NASCAR Notebook: Richmond
Barry F. Hess
May 05, 2006
Richmond Nights
As the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit heads into Richmond, Virginia for the third short track race of the season there are more questions than answers.
Both Bristol and Martinsville left a bad taste in the mouths of many drivers while bad blood and heated arguments on pit road became more memorable than the races themselves.
Will the bad blood between drivers like Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick continue? Will Greg Biffle finally finish a race where his car is capable of finishing? Will drivers like Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield begin their push to get back inside the top 10 as they were last year at this time?
My guess is the unique D-shaped track, now infamous as the host track to the last race before the Race for the Chase begins, will most likely pick up right where the previous short tracks left off.
Kurt Bush won in Bristol and ran well for quite a while in Martinsville last month and has already experienced a win at Richmond in his career.
Still on the outside of the Chase looking in, currently 16th in points, Busch needs to put a few races together and get back into a solid position inside the top 10 if he and his Penske Racing team want to make NASCAR?s version of the playoffs.
After a solid day at Talladega on Monday afternoon a strong showing at Richmond could catapult Busch right back where he wants to be.
Kurt?s younger brother Kyle is also a legitimate contender this Saturday night under the lights.
Kyle finished fourth in both the spring and fall races in Richmond last year and will be looking to rebound after two poor finishes in a row.
Currently ninth in points, the strong start the No. 5 Kellogg?s team jumped out to is beginning to slip away after an early wreck in Talladega put him several laps down quicker than he was booed during driver introductions.
The last time Jeff Gordon won in Richmond was back in 1996 but that doesn?t mean he and the No. 24 DuPont Chevy isn?t a car to watch.
Gordon was two laps away from winning his first race of the season Monday before his teammate and current points leader Jimmy Johnson pulled out in front to take the checkered flag.
Gordon has run well in several races this year but still has no wins to his credit, look for Gordon to qualify well and compete for the win Saturday night.
Talladega can be a scary place for drivers on several different levels and Monday afternoon Kasey Kahne was introduced to one of the scariest.
After he was involved in the first big wreck of the day Kahne had the wind knocked out of him and couldn?t relay to his team that he was alright.
After some tense moments on pit road Kahne was finally able to get out of his car and signal that he was alright but not before he suffered from a semi-serious arm injury that forced him to sit out the remainder of the race, subsequently dropping him to fourth in points.
I feel good, I'm not sore at all,? Kahne said Wednesday afternoon while testing at Lowe?s Motor Speedway after taking the first day of testing off. ?I just got hit in the door, and it basically knocked the wind out of me. I just needed a minute to catch my breath and because of asking for a minute, they thought I was hurt. Really I was just asking them if I could just give me a minute and then we'll be fine. My left hip and my shoulder and my elbow, they are just a little bit bruised just from hitting something or getting hit hard. I've been a lot sorer after other wrecks.?
Kahne will look to rebound Saturday night at the track where he earned his first career win last year at this time.
Both Kahne?s wins this year came from the pole position and if he can qualify near the front then he will have another strong shot at winning this race.
Prediction: When it comes to the king of Richmond no one was better than Kwell, The King himself, Richard Petty.
Petty won seven straight races at Richmond in a period of just three years.
But when it comes to current drivers that dominate this unique short track you only have to look for the bright orange car of Tony Stewart.
Stewart has led 801 laps in Richmond, most among any of the active drivers on the circuit.
In 14 career starts Stewart has three wins to his credit and a total of five top five finishes.
Combine that with his two second place finishes in a row and the fact that he is the only driver on the circuit to lead at least one lap in every race of the season and it isn?t hard to figure out why he has to be the perennial favorite.
Currently third in the point standings and one of just a very small handful that have shown they can compete with Jimmie Johnson for the Nextel Cup Championship this year look for Stewart to walk out of Richmond with his fourth checkered flag and possibly the point standings lead.
Is 2006 the Year of Johnson?
Question: Is this the year Jimmie Johnson wins his first Nextel Cup Championship?
Answer: All signs lead toward the big neon sign with the flashing light bulbs that spell out, KYES.
After hardly hearing his name mentioned or seeing his car run toward the front of the pack Monday afternoon at the Aarons 499 in Talladega Jimmie Johnson came out of nowhere to win his third race of the season and reclaim the points lead as we get closer and closer to the midway point of the 2006 season.
While he would have liked to take credit for simply outsmarting the rest of the field until the final two laps of the race, where he beat out his Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon to take the lead, Johnson acknowledged after the race that wasn?t exactly the game plan.
There were so many times that I decided not to block somebody or make a move and I'd just get pushed back but I just dealt with it and fought my way back through there,? Johnson said after the race.
