Yes, I know I haven't posted my points in ages...I have them updated but just haven't been bothered to putting them up here yet, will probably just put 'my' Chasers and say who's 13th some time this week.
Anyway, for the first time in 25 years, a driving pairing has won the Bathurst 1000 three years on the trot.
Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup were the guys who did it, and in doing so, remain the only drivers to win the Peter Brock trophy as that got introduced in 2006 after the tragic loss of Brock in a rough time for Australian icons since Steve Irwin moved on a month or so before that.
Lowndes taking the chequered flag at Bathurst.
The duo were the guys to beat ever since the track opened on Thursday. The other driver pairings who were hoping to displace the #888 Vodafone Falcon from the top step of the podium included Mark Skaife and Garth Tander (#1 HRT Commodore), James Courtney and David Besnard (#4 Jeld-Wen Falcon), Greg Murphy (who I think still hasn't forgiven NASCAR driver, Marcos Ambrose, for the collision in 2005 which took them both out of this race) and Jason Richards (#3 Sprint Gas Commodore), Steven Richards and Mark Winterbottom (#6 FPR Falcon).
But it wasn't smooth sailing for the 2006 V8 champion, Rick Kelly, as his teammate, Paul Radisich, had a massive shunt and hobbled away with a broken ankle. Kelly was able to jump into the sister HSV Commodore, replacing an ill David Reynolds who was to partner Paul Dumbrell in the #15 Autobarn Commodore.
Tander took the pole from Winterbottom, Courtney and Kelly were on row two with Lowndes and Murphy taking up row three. The start saw Skaife creep forward before stalling and having to rejoin rear of the field....then, to make matter worse, he had jumped the start and got a penalty as a result. Lowndes and Murphy made contact on the run up to turn 2 as they attempted to go three-wide with Courtney, the contact damaged Murphy's steering while Lowndes got away relatively unscathed.
The #888 Falcon took the lead at the first round of pitstops and never looked back. Despite the late rush of safety cars, the duo appeared in complete control leaving the best battle on the track between Richards, Murphy and Courtney. Richards battled a majorly loose car, dirt-tracking his way around most of the 6.21km track and Murphy got by on lap 157 while Courtney slipped past on the penultimate lap.
However, no one had an answer for Lowndes and Whincup as they became the first driver pairing in 25 years to win this race three years in a row.
Final results of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000: 1 - Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup (#888 Ford Falcon) 2 - Greg Murphy and Jason Richards (#3 Holden Commodore) 3 - David Besnard and James Courtney (#4 Ford Falcon) 4 - Steven Richards and Mark Winterbottom (#6 Ford Falcon) 5 - Brad Jones and Max Wilson (#14 Holden Commodore) 6 - Will Davison and Steven Johnson (#17 Ford Falcon) 7 - Dean Canto and Luke Youlden (#5 Ford Falcon) 8 - Jack Perkins and Nathan Pretty (#11 Holden Commodore) 9 - Jason Bright and Adam Macrow (#25 Ford Falcon) 10 - Fabian Coulthard and Alex Davison (#111 Ford Falcon)
For those who want to know how Boris Said did on his first visit to the track, his #67 Supercheap Commodore covered 140 of the 161 laps before having to retire...love to tell you what happened but since I missed the entire race weekend, I have no idea. My plan was to watch Lowe's, have the V8 website giving me updates of Bathurst and washing it all down with the F1 race at Fuji but I got asked out to a Thanksgiving dinner with my girlfriend's family instead...she owes me a real good Christmas present now I tell you!
Now, normally, my posts with similar titles are a good-natured poke at motorsport around the globe...but not this time. I've decided to use this instead to give my kudos to Marcos Ambrose on a truly incredible weekend (all the photos are from his website by the way).
While Cup qualifying got rained out, the Nationwide series did manage some practice and Marcos put up times in the top ten which would ordinarily be expected given his road course background. But this was no ordinary NW field...I think there were 20 drivers doing double duty and while Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon weren't in the NW cars, guys like Kyle Busch, Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick were so you couldn't say this was going to be a walk in the park for the Aussie.
Ambrose leads the way from Busch, Kenseth and Harvick.
Saturday morning came and went, with Marcos qualifying 12th for the NW race and being amongst the frontrunners, if not the frontrunner, in Cup practices...this was starting to look like Sonoma all over again, but would he get that storybook finish?
It didn't look that way as he got shuffled a bit at the start of the NW race. Jeff Burton lost it in front of him (whether or not Marcos tapped him I don't know...the replays were inconclusive but he looked to be too far back to have given Jeff a touch), he sent Sam Hornish Jr into a spin when Sam didn't get good traction in the esses while Marcos did and then with about 15 laps to go, he sideswiped a backmarker.
