September 30, 2009
By Chuck Abrams
Before I get into the Sprint Cup race, a couple of points I'd like to make about the Nationwide race on Saturday.
Brad Keselowski seems ready to step up to the big leagues, even though I would like to see him win a Nationwide title first. But with all the Cup drivers moonlighting in that series, that will be difficult for any non-Cup driver to do.
The clash between Keselowski and Denny Hamlin seemed innocent enough but Hamlin took great umbrage about being tapped. The post race interview was even better with Hamlin claiming that Brad has no talent -- eerily similar to Earnhardt’s rant last week about Reutimann (both of whom finished laps down at Dover).
Brad stood up for himself pretty well. He is not one to be intimidated by another driver, no matter who it is.
Kudos to Mike Bliss for a great run in that race as well. And while Clint Bowyer has not had a lot to crow about in the Cup series this year, he won the Nationwide race and will have a few more chances at winning in the 29 car this year.
OK, on to the Cup race.
Hamlin’s misfortune at Dover played into others hands. Juan Pablo Montoya, Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart all made gains in the standings and Montoya has to be making people scratch their heads right about now. He has proved that he is not just a threat on the road courses and his fourth place finish at Dover has him within striking distance of Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson. If he can run better than normal at Kansas, we may have a nice three-way battle brewing.
Joey Logano went on a wild ride, thanks to Smoke, flipping over sideways seven times before finally coming to rest. It seemed like the wreck that never wanted to end. And you think that wild rides can only happen at Talladega?
I know, I know – no fans were ever at risk at Dover. But the point is that NASCAR, with all its fallacies, sure has built one solid racing machine.
The Cup boys move on to Kansas this week and it looks as though it may come down to Johnson and Martin again this week. Both run well there and Mark Martin needs to keep the pressure on to hold Jimmie at bay.
Over the last five years, Johnson has a slight edge both starting better and finishing slightly better than Martin. We know Martin hates Talladega so he will have to make hay while the sun shines on the other tracks. I can’t decide -- is the pessimistic Martin better running with the lead or on the heels of Johnson. We all would all like to see Martin win his first title, especially at the expense of the near perfect 48 team.
Kansas may be the best opportunity for Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle to make up some ground on the leaders and put some separation between themselves and those around them. Matt Kenseth could prove to be a spoiler at Kansas as well. But Kenseth has not put back-to-back races together since the beginning of the year.
Kansas is also not known for providing typically great racing so it will be interesting to see what happens on Sunday. So far, the racing in the Chase has been pretty good so we’ll see if the gang can make Kansas anything but an afterthought for fans tuned into the NFL. If it proves not to be another Johnson dominated affair and if anyone but Johnson is in the lead in the final 100 laps, NASCAR has a CHANCE to get some folks to tune in.
I guess one saving grace in all of this is that all the Viking and Packer fans need a beer drinking warm up for the upcoming Monday Night Football extravaganza.
That’s all for now. Let me know your thoughts.
Drive fast, turn left and keep the shiny side up.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.