June 4, 2008
By Chuck Abrams
Not since Bobby Labonte won his Cup title in 2000 -- have brothers threatened to have Cup titles next to their name.
If Kyle Busch maintains his winning ways the rest of the season, there is no doubt he is a serious threat to win it all this year. That would make the Busch brothers only the second brother team in Cup history to share the coveted title.
Right now, Kyle is extending his points lead and already has four Cup wins. The next closest driver is Carl Edwards with three win and he is over 300 points in arrears to Busch. No one else has more than one win.
Obviously the “no more crab walking” rule that NASCAR mandated this week had no effect on the 18 car. They are either that good or everyone else is that bad. And seeing only six cars on the lead lap at the end of the Dover race, I would say it is a matter of both; they ARE that good and most everyone else IS that bad.
I won’t go on to bore you with any details of the race since it was a bit of a snoozer. I do have to say that until the Dover race, the races had been pretty good as of late. Let’s hope that Dover is an exception rather than the rule.
I do have one note from the race regarding Tony Stewart’s “apology” for hitting Sadler early on. Stewart said that he accepted 100% responsibility because – “…it’s my fault for being anywhere close to Elliott [Sadler]. If I'm within half a lap of him, I expect that to happen.”
OK, that is a bit of a backhanded apology if I ever heard one. Smoke is not one to mince words about his thoughts on other drivers’ abilities and he made his thoughts clear on THAT note.
Then he went on damage control by adding “It’s my fault – I’m the one that hit him. When I hit him it caused all the guys behind us to wreck, so it’s my fault.”
Yes, the others wrecking might have been caused by Smoke hitting Sadler and that is his fault. But he obviously called Sadler out. Oh, all his fault except for teammate Hamlin who rammed into the pile without ever touching his brakes (he said he did and blamed the cars for not stopping faster). Either his spotter told him it was all clear or Hamlin was reaching for his water bottle rolling around on the floor at the time. There was no excuse for that hit.
SO now we hear that Jamie McMurray will be gone from Roush at the end of the year. Who did not see that one coming? Even so, McMurray had been on a recent improved stretch of races. After finishing Daytona in 26th, he went on to post bad finishes at California (22nd) Las Vegas (25th), Atlanta (40th) and Bristol (43rd). Nearly every writer in the world was calling him out as the first Silly Season contender. Then he went on to post better finishes at Martinsville (8th), Texas (14th), Talladega and Phoenix (17th), Darlington (11th) and finished 10th at Dover with one more bad race at Lowe’s (25th).
But it appears his fate was already sealed with a lackluster performance ever since he signed with Roush Racing. He made the Chase in 2004 and 2005 but finished only 25th last year and is languishing in 22nd this year. (Kurt Busch is currently 21st in points this year for those looking at comparisons.)
Look for more Silly Season to appear as Reed Sorenson more than likely makes an exit from Ganassi and Montoya flexes his muscle.
OK, so as I mentioned, Kyle Busch has a decent points lead and probably continue to stay in the front of the pack unless the wheels fall off the golden chariot. Again, I said probably so I can make this point – the current Chase System makes a mockery, a sham, a joke that is called the “regular season”. Who cares how far out in front Kyle is or anyone that is on the top 12 in points. I mean really, all the points go away and the drivers are seeded based on total wins and the final points position. So ten points ahead or a thousand, it does not matter one iota. The only real battle for points that makes ANY difference is the one for the final magical 12th spot.
I hate that, I hate that, I hate that.
There I said it three times. Does that make it real? Or is that saying “I divorce you” three times in some ritualistic society?
Anyway, I want the points lead to mean something. Cash. More points (more than five bonus points). You want to talk about “winning” meaning something? How about winning the points battle? Oh wait, that was the old way of deciding the championship. We changed all that didn’t we?
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
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