But, like most fairytales, one has to overcome adversity before the happy ending and this was no different.
His luck changed with 33 laps remaining. As Ambrose pulled into his pit box to get service on his final stop for the day, the caution flew so he (and Ryan Newman who pitted at the same time) escaped without penalty. Carl Edwards then divebombed Clint Bowyer on the restart allowing Marcos to gain a couple more spots in the ensuing chaos. Indeed, by the time the pitstops were all sorted, Marcos was in the top five and had more fuel than the cars in front of him.
Marcos taking the chequered flag.
They say that to finish first, first you have to finish and that rang true as the doorslamming battle between Burton and Busch meant that Ambrose and Jimmie Johnson were able to close down the gap. When Burton made his retaliatory move on Busch, that lifted Marcos to third behind Jeff and Jimmie. Unable to keep up with their pace, Marcos seemingly cruised along saving a little fuel and I imagine gave a huge smile when, first Johnson and then Burton ran out of gas and Marcos took the lead for good with three laps left.
And so, in his 59th start in the 59 car, Marcos Ambrose became the first Australian to win in the Nationwide series and got a tremendous reception after his on-track victory celebration. In nice gestures, Carl Edwards paid tribute to him when interviewed after the race, Kyle Busch gave him a handshake on the podium and even Jack Roush congratulated him on a job well done.
Not only did he smoke those tyres good, he also kept the car off the wall on that narrow front straight!
That's generally where the story says 'The End' right? Ahh, no...not in this case.
After starting shotgun on the field (ignoring those guys sent to the back for engine changes and whatnot...if you want to get picky, then I think he actually started 41st), Marcos stormed his way through the field to be running 15th after 23 laps. The final cycle of pitstops came and went and the #21 Ford Fusion was inside the top ten...but could he keep it going or would similar misfortune strike him like at Infineon?
With a slipping clutch and fading brakes, Marcos passed Martin Truex Jr for fourth and inherited third when Newman ran wide in turn one before 'the big one' happened behind. That allowed his brakes to cool down but that clutch was going to be an issue since the guy behind him, Juan Montoya, isn't well known for his patience. Ambrose went to the inside on the restart, telling Juan that if he wanted past, he'd have to go around the outside...something the Columbian did try on the final restart and ended up having to battle Truex allowing Marcos some breathing room as he closed in on Tony Stewart.
Marcos took the #21 to heights not seen by the team in over three years.
That was where the story ended as Ambrose finished behind Tony and Kyle, giving the Wood Brothers their best finish since 2005 and the best ever finish by an Australian in the Cup series (previous was a 18th by Tony Spanos at Martinsville in 1987 apparently).
Now, I'll be the first to say not to expect a similar result from Marcos in next weekend's Cup race at Michigan since, despite Ambrose saying he doesn't want to be known just for his road racing expertise, he has to be realistic and knows that's when he's able to show off his talent, just like Robby Gordon. But he showed last weekend that sometimes you do get that fairytale ending and nice guys don't have to finish last.
Congratulations, Marcos. You've made Australia, and this Aussie in particular, proud, mate.
Well, we’re just passed the halfway point in the season and it’s looking like 2007 all over again; the one guy still leading both titles.
Joe Nemechek managed to bump out AJ Allmendinger after the solitary qualifying run at Daytona (no points for washouts remember) while Dale Earnhardt Junior has swapped places with Jimmie Johnson and closed the gap between himself and Kyle Busch from 54 points to 30.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 19 rounds:
The two races have been a complete Kyle Busch benefit as his lead over the rest has grown to over two full races now. No personnel changes within the top 20, but Matt Kenseth, due to his recent hot form, has risen to fourth from eighth while both Jeff’s lost two spots.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 19 rounds:
After a week off, the teams head to Indy and Tony Stewart will be hoping to repeat and give his season a big shot in the arm.
On a side note, I did some digging around and found some interesting stats. The comparison between the actual Cup points this time last year and now makes for interesting reading:
(2007) Jeff Gordon - 2911 points, 4 wins, 12 top fives, 17 top tens, 1 DNF, 764 laps led and a 303 point lead over second place (Denny Hamlin at that stage).
(2008) Kyle Busch - 2881 points, 7 wins, 12 top fives, 13 top tens, 1 DNF, 1065 laps led and a 262 point lead over second place.
