STORY LINES FOR THIS WEEK:
1. JOHNSON DOMINATES AT CALIFORNIA:
2. WIN TOTALS; BUSCH-6, EDWARDS-6, JOHNSON-3:
3. STREMME TO THE #12 PENSKE DODGE:
4. FRANCHITTI TO GANASSI IRL #10 TARGET TEAM:
5. NASCAR NEW DRUG TESTING POLICY:
6. UPS TO MOVE OVER TO #6 ROUSCH/FENWAY FORD:
7. Jay Freye offered VP/Gen Mgr with Stewart-Haas Racing
IT IS CRUNCH TIME!!!
It is one to go and the race teams that are on the bubble are REALLY feeling the presure to solidify their positions in the Chase. One of the teams that is serving notice is the #48 Lowes team. Jimmie Johnson and team thoroughly dominated the entire race at The Auto Club Speedway of Southern California, previously known as The California Speedway. It appears that after Indy, they are hitting on all eight cylinders. Johnson has been in the top five in almost every race since then, with the exception of one race that is. Also the #99 Office Depot team is finding their stride once again like they did in the beginning of the season. The runaway that the ol Las Vegas Wasel, commonly referred to as TLVW, had going in the middle of the season has turned into a possible three horse race. Although TLVW has had an unbelievable year in all three divisions of NASCAR, he has some serious competition just in time for the Chase. For a while it looked like a foregone conclusion that TLVW would run away and hide with the championship, but both the #48 and #99 teams have come to life!! That should make for some great racing, and good TV ratings I might add, for the Chase! This reporter hopes that the championship is decided on the last lap at Homestead as it was with the very first season of the Chase. That makes for great journalism and fantastic TV viewing!!!
There are a couple of sleeping giants that need to really have a great race at Richmond this Saturday night to secure their place in the Chase. Positons 6-14 in the NASCAR standings are still extremely tight and their finish at Richmond will either put them in or eliminate them from the Chase. David Ragan, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne, and Kevin Harvick come to mind as teams that have to race the wheels off of their respective hot rods to get in the BIG SHOW!!! Can we say PRESSURE? The Rock and Roll 4oo @ Richmond International Raceway this Saturday night ought to be one whale of a show with may storylines unfolding.
Richmond is short track on steroids! It has all excitement of a short track race with high speed dessert!! There is bumping and banging along side with side-by-side racing. There is a special area there for the drivers to leave their feelings and their anger before they get into the pitts!!! But make no mistake, there will be drivers with their feelings hurt and their tempers a flaring when they leave the track Saturday night!!!That is exactly why it is a true fan delight and there won’t be an empty seat at the Henrico County Fairgrounds!!!
A most news worthy items came of NASCAR out this week. NASCAR is going to finally change their drug testing policy!! It is about time that they came to the 21st century! Especially inlght of Tyler Walker’s confession of SHOOTING UP HEROIN before a few races in the truck series last year!!! NASCAR CAN NOT HAVE THAT BEHAVIOR IN A SPORT WHERE A MISTAKE CAN KILL YOU AS WELL AS THOSE AROUND YOU!!!!!
Some of you folks are possibly trying to corelate the picture I have chosen to NASCAR and the race at California Sunday. Well, the picture is of Times Square in NYC and the banquet at the end of the season is at The Waldorf-Astoria in NYC. Only the top twelve will see these sights, since they are the only invitees to the banquet. So you see, it is evey Cup driver’s desire to see the sights of NYC in December!!!
Unfortunately I will be “in the unfriendly skies” flying to Seattle Saturday evening, so I will miss the race live. Thank God for DVR’s!!!!!!