This edition of Hot or Not is coming to you live from the pits courtesy of the Miller Lite Race team! A special thank you goes out to the #2 Brew Crew for hosting me again this weekend. Please read my race reports from the garage for a play by play account of my weekend.
All the pictures in this blog were taken by me in the garages this weekend.
HOT
1. Kyle Busch- Rowdy wasn’t on anyone’s radar to win at Sonoma on Sunday with his reputation for aggressive driving and the fact he started 30th. But when the checkers flew, it was the points leader that led the most laps and was one of the few who raced clean and hit his marks on every turn of every lap. To top it off, that was the best combo of doughnuts and M&M’s I have ever seen. Smokin’!2.David Gilliland- Gilly earned high praise from his competitors on Sunday after posting an impressive second-place finish in his Yates Ford. It was no fluke, as he showed off his road racing skills learned from his dad by staying in the top five most of the day. His Free Credit Report probably looks a lot better after that payday!3. Jeff Gordon – I hope Ella does not listen to her dad’s radio yet, because early in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Gordon went on a cursing tirade and the best he could say about his car was that it was the worst one on the track. His crew jumped to action and changed everything but the driver. And with the benefit of some cautions, the No. 24 Dupont team came back to finish third. No matter whether it was hometrack advantage or champion expertise, either way, Gordon is up to sixth in the points.4. Tony Stewart- Smoke had a rough weekend at Infineon. His qualifying effort left him starting 39th , but some well-timed cautions put him in the lead pack mid-race. He was making his patented march to the front when he got tagged from behind with only 5 laps to go. He restarted 19th and was a bull in a china shop as he picked up nine spots in four laps to finish 10th. That is impressive on a road course. He gets a ‘not’ however, for diss’ing me when I asked for an autograph…5. Marcos Ambrose- Racing in his first Sprint Cup race in the No. 21 Wood Brother’s Ford, this Aussie rookie put on quite a show. He laid down a stellar qualifying lap and was fastest in practice too. During the race, Ambrose was entertaining to watch as he raced with his idols up front. Unfortunately, he didn’t impress Juan Pablo Montoya and then got wrecked by Elliott Sadler--which broke his transmission and ended his day early. His 42nd place finish misrepresents his race because those ‘Honey Buns’ were hot!NOT
1. Kasey Kahne- The polesitter didn’t enjoy the view up front very long as he radioed in on the pace laps that he had no clutch. He managed to lead for the first time on a road course but was never a factor as he quickly dropped through the field and limped to a 33rd-place finish. The driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge dropped two spots in the Cup standings to ninth. He may be down this week, but don’t count him out.2. Kevin Harvick- Happy was on the move, charging from 32nd all the way to fifth on lap 104 before all heck broke loose. The No. 29 Shell Chevy came into turn 4 way too hot and locked up his tires in a power slide as he spun and took out Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart and Ron Fellows--all top cars. His spotter was priceless, “left side…left side…ew!” Un-happily, Harvick finished 30th and dropped to 13th in the standing, outside of Chase contention.3. David Reutimann- The driver of the No. 44 UPS Toyota was very frank about his lack of confidence on the road courses. It showed. Not only did he wipe out his primary car on Saturday but he took a big hit into the tire barrier in his back-up car on Sunday relegating him to a 40th-place finish. I bet the car felt like the big brown truck around some of those turns.4. Kurt Busch- Despite braking issues, Busch starting third and racing up front until Scott Pruett got into the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge--causing a bad tire rub on the right rear. Busch was forced to pit and went a lap down in the process, his great day ended with a 32nd-place finish. The Brew Crew can’t seem to catch a break, and apparently, I am not their lucky charm. 5. The Road Ringers- Road racing strikes fear in the hearts of NASCAR drivers and owners, as they often turn to the road ringers to help salvage points. This year, they weren’t much help and a few actually hurt as they had run-ins with several Cup regulars. Brian Simo (43rd), Boris Said (41st), Scott Pruett (38th), Max Papis (35th), and Ron Fellows (29th) all finished at the back of the pack. Perhaps its time to rethink this strategy and just stick with your driver.
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.
i was surprised the "ringers" did so poorly, and I tend to agree with you @ using the regular drivers.
If they end up with a road course in the chase, you know they are going to need the exposure.
Yea, I asked Reed Sorenson if he had learned anything with Pruett in the car and he said no...seems dumb to me, mine as well learn to drive the raod courses!
Great job, klv. I've often questioned some teams bringing in a ringer. Then the ringer doesn't seem any better than their regular driver. On the other hand, with Reutimann barely being in the top 35, I wonder why MWR didn't go with a ringer.