Now, I don’t seem to recall Chevrolet attracting as much stick about having a significant advantage over everyone else (they did launch a new engine package, remember?) as Toyota are this year and yet Jeff had a bigger lead in the Championship. I do wonder if Kyle will be getting all of those “the Chase is unfair since he’ll lose his big championship lead!” comments like Jeff did around this time of the season…something tells me he won’t, but Kyle won’t care as long as he can keep winning I guess.
Right, I’m back (sort of…still need to find a job as well as a more permanent place of residence before I can finally relax) after the busiest month in my life having packed up and moved across the Pacific Ocean; hence the new blog title. The race for the QC has closed up dramatically from four weeks ago (though only three points weekends as Michigan qualifying was rained out of course).
Kyle Busch maintains his lead but in those three sessions, he’s managed to score just 24 points while Jimmie Johnson went on a tear and accumulated a whopping 120 points to slash the gap down to just 15 points.
Rocketing into the top 20 due to his pole at Loudon is Patrick Carpentier. Others include Bobby Labonte and AJ Allmendinger at the expense of Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Ken Schrader. Among the frontrunners, Kasey Kahne went from sixth to fourth and Jeff Gordon drops one spot to fifth. David Ragan hasn’t scored any points at all since my last update but hangs tough in 14th while there is a bit o####ap starting to form between the top four and the rest as we approach halfway through the season.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 17 rounds:
The races have seen Kyle keep his 'plus one race' margin mainly due to picking up another win while the other three races were shared between Kasey Kahne, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Kurt Busch. Just the solitary change in the top 20 as Elliott Sadler squeezes out Travis Kvapil. Kahne has risen to seventh from 14th while Biffle lost four places and now sits tenth.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 17 rounds:
To Daytona under lights then, where we’ll see if we can get another cracking finish like last year when Jamie McMurray broke a five year drought by pipping Kyle at the line. The smart money (assuming it doesn’t rain for qualifying) will be on a GOGH driver nabbing the pole position and if recent progress is anything to go by, the Dodge camp seem to have gotten over their early season troubles which could be an ominous sign since Penske went 1-2 here in February with what basically everyone said were the ‘slowest’ cars.
Alrighty then, Dover saw Roush-Fenway somehow lose a race that they should have won…and no guesses on picking who the driver was that spoiled their party.
Qualifying had Greg Biffle collect his second pole of the year, fending off both Busch’s from securing a brotherly front-row. Kyle kept increasing his lead over the rest of the field as Dale Earnhardt Jr failed to score any points this week.
One new face in the top 20 this week as Jamie McMurray relegates Reed Sorenson.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 13 rounds:
On to Pocono where Jeff Gordon won by dint of leading when the rains came and everyone will be hoping Kyle has a bad finish to tighten things up a bit at the top…well, everyone except Kyle of course.
Another side note, that’s it from me for a while…and also the end of my "Trans-Tasman Traveller" title as I make my move further overseas this weekend. Hope the race/s I don’t get to see are great and thanks everyone for putting up with me this past year and a bit *laugh*
Well, after the busiest weekend in motorsport with a fourteen hour drool-fest for us…uh, those channel surfers, not me, I had to go to work since everything happened on Monday morning for me…as attentions turned from the streets of Monte Carlo to the Brickyard before coming to a bleary-eyed stop in Concord, things stayed pretty much the same in both the QC and the RC.
Qualifying had Kyle Busch start from the pole with Kasey Kahne alongside…which meant that Kyle further extended his lead over the rest and is just 16 points away from having enough points that he could take a race off and still retain the lead. The others will hope Kyle has done exactly what the All Blacks do in rugby union; peak too early.
Dropping out of the top 20 this time are Bobby Labonte and Joe Nemechek, making way for Kurt Busch and Brian Vickers. Among the frontrunners, Kahne was the biggest gainer going from tenth to sixth while Denny Hamlin went the other way; sixth to eighth. All up, 46 drivers have scored at least one point in qualifying as the season kicks off its middle third.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 12 rounds:
The race saw, predictably, Kyle shoot off into the sunset and, but for losing voltage, he would most likely have backed up his win in the Nationwide race the night before. But, thankfully for the rest of the field, he did have issues and the lead was mainly traded between Kyle, Dale Earnhardt Jr (hmm, I probably shouldn’t have put those two together like that, there could be some trouble there), Jimmie Johnson, Brian Vickers, Kurt Busch (ta muchly for reminding me about him, klv), Kahne and Tony Stewart.
