw Tony celebrating in Victory Lane this season instead of talking trash about guys who he felt did him wrong on the track.
But if Tony won't talk trash this week then I guess I'll have to instead. Maybe I'll start by trashing my picks...
GLENN'S TEN (3-for-10... Yes, it
can get worse!):
* Jeff Gordon (winner) -- 33rd, An all too familiar story for Jeff, who came to one of his best tracks and suffered mechanical problems that ruined his day in a big way. He led the first third of the race before his car got stuck in third gear or somesuch and lost a lap getting repaired. He got the free pass and was clawing his way back to a top 20, but then the transmission went south again in the waning laps and left him here. So instead of moving back into the top 10 and closing the gap on the points lead, he lost more ground. Still 10 races to get it together, but this isn't encouraging.
* Tony Stewart -- 1st, All the scuttlebutt about Tony was true. He did have the car to beat today. And once Gordon fell out of contention there was no one who could hold a candle to him. When he chased down Ricky Rudd with less than 20 laps to go there was little question that he'd get by him. He did so with 10 laps remaining and never looked back. His first victory since Watkins Glen last August.
* Kurt Busch -- 3rd, Nobody talked much about him today, probably because he stayed out of trouble and folks were watching the Jeff and Tony show.
* Mark Martin -- 15th, Think pit strategy by others cost him a top 10. The car was decent but not dominant.
* Rusty Wallace -- 4th, A more Rusty-like finish on the road course. He was out of the top 10 most of the day, but the closing laps saw him move up.
* Boris Said -- 17th, This guy shot himself in the foot more than once. His aggressive driving style saw him banging fenders with others as he worked his way through traffic, but the big hit came when he tried to duck into the pits as the caution light came on. Had it worked, he would have been sitting pretty fro winning this thing. But the officials said he entered the pits when they were closed, so he had to restart at the end of the longest line -- something like 34th. He worked his way up to 13th after that before overdriving and going off track getting by Greg Biffle, which dumped him back to 19th without enough laps left to get a better finish.
* Jimmie Johnson -- 36th, Another bad day for the Hendrick standard-bearers. Jimmie was the first to suffer the stuck-gear syndrome and sank like a stone from a top 10 spot. He wound up a lap down and loses the points lead to Greg Biffle.
* Michael Waltrip -- 22nd, Had a decent run going before he spun out.
* Greg Biffle -- 14th, Played the pit strategy game again, but didn't get the breaks he needed to finish in the show. But finishing 22 spots ahead of Johnson makes him the point man atop the point standings.
* Scott Pruett -- 31st, He was in the top 10 for a bit, but the pit strategy thing left him in the Dumpster when it mattered.
REST OF THE TOP 10:
* Ricky Rudd -- 2nd, Boy did I call this one wrong! Ricky nearly pulled off an upset with fuel strategy that saw him run out of gas just after crossing the finish line. I'm disappointed, because I'm eager to see Fatback McSwain celebrating another win. Best finish in years.
* Dale Jarrett -- 5th, Strategized himself into a good finish on a track that hasn't always been kind to him. Within 400 points of The Biff.
* Elliott Sadler -- 6th, Followed his teammate's strategy. And to think, he started 42nd.
* Jeremy Mayfield -- 7th, Count me among the shocked that he finished this well.
* Ron Fellows -- 8th, Started dead last. See what pit strategy can do. Highest-finishing "ringer."
* Ryan Newman -- 9th, I'm pleased he finished well, but I'm dismayed I didn't pick him. He ran incident-free all day. Too bad it didn't work out even better for him.
* Brian Simo -- 10th, Another ringer. Best finish for the Richard Childress drivers.
OTHER NOTABLES:
* Robby Gordon -- 16th, Had some mechanical issues, but by far one of his best runs with this self-owned operation.
* Kyle Busch -- 40th, Wasn't immune from the Hendrick Jinx, although he suffered the most. His car broke down on pit road and spent a few laps behind the wall.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. -- 42nd, Before the race FOX presented him with a plaque for winning its Sexiest Driver contest. There was nothing sexy about the way he hit the wall after getting into Mike Bliss as he tried to pass him on lap 3. I think it's pretty safe to say that today we saw the 8 team kiss its Chase chances goodbye.
Next week... Gordon, Earnhardt and Johnson can forget about Sonoma when they get back to the friendly confines of Daytona on Saturday night.
