1. Kyle Busch – The hottest driver in NASCAR finally wins a Sprint Cup race for Toyota. He led 173 laps and kept himself solidly in front of his old team on his way to Victory Lane. Rowdy can clearly drive a loose race car and just like his Snickers sponsor, he is also satisfyingly nutty.
2. Dale Earnhardt Jr.- Had the dominant car for the first 60 laps as he went ‘rim-riding’ and put twenty drivers a lap down. After losing the handling, Earnhardt and the 88 team rallied back for a 3rd place finish. Junebug is still the only HMS driver in the Top 12 in points. Did anyone else notice the goatee is coming back?
3. The Walking Wounded – Apparently, Tony Stewart can mash the gas with his injured foot, run his mouth, and still not miss a beat. He secured a 1-2 finish for Toyota but used his TV time to complain about Goodyear instead of congratulating his teammate and his own team. Insert injured foot in mouth. After the wicked hit Jeff Gordon took last week in Las Vegas, the last thing he needed was to wrestle a loose race car all day long. But he did and brought it home an impressive 5th. Big Daddy is going to be sore another week.
4. Richard Childress Racing – Clint Bowyer led the race and led the way with a 6th place finish looking like the Chase contender he was for the first time this year. Kevin Harvick finished right behind with a stout 7th and Jeff Burton’s consistent run (10th) kept all the RCR cars in the Top 10. So far, RCR is the best all around Chevy team on the track.
5. The Endurance Champs– Matt Kenseth (8th), Kurt Busch (11th), and Jimmie Johnson (13th ) all showed their stellar abilities in tolerating hardship and persevered as they truly earned their Top 15 spots on Sunday. Kenseth started 43rd and was lapped early, Busch also went a lap down early and took all race to get it back and Johnson’s car was not drive-able. This is the reason these guys are all NASCAR Champions.
NOT
1. Gillette Evernham Motorsports – Kasey Kahne was picked as a favorite but was way too loose, spun, ran over Digger, and ended up 3 laps down in 26th. Elliott Sadler single handedly brought out the caution three times as his Garmin GPS system went wild trying to keep him off the wall. Garmin says, “Proceed straight to the garage!”
2. Jamie McMurray – An early pit road speeding penalty coupled with being caught off sequence by a debris caution helped McMurray be put several laps down early to limp home 41st. His bad luck continues and he is making Jack’s decision pretty easy for who to drop in 2009.
3. Dale Earnhardt Inc.- When Paul Menard is your highest finishing team member (19th) you know it has been a tough day. Martin Truex, Jr. was in the Top 10 until a loose lug nut sent him two laps down. Mark Martin was never a factor and quite frankly looked uncomfortable driving a loose race car. Predictably, Regan Smith with his rookie stripe brought up the rear in 36th. On the bright side, at least there were no blown engines.
4. Carl Edwards - Started the week losing 100 driver/owner points plus his 10 bonus points if he makes the Chase, his crew chief for six weeks and a lot of cash. Then Cousin Carl had to suffer with being called “Matt” most of the race and finally, the heartbreak of being 50 laps from his third win in a row before his transmission blew. Bummer.
5. Goodyear –Over reacted to tire problems in Las Vegas by changing the tires in Atlanta to a harder compound on the right sides. The drivers complained about the lack of information and the cars were sliding around and were just plain junk. Tony Stewart spoke his mind saying the tires were the “most pathetic racing tire I have ever been on” and that is saying something.
My weekly picks are dedicated to the memory of Cindi Redding who was respected and loved by all who knew her, especially her friends in the FOXSports.com community.
Kristen,
Perfect AGAIN this week. Does the pressure of being so good every week start to weigh on you? I'm betting no 'cause you have this blog down pat. Your picks could not be any better. Keep up the great work.
Hoosier- You have no idea! I know I wont get it right always and I bet a few folks wont agree with a few of these this week actually...but its fun to disagree too! Thank you.
Yee- Happy to soften the blow...I had Kasey on my fantasy team so I was pretty bummed about that.
Lori- I think "satisfyingly nutty" sums up Kyle pretty well...hope your not too upset with Tony's "foot in mouth" comment! Still miss you!
Kristen,
It is a little scary that I keep agreeing with EVERY hot and not you pick. People will think I'm going soft if I don't find something about which to be cantankerous. Of course, all I have to do is post a blog about my least favorite Cup driver to show everyone I still enjoy "poking sticks" in his fans as Hanahan put it and stirring things up - lol. You just are too brilliant for me to question - at least so far :-)
I STILL THINK CARL IS A HOT DRIVER, BUT HEY DISAGREEING ON ONLY ONE OUT OF TEN AIN'T BAD AT ALL. I WAS GLAD TO SEE A RESPECTED DRIVER LIKE DALE JARRETT COME OUT IN SUPPORTOF WHAT TONY HAD TO SAY. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK, BUT A QUESTION, HOW DO YOU FIND TIME TO WORK WITH ALL THE WORK YOU ARE DOING HERE.
I'm liking these Hot-or-Not columns, kv. Good stuff.
Kyle Busch is clearly the class of the field right now, but the dude is a menace! I get freaked out just watching him, with his crazy racing lines that go down to the apron of the track and then that last lap bumpdraft (or whatever that was) with Dale Jarrett! What the heck was that?!