Kyle, despite his problems finished in third while Jr had an eventful night blowing a tyre and getting whacked up the back by JJ Yeley before rebounding to wind up fifth. Kurt also whacked the wall a couple times but still managed to finish in the top 20. Vickers and Johnson didn’t last the distance as Brian lost a wheel and Jimmie grenaded an engine…first time in nearly 100 races that’s happened to the #48. However, all that paled into insignificance as Stewart easily had the roughest time.
Having closed down the gap to Kahne, he then passed Kasey in the pits and was cruising to victory having over a five second lead with three laps to go…before his tyre let go. Tony did an amazing job to keep his Camry off the wall but his dream of a win on Memorial day vanished as Kasey went by to take the win, becoming the sixth driver to win the All-star race and the Coke 600 in the same year. Greg Biffle followed him home, just like he did last week as well (not the first time that’s happened as tyler did a bit of scouting around). Kudos to Elliott Sadler, David Reutimann and Sam Hornish Jr who all wound up with great finishes too.
No changes in the top 20, just a bit of shuffling around. Biffle’s up four spots to eighth and Johnson dropped two spots to ninth. Due to Carl Edwards running out of fuel on the final lap, Kyle’s lead now exceeds 100 points…but remember, Jeff Gordon was on fire in last years TNRC around this time of the year and Jimmie managed to nip past him at the end (and that was without the Chase I’m using this year) so there’s still hope for the rest. At one third through the season, we have 37 guys who have scored points.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 12 rounds:
To Dover then where Martin Truex Jr dominated this time last year…but he’ll have to contend with all three JGR cars as well as Roush-Fenway, Dale Jr and, after the last week and a bit, a resurgent Kasey Kahne.
On a side note, it took a full year after williamwilman put the idea out there, but we finally had someone go three-for-three in the trifecta. Dwindy hosted it this week and not only was it a first 'perfect' score, it was also a first time trifecta winner. But, as Dave pointed out on Dwindy's blog, picking the F1 and/or Indy winner is somewhat easier than Cup...most likely since there's only a handful of cars capable of winning whereas there's at least 10 in Cup. So, I guess that means I need to send Lewis Hamilton, Scott Dixon and Kasey Kahne a card or something…hmm, anyone know their addresses?
Martinsville saw Denny Hamlin finally collect his first grandfather clock. He's been rather handy at the paperclip track but until now hasn't been able to pick up a win...mind you, with Jimmie Johnson practically monopolising this place, that's not really surprising. Speaking of Johnson and the HMS boys, they had a fantastic race and had all four cars running in the top 10 for the most part and wound up second, fourth, sixth and seventh just to remind us that they are still a threat this year. Jamie McMurray and Regan Smith had solid races and finished in the top 15.
Hamlin guided his #11 Camry to score Toyota's second Cup win in his home state.
Texas saw a snoozefest that made me wish I had taped the Indycar race instead. The F1 race from Bahrain was far more exciting since you had Kimi trying to close down on Felipe during the middle stint and also the three-way tussle between Kovalainen, Trulli and Webber. Anyway, back to the Cup race and Carl Edwards scored his third win of the season to go past Dale Earnhardt Jr for second in the standings, a fraction behind Kyle Busch who maintained his lead due to finishing third behind Edwards and Johnson. Jeff Gordon had a torrid time and finished last after struggling with the handling of his Impala SS until it finally caught him out (no photo for Carl since I can't find a decent one of his Texas car).
Edwards and Johnson gained the most the last two races, going from sixth to second and thirteenth to seventh respectively while Greg Biffle drops down from equal third to ninth. Reed Sorenson is the only driver to drop out of the top 20, making way for Mark Martin.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 7 rounds:
Tight at the top with just half a point between two of the 'new generation' but there's a whole bunch of experienced guys lurking in their wheelpaths as we head to Phoenix and the first Sunday afternoon race for me :)
Well, after the washout in Bristol, the qualifying title headed to NASCAR's smallest track where Jeff Gordon proved, again, that he's rather handy around that place as he picked up his second pole position for the season. Dale Earnhardt Jr couldn't crack into the top 17 so Gordon extended his lead to more than a round (78 points), but as we saw last year, certainly not safe from being caught.
A few surprises in the top 10 with Aric Almirola, Jamie McMurray (after a horrid start to his 2008 campaign) and Ken Schrader all starting from the first five rows while Denny Hamlin continued his march up the pecking order as he lined up next to Gordon on the front row.
Texas saw a role reversal for the Hendrick boys as Dale Jr took the pole while Gordon failed to score any points. David Ragan's strong recent form stayed with him, qualifying seventh behind David Reutimann while Sam Hornish Jr picked up his first point of the year.
