September 11, 2007

By Brian Watkins

Brian Watkins

I had a few moments of excitement on Friday when I was checking the DVR to make sure it caught the Richmond race. I hadn’t paid very close attention to the TV listings, so when I flipped through the ESPN guide for the day and couldn’t find the race I was a bit puzzled. Then my wife reminded me that ABC was covering the race.

I cannot not tell you the feeling of relief I had knowing that I would be freed from the broadcasting woes that ESPN brings to my home each race weekend. While they have improved slightly over the weeks they’ve carried Cup races, it often is still a lesson in patience to keep from throwing things at the TV. The joy of watching someone besides ESPN cover the race soon faded when 60 minutes into the race (I start watching the race late so I can skip commercials) I turned on the tube to find that the race was being covered by ESPN on ABC. Talk about disappointed.

I know I’m continually harping about the coverage and that some of you wish I would just drop it. At the same time, I get comment after comment from readers every week either agreeing with my annoyance with ESPN or complaining that I’m being too easy on them. Maybe if I whine about their performance enough it will change. I’m not holding my breath.

So how about I move on and actually talk about the race? And what a race it was.

Richmond had all the ear marks of a great NASCAR event and was one of the best races of the year. The emotional fight by Dale Junior trying to make it into the 12th spot, the suspense of Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch having issues on the track, and the great performances of David Ragan and Johnny Sauter. My favorite moment of the night though was when JP Montoya’s car sat banged and burning in the grass. Yes, I know it’s selfish and rude of me to find joy in another’s misfortune, but I just can’t help myself.

A story about the wreck involving Montoya stated that as the car burned you could hear the crowd cheering that Montoya made it out safely. While I’m certain the crowd was relieved that no one was injured and that none of them would be happy to see anyone trapped in a burning car, I’ll wager that the cheers were not for his successful exit from the vehicle, but rather the fact that he and his vehicle were out of the race. For better or worse, Montoya has replaced Jeff Gordon as the driver people love to hate.

The big story of the race of course was Junior’s fight to get into the Chase. He raced as well as anyone could have asked but he was let down and locked out. While his post race comments were cordial, he obviously was disappointed and rightly so. While the blown engine at Richmond didn’t cost him the top 12 spot, the billowing white smoke pouring from the #8 was a stark reminder of exactly why Junior wasn’t in the Chase this year.

It wasn’t a lack of talent, a bad crew chief or a sub-par pit crew that kept him out of the Chase. He’s a great driver, has an outstanding crew chief and his pit crew is just peachy. The biggest issue was the numerous engine failures during the season. Had the DEI engines not failed, Junior would more than likely be in the Chase, even with the 100 point penalty from Darlington earlier in the season. I’m not a card carrying Junior fan and I don’t have anything with the #8 on it, but I was cheering for him hard on Saturday night. He more than earned his way into the chase in my book, especially considering the tumultuous events going on behind the scenes at DEI all season. I can imagine how frustrating it will be for Junior and his crew next week, but he sounds as motivated and dedicated as ever, promising not to let his team or his fans down and to fight to the last lap at Homestead.

Unless Dale Earnhardt Inc. has been saving some bad engines for the Chase, I think we’ll see a postseason performance from Junior similar to the one Tony Stewart displayed last year.

Speaking of blown engines, Carl Edwards lost his early in the race and almost looked excited about it. While I’m sure he was disappointed, he was locked into the Chase and instead of focusing on the negative, seemed generally happy to be there.

Greg Biffle also left the race unexpectedly, but was a little less pleasant. Instead of just saying “stuff happens” and moving on, he claimed the only reason he wrecked was because he was stuck in the back with the “mules” that can’t drive. I’d say Biffle whining like that proved there was definitely at least one mule that started in the back, although I think the more politically incorrect term for mule would be a much more fitting description for him.

Biffle would do much better to act his age and not his number.

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.