With A Little Bit of Luck

Like a group of hunting hounds, there are eleven NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers and their teams preparing to chase after a wily fox who happens to be the reigning Sprint Cup champion. Almost six years ago Jimmie Johnson joined his teammate Jeff Gordon and competitors Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Bobby Labonte as an active driver in NASCAR who has won the Cup championship. The 2006 victory marked the beginning of one of the most impressive championship runs in all of sport as today Jimmie Johnson has amassed five consecutive titles standing only two championship victories away from tying NASCAR legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Driving for one of the top funded teams in stock car racing, Jimmie was very fortunate to be paired with Crew Chief Chad Knaus. This combination of funding, one of the sport’s very best crew chiefs and a top wheel man, with a little bit of luck thrown in, has resulted in this astounding run.

So here we are in 2011 at the beginning of yet another Chase to the championship and the first question on everyone’s mind is: Can Jimmie Johnson extend the streak? The sport’s pundits are all analyzing what Jimmie and Chad have accomplished this season and how that compares to the past. Out of this comes a couple of fairly glaring differences. First and foremost, in all of his 5 previous championship seasons Jimmie has entered the Chase with at least 3 wins. This season he only has a single victory. That win came at Talladega thanks to teammate Dale Jr.’s push job (Take a bow Jr…). That’s definitely new. Right off the get go Jimmie’s an also-ran. Can he and the 48 team ramp it up? Don’t bet against them. This isn’t just a test of driving skill, equipment and teamwork, it’s a test of mental toughness and that’s something this team has proven to possess over and over again. The second potential difference maker is the new points earning format NASCAR has installed this season. It’s generally believed if a team gets down early in this year’s Chase it will be much more difficult than how it was under the old points system to catch back up. We’ve all witnessed Brad Keselowski’s very impressive August run (Two firsts, a second and a third place finish in four races) that catapulted the Blue Deuce into the 2011 Chase, but coming from 21st in the standings on July 31st with 511 points Brad could only move up to 11th place on the strength of the 178 points he generated in that timeframe and this was one of the best runs we’ve seen in quite some time. There should be a little more emphasis on the early Chase races this time around as a result.

There are other areas of concern if “5 Time” wants to change that moniker to “6 Time” in 2011. First off they’ve got to be thinking about the law of averages. Everybody knows at some point it’s going to catch up with ‘em. There’s got to be a little voice somewhere in the back of each member of the 48 team’s consciousness that’s quietly saying “Not this time…”.

Going clear back to late last season the 48’s pit crew has been having problems and it continues to be a concern at HMS. A couple of poor pit stops can be costly…

Another area of concern springs from the “have at it” side of the equation. JJ has had run-ins with competitors in the past, such things just can’t be avoided in this sport, but an on-going feud with past

champion Kurt Busch has bordered on ugly this season. Just this last weekend on the ¾ mile track at Richmond Kurt and JJ brought their differences back to a boil. Yes, they’d both already made the Chase at that point so it was a good time for them to stand their ground, and yes, conventional wisdom says these two top drivers will step away from confrontation as the Chase races commence since most of the things that can happen in these kinds of scraps are bad, but what if opportunity knocks?

Finally, Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and the 48 team are damned good, but don’t forget, you don’t win 5 championships in a row without a little bit of luck. Does their luck run out this year?

I’m going to step out on that limb and bet there’s a different guy holding up the Sprint Cup Championship trophy come November. The next question then becomes: Who will it be?

For a little additional entertainment here’s some press conference fodder featuring JJ and then Kurt sparing from afar…

Johnson Vents About Kurt Busch… Mid August

Kurt’s Response

Bad Brad Is a Lucky Young Man...

While practicing on Road Atlanta in preparation for Watkins Glen in a couple of weeks Brad Keselowski's brakes gave out while he entered turn one at 155 MPH. Here are a few shots (taken by Jimmie Johnson) of the site, the non-safer barrier that Brad ran into at about 100 MPH and the wreck.

Quite a long run before the wall became a problem...

Definitely not a Safer Barrier...

The Blue Deuce sure took it hard...

The following pics are of Brad's leg injuries... He was airlifted by helicopter to Atlanta Medical Center where no broken bones were found. Released this evening from the hospital, Brad's expected to be behind the wheel this weekend at Pocono...

Not a pretty sight...

No, the doctors didn't insert a grapefruit in Brad's ankle.

A question came up concerning NASCAR not allowing teams to practice on the tracks where they will actually be racing. The NASCAR tracks have been forced to become much safer. So here is an up and coming young driver who needs to practice and is out on an unsafe track. Brad Keselowski was very lucky today...

The Luck of the Polish?

Caption Time!

Give it your best shot!

What in the world are these guys thinking / saying?

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.

Go get 'em Lug-Nuts!

I'm Feelin' Kind of Pollish Again...

I found a good article entitled:

“Dialing It In: Where Does ESPN Go From Here? Why Fans Are So Mad…
by Jay Pennell

Link: http://www.frontstretch.com/jpennell/31695/

This poll is included with the above article:

What does ESPN need to do the most to make things better?

1. Less commercials
2. Different talent in the broadcast booth
3. Focus on all 43 cars
4. More wide shots to see more action
5. All of the above
6. None of the above

The author went back twelve years and compared two NASCAR broadcasts on ESPN from the 1998 season (when NASCAR hit it's high water mark in television ratings) to two similar broadcasts from 2010. What he found might interest you.

