THE STORY LINES

1.  JOHNSON WINS AT MARTINSVILLE:

2.  JEFF GORDON CITES BACK PAIN: (mikemulheim.net)

3. EGR #8 LACKS SPONSONR AFTER TEXAS: (scenedaily)

4.  SATRUDAY NIGHT SPECIAL @ BRISTOL REVIEW:

5.  SPEED AND ALMENDINGER ON SHORT LIST FOR US F1 TEAM:

      (autoracingsport.com)

6.  HENDRICK WANTS MARTIN’S ANSWER BY JULY: (espn)

It appears that the Hendrick Motorosports #48 Lowe’s Chevy is finding its stride a little earlier than they did last year!  Although the FedEx #11 led the most laps at Martinsville, he did not lead the one that pays the money- the final lap!!  With the #48 Lowes Chevy getting on track this early, that can only spell TROUBLE  for the rest of the field for 2009.  This was Johnson’s 6th win at Martinsville in 14 starts, his first victory of 2009, and his 41st victory in 261 total starts in Cup.  In fact, Johnson has won 5 of his last 6 starts at Martinsville!  That is a sign of dominance!

This victory by Johnson and Hendrick Motorsports celebrates the 25th anniversay of HMS first win at Martinsville with the #5 with Geoff Bodine at the wheel in 1984.  Back then Hendrick Motorsports was called All-Star Racing and was a new start-up racing venture by  the very young Rick Hendrick and his dad, Papa Joe!!  Since those early days of 1984, HMS has been a force to be reckoned with!!  Rick Hendrick has employed drivers like Geoff Bodine, Darrell Waltrip, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Mark Martin!! 

 Since those early days of 1984 All-Star Racing has gone though some dynamic changes.What started out as a racing venture of 5 employees and a rented work space of 5,000 square feet, HMS has grown into a business of 500 employees on a campus of over 500 acres!!!  Along the way in those 25 years, HMS has accumulated 12 championships, eight (8)  of them at the Cup level!!  Included in those 12 championships are 175 victories, QUITE IMPRESSIVE!!!

COMMENTARY

Last year this reporter was one of those naysayers when it came to Jimmie Johnson’s chances of winning three Cup Championships in a row, OOPS!!  Again this reporter is a naysayer on the #48 Lowe’s Chevy chances of wininning a fourth championship in a row.  Having made the above staement, this reporter will admit that the #48 Lowe’s chevy team is already flexing its collective muscle in 2009. 

Here are the reasons that are against Johnson winning a fourth championship in a row: 

Reason number one is that it has NEVER been accompolished in the  60 years of NASCAR history.  That in itself is a huge uphill battle!  There is a teammate by the name of Jeff Gordon that is HUNGRY to win  his 5th championship of his career.  Also Johnson has two other teammates that have the desire and the ability to scoop of the championship out from under his grasp,  the #5 Kelloggs Chevy of Mark Martin and of course the rock star of NASCAR, the #88 AMP/National Guard Chevy of Dale Earnhardt,Jr.  To say that Hendrick Motorsports has a very strong team this year is a huge understatement!!

Now if those reasons were not enough, try on a couple of the Rousch-Fenway teams for size.  First and foremost is the #99 Scotts Ford of Carl Edwards.  Last year had he not caused the huge pile-up at Talladega and had just one engine failure (DNF), he would have been the 2009 Sprint Cup Champion.  Never count out the #17 Dewalt Ford of Matt Kenseth. He seems to go thoughout the season flying under the radar, and suddenly as the Chase unfolds……here’s Matt!!!

Still there might be a couple of “sleeping underdogs” to watch out for this season!  Can the #14 Office Depot Chevy of Tony Stewart be a contender in his newly merged organization, Stewart-Haas Racing?  How ’bout the #14 FedEx Toyota of Denyy Hamlin, is he hungry enough? 

But the biggest question of all is the #18 JGR M&M’s Toyota of Kyle Busch!!!  We know that he can win and dominate races! But can the team win the BIG ONES in the Chase?????  Is the pressure to much for TLVW  to handle at 23 years old???  LAST YEAR THEY FOLDED UNDER THE PRESSURE!!!!!!!

Your comments on these subjects are invited, no in fact they are encouraged!!!  Log in on these questions, let this reporter know what you are thinking!

I LOOKED IT UP SO THAT YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO!!!

THE STORY LINES:

1.   JOHNSON WINS AGAIN!

2.   QUALIFYING RAINED OUT FOR 9TH TIME:

3.   HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS DOMINATES @ MARTINSVILLE:

4.   DEI AND PETTY ENTERPRISES MERGER? ( espn.com) (nascar.com)

5.   PETTY RESURRECTS #44:  (espn.com)

6.   JEFF GORDON CLOSING IN ON 20,000 LAPS LED:

7.   ROCKINGHAM RACEWAY BUILDS A “LITTLE ROCK” ON PREMISES:

8.   AMBROSE IN #47 (WAS #44 MWR) REST OF YEAR:(MWR PR)

Well folks, it happened again!  The #48 Lowes Chevy dominated the race.  Jimmie Johnson led over 330 laps of the 500 lap race, a true sign of domination.  The Hendrick Motorsports (HMS) Chevys all had a good day at the track.  Just to let you know how the HMS teams have done over the years at Martinsville, here are some facts.  Prior to Sunday, HMS  had posted 11 victories and 78 top 10′s there!!  Now make that 12 victories and 82 top 10′s!!  They have completed over 96% of all laps entered.  Jeff Gordon has posted 7 victories there alone!   They have now won 9 out of the last 12 races at Martinsville!!  HMS now have a total of 174 wins and 7 Sprint Cup Championships in NASCAR!!!!  These numbers are staggering!

The merger rumors are running rampant in the garage area this week.  There are talks rumored between Petty and DEI.  There are rumors of talks between Petty and Ganassi.  There are rumors that Gilette-Evernham (GEM) are leaving Dodge and heading to Toyota.  It is truely “The Silly Season”!!!  IT APPEARS THAT NOT ONLY IS “JOE THE PLUMBER” HAVING TOUGH FINANCIAL TIMES, THE CUP TEAMS ARE EQUALLY FINDING THE TIME A ROUGH GO!!!!  There appears to be  a changing of ownership coming to the garage area.  Financial partners and mergers seems to be the key to suviorship here in NASCAR!

COMMENTARY:

Remember the first 26 races of this season???????   Ol Kylie Busch, aka TLVW, was truly dominating the entire field each and every Sunday.  What happened??????    Everyone was singing the praises of TLVW, how he was running away with the championship lead!  Well, did everyone forget how the #48 Lowes Chevy came from the cellar last year to put the BIG WHOOP on the other 11 contenders in the Chase??????  DON’T LOOK NOW, BUT HE IS ABOUT DO REPEAT THAT SAME FEAT THIS YEAR!!!!!!! 

This reporter was one of the naysayers this year.  I repeatedly said that the #48 Lowes Chevy team could not possibly win 3 championships in a row!  After all, it had only happened once in the history of NASCAR, so that by itself shows the difficulty of that feat.  By the way, that one feat was accompolished by one William Caleb (Cale) Yorborough from 1976-1978.  But don’t look now, it is about to happen again!!!!  

 SO THE ANSWER TO THE TITLE OF THIS BLOG WOULD BE A RESOUNDING NO!!!!! 

ONCE AGAIN I LOOKED IT UP SO THAT YOU WOULDN’T HAVE TO!!!!!