I didn't know they were remaking 'Happy Days'. Looks like Smoke is auditioning to be the Fonz. AAAAYYY.
Great job Dr K. So just how bad was your sun burn?
Did Kurts' team tell you why they aren't running as
well as they should? Now let us know who will stay
with the team they drive for now,and who is leaving.
Awesome as always. Tony a Hot and a Not? glad you were able to have some behind the scenes pics with it this week.
I'm with Yee. i thought the road course warriors would at least have one guy near the front. That pic of Boris says it all.
Hanny- It would have made sense for MWR to go with a ringer perhaps but David didnt do much worse than any of them. Fonzy was never that round! LOL
jayhawk- The #2 team cannot figure out how to get the car to turn and b/c the COT rules are so tight on what you can adjust they cannot seem to make the adjustments they need to to fix it. More on this in my blog with Pat Tryson. I think Tony is gone, Truex is gone and Newman is gone but thats just my guess...
RA6AN- Matt was #6 on Hot this week. I figured I would have other opportunities to include him but Marcos, not so much...GREAT TO MEET YOU!!!!
Cuda- Yep, Tony is getting a split vote LOL! That pic of Boris is from qualifying so his stress started early in the weekend.
Kristen- I guess when you are hot you are hot, a win in the sore butt 150 and to follow that up with another win here is HOT ! Maybe we need to change the UR8UP to TO HOT TO TOUCH !? Cheers
One last question. I was on another site, and they said that the race was far from a sellout. That there were huge sections of empty grandstand seats. Yes, or no?
Kristen - one of the things I noticed in my TNT broadcast critique this week is that the audio over the radio transmission is delayed from the video. At least three different times spins/wrecks were shown where the spotter's voice didn't match up.
TNT is on the NOT list this week. Very sloppy and the announcers have their mikes open coming out of commercial. And they've got three weeks left to present a good product.
Jayhawk- Hard to say, that would seem to be a good fit. I have no "ins" at Hendrick or DEI and Mark wasnt at Sears Point.
Forensic- I like the name "too hot!" Funny! I cant believe I won the Sore Butt 150...the racing gods were with me.
Schr8des- Like I said in a comment above, Matt was 6th on my Hot list, but I figured I would have ample opportunity to put him on the Hot list in the coming weeks whereas this was it for Marcos...thanks for reading and commenting.
moseby- Audio seems much delayed your right, I had the track announcer and video to watch so I got slightly different info at different times than TNT broadcast. TNT is not impressing me either.
Hanny- Sometimes hard to tell at Sonoma b/c it holds over 100,000 but I did not see "huge blocks" of empty stands anywhere.
Matt Kenseth and Jeff Burton are always hot!LOL As always, a great job by you. Hey, k, did you have a chance to notice how very much RA6AN looks like Cindi? WOW! It is eerie to me. RA6AN must be a wonderful person and I am glad the two of you got to meet.
Great touch this week...having your own personal pics to go with the blog. I am chuckling about Jeff Gordon's tirade, and the thought of little Ella hearing her Daddy.
photo- well, even if I am not good luck for the #2 team, I am not giving up my garage passes!
vol- Yes, I did! Its RA6AN's big smile that reminded me most of Cindi...glad you thought so too.
Gerrel- Oh my was it a drunken sailor curse-fest, to be honest I didnt think Jeff had it in him! Ella is absolutely adorable...
byte- I wwould think earplugs might be more appropriate for Ella! Kyle's doughnuts were amazing, almost a perfect figure 8...thanks for reading and commenting!
Iowa- So I snapped that pic of Jr in the car and the next 4 of them are so blurry b/c he was just staring right at me and my hands started shaking...I am so very lame! =) I would have to script my convo with him because I am sure I would just sit there with my mouth open...
hotsports- I told you he wouldnt be absent long! Kyle was impressive hitting his marks on the track.
Tez- He didnt make many friends in the garage with his agro driving but *I* loved it and he put on a great show...hows Canada treating you??
Good stuff here......when these guys like Tony think there all that then no autographs to just anybody, ya have to pay. Klvalus thanks for such a well prepared article!
WTF was Harvick THINKING when he went into Turn 4 WAY too hard?? Did he think he was in an NHRA Funny Car? That's why I threw Harvick under the bus Sunday night!!
Overall, good list. I'd have put Harvick #1 on the Not list, though.
As I'm reading through...something's gnawing at the back of my head...so I slap my dog away, and then it hits me! How can Happy Harvick and Killer Khane both finish 30th? Obviously they both didn't finish 30th, but there it is. In the print. Stupid dog....