While the win was his third of the season it was the first with crew chief Chad Knaus on the other side of the microphone congratulating Johnson after he was suspended back in Daytona for failing to meet post-qualifying inspection.
Johnson, who was already beginning to be compared to veteran driver Mark Martin after finishing second in the points in both 2003 and 2004, has raced incredible with and without Knaus by his side.
Aside from a 30th place finish in Bristol after a tire went down on the first lap of the race Johnson has failed to finish a race outside the top 11 all year and already has five top three finishes.
So what makes this year different than his two runner-up years you might ask, a lot, according to Johnson.
I got into some situations last year, and I just felt in my heart that maybe I was being too aggressive on the track,'' Johnson said. ?I really just stayed cautious this year. I didn't want to be aggressive. I didn't want to block anybody. I just want to run clean races and be there at the end to make a run at the checkered flag.?
With two more restrictor plate races on the schedule as well as tracks like Lowe?s and Pocono Johnson seemingly has all the stars aligned in the proper position to be right there at the end of the season hoisting that Nextel Cup trophy but whether or not he will is something only time will tell.
Random Thoughts
This week I?ve decided to change it up a little bit and just write some random thoughts on different topics so take them for what they are.
It should be quite interesting to see which driver is voted into the Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge in two weeks at Lowe?s Motor Speedway. The race will be tight between Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. and while Truex will probably receive more votes because of his alliance with Dale Jr. I believe Hamlin deserves it more.
While 2006 is proving to be somewhat of an off year for Roush Racing, at least by their standards, it should be fun to watch the Cat in the Hat manage his stable over the next few years. After NASCAR decided to grandfather in the four-car limitation on Nextel Cup teams Roush will have some tough decisions coming up. With talented rookie drivers Danny O?Quinn and Todd Kluever racing in the Busch Series and the announcement yesterday that famous Mexican driver Michel Jourdain will be racing in the Craftsmen Truck Series if nothing else Roush is beginning to build one of the best farm systems NASCAR has ever seen.
After his 23rd place finish in Talladega Monday afternoon I can?t help but feel as though my prediction about Kevin Harvick in last week?s notebook is beginning to come to fruition.
Each week Robby Gordon is running better and better and I have to believe if he chooses to make the switch to Toyota next season it will only hurt that team?s progression in the long run.
Maybe Ryan Newman should follow in Kevin Harvick?s footsteps and start running for Busch Series Championships. Take that one for what it?s worth.
As the NASCAR Nextel Cup circuit heads into Richmond, Virginia for the third short track race of the season there are more questions than answers.
Both Bristol and Martinsville left a bad taste in the mouths of many drivers while bad blood and heated arguments on pit road became more memorable than the races themselves.
Will the bad blood between drivers like Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick continue? Will Greg Biffle finally finish a race where his car is capable of finishing? Will drivers like Ryan Newman and Jeremy Mayfield begin their push to get back inside the top 10 as they were last year at this time?
My guess is the unique D-shaped track, now infamous as the host track to the last race before the Race for the Chase begins, will most likely pick up right where the previous short tracks left off.
Kurt Bush won in Bristol and ran well for quite a while in Martinsville last month and has already experienced a win at Richmond in his career.
Still on the outside of the Chase looking in, currently 16th in points, Busch needs to put a few races together and get back into a solid position inside the top 10 if he and his Penske Racing team want to make NASCAR?s version of the playoffs.
After a solid day at Talladega on Monday afternoon a strong showing at Richmond could catapult Busch right back where he wants to be.
Kurt?s younger brother Kyle is also a legitimate contender this Saturday night under the lights.
Kyle finished fourth in both the spring and fall races in Richmond last year and will be looking to rebound after two poor finishes in a row.
Currently ninth in points, the strong start the No. 5 Kellogg?s team jumped out to is beginning to slip away after an early wreck in Talladega put him several laps down quicker than he was booed during driver introductions.
The last time Jeff Gordon won in Richmond was back in 1996 but that doesn?t mean he and the No. 24 DuPont Chevy isn?t a car to watch.
Gordon was two laps away from winning his first race of the season Monday before his teammate and current points leader Jimmy Johnson pulled out in front to take the checkered flag.
Gordon has run well in several races this year but still has no wins to his credit, look for Gordon to qualify well and compete for the win Saturday night.
Talladega can be a scary place for drivers on several different levels and Monday afternoon Kasey Kahne was introduced to one of the scariest.
After he was involved in the first big wreck of the day Kahne had the wind knocked out of him and couldn?t relay to his team that he was alright.
After some tense moments on pit road Kahne was finally able to get out of his car and signal that he was alright but not before he suffered from a semi-serious arm injury that forced him to sit out the remainder of the race, subsequently dropping him to fourth in points.
