I think the race was good watching. I also picked Kyle, even though it didn't look that way. LOL. He will continue to dominate the rest of the schedule. He is very talented, knows it, and all of us have to accept that. On a blog note: Experimenting with the car is no excuse for a driver not winning. Every crew chief and his team experiments with his driver's car. To say he didn't care if he won or not is ridiculous. Every driver wants to win every race.

It was an interesting race on a road course! I think what made it interesting was the drivers other than the usual oval track drivers and seeing how they did in comparison! I like the Tasmanian Devil and his comments after the Saturday race! Again Sunday he did an excellent job!

Bobby was released from the hospital Sunday and cleared to race next week.

Who would it benefit if Tony had dumped Kyle for the win? Tony would get 10 Chase points? If someone else was leading, I say Smoke would have gone for it. There are so few drivers with any Chase points at all, Stewart could still win the championship, but in the meantime, as long as Kyle is doing well, I think Tony will do whatever to help him win that championship. Those 3 Cup drivers at JGR are great teammates.

Steve Addington has said that because of their point lead, Pocono was a test session for playing with set ups and helping Kyle get better at flat tracks. They are not sure what they did, but somehow they suddenly got terrible fuel mileage. Addington said yesterday that they still don't know what happened (?), but it could be that they may not have put all of the gas in (?).

Not a big fan of the road courses, but that was a pretty good race. And Kyle is getting cheers. I like watching him take his bow. He's earning it.

From Jen: If he had won it would have benefited ME! Jeez, I was only kidding. But I do think Tony should go for the win when he can. I don't think it should matter who's leading because next year, I predict will be a very dry year for him in victory lane.

Is anyone ready to talk about the fact that Tony Eury, Jr. is costing Dale, Jr. victories? I have seen him get hung out to dry on pit stategies at Daytona, Atlanta, Loudon, and now Watkins Glen. I understand they are family, but Jr. needs a crew chief that can make good calls on the track. What do we think of Zippy coming over to Hendrick??

From Jen: You know...you are absolutely right. We talked about that while watching the race yesterday wondering what the hell Eury Jr. was doing. It was so stupid to keep him out there when everyone else had already pitted. Just ridiculous.

I agree on the JR/Eury situation.

There is ONE person who wants Eury on that pit box- and that is Jr.

And that is all that matters.

It's true that Jr. wants Eury there....but we have seen Hendrick pull popular crew chiefs before. His tolerance will only go so far when he is not winning. His call at the Glen was rediculous and preventable.

Good call on Kyle, Ms. Boogity. I knew you would see the error in your ways after thinking about it. The only negative to picking Tony was that he had already been picked:)

I have never seen a driver so shaken up as I did when they interviewed Dave Blaney after the wreck. He was trembling. That was a nasty wreck.

Other than Jimmie Johnson, the Hendrick team was quite an upset. That ranges from bad pit strategy with Jr. to a junk car for Gordon. I agree that family should be set aside and let it be a business move to get Dale Earnhardt Jr a new crew chief.

That was a bad call from Eury,Jr. I questioned it too. Anyone ever heard Jr talk to his crew chief on the radio? He's not very nice. Eury, Jr is probably the only one that will put up with that. Jr has had others, but they don't stay long. Last week he actually was better on the radio so maybe Rick has said something.

Stewart-Haas will not fail. I found a quote by Michael Jordan the other day, " Some want it to happen, some wish it would happen, and some make it happen." Tony makes things happen. He'll be alright. I hate breaking up the JGR family, but am really looking forward to next year.

It was great to see Marcos win...if you ever get the chance over the Winter to see any of Speed's coverage of the Aussie V-8 series, you should. Lots of fun to watch. Just shows that talent does win out.

Exactly what I was thinking about Eury during Sunday's race and a few others, that Jr. needs a new crew chief, but Racefan has a good point. Jr. can give quite an earful over the radio during a race to his crew chief. The two races before Sunday's were colorful indeed and I agree that perhaps he was told to tone it down.

As an aside, this is a great blog. I enjoy checking each week to read Jen's entry and to see everyone's analysis of the past race and the next week's race.

From Jen: Thank you for the nice comments. This blog has been a lot of fun to do.

Great entries on this blog. It is exciting going into the chase soon.

I hate the Chase. Too much backing off by drivers that aren't in it. It's too much like fixing the outcome.

Eury was wrong, no question. But how come every one doesnt beat up JR when he lays down at the end of a race. Has anyone else noticed how many times JR has a winning car for 3/4 of the race and then his car suddenly goes away at the end. Ever notice when they interview JJ at the end he looks as fresh as a spring daisy, but JRs interview looks like he just summited K2. JR doesnt win every week, but Eury doesnt get it wrong every week either.

Also a good point, that Jr. just isn't getting it done, not always Eury's fault or the car's fault, etc. I've noticed too the difference in demeanor between him and other drivers at the conclusion of the races. Lucky for Jr. that he doesn't need to be articulate and a PR dream to be the most popular driver. He is what he is.

Any Mark Martin fans out there?

There is something going on with Jr. When was the last time anyone actually saw him smile? That's not normal for him.

Who isn't a Mark Martin fan? I don't think there is anyone who doesn't like him. I'm glad he's going back full time. He's still very good. I thought he would win at Pocono. he had the best car.

I'm excited to see Mark Martin running full time next year too. I'm a Jr. fan b/c my eight-yr-old is a Jr. fan, but I secretly always cheer for Martin when he's racing (and sometimes not so secretly and he says MOM!!! We want Jr. to win.) We went to the NH race and I was sorry that wasn't one Martin was running.

There are some "old" guys in racing that you want to see hang it up to save face and then there are some that you never want to leave because they have so much more to race for. Martin is in the latter group. To do what he does on a limited schedule with a struggling race team is incredible.
I'm not going to comment on jr too much. if you say the wrong thing, you incite a riot with Jr nation. I'll just say that I expected much more from him this year.

I am not going to defend JR. His record speaks for itself. He has been in the top five most of the season. Yeah, some of us wanted to see more wins. It is very frustrating. They don't show him much on the TV coverage anymore. I have a feeling that is his request and decision. Could the unhappiness be with his teamates? I don't think they get along too well and there isn't much team work on the track. Everyone knows I root for Carl and Tony, but my heart is with JR. Not because of his father, but because of his demeanor and his ability. In any event, the only real happy fans right now are Kyle's.

What happened to cutting the horsepower on the Toyotas in the Nationwide to level the playing field? Ha!

Iowa is on the list for that open Nationwide race, son of racefan. I still would rather see one at the Rock.

I like the Rock as well. But Iowa has a much better chance since it is modern. Maybe they will bring the Rock back now thatg it is under new ownership.