My, my, my folks – what an exciting, weird and bizarre weekend of road racing we saw. It was wild and crazy in the Nationwide race with a lot of cautions and red flags. Congratulations to Carl Edwards on winning that race. Did anyone else notice that it has been so long since Carl has won a race that it seemed someone had to remind him to do the backflip? I, for one, was happy to see that he could still do his signature move.
Clearly, however, the more bizarre race of the weekend was at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., on Sunday. The racing was wild and crazy with folks banging into each other. One driver even made the comment that it was like driving bumper cars.
We saw Jeff Gordon make a bunch of people mad with his aggressive driving. It also seems that Tony Stewart and Boris Said had a go of it. It was an exciting race but that ending sure was bizarre. I honestly don’t think I have seen a race end like that since all those years ago when Mark Martin pulled off the track at Bristol in a Nationwide race thinking the race was over. See the thing was, it wasn’t and Mark gave the race away.
I just really don’t understand what Marcos Ambrose was trying to do there at Turn 2. He was trying to coast his car up hill. Folks, from the bottom of Turn 2 to the top of it is 10 stories. So that is a huge uphill climb. You simply aren’t going to coast up that hill with the motor off. I’m just really not sure what Marcos was thinking or what happened there.
I know that a lot of people were upset about NASCAR having to enforce a rule that most all of us are well aware of. When you car stops under caution, you lose your current position. It was just so unfortunate for Marcos because he clearly had the fastest car and clearly would have won that race over Jimmie Johnson.
From my heart I would have loved to see that young man win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race. Maybe if he hadn’t come to a complete stop NASCAR might have simply warned him, but that’s not how it happened. The rule is clear that you have to maintain a reasonable speed and you surely aren’t doing that when you are stopped on the track.
NASCAR had no choice. What’s the alternative? Do you want the officials to ignore a rule and let it slide? If they did that, then folks would be all over them criticizing them for ignoring a black-and-white rule in the rule book. Sure I feel sorry for Marcos, but NASCAR had to do what they had to do.
You have to congratulate Jimmie Johnson, though. He has worked hard on his road-racing skills. Most folks probably don’t know that a few weeks ago he was at Watkins Glen in the Grand-Am Series working to improve his road-course ability. Racing on the dirt over there at Eldora Speedway in Tony Stewart's Prelude to the Dream charity deal was also a benefit because it helps teach you car control. This past Sunday, I saw Jimmie race at a road course at a much higher level than ever before.
With his win, the No. 48 team moved into second place in the points. Johnson now has four wins and those all-important bonus points that come into play in September when the Chase starts. A lot of naysayers have been down on that team as of late, but I keep telling you that you never know what they are up to. Are they experimenting? Are they testing new things for when the Chase is here? That’s a sly bunch over there and you just never know, but the point is, they have the Chase figured out and will be strong.
The one thing everyone knows or should know, is you have the best driver, crew chief and owner combination in the sport today working on that team. You simply aren’t going to be able to keep them down very long. This may be the beginning of a long, hot summer for all their competitors.
It was also a special day because Jimmie passed two of our sport's greatest drivers on the all-time win list. With his win, Jimmie passed Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson. Jimmie now stands alone in 10th place with 51 wins. So that’s a big deal for him, his fans and our sport.
Kasey Kahne was another one that had a great day Sunday. He started from the pole, but fell back some. He and crew chief Kenny Francis worked on the car and came back with a great fourth-place finish. Back when they were with the Dodge camp, it just seemed that Kasey and Kenny could put the Dodge up front. Now they are with Ford and with the Ford’s struggling it once again seems these two are giving the manufacturer its best shot at a win. I think it’s a tribute to the chemistry that exists between Kasey and Kenny that no matter what car manufacturer they're with, they find a way to put it up front.
We had Robby Gordon on our Trackside show Friday night and after talking to him, I felt really good about his chances. He has made some personnel changes within his team. He was able to get both his cars qualified for the Sonoma race. So I felt come Sunday he was going to have a great day. Getting a second-place finish Sunday was like winning a race for him. That was the good news. The bad news is Robby needs a sponsor, but without one he is going to be forced to do the old “start-and-park” thing until he can find one. He’s safely in the top 35 in points and with his talent it sure would be great if he could land a sponsor. I am a big Robby fan, so I hope he can get things worked out where he can continue to race because he’s a great race-car driver and I love his passion.
Stevie and I really enjoyed being back at Sonoma this past weekend. It was another one of those tracks we hadn’t been to in a number of years since it was taken off the NASCAR on FOX portion of the schedule. Stevie and I went and saw Toy Story 3 while we were out there. As we all know, Buzz Lightyear’s favorite saying is “To infinity and beyond.” After his strong run Sunday at Sonoma, I think I might have witnessed Sprint Cup championship No. 5 rolling Jimmie Johnson’s way. He sent a strong message Sunday that they are still the team to beat. With that bizarre finish, Jimmie also proved he still has that Golden Horseshoe.
