Stock Car Insider – July 3rd Edition
Upcoming events in the world of NASCAR
Next week, the bosses of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series teams will bring their tornado speeds to the windy city of Chicago. Chicagoland Speedway is a young NASCAR track that is still developing. NASCAR has been hosting Nextel Cup races at Chicagoland since 2001 in hopes of capitalizing on die-hard Midwestern auto racing fans in the third-largest media market in the U.S. So far, the ante it has been worth it.
Of all current drivers with 4 or more career starts at Chicagoland, Jimmie Johnson (3rd average finish) leads the pack.
Also expect the following drivers to do well next week:
Other drivers to consider:
Tony Stewart – Average Finish 8th
Matt Kenseth – Average Finish 9th
Kevin Harvick – Average Finish 10th
Next week’s schedule:
Nextel Cup: @ Chicagoland Speedway
7/08/06 – 10:35 PM NASCAR USG SHEETROCK® 400 Nextel Cup Practice
07/07/06 – 04:35 pm NASCAR Nextel Cup USG SHEETROCK® 400 Qualifying
7/09/06 – 2:35 PM NASCAR Nextel USG SHEETROCK® 400
Busch Series: @Chicagoland Speedway Speedway
07/07/06 – 5:10 PM Practice NASCAR Busch Series USG DUROCK® 300
08/7/06 – 11:40 pm NASCAR Busch Series USG DUROCK® 300 Qualifying
7/08/06 – 3:05 PM NASCAR Busch Series USG DUROCK® 300
Craftsman Truck Series: @ Kentucky Speedway
7/7/06 – TBA NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by
The Practice of Ford Dealers in the Greater Cincinnati Area
7/08/06 – 04:30 pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by
Greater Cincinnati Ford Dealer Ratings
7/08/06 – 08:00 pm NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Built Ford Tough 225 Presented by
Ford Dealers in the Greater Cincinnati Area
Who shot?
Who shot? Obviously, we could dedicate this entire section to Tony Stewart who, if you remember, appeared in our Who Isn’t section last week. However, there were other drivers at Daytona who caught our eye as well. Have you heard of Boris Said?
For those of you loyal fans who leave the TV on during a road course race, you’ve probably known Boris for a number of years. He’s a road-course slingshot ace who’s always on hand whenever a road-course race comes to town. This year, however, he is no longer hired. Through a deal Boris struck with Roush Racing, he can field his own team using equipment and technical assistance from Roush in exchange for training drivers like Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle on the finer points of racing. on the highway.
In a car that Greg Biffle raced in this year’s Budweiser Shootout, Boris not only qualified for the race, he took pole! This is simply amazing, considering that Boris has never sat behind the wheel of a car with a restrictor plate. What’s even more amazing is that using the same go-for-broke attitude he’s always used on road courses, Boris found himself out front followed by Tony with just a few laps to go in the Pepsi 400. That’s when General Hospital’s own testosterone-fueled version of NASCAR began development.
As you may remember, during last week’s Dodge/SaveMart 350, a bit of an attraction formed between Boris Said and Tony Stewart. Sorry for underestimating the love between these two drivers. NASCAR drivers express their love in many ways. Watching Boris and Tony’s mating dance is like watching tigers mate in the jungle. There is a lot of spanking, hitting, swearing and finger gestures.
In the end, Boris succumbed to Tony’s advance with only a few laps remaining and finished fourth. I’m sure Boris and the other 7 employees of his No Fear sponsored racing team will be in fourth place any day now! Fans get ready. The more successful Boris is, the more you will see him.
Who does not?
This week’s Who’s Not is once again dedicated to Jeff Gordon. After an unfortunate crash in the Pepsi 400 with 14 laps to go that was in no way his fault, Jeff Gordon found himself out of the race and once again outside the top ten in points per driver. In the 3 restrictor plate races so far of the 2006 Nextel Cup season, Gordon has yet to finish in the top ten.
Such is the fate of successful drag racing drivers. Both Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr have had immense success at Daytona and Talladega. The main side effect of success in restrictor plate racing is that no one wants to team up with you on the race track. As a result, for Gordon to win or even be competitive, he must have the best car on the track on race day.
Needless to say, Gordon had a top-5 car, but he definitely wasn’t the best car this past Saturday night. With driver positions 8-12 separated by only 61 points, anyone can guess who will be on top when the field for the Chase for the Championship is set. However, if Gordon can duplicate his victory at Infineon in the next race at Watkins Glen, he can distance himself enough from the competition to qualify for the Chase.
Last week’s headlines
Let me paint you a picture that Thomas Jefferson would be proud of. Hot summer night, 4th of July holiday weekend, fireworks in the air and 43 thunderous machines rumbling around America’s beloved 2 1/2 mile highway near the beaches of Daytona. What a way to celebrate the birth and progress of our great nation!
Saturday night’s race was devoid of the “big one” that typically dooms many drivers in restrictor plate racing. However, that doesn’t mean the race was devoid of excitement! There were numerous lead changes with the drivers going all over the field. In the end, unknown faces like Boris Said were up front mixing up the normal mix of restrictor plates.
Some of the biggest advancers in the race were Kyle Busch (who jumped 4 places to enter the top 10 in 8th position), Dale Earnhardt Jr (who passed Kasey Kahne for 3rd place) and Tony Stewart (who finished his career). multi-week slide down into the top 10).
Perhaps the most important result of the Pepsi 400 is that Matt Kenseth is now just 8 points behind the ever-dominant Jimmie Johnson. Johnson’s crash against Bobby Labonte with 12 laps to go ended his day and put him out of the race in 32nd place. Matt Kenseth, on the other hand, had a solid top-5 finish at a track where Roush drivers are usually happy to finish in the top 15.
Both Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle dropped out of the top 10 in points when they were both involved in a crash with 6 laps to go. Gordon finished the day in 40th place and Biffle in 31st. Neither driver can afford similar results in the remaining 8 races if he hopes to qualify for the Chase for the Championship.
Both Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin benefited from the misfortunes of Jeff Gordon and Greg Biffle. Kyle jumped 4 places in points to 8th while Hamlin moved up 1 place to 10th.