Did you hear DW freaking out? That was hilarious.
Poor Carl Edwards. The whole oil lid fiasco and penalty and then on his way to what looked like a certain victory his car takes a dump. Bummer.
Naturally, I had him on my fantasy racing team.
p.s. UofA is struggling to make the NCAA tourney. Wildcats better have a good showing in Pac-10 tournament, or they might be headed to the NIT. Ugh.
And did you read that Lute is coming back next season? Whew, that was wonderful news!
Hoosier- flattery will get you everywhere! Don't go soft!
Photo- SuperNot is not yet a catagory but there is still time!
GUNNY- I agree with you actually that Carl is still a hot driver overall, he just had a "not" week. Luckily I dont see clients on Sundays when I typically write this! LOL THanks for looking out for me...
bc- Thanks, glad your enjoying them cuz they are fun to write. Kyle is a wild man on the track, just so aggressive its fun to watch. I had Kasey not Carl on my fantasy team but pretty much same result there...
Re: I *know* !! I cant believe we are in danger of going NIT! We cant lose our streak now but the team is messed up at times. I have been keeping track of Lute. Any mention on what health issue? Good news he said he'd fufill his contract til 2011 I think? Hope we BEAR DOWN today and crush the Beavers at least.
KLV - Good choices again my friend. I like how you showed that some of the teams were hot or not depending on the sum of their drivers performances. This gives a better perspective on which team did their homework for the week on the track.
Do you have to do a Hot or Not during the off week coming up (Easter)? Bristol should be a lot of fun as usual.
ISN'T IT NICE NOT TO SEE JIMMY JOHNSON NAME ALL OVER THE BLOGS LATELY. I REALLY AM SO TIRED OF HIM AND HIS ATTITUDE. WELL ANYWAY YES RIGHT NOW KYLE IS THE HOTTEST DRIVER BUT THE WAY THE CHILDRESS DRIVERS ARE COMING UP SLOWLY IS REALLY NICE TO SEE. DEI IS REALLY HAVING ITS TROUBLES SO FAR THIS SEASON I DOUBT IF PAUL MENARD WILL EVER BE A FACTOR IN THIS SPORT. JR WILL GET HIS FIRST WIN SOON HE DESERVES IT HE HAS TRIED SO HARD FOR SO LONG. I AM JUST HOPING PENSKE GUYS START GETTING BETTER RUNS. THERE ARE SO MANY DRIVERS THAT SEEM TO BE DOING BETTER EARLY THIS YEAR EVEN WITH ALL THE PROBLEMS WITH THE COT. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF THEM. ESPECIALLY MY GUY #20 SORRY HOOSIERBOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!
only cuz i don't know how long it will last we gotta put brian vickers on the hot list. he is 8th in points and his team car can't qualify for a race.
and i tend to agree with gunner on carl (aka matt). he has probably the 2nd best crew chief in the garage for the next 5 weeks and has won half the races. plus after that week he still nearly waxed them all last sunday. glass half full or half empty i guess.
and what about those ice cold chevy's. they haven't won yet the first time in the 1st four since like forever ago.(im sure the announcers will tell us how long its been over and over this weekend)
but
good column over all though klvalus
KYLE BUSH IS VERY DANGEROUS DRIVER TO HIS SELF AND
OTHERS DRIVERS.HE DRIVES WITH TOTAL DISREGARD.ALL
HE NEEDS IS A RED NOSE TO GO WITH HIS CLOWN EARS!!
LETS SEE HOW MANY MORE CARS HE WRECKS?
Kristen,
thx for showing my boy JJ some love. Good one this week (as is the case every week) and I like the fact "Smoke" came out and gave his opinion on the tires the way he did. Sports and drama make for great T.V. programs.
You should change your avatar to the graphic I made for you.
APRIL- Thanks for coming by...I think the COT evened the playing field better than many thought after HMS domination with it last year.
WW- I agree that Vickers is another Hot one, see my comment above to Gunny about Carl...I only have 5 spots to work with, its tougher than it looks! Thanks for coming by and welcome back!!
Kristen, you wrote "Luckily I dont see clients on Sundays when I typically write this!" Well if you need to add to your client base, you certainly see plenty of potential new ones on Sundays, many driving race cars or working on pit crews or in the TV booths - lol.
Also, love Forensic2's comment about JJ's crew chief. It went over my head (not all that hard to do) but it is so true :-)
DJ did a good job when he was a racecar driver and did what everyone wanted to see and drive that truck. Thank You DJ for all the memories in Nascar, and goodluck as a commentator. DJ would make a great car owner now that he is abole to give feedback and groom someone to his style of driving. Thank You D.J. from a Yates fan
Dale Jarret was the best driver with class and he will be miss from his fans to hes buddys in the race family. I will miss his positive out look. I am so glad he got to race the truck. WE will all miss his great commercials with USP and other. He is a class act. He will be miss dearly in a race car.
Merrinda From phoenix AZ
A rare SF NASCAR fan who loves her Arizona Wildcats as well. By day, a well respected Psychologist, on weekends "Start Your Engines!!"
Winner of the 2007 "Miller Lite Next Great Sportswriter" Contest and contributing writer on FOXSports.com .
