Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008
Loudon, N.H. last weekend was the site for the first race in the “Race to the Chase” — the 10 races leading up to the final 10 races — the “Chase for the Sprint Cup.”
The “Chase” begins in Loudon also — in Septemeber.
Both races there tend to be either boring from start to finish or boring with a little excitement toward the end. This first race to the Chase was pretty much the first option. It had no real excitement but was filled with lots of disappointments from beginning to end.
It wasn’t totally without surprises.
Surprise number one came when Patrick Carpentier qualified his No. 10 Dodge on the pole position for Sunday’s Cup race. (more…)
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Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
Rain — always a factor — played havoc on Friday’s race track activities, this time at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.
Sprint Cup qualifying was canceled moments after the rain came down. Ten cars had qualified with Greg Biffle’s No. 16 sitting on top. However, it would be Kyle Busch’s No. 18 Toyota who would “claim” the pole position, thanks to the current owner’s points standings.
The rain didn’t seem to be a problem Saturday. The Cup drivers were able to have their final two practice sessions. Greg Biffle’s No. 16 (still very fast) and Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet were the fastest. (Other track activities were able to resume as well, including an ARCA Remax race and a Craftsman Truck race.)
The LifeLock 400 started Sunday despite the possibility of rain with Busch pulling away from the pack until the first caution flag flew three laps in. (more…)
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
The Samsung 500 at the Great American Speedway — apparently the new name for Texas Motor Speedway — wasn’t the best race, so far, this season. Not much happened during the race.
That wasn’t the same for Sprint Cup qualifying two days before.
Michael McDowell, driver of the No. 00 Aaron’s Toyota, began his first lap in his qualifying attempt. As he turned into the corner, it appeared the car got loose and he over-corrected it by “hooking to the right,” said McDowell on The Today Show Monday. In doing so, he went straight into the wall.
Due to the tremendous amount of speed, once the car initially hit the wall, it flew up and barrel-rolled several times. “I counted seven,” (more…)
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Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008
Wasn’t the first day of spring a good week before the race? Yes, I believe it was! It wasn’t very apparent if you were watching the race coverage throughout the weekend. Once again, this thing called indecisive weather, played games with the drivers (and us).
The weekend appeared to be better than before — no rain in sight — at least for the first half of the weekend.
During Friday’s qualifying, all the teams were on their a-game. The drivers seated below the top 35 in owner points were sitting on edge and stepping up. The starting lineup was evident of that. (more…)
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Wednesday, March 19th, 2008
Short track racing typically equals disappointment. Disappointment for the drivers, not the fans, and Bristol was no exception.
Once again, like several times this season, the expected winner or dominant driver didn’t cross the finish line first.
For the second time this season with only five races under the belt, Cup qualifying was cancelled due to rain (or weather). Once again, the starting order was set by the owner points.
Nationwide qualifying was also cancelled (for the third time), because the drivers had not practiced on the track. (The rain had cancelled Nationwide practices earlier.)
Saturday called for both series to have one long final practice each with Clint Bowyer’s No. 2 BB&T Chevrolet being the fastest Nationwide car. Kasey Kahne’s No. 9 Budweiser Dodge was the fastest Cup car. Both names would continue to play a part in Saturday’s Nationwide race. (more…)
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Wednesday, March 12th, 2008
Atlanta proved to be every bit as exciting as the previous races.
The racing at our in-state speedway was good and clean as a limited number of caution flags flew. Once again, a dominant driver won and, of course, the weather was indecisive.
The weather, it seems to me, is very wishy, washy these days. One minute it’s hot, the next it’s freezing and then it’s hot again. I should have figured that the weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway (AMS) would be no different. And it wasn’t.
It did rain, but not enough to totally cancel anything Friday. The Nationwide practice sessions were combined into one with Kyle Busch being the fastest.
The rain was gone Saturday, but snow appeared that morning canceling Nationwide qualifying, causing the drivers to start according to the owner points, and joining both Cup practice sessions into one final practice. (more…)
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Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
What happened at California Speedway — newly named the Auto Club Speedway — will go down as one of the most talked about races of the season, and possibly of the sport of stock car racing. It took forever to complete — or even started for that matter.
Sunny southern California, was not so sunny this past weekend. While it was raining Friday here in south Georgia, it was evidently raining everywhere else. (more…)
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