OK, I admit it. I am a Junior fan; really wanted Earnhardt Jr. to win the Coca-Cola 600 last night. With that said, Earnhardt’s last win (104 or so races back) at Michigan (June 15, 2008) was a fuel mileage win. Not that those should not count; they should and of course do. I just hope that when Junior finally starts see the checkered flag(s), he wins on merit.
The good news for NASCAR is that Junior is running well, currently sitting 4th in the standings. Junior is to NASCAR what Ferrari is to F1. It would have been great for NASCAR if Earnhardt Jr. could finally get the monkey off his back. Instead, he has to wait knowing that he continues to run (and race) better with each passing week.
The bad news for NASCAR is that the run towards the checkered flag looked to be a bit of a fix. NASCAR has throw caution flags for lesser incidents than the mayhem on the final restart. A caution would have setup a green-white-checker finish, and of course relegate one Dale Earnhardt Jr. to the back of the pack as he would have to stop for a splash of gas. Instead the NASCAR race officials kept the yellow hanky in their pocket, giving Junior every possible chance to win.
The end result was an interesting race, and of course a lot of rumblings about why NASCAR held the caution. At the end of the day, this could be good news for NASCAR as it builds up more attention for the summer races, but NASCAR did nothing to further the stigma that it puts of a show, playing favorites, and ultimately controlling the outcome of each race.
Agreed, except I’m not a Junior fan. PR should never get in the way of fair competition. We do agree on one thing – we’re both Gordon fans.
Sorry… “one” should be “another,” as in we agree on “another” thing.
Funny … we agree on Gordon, which is one thing. We agree on other things as well …
Well i guess it all sits on who you support – i am a harvick fan so loved the ending
but to be honest i was pulling for junior, i figured if he ran out of gas ham(hock)lin would have won, and i cant stand him. but was estatic to see that he ran out of gas also
but back to the facts – if that restart would have been at anyother time of the race the yellow would have flown – as it should – but i agree with nascars call at the end of the race to leave the hankie in the pocket.
To throw the yellow would have been like calling a pass interference on a last play hail marry in football – yes penalties occur – but its part of the game
Joe, agree with your point about who you support. The ending was actually good and highly entertaining, I just thought that NASCAR failed to throw a caution that (I firmly believe) would have been thrown if Junior was not out in front. Either way, Junior does not win the race.
So I guess we disagree on the flag, no-flag call at the end. Maybe I am wrong, but I have seen enough green-white-checker finishes to at least think that NASCAR throws out a yellow when cars are wrecking on a restart.
Thanks for the comment …
Well i agree with your point also – justat the end of the race think they should just let them go – but at the same time the 2 most famous instances have both resulted in wins for my driver – (the 600 and the daytona 500 happy won)
pretty much all sports change the rules at the end – for instance basketball – it is a technical foul to intentionaly commit a penalty. but at the end of the game there are intentional fouls galore – yet no techs.
p.s. im jpbslayer
Ha – nice. Had no idea you were jpb …
I actually like Happy, but he is further back on my ‘list’ … which really means he is not on my shit list. Or maybe it just means I would rather Harvick win over some others. I could also do without some of the recent DW fabricated nicknames – ‘where did he come from’ and the ‘closer’.
Harvick has a much more realistic chance this year compared to any of the drivers I cheer for and follow.
cool – my fav is happy ( i have over 200 diecast cars of his-i collect) but i root for all RCR, and like jr. just dont like junior nation. I hate rousch and both busch sisters. and wish danica would go back to indy – leave the freak show there LMAO
While I do not collect diecast cars, my kids have a ton, a few of which are collectible. Gordan for my oldest son, and Kenseth for my middle son. My four-year old cheers for ‘Telling Heart’ (one of the grandparents gave him a Junior hat).
Pretty much all the kids appreciate JPM (because dad loves F1), Stewart (because dad likes him), and we all wish Sam Hornish, Jr. could bounce back.
Me? Gordon, Stewart, Junior (just because I want him to win a f’ing race and have some chance to sort of, kind of, break out of his father’s shadow – that has to be rough), and JPM. You can probably gather that I really like the guys that can road race (Junior being the exception as a ‘qualified’ road racer). Of course there is always Bobby & Terry Labonte (from my home town … at least I was born in Corpus Christi, TX). Starting to appreciate David Regan for his Georgia roots.
Back to the regularly scheduled programming …