Darrell Waltrip – CaptainBlowdri

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:

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. RAIN FOR 10TH TIME CANCELS QUALIFYING:

2. EDWARDS WINS @ ATLANTA:

3. LOGANO MAKES ANOTHER CUP ATTEMPT @ TEXAS:

4. MARTIN IN HMS #5 CHEVY SOONER? (ESPN)

5. WOOD BROS. AND HALL OF FAME RACING MERGE? (winston salem journal)

6. KYLE PETTY OUT OF PETTY RACING? (daly planet) (ESPN)

7. LATEST ON GM-CHRYSLER MERGER: (winston salem journal)

8. RED BULL REPRIMANDS SOME-FIRES OTHERS: (ESPN)

9. MAX PAPIS AND GERMAIN RACING ’09 CUP SEASON: (serius speedway)(jayski#13 team pic)

10. TESTING RULES TO CHANGE IN ’09: (winston salem journal)

11. EXCELLENT STATISTICS PAGE: (racing-reference.com)

12. NASCAR NIXES GEM’S MOVE TO TOYOTA: (winston salem journal)

13. DW ON RAIN AND QUALIFYING, NEW IDEA!: (allwaltrip.com)

14. MAYFIELD TO BUY INTO BILLY BALLEW TRUCK TEAM: (serius radio interview)

Rain cancels qualifying for the 10th time this season. For the third week in a row, Jimmie Johnson lined up on the pole. The rain outs gives the #48 Lowes Chevy a couple of important advantages. The first advantage is obvious, he sits on the pole for the race. The second advantage, and possibly even more importantly, is he gets to pick first in the pit selections!!! That is a big plus when it comes to getting into your pit box!!

The race was a typical Atlanta race, high speed and action all day long. But a late yellow flag gives Carl Edwards the opportunity to pass the leader, Denny Hammlin on the restart. Carl Edwards wins for the seventh time this season, and the 14th in his short career. Unfortunately, the #48 Lowes Chevy pits to get “Four Fresh Goodyears” and slices his way through the field to finish second, “truly raining on Edward’s parade”!!! Edwards only gained slightly in the points column on Jimmie Johnson, however he did move into second place in the Chase!

COMMENTARY:

I know once again you are wondering how can this reporter tie in a horse drinking out of a watering hole at Cental Park in NYC and a NASCAR race in Atlanta???? Get ready ’cause I am gettin’ ready to ‘splain!!!

If you look again at the picture, you will see this is a one horse operation. He is “in the pits” replenishing himself getting ready to go back out and make some money for it’s owner. Unfortunately, he his having to resupply his “consumables” ( think fuel and tires) all by himself!! He is losing valueable time (think track position) not having a team (think pit crew) helping him!!! If there were a few more people to put the horse back into a revenue position, he would make more money for his owner (think win the race/Chase)!!!

So again how does this fit into the NASCAR picture?? Well, Sunday in Atlanta we saw the #48 Lowes team get penalized for speeding on pit row. That put Johnson a lap down to the field, but that didn’t get the team down. The team stayed focused and worked hard as a team unit. When the yellow flags fell in the very last part of the race, the team made a couple of bold decisions that put them back in the “hunt”! With bold decisions and fortitude the Lowes #48 team put themselves in a position to finish second place! That voided the chance for Carl Edwards to make large gains on them in the Chase points.

This reporter can only echo what Brad Daughtery (ABC/ESPN) said two weeks ago after Johnson’s win at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Brad then stated so boldly, “print the hats and the T-shirts ’cause Jimmie Johnson will be the THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION“!!! There is something about this race team that comes to life in final 10 races of the season. It is like the Vince Lombardi days with the Packers. Everyone knew that Bart Starr was going to give the ball to Taylor and Hornug and you just had to try to stop them!! You also knew that it would take eveything you had plus some to do that !!!!!!

So what we are about to witness hasn’t not happened in NASCAR since 1976-78. In those three years a very brash young man from Timmonsville, South Carolina, named William Caleb (Cale) Yarborough drove for “a good ol boy” from Wilkes County, N.C. That “good ol boy” from N.C. was none other than Robert Glen Johnson, Jr., better known to the racing world as Junior Johnson, a legend in his own right as a driver!!! For those three years that duo of driver and owner was the most dominate force NASCAR!

Fast forward 32 years and we have a team equally as dominating now!!! Print the T-shirts, print the hats, and raise the flag it is a done deal!!!

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

Tag: Darrell Waltrip

Martinsville….Johnson Hitting His Stride??

A Total Team Effort!