April 8, 2009
By Chuck Abrams
After 17 years, Jeff Gordon finally got one big monkey off his back with a victory at Texas Motor Speedway. That leaves just Homestead as the one track that has eluded him in his career.
The win puts Gordon fully in control of the points lead, 162 markers ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson. Struggles by Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer helped him stay way ahead of the competition. It looked as if Johnson was the only driver that wanted to challenge Gordon. After running well, Biffle dropped back due to pit errors, Kenseth struggled with a tight handling car and Edwards, one of the pre-race faves, was leading until a bad pit stop did him in.
Dale Jr. had another lackluster day. After pit strategy got him up front, a bonehead move by a lapped Kyle Busch got Busch into Earnhardt, ruining his chance to lead the race and dropped him back several spots as he got out of the throttle to stay out of Kyle and the wall.
After that, the two tire strategy did not work out as well, dropping Earnhardt to a 20th place finish at a track he usually runs well at.
While Rick Hendrick says that the season is young and they know what to fix on the 88 team, it sure doesn’t seem like it. Junior is mired in 16th place right now and is losing ground to Biffle and Montoya with Newman and Martin coming up strong behind him. If he is not careful, he could find himself closer to 20th place than 15th in a few weeks.
In the past, Junior Nation would look forward to Talladega where winning was once synonymous with the Earnhardt name. Now Jr. Nation no longer takes those things for granted, nor should they the way the 88 team has been running the past few years. If Junior is once again going to take his place among the top twelve, then he needs to not only win at Talladega, he needs to have a run of top 5 finishes backed up by top 10 finishes, and soon.
Right now, he only has two top 10 finishes. That is no way to run for a championship. While the wheels may not have fallen off yet according to Rick Hendrick, the lug nuts sure are loose as far as fans are concerned.
I know there have been a host of folks complaining about Digger, I get their emails. As good as the Martinsville race was, there was a 16% drop in the ratings from last year. Maybe it is the Digger, maybe not. But when pre-race coverage is interrupted for a Digger cartoon, I have about had my fill. I turned off the coverage for several minutes to let that horrible creation run its course.
Hey Brian France – how many people do you think turned off the race at that point and never came back?
Actually, the pre-race coverage has gotten so bad that I don’t really watch much at all. I learn very little from the softball interviews that take place and watching Hammond dress up like some Texas Dandy is more that I can bear.
Nearly every week there is some sort of ridiculous outfit or comment about the location. You would think this is their first time in Texas they way they act. I guess we should all be thankful they don’t have a Sprint Cup race in Nashville or that moron would dress up like Elvis.
Well, that’s all for now. Let me know your thoughts and have a great Easter.
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
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