Hey Kristen: Great list again, as usual! I'm glad to see the #24 back on the Hot List. I wish I could have heard his tirade! I really hope the #2 can start improving. Each week it starts out promising and ends a nightmare. I'm glad you had a great time! Back to Daytona in two weeks!
vearl- Glad you liked it! HotfootLori will have to give me some coin if Tony is going to start charging...
Degraff- I wish we had gotten the diss on tape...it was pretty funny.
noah- Harvick and Smoke are 2 for 2 now...Tony owes him big time but alas, not a harsh word out of his mouth...teammates to be??
jon- I knew you would be flipping out when I saw Harvick take them out! LOL Happy just locked them up and had no control, its what happened to Kurt when he and Robby Gordon tangled...
Iray- THANK YOU!! Good catch! I fixed it...too much cutting and pasting at the track.
24fan- Gordon went off, it was funny to hear him do it b/c he is always so well spoken and pretty polite. He deserved a hot this time, his car absolutely sucked at the start of the race. I hope the #2 team gets some racing luck soon. They are a great bunch of guys and deserve better finishes then they have had.
ringers should be rung out.so should NASCAR sponsored road races.for the go-kart racers them rejoin Tony Georges legions.
Gordon will challenge in Homestead but probably not
have enough points to win.
like him or not 2008 is Kyles year.
But not surprised that he didn't give you and autograph. He is all the time saying he hates to give autographs at the track. But since you were there on "official business", maybe he just didn't want to give it to a media person. lol
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 .
2. David Gilliland- Gilly earned high praise from his competitors on Sunday after posting an impressive second-place finish in his Yates Ford. It was no fluke, as he showed off his road racing skills learned from his dad by staying in the top five most of the day. His Free Credit Report probably looks a lot better after that payday!
3. Jeff Gordon – I hope Ella does not listen to her dad’s radio yet, because early in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 Gordon went on a cursing tirade and the best he could say about his car was that it was the worst one on the track. His crew jumped to action and changed everything but the driver. And with the benefit of some cautions, the No. 24 Dupont team came back to finish third. No matter whether it was hometrack advantage or champion expertise, either way, Gordon is up to sixth in the points.
4. Tony Stewart- Smoke had a rough weekend at Infineon. His qualifying effort left him starting 39th , but some well-timed cautions put him in the lead pack mid-race. He was making his patented march to the front when he got tagged from behind with only 5 laps to go. He restarted 19th and was a bull in a china shop as he picked up nine spots in four laps to finish 10th. That is impressive on a road course. He gets a ‘not’ however, for diss’ing me when I asked for an autograph…
5. Marcos Ambrose- Racing in his first Sprint Cup race in the No. 21 Wood Brother’s Ford, this Aussie rookie put on quite a show. He laid down a stellar qualifying lap and was fastest in practice too. During the race, Ambrose was entertaining to watch as he raced with his idols up front. Unfortunately, he didn’t impress Juan Pablo Montoya and then got wrecked by Elliott Sadler--which broke his transmission and ended his day early. His 42nd place finish misrepresents his race because those ‘Honey Buns’ were hot!
NOT 
2. Kevin Harvick- Happy was on the move, charging from 32nd all the way to fifth on lap 104 before all heck broke loose. The No. 29 Shell Chevy came into turn 4 way too hot and locked up his tires in a power slide as he spun and took out Jamie McMurray, Tony Stewart and Ron Fellows--all top cars. His spotter was priceless, “left side…left side…ew!” Un-happily, Harvick finished 30th and dropped to 13th in the standing, outside of Chase contention.
3. David Reutimann- The driver of the No. 44 UPS Toyota was very frank about his lack of confidence on the road courses. It showed. Not only did he wipe out his primary car on Saturday but he took a big hit into the tire barrier in his back-up car on Sunday relegating him to a 40th-place finish. I bet the car felt like the big brown truck around some of those turns.
4. Kurt Busch- Despite braking issues, Busch starting third and racing up front until Scott Pruett got into the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge--causing a bad tire rub on the right rear. Busch was forced to pit and went a lap down in the process, his great day ended with a 32nd-place finish. The Brew Crew can’t seem to catch a break, and apparently, I am not their lucky charm. 
5. The Road Ringers- Road racing strikes fear in the hearts of NASCAR drivers and owners, as they often turn to the road ringers to help salvage points. This year, they weren’t much help and a few actually hurt as they had run-ins with several Cup regulars. Brian Simo (43rd), Boris Said (41st), Scott Pruett (38th), Max Papis (35th), and Ron Fellows (29th) all finished at the back of the pack. Perhaps its time to rethink this strategy and just stick with your driver.