So, from Atlanta, no change at the top with Gordon leading Jr in a HMS 1-2 but Kyle Busch does manage to get past Carl Edwards for third. Michael Waltrip drops from outright seventh to equal 13th with Hamlin going the other way to move from equal 13th to outright sixth. Almirola, Ragan and Reutimann push out Casey Mears, Scott Riggs and Reed Sorenson to make up the top 20.
Oh, and I've given full points for qualifying unlike what I'm doing with the races...sort of hard to set a cut-off distance in qualifying.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 7 rounds:
I shall put up the TNRC for both rounds tomorrow most likely...no pictures this week since both Jeff and Jr have had pikkies this season anyway so I didn't really see the point *shrugs*
Easy week for the QC as we had our second washout for the season. It looks like we're heading for a repeat of 2007 with those so maybe I should slap down a tenner on Jimmie going back-to-back...despite what frevr3 reckons on his blog.
To the race then; and what a cracking one it was!
Joe Gibbs were the team to beat once again, mirroring their early season pace of 2007, but failing to reach victory lane...hmm, better put it on Jimmie to win the RC too. Jeff Burton finally broke through to win his first Cup race in Bristol, backing up Clint Bowyer's win in the Nationwide race the night before. In a great day for Richard Childress, Kevin and Clint followed Jeff home to score a 1-2-3 finish.
Jeff takes his first win of the season...and also Chevy's first win. Who'd have thought that after 2007?
Carl Edwards dropped from equal second to outright sixth while Bowyer went from 19th to 14th. Bobby Labonte drops out of equal 20th as Denny Hamlin picked up points for finishing in sixth.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 5 rounds:
So what's all those half points for? Well, if you remembered my post in January explaining the new points system, then you'd know that I'm not giving full points for the races that are significantly shorter in distance than the majority. Tough bikkies if you are a Dale Earnhardt Jr fan and believe I'm sabotaging his points...if I'd wanted to do that, I'd have altered my system every week so Kasey Kahne would miraculously get the maximum points.
**ok, after much deliberating (ta JJD), this is how the points will go; races under 400 miles get half points, the rest get the full compliment. That means the races at Martinsville, Phoenix, Richmond, Loudon, Sonoma, and Watkins Glen will all be scored the same way this one was**
No race this weekend as the Cup guys enjoy some chocolate, assuming their trainers allow them, so we'll see in a fortnight if Martinsville can produce a similar race to this one.
Less than a week from having a huge shunt at Vegas, Jeff Gordon snared pole position and headed an all-HMS front row as Dale Earnhardt Jr had to settle for second. This also means that Jeff jumps up from third to first followed by Jr, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson round out the top five (Jimmie getting it over Mark Martin by dint of his Daytona pole).
Kurt Busch, Patrick Carpentier, Matt Kenseth and Elliott Sadler all fall out this week while Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr sneak their way into the top 20.
with his pole position, Jeff assumes the lead from his teammate, Dale Jr.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 4 rounds:
After last weeks race, Carl's car failed post-race inspection and he was docked points from both his points standings as well as the bonus points he'd get for the win should he make the Chase...well, he might prefer reading my standings since I never bothered with taking points off a driver last year and am choosing to do the same; win on Sunday and get the points for TNRC, end of story.
Moving on, Atlanata saw Jr, Kyle, Clint Bowyer and Carl all take turns out front but Carl's visions of three in a row when up in smoke as he had to pull off with around 50 laps to go which all but gifted the win to Kyle...the first for Toyota. Tony Stewart backed up his teammate to finish second and jump from equal sixth to equal second overall while Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne dropped from third and fourth to seventh and eighth respectively.
Out completely this week are Robby Gordon and Travis Kvapil, making room for Clint Bowyer, Denny Hamlin and Bobby Labonte.
Kyle managed to translate his early season pace into a win.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 4 rounds:
Next week sees the series head to Bristol...and the Busch brothers have won the last two races there at this time of year so we'll have to see if that trend continues. Amazingly, this blog also happens to be done exactly a year to the date (snuck in by three minutes the timer reckons) that my first foxsports blog was posted...can't believe it's been that long already.
The smell of ashes from the burnt bridges in his early days still linger...
Seemingly with all the talent in the world and a whole career ahead of them...
Racing fans divided on him; either you love the guy or you hate him, there is (apparently) no middle ground...
No matter where you stand, you cannot question his commitment to driving the car the minute he pulls the visor down to start a race...
You think I'm talking about Kyle Busch, don't you?
Well, you'd be wrong...try Michael Schumacher instead.
