Casey Mears won his first Nextel Cup race at the Coca-Cola 600 when he stayed out while the leaders came in for a quick splash of fuel. It's no secret Mears didn't have the best car that night, but his team managed the fuel situation better than the others. The question is, should winners be determined because they have nothing to lose and can gamble on fuel?
I don't know about the rest of you, but after five-plus hours of racing in Charlotte, I was actually standing in front of my TV for the final laps of the Coca-Cola 600. Aside from the Daytona 500, I don't think we've had a better finish to a race then what we saw this weekend, and yes that includes Martinsville.
Complaints are at an all-time high about NASCAR staging races, throwing phantom debris cautions to benefit guys like Jeff Gordon and Johnson. Well for once we didn't have that. It was great to see the final 50 laps run under green, not interfered with by the dreaded yellow flag.
Take absolutely nothing away from Casey Mears in Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600. He drove his butt off, the team made some great decisions on pit road and he deserves a trip to Victory Lane more than nearly anyone in Nextel Cup. There's something right about a Mears winning a race on the Memorial Day weekend. Plus, who would have expected names like Yeley, Petty, Sorenson and Vickers to pop up in the top five? All five of those cars ran well all night and deserved to be on the lead lap. But top-five finishes? Get real.
Do you really want to see cars coasting around the track well off race pace, trying to conserve an extra gallon of fuel? Remember Phoenix, when nobody would get out of line because they were so worried about not having enough fuel to make it to the end? I wouldn't call that exciting racing.
I'm with Bill. I love the possibility of gas mileage coming into play. It is a part of motorsport. It is a very big part of racing in other sanctions such as F1 where the whole field is very seldom bunched up by a full course caution. It gives young guns their furst shot and old dogs with good long run set ups another shot at glory.
The question is not who is fastest? If you like that go drag racing. The question is who can cover a set distance in the least amount of time with pit stops, tire wear and gas mileage included?
Jeff Gordon has led 729 laps at Talladega to be exact. 729 laps have resulted in the Du Pont Chevy coming across the starting line in first. That is 729 very fast very hectic circles of prime Alabama Real Estate.
A week after matching Dale Earnhardt’s total of 76 NASCAR Cup Series wins, Gordon now hopes to tie one of The Intimidator’s records – most restrictor-plate victories – in this Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway. Earnhardt collected three wins at Daytona, including the 1998 Daytona 500 – a race that had eluded him for so many years. The seven-time Cup champion won 10 times at Talladega – eight times during the restrictor-plate era including win No. 76 in 2000.
"Obviously, last Saturday night’s win was special," said Gordon. "Anytime you accomplish something that ‘Senior’ did, you’ve done something special."
As if it was made for TV, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is second in Talladega laps led with 537. Jr. has five wins at Talladega and is looking for number six. Why is Jr. so good at Talladega?
"A lot of reasons, my dad put a lot of emphasis on the restrictor plate program. He brought Richie Gilmore in who was one of the best at building restrictor plate motors. We have one of the best body men in Tony Eury Jr. We have a lot of guys in the shop who have brought their own knowledge."
Behind the wheel of his Ginn Racing/Waste Management Chevrolet, Sterling Marlin looks to add to the 437 laps he's led at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. Marlin is third in laps led at Dega. He's in pretty good company. It's just another indication of how good the old wiley veteran is.
"I love superspeedway racing," said Marlin. "It can be some of the most fun you'll have. It can also be the most frustrating. No matter how good your car is and how good you're running, you can't look very far ahead. Until you take that checkered flag, anything can happen."
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