I feel good, I'm not sore at all,? Kahne said Wednesday afternoon while testing at Lowe?s Motor Speedway after taking the first day of testing off. ?I just got hit in the door, and it basically knocked the wind out of me. I just needed a minute to catch my breath and because of asking for a minute, they thought I was hurt. Really I was just asking them if I could just give me a minute and then we'll be fine. My left hip and my shoulder and my elbow, they are just a little bit bruised just from hitting something or getting hit hard. I've been a lot sorer after other wrecks.?
Kahne will look to rebound Saturday night at the track where he earned his first career win last year at this time.
Both Kahne?s wins this year came from the pole position and if he can qualify near the front then he will have another strong shot at winning this race.
Prediction: When it comes to the king of Richmond no one was better than Kwell, The King himself, Richard Petty.
Petty won seven straight races at Richmond in a period of just three years.
But when it comes to current drivers that dominate this unique short track you only have to look for the bright orange car of Tony Stewart.
Stewart has led 801 laps in Richmond, most among any of the active drivers on the circuit.
In 14 career starts Stewart has three wins to his credit and a total of five top five finishes.
Combine that with his two second place finishes in a row and the fact that he is the only driver on the circuit to lead at least one lap in every race of the season and it isn?t hard to figure out why he has to be the perennial favorite.
Currently third in the point standings and one of just a very small handful that have shown they can compete with Jimmie Johnson for the Nextel Cup Championship this year look for Stewart to walk out of Richmond with his fourth checkered flag and possibly the point standings lead.
Is 2006 the Year of Johnson?
Question: Is this the year Jimmie Johnson wins his first Nextel Cup Championship?
Answer: All signs lead toward the big neon sign with the flashing light bulbs that spell out, KYES.
After hardly hearing his name mentioned or seeing his car run toward the front of the pack Monday afternoon at the Aarons 499 in Talladega Jimmie Johnson came out of nowhere to win his third race of the season and reclaim the points lead as we get closer and closer to the midway point of the 2006 season.
While he would have liked to take credit for simply outsmarting the rest of the field until the final two laps of the race, where he beat out his Hendrick teammate Jeff Gordon to take the lead, Johnson acknowledged after the race that wasn?t exactly the game plan.
There were so many times that I decided not to block somebody or make a move and I'd just get pushed back but I just dealt with it and fought my way back through there,? Johnson said after the race.
While the win was his third of the season it was the first with crew chief Chad Knaus on the other side of the microphone congratulating Johnson after he was suspended back in Daytona for failing to meet post-qualifying inspection.
Johnson, who was already beginning to be compared to veteran driver Mark Martin after finishing second in the points in both 2003 and 2004, has raced incredible with and without Knaus by his side.
Aside from a 30th place finish in Bristol after a tire went down on the first lap of the race Johnson has failed to finish a race outside the top 11 all year and already has five top three finishes.
So what makes this year different than his two runner-up years you might ask, a lot, according to Johnson.
I got into some situations last year, and I just felt in my heart that maybe I was being too aggressive on the track,'' Johnson said. ?I really just stayed cautious this year. I didn't want to be aggressive. I didn't want to block anybody. I just want to run clean races and be there at the end to make a run at the checkered flag.?
With two more restrictor plate races on the schedule as well as tracks like Lowe?s and Pocono Johnson seemingly has all the stars aligned in the proper position to be right there at the end of the season hoisting that Nextel Cup trophy but whether or not he will is something only time will tell.
Random Thoughts
This week I?ve decided to change it up a little bit and just write some random thoughts on different topics so take them for what they are.
It should be quite interesting to see which driver is voted into the Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge in two weeks at Lowe?s Motor Speedway. The race will be tight between Denny Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr. and while Truex will probably receive more votes because of his alliance with Dale Jr. I believe Hamlin deserves it more.
While 2006 is proving to be somewhat of an off year for Roush Racing, at least by their standards, it should be fun to watch the Cat in the Hat manage his stable over the next few years. After NASCAR decided to grandfather in the four-car limitation on Nextel Cup teams Roush will have some tough decisions coming up. With talented rookie drivers Danny O?Quinn and Todd Kluever racing in the Busch Series and the announcement yesterday that famous Mexican driver Michel Jourdain will be racing in the Craftsmen Truck Series if nothing else Roush is beginning to build one of the best farm systems NASCAR has ever seen.
After his 23rd place finish in Talladega Monday afternoon I can?t help but feel as though my prediction about Kevin Harvick in last week?s notebook is beginning to come to fruition.
Each week Robby Gordon is running better and better and I have to believe if he chooses to make the switch to Toyota next season it will only hurt that team?s progression in the long run.
Maybe Ryan Newman should follow in Kevin Harvick?s footsteps and start running for Busch Series Championships. Take that one for what it?s worth.
Print
Email
