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Kurt Busch won! Kurt
Busch won! Okay, now everyone who cares
put up your hands. Anyone? You could say
his win in New Hampshire was UGLY and
darn few would argue the point. With the
rain a coming, they stayed out when
others pitted. When the rains came to
end it early, it was Kurt up front for
his first of the year, but 18th of his
career