Michael made his debut at Spafrancorchamps for the old Jordan team and qualified seventh...a feat made even more incredible considering he'd never driven the track before despite living quite close by. His clutch blew on the first lap and he had to retire but the wheels were in motion regarding his future as Benetton left no stone unturned and managed to wriggle Michael away from Jordan for the next race.
Did Eddie Jordan feel bitter about it? Well, considering that the only car from Michael's F1 career that he doesn't own just happens to be a 1991 Jordan, you would have to think he does. As for the fans being divided on 'Schumi', that's a rather easy one to explain as his track etiquette was rather questionable at times; Adelaide 1994, Jerez 1997 and Monaco 2006 for example.
It does sound rather familiar to Kyle though, doesn't it?
The split with Roush as he joined Hendrick. The fact that Jack said "hell no!" when asked if Kyle could possibly rejoin the Roush-Fenway stable last year. On the track he appears too impatient and takes risks that would make even the most hardnosed racer think twice before attempting something similar while off it he portrays an air of arrogance with some of his actions and comments (winning at Bristol, leaving the track which led to Dale Earnhardt Jr getting his first taste of a HMS Cup car). Yet, despite all that, he still made the Chase amid the flurry of anticipation (and expectation) about Dale Jr taking his ride for 2008 and ended up fifth in the standings, his highest in his three full seasons.
'Shrub' is currently riding the crest of a wave in all three series, something he mentioned before this weeks race in Atlanta to which he quipped that he wasn't a bad surfer but we'll have to wait and see how long he can ride this one out.
So why the comparison to Schumacher? Well, Michael too was regarded as a 'bright young thing' in the early 90's and look where he sits in the F1 rankings after retiring at the end of 2006; 7 times Champion, most career wins, most career points and most career poles.
And while Kyle certainly won't be able to boast those stats in the NASCAR history books when he calls it a day, I reckon we should just enjoy watching this guy race the way we'd love all the drivers to...hard and flat out the whole day.
Fresh off winning the 2007 TNQC, Jimmie Johnson set about making sure he stayed on top by snagging pole position for the Daytona 500 with Michael Waltrip alongside him. Dale Earnhardt Jr and Denny Hamlin shared the second row of the grid as they quickly got to terms with their new rides for '08.
Rain was the main course at Fontana so the points from Daytona stood as they headed to Vegas. Hometown boy, Kyle Busch, showed that he's doing his best to prove to Rick Hendrick that he made a mistake by letting him go last year as he took the pole while Carl Edwards would start next to him. Dale Jr, by dint of Johson and Waltrip struggling to find the one lap pace to start near the front, leads the Qualifying Championship with Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Busch and Johnson nipping at his gearbox.
"I'm sorry, your name was Jimmie who again?"
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - standings after 3 rounds:
1 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 81 points 2 - Carl Edwards, 78 points 3 - Jeff Gordon, 75 points =4 - Kyle Busch, 72 points (1 pole) =4 - Jimmie Johnson, 72 points (1 pole) 6 - Mark Martin, 66 points 7 - Michael Waltrip, 60 points =8 - Denny Hamlin, 45 points =8 - Casey Mears, 45 points =10 - Ryan Newman, 39 points =10 - Mike Skinner, 39 points =10 - Reed Sorenson, 39 points =13 - Greg Biffle, 36 points =13 - Tony Stewart, 36 points 15 - Scott Riggs, 33 points 16 - Kurt Busch, 27 points =17 - Kasey Kahne, 24 points =17 - Elliott Sadler, 24 points 19 - Patrick Carpentier, 15 points =20 - Bobby Labonte, 12 points =20 - Matt Kenseth, 12 points =22 - David Ragan, 9 points =22 - David Reutimann, 9 points 24 - Juan Montoya, 6 points 25 - Kevin Harvick, 4 points 26 - Dale Jarrett, 3 points 27 - Kenny Wallace, 1 point
After a rather unexpected victor in Ryan Newman won at Daytona, it looked like we were back to business with HMS being the team to beat as first Jeff Gordon and then Jimmie Johnson took turns at the head of the field. But it was to prove irrelevent in the end as the weather made the race go into Monday. And, it was the Roush team who ended up going to victory lane again at Fontana as Carl Edwards took the eighth win of his career.
He didn't have to wait long to win his ninth race either...just six days in fact. Now, there is a little black (fluid) cloud over his Vegas win so we'll see what happens with that. Vegas had me scrambling around for clarification over who finished sixth; Kasey Kahne or David Ragan. Sites were split as to who finished in front ofthe other while the foxtrax gave them the exact same time for crossing the line...but I've gone with Ragan in sixth and Kahne seventh, so tough bikkies if you lose out by two points at seasons end, Kasey.
