Chicagoland race showed many factors coming into play
I will be the first to tell you that we have had some strange racing in 2010, but the race at Chicagoland Speedway last Saturday night was definitely one for the books. Early on it looked like it was going to be Jimmie Johnson simply running away from the field. Then as the racetrack changed, it changed the characters in the front.
When we got down to the end of the race, and I hate to put it like this, but it was like “Wow, where did the No. 00 come from?” I mean when they got that car right, wow it was like he was in his own zip code. That car was really fast, but David Reutimann really surprised me with his patience combined with determination to win that race.
If you saw that battle with Jeff Gordon, you will see that David raced Jeff hard and he raced him clean. He made the pass, and then late in the race here came Carl Edwards. I actually think Carl might have had the faster car, but David wanted that race more. It was his determination that wasn’t going to let this win get away from him.
Saturday night we saw lots of guys who had points to prove. They wanted something. In the end though, I really think we saw the guy win who wanted it the most. Winning Saturday night validated his rain-shortened race win in Charlotte last May.
You hear us talk about always putting yourself into a position to win. There have been several times the past couple years where that Michael Waltrip Racing car has been good. Saturday night, David had something to prove to all of us and he did it in spades. He showed he is a man that drives stock cars for a living.
The other thing to remember is that David is in an elite group. Not many NASCAR drivers have ever won in all three of our top series – Truck, Nationwide and Sprint Cup. David has. David understands the situation. He knows with his experience and with his age -- he’s 40 -- folks might wonder when a younger driver might take his spot.
The only way to keep yourself from being caught up in that process is to avoid wrecking a lot and win when you get the opportunity. David is doing that. To me it validates David as not only a good race car driver, but a smart race car driver. David’s work ethic is very, very solid. We all know that David is so incredibly likeable.
You saw the measure of respect the other drivers have for David Saturday night. You saw Jeff Gordon and Carl Edwards come into Victory Lane and it showed how our superstars respect David.
Again, Saturday night proved that 2010 in NASCAR is not your normal predictable season. Strange things continue to happen. You have to be ready to deal with adversity. I think you saw that with Kevin Harvick. His Richard Childress Racing team had a mechanical issue. Obviously it hurt them, but it wasn’t devastating. It was just a reminder that you never know where the racing luck will come into play.
Jimmie Johnson, as I mentioned, had a very good race car early on. He got caught up in some issues and by the end of the race basically had a pretty poor performance. My point is, forget the statistics. Look at what is happening at the moment.
Forget that Kasey Kahne is leaving his team at the end of the year. Kasey is a racer and he’s trying to get into this year’s Chase. He’s driving with a lot of intensity and determination. People like David Reutimann, who has nothing to lose and everything to gain, put it all on the line and go after it.
That brings up another issue, too. There is a lot about this season that is intriguing and unpredictable. As NASCAR looks at ways to change the Chase, maybe they are looking in the win column. There are guys outside the top 12 right now that have wins that maybe should be considered for the Chase in the future.
It just seems strange to me that we could have teams inside the Chase without a win and have teams with a win that will not be included.
