In the past I have expressed an opinion that Juan Pablo Montoya is the best "driver" in NASCAR. After his own admission, I may have to reconsider that opinion.
"In Nascar, there are more than 40 cars racing wheel to wheel for up to three hours. “It’s harder here,” Montoya said. “When you run fifteenth, sometimes you think it sucks. But look at the big picture: fifteenth here is like sixth or seventh in F1, because there are twice as many cars. The incredible thing is here I run fifteenth or twentieth on average and there are four or five weeks in the year where I have a chance of winning. In F1 if you run sixth or seventh, you run sixth or seventh the whole year."
Becoming a Jamie McMurray fan is a learning experience. I have found that perhaps the best site for Jamie is the Gillette Young Guns site. They do race recap videos every week. I don't see that on many other sites other than maybe the NASCAR site. But on this site, your guaranteed to find something new about two or three of the young guns.
This week the video features Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman discussing the Car of Tommorrow (COT). Then the recap features Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman. Johnson passes Jeff Burton, deals with brake issues, gets spun by Juan Pablo Montoya and finishes 5th. Newman drives a snow plow, saves fuel and finishes 14th.
Lost in all of the hub bub about the bout between Juan Montoya and Kevin Harvick was the fact that the mistake made by by Martin Truex Jr. when he bumped Montoya cost Jamie McMurray a chance at a good finish at Watkins Glen as well.
From: JaimieMcMurray.com
Jamie McMurray entered Sunday's race as a pre-race favorite to win – and for good reason; McMurray posted top-four speeds in each practice leading into the race. McMurray and the No. 26 team took a fuel gamble early in the race that looked as if it would play out in their favor as the race wore on. The strategy was working for the No. 26 team and by lap 66, Jamie McMurray had moved into the 10th position. However, following a caution on 68, McMurray restarted in the eighth position.
As the field entered turn one, a wreck occurred ahead of the No. 26 car. McMurray was caught between Juan Pablo Montoya and Kevin Harvick. McMurray turned hard to the right but was unable to avoid the spinning No. 29 car and was clipped hard in the left rear end. The damage was severe and forced McMurray to pull his car into the garage to repair the battered No. 26 machine. After returning to the track in the 37th position, McMurray was able to gain three additional positions before finishing 34th in Sunday's race.
"It just seems that no matter what this Crown Royal team does, we can't seem to buy a break," said McMurray following the race. "It's really hard to believe that we haven't finished better than we have over the last four weeks. I thought we were going to pull out a top-10, maybe a top-5, but again we were caught in a wreck. There was nothing I could do today, and I thought we had made it all the way through, but we were caught in the left side. I really enjoyed racing here today and was really hoping for a better finish. We will have to look forward to next week at Michigan and the week after that in Bristol."
The No. 26 team returns to Michigan International Speedway next weekend for the 3M Performance 400. In their last outing at the two-mile speedway, the Crown Royal team posted a top-10 finish.
The brush south of the border can get thick in places I hear. Never fear. The Buschwackers are coming. Carl Edwards is leading the way.
Edwards says, “I really love traveling to Mexico. They have great fans and I am very excited. The Mexican drivers are fast. They’re going to be very hard to beat because this is their third year in the Busch cars. We have finished in the top-10 both years, but we struggled a little last year. I feel like we can do much better this year and I would love to do my back flip in front of the Mexican fans!”
On his right flank is Dave Blaney.
Although this is the third Mexico City race for the Busch Series, it will be Dave Blaney’s first time participating in the Telcel-Motorola 200. Blaney has never even seen the 2.518-mile road course, but he’s been doing his homework. Blaney has been watching tapes of the past two Mexico races to get a better feel for the track. Kicking off the season with a second place finish in Daytona and capturing the pole in California, Blaney and the Fan1st.com team plan to keep the momentum going in Mexico. Although he has never raced at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, he has logged a combined 21 starts at Watkins Glen International and Pocono Raceway.
Behind them are David Gilliland, Juan Pablo Montoya and David Reutimann. O.K. so it isn't a big bunch of wackers. Which makes my point. Separate the venues between Nextel Cup and Busch and you get a truer Busch race.
Of course I am also trying to drag you in here and get you interested in Busch racing. So stick with me.
Actually this is an excellent opportunity for Regan Smith to climb in the point standings and see if he can win the Busch title this year. Currently Edwards is second, Blaney is fourth and Smith is ninth.
Apparently, after filing an entry, wacker Greg Biffle who is currently fifth in the points, has decided not to make this trip. Current points leader and wacker Kevin Harvick did not plan to race. Neither did wackers Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart or Kyle Bush.
Coverage of the Telcel-Motorola 200 begins Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.
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