With the win, Edwards flipped over Kyle Busch who is having a similar start to this season as last; having a great car but not closing the deal.
I still say one of these days he'll misjudge that.
Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - standings after 3 rounds:
So there we go, every driver who has scored points in both titles is there...I shall just list the top 20 each week after this I think. Thumbs up to Kvapil for a great finish at Vegas and thumbs down to no one mentioning it...guess that's due to not having a sponsor on the car which is a pathetic reason but very much in keeping with NASCAR.
Well here we stan...uh, sit in my case (hard to type when standing up)...less than four weeks until the season opener. While some things have changed (the name for starters), the majority of the Nationwide Series has stayed the same.
Pretty much all of the information I'm putting on here comes from Marcos Ambrose's webpage by the way.
One nice change is that this year will be the first (in three) that Ambrose won't have that yellow stripe on the back on his car except when he runs his Cup schedule signifying him as a rookie. His first day of testing at Daytona went pretty well as he ended up 17th in the afternoon session having picked up nearly two seconds from the morning where he was 36th.
Marcos also has a new Crew Chief this season; Walter Giles. While that name may not ring a bell with people, Giles was part of Martin Truex Jr's Cup team and joined the Wood Brothers at the end of 2007. Another couple of names to be recruited by Wood Brothers are Ken Douglas and Paul Forgie. Both were part of the SBR (Stone Brothers Racing) team that Marcos drove for in the V8 Supercars so I'm guessing he'll be happy to see a couple of familiar faces.
Will having Paul and Ken bring back Marcos' stunning V8 Supercar form?
The other main change comes from within as Wood Brothers have undergone a restructure and, while Ambrose will attempt to qualify for 12 races in the Sprint Series, an additional four races have been earmarked as part of the JTG Racing (where he'll use the #47 and be, effectively, the second Wood Brothers entry).
As I mentioned earlier, this will be Marcos' third season in the States and he has already impressed me hugely with his attitude and seems to have won over a few fans with his personality. Hopefully 2008 can bring him the one thing that he came rather close to achieving last August in Montreal; a win.
As posted on Ben Maller's "NASCAR rumours" bit. Well, actually it's a snippet from the Melbourne Herald but I bet they didn't use that headline.
America's biggest motor sport star, Dale Earnhardt Jr, was the guest of honour at Phillip Island yesterday. Earnhardt is the most popular driver in NASCAR racing and earns more money than the entire V8 Supercar field combined. Sports Illustrated magazine estimated his 2007 earnings at more than $50 million. But unlike the media circus that surrounded David Beckham's recent visit to Australia, Earnhardt was able to slip under the radar. The only people clamouring to meet the racing celebrity were the V8 Supercar drivers and team managers as he walked down pit lane.
I am struggling to see why that headline is warranted to be honest.
Jr said he wanted to go and see a V8 Supercar round while he was is Aussie...in fact, he said he's a fan of it and loved seeing them live. I pointed that out yesterday in my 'Deja Vu' post...but I bet another big part of him being here was to get away from the media scrum that probably follows him around all day. That's the beauty about Australia and New Zealand...we're so far away from everywhere else so we tend to treat superstars as your average Joe.
You want another example? Ok then; David Beckham was in town last week...and he thoroughly enjoyed the fact that he was able to walk around Sydney and Wellington without getting hassled. Yes he said a few people came up and asked for autographs, but that's the measure of how well known he is...but Jr is a NASCAR driver (which isn't a global sport like football is) so what did you expect?
You see, while Marcos Ambrose is doing his best to convert us to NASCAR...though he didn't have to with me since he didn't go over there until two years after I started watching...we already have our own motorsport series where they run 'stock' cars and V8 engines, so why would we bother getting all excited about a bloke who just wanted to have a nice, relaxing two weeks? We're not considered one of the most laid-back countries for nothing you know *rolls eyes*
In a country where Cricket, Tennis, Rugby League and Aussie Rules captures our attention, NASCAR just doesn't cut it and I doubt it ever will. So enjoy your time in Australia, Jr...after the year you've had, you deserve to have a break, mate.
Ahh, Homestead...site of Greg Moore's final victory in the old CART series before his death in Fontana during the final race.
