Congrats to Denny Hamlin on his victory yesterday. I'm not much of a Hamlin fan though. He's a bit boring if you ask me.
Here are a few random thoughts of the race...
-- Jeff Hammond did a great job waving the green flag for the start of the race.
-- I would be very happy if I never heard them talk about Digger, the gopher cam. I think its ridiculous.
-- I said it after the last race and Ill say it again: I hate it when they only scroll the top ten in the rundown.
-- Could Matt Kenseth have had a worse day? Seriously, how many incidents was he involved in?
-- Some things havent changed since last season. The No. 8 car blew up. Only this year, I didn't care.
-- The one and only time that Kyle Busch could have been a hero in my eyes, he failed. He was Hamlins wing man and instead of trying to block Jeff Gordon, he got right out of the way. I was a bit surprised by that considering Hamlin is now his teammate. Maybe he had a flash back of last year and thought Gordon was his teammate?
-- Clint Bowyer is Mr. Consistent. Every time I looked, he was in the top ten. Hes having a pretty good season this year. Here are the unofficial point standings after yesterday's race.
What did you think of the race?
On a different note...
I was asked if I had heard anything about Ryan Moore and whether he is still racing.
I got an e-mail from his father Kelly Moore and he says: "Ryan will not be running the East Series, he works at Everham Motorsports in Statesville N.C., he heads up the brake department for the Cup cars."
Jimmie Johnson's win at Martinsville is his seventh victory this year. It also gave him some bragging rights in joining an elite few that have won 3 or more consecutive races there: Fred Lorenzen, winning 4, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Darrell Waltrip, Rusty Wallace and now Johnson, all winning three in a row.
As a matter of fact, this victory gives Hendrick Motorsports a total of 15 wins this year, nearly half of all the races run. It's no wonder I am sick of seeing Gordon or Johnson celebrating in victory lane.
Ten of the Chasers finished in the top 15. Not bad, considering it is the shortest track on the circuit and there was a record number of cautions, 21.
Kurt Busch was the biggest loser in the Chase, finishing 31st and I'm not even clear on what happened to him. I guess I missed it. Can anyone fill me in? Martin Truex Jr. couldn't keep his car going straight. He spun around a handful of times. He managed to finish 19th.
Just an observation a bit off topic: Maybe it was nerves, but during one of the last cautions of the day the camera went to Jeff Gordon's wife, Ingrid Vandebosch. It looked to me like she would rather have been anywhere other than at that race. She didn't look all that enthused at all. Like I said, it was just a thought that crossed my mind when I saw her on the television. Did anyone else think that or was it just me?
As we head into this weekend's race at Martinsville, I thought I would share some stats that I recieved from NASCAR.
1 Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) The File:
36 years old, Vallejo, Calif., 81 career wins
Six wins, 19 top fives, 25 top 10s this year
Six poles
Average finish of 7.5
Led 21 of 31 races for 1,112 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Seven wins, 17 top fives, 23 top 10s; five poles
Average finish of 7.3
Finished second at Martinsville in April
Led 21 of 29 races for 2,298 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Series-best Average Running Position of 9.2
2 Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet) The File:
32 years old from El Cajon, Calif., 29 career wins
Six wins, 16 top fives, 19 top 10s; three poles
Average finish of 12.1
Led 19 of 31 races for 1,069 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Three wins, seven top fives, 10 top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 6.6
Won the Martinsville race in April
Led five of 11 races for 724 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Series-high 819 Fastest Laps Run
3 Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet) The File:
28 years old from Emporia, Kan., one career win
One win, five top fives, 15 top 10s; two poles
Average finish of 13.4
Led 12 of 31 races for 386 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Average finish of 18.7 in three races
Finished 11th in April
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Fifth-best Closer 46 positions improved over the last 10% of races
4 Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet) The File:
36 years old from Columbus, Ind., 32 career wins
Three wins, 10 top fives, 22 top 10s
Average finish of 12.4
Led 20 of 31 races for 980 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Two wins, six top fives, 10 top 10s; three poles
Average finish of 12.2
Finished seventh in April
Led 10 of 17 races for 1,193 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
589 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
5 Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) The File:
28 years old from Columbia, Mo., seven career wins
Three wins, nine top fives, 13 top 10s
Average finish of 13.4
Led 11 of 31 races for 428 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Average finish of 22.2 in six races
Finished 17th in April
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
6,449 Laps in the Top 15, sixth-most
6 Kyle Busch (No. 5 Kelloggs/CARQUEST Chevrolet) The File:
22 years old from Las Vegas, Nev., four career wins
One win, nine top fives, 17 top 10s
Average finish of 14.5
Led 16 of 31 races for 300 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Two top fives, three top 10s
Average finish of 15.0
Finished fourth in April
Led one of five races for 10 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Fifth-fastest average Green Flag Speed
7 Kurt Busch (No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge) The File:
29 years old from Las Vegas, Nev., 17 career wins
Two wins, five top fives, 11 top 10s
Average finish of 15.7
Led 18 of 31 races for 760 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
One win, two top fives, four top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 19.6
Finished 12th in April
Led six of 14 races for 358 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Series-high 1,664 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green flag conditions)
8 Kevin Harvick (No. 29 Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet) The File:
31 years old from Bakersfield, Calif., 11 career victories
One win, four top fives, 12 top 10s
Average finish of 16.1 this season
Led 11 of 31 races for 270 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Four top 10s
Average finish of 20.1
Finished 41st in April
Led four of 12 races for 147 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Fourth-best Closer 51 positions improved over the last 10% of races
9 Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Chevrolet) The File:
26 years old, Chesterfield, Va., three career wins
One win, 11 top fives, 16 top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 13.7
Led 15 of 31 races for 839 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Two top fives, three top 10s; one pole
Average finish of 12.5
Finished third in April
Led two of four races for 153 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
422 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
10 Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet) The File:
40 years old from South Boston, Va., 19 career wins
One win, eight top fives, 14 top 10s
Average finish of 14.7
Led six of 31 races for 28 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
One win, nine top fives, 13 top 10s
Average finish of 15.0
Finished sixth in April
Led six of 26 races for 574 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
2,542 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most
11 Martin Truex Jr. (No. 1 Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet) The File:
27 years old from Mayetta, N.J., one career win
One win, six top fives, 11 top 10s
Average finish of 16.9
Led 13 of 31 races for 355 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
Average finish of 28.0
Finished 29th in April
Led one of three races for one lap
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
Series-high 2,795 Green Flag Passes
12 Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford) The File:
35 years old from Cambridge, Wis., 15 career wins
One win, eight top fives, 17 top 10s
Average finish of 14.6
Led 17 of 31 races for 561 laps
Martinsville Speedway Outlook:
One top five, four top 10s
Average finish of 16.3
Finished 10th in April
Led six of 15 races for 60 laps
Season-to-Date Loop Data Highlight:
8,166 laps run on the lead lap, second-most
As much as I hate to say it, I have to go with Jeff Gordon for the win this weekend. He has won here 7 times, so I don't know how you couldn't pick him.
The other driver I will be watching is Ricky Rudd who has won here three times and finished just outside the top 10 in April .
Jennifer is the newsroom
administrative assistant and
executive
assistant to the editor for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. She is married, lives in Pownal with her husband and son, and has been following NASCAR for many years.
About this blog:
I am hopeful that this will be a place where people can air their two cents' worth about a race, catch up on the gossip and share their opinions on the rules and regulations of NASCAR. I have always felt that there has been a need for such a place in Maine and that this blog helps to fill the void.
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