By the way… Did you hear about ESPN’s top NASCAR producer (Neil Goldberg with 30 years of televised racing experience) who just got busted in Farmington Connecticut for public indecency, simple trespass, disorderly conduct and breach of peace? In other words… PEEPING TOM!

ESPN hasn’t made a public statement other than to announce Mr. Goldberg will not be with their broadcast team in Fontana this weekend…
********************************************************************************
Ya know, last weekend wasn't a good one for Kyle Busch…

First, during the final restart of the Kansas Nationwide race, Busch, running second with teammate Joe Logano first, got sacked by Bad Brad Keselowski who, once the racing went green, shoved Logano past Busch catapulting the 20 car to victory. Busch got snookered on his normally dominating restarts by none other than the guy he mixed it up with at Bristol (yes... the guy that called Busch an ass in front of the Bristol crowd)… Both Logano and Keselowski stated later they had helped each other before and that it was Logano’s turn for the assist.

Do you truly think Brad would have helped Joe if the second place driver was anyone other than Kyle Busch?

To top that off, Kyle got into David Reutimann’s bumper in the Kansas Sprint Cup Chase Race the following day and (IMHO) unintentionally spun the 00 car. Back on the track later in the race Reutimann, without a snowball’s chance in the race by this time, went headhunting. At the urging of his crew chief Rodney Childers, Reutimann paid Kyle back resulting in the 18 sustaining damage to the rear of its drive train causing Busch to ultimately place 21st on the day.

This "payback" severely damaged Kyle’s chances in the Chase.


With all that in mind, tell me what you think:

Do you agree that Kyle:

1. Had it coming on both counts
2. Deserved the Nationwide outcome but not the Cup retaliation
3. Deserved the Cup Outcome but not the Nationwide assist
4. Kyle needs to tone it all down and become an also ran like so many others… You know, so the fans will like him more
5. It was all “That’s Racin”. Let it go
********************************************************************************
Finally, the Chase moves way out West to Southern California this weekend…


Who’s the most likely to win in Fontana?

1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Carl Edwards
5. Jeff Gordon

So you don't think any of these chasers will win? Okay give your gut feeling on who will…

Come on, you can do it!

Are You Pollish?

No... Not that kind of Polish, not from Eastern Europe. You know, Poll-ish...

Here are a few polls plucked from around the NASCAR media.

From - On Pit Row
http://onpitrow.com/

The Question???
Who is the best bet to stop Jimmie Johnson's Cup Run?


1. Jeff Gordon - The real drive for 5 (18%, 52 Votes)

2. Somebody. Anybody! (18%, 51 Votes)

3. Forget it. Just give him the trophy already (16%, 47 Votes)

4. Tony Stewart (14%, 41 Votes)

5. Mark - never too old - Martin (11%, 33 Votes)

6. Denny Hamlin - Who needs 2 knees anyway? (11%, 32 Votes)

7. The Rowdy One - Kyle Busch (8%, 24 Votes)

8. Cousin Carl Edwards (2%, 7 Votes)

Total Votes: 287
(Note: This must be a pretty old poll having Mark Martin included...)


From - Vegas Insider Poll
http://www.vegasinsider.com/auto-racing/

The Question???
Which driver has the best chance to stop Jimmie Johnson's championship run?


31% Jeff Gordon

20% Kurt Busch

7% Tony Stewart

7% Greg Biffle

35% Other

********************************************************************

Here are some quotes on the latest dust-up…

NASCAR Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton concerning no penalties being levied on Kyle Busch or Brad Keselowski following their dust up last Friday night in Bristol’s Nation Wide race:
“Hard racing,” Pemberton said. “When you look at it, he pushed him around the corner and he said he did that. He didn’t hook him in the rear quarter panel. Those guys had been giving and taking all night long and all of that stuff came into play in a lap.
“You evaluate what real estate it was in and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, it was two guys racing hard. They were bumping and running and they were not giving each other any space if they didn’t have to in the closing laps of the race. Nobody else was involved.”
“We don’t expect to [talk with Busch],” Pemberton said. “If those guys develop some sort of history, we’ll look at it later on. But right now, those guys are racing pretty darn hard.”

So what’s Brad say he plans to do? “I’m going to go to work and work on beating his ass,” he said of Busch.

Kyle’s take on tangling with Brad?

“… that’s part of racing … short-track racing at Bristol. I worked on the guy for 12 or 15 laps to try to pass him, passed him clean, moved up in front of him in order to block his run or do a slide job, whatever you want to call it, cause my spotter said I was clear. He hits me in the back end, puts me in the wall and I thought to myself, ‘What would Dale Sr. do? What would Tony Stewart do? And who is the guy who just did it to me?’ So, those three questions were answered getting into Turn 3 and I had my mind made up and did what I did in order to try to win the thing.”

This leads up to the last two polls…
From - SceneDaily
http://www.scenedaily.com/news/polls/101387684.html?oid=2&mr=100&cid=8500492&pid=101387684

The Question???
Whose side are you on in the Brad Keselowski-Kyle Busch feud?

Busch. Keselowski had it coming for bumping Busch and aggressive tactics. 78% (904)

Keselowski. He was right to be mad and to call Busch “an ass.” 16% (190)

Neither. It was just a racing incident. 6% (68)

From - The Frontstretch
http://www.frontstretch.com/nbromberg/30940/

The Question???
Do you have sympathy towards Brad Keselowski after his latest wreck at Bristol?

No. Kyle Busch may have been out of line but he got what he deserved. 52% (46)

Yes. That was uncalled for. 48% (42)

There ya have it!