But this NASCAR, where they race with roofs and stuff so you're not interested in openwheelers...well, ignoring Messrs Montoya, Carpentier, Hornish Jr and Villeneuve I guess. Anyway, Miami has basically been Greg Biffle's personal playground the last few years so I must say I was surprised that he didn't score any points in qualifying. The main battle was whether or not not Jeff Gordon could pinch this title off Jimmie Johnson. To do so, he needed to grab the pole and hope that Jimmie was behind five other qualy-chasers...well that certainly worked....assuming he and Jimmie swapped cars this weekend and Jeff is driving the #48.
No?
Well then I guess that means Jimmie can celebrate for the second week in a row having clinched my TNRC title last time out at Phoenix. A sterling effort from Johnson, continuing his red-hot form to nab pole from Ryan Newman while the 2008 Budman will line up third.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Chase for the Plate, final standings
1 - Jimmie Johnson, 79 points 2 - Jeff Gordon, 63 points 3 - Ryan Newman, 57 points 4 - Kurt Busch, 49 points 5 - Kasey Kahne, 47 points 6 - Denny Hamlin, 28 points =7 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 23 points =7 - Carl Edwards, 23 points 9 - Juan Montoya, 21 points 10 - Elliott Sadler, 20 points (sorry mate...been spelling your name with one 't', my bad) 11 - Kyle Busch, 14 points 12 - Jamie McMurray, 9 points
Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr end up tied in 7th with 1 pole each for the season...and I can't be bothered going through the whole season to figure out who had the better starting positions so they end up equal. I suppose the biggest story out of these 12 guys are the GEM boys of Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler. Compared to where they currently sit in the TNRC (Kahne in equal 22nd, Sadler in equal 31st), this has to be the best example of how big the difference is between getting a car to go fast for a few laps and a race distance...those guys just haven't had it in the races, maybe next year will be better.
So, another congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and the #48 bunch for winning the inaugural...I'm starting to sound like a broken record, sheesh *rolls eyes*...TNQC.
fine, so that's not a plate, but he still wins the TNQC anyway...and he's very pleased as you can see
Ok and here's the rest...I say preliminary since I have to check Mark's tally again.
Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - Best of the Rest, preliminary standings
13 - Martin Truex Jr, 75 points (1 pole) 14 - Greg Biffle, 51 points (1 pole) 15 - Kevin Harvick, 42 points 16 - Bobby Labonte, 40 points 17 - Mark Martin, 36 points (must check this...he only had 25 in my post last week so maybe I stuffed up that number when I posted) 18 - Matt Kenseth, 35 points 19 - Scott Riggs, 34 points 20 - Clint Bowyer, 33 points (2 poles) 21 - Tony Stewart, 31 points 22 - Dave Blaney, 30 points (1 pole) 23 - Casey Mears, 29 points (1 pole) 24 - JJ Yeley, 28 points (1 pole) 25 - David Gilliland, 24 points (1 pole) 26 - Reed Sorenson, 21 points (1 pole) =27 - Jeff Burton, 19 points =27 - David Stremme, 19 points 29 - Ricky Rudd, 16 points 30 - Johnny Sauter, 15 points 31 - Michael Waltrip, 13 points (1 pole) 32 - David Ragan, 12 points 33 - Dale Jarrett, 10 points =34 - Joe Nemechek, 9 points =34 - Tony Raines, 9 points =36 - AJ Allmendinger, 8 points =36 - Robby Gordon, 8 points =36 - Brian Vickers, 8 points =39 - Sterling Marlin, 6 points =39 - Ken Schrader, 6 points =39 - Kenny Wallace, 6 points =42 - John Andretti, 5 points =42 - David Reutimann, 5 points =42 - Boris Said, 5 points 45 - Jacques Villeneuve, 3 points =46 - Ward Burton, 2 points =46 - Bill Elliot, 2 points =46 - Mike Skinner, 2 points 49 - Paul Menard, 1 point
And that's it until next year for this thing...thanks for (pretending to anyway *laugh*) being interested in it and I hope next years battle is as good as this one has been.
Tez is a rare creature; an Australian who was living in New Zealand before moving to Canada. He's also a Civil Engineer who is hoping to spend his Monday to Friday sitting in front of a computer surfing the inter...uh, working hard for an Engineering Consultant or Contractor when he finds a job. His heart is torn between his two loves; F1 and NASCAR.
Due to his high interest in those, his blogs will likely focus on them with the occasional foray into sports that don't get much (if any) mention on this website. All blogs and/or comments will more than likely have his usual dollop of sarcasm and general Aussie spin on them.
Amazingly, he also managed to score 2 MiB nominations on consecutive days (August 5 & 6, 2007) after announcing he had been keeping track of them...he's considering hiding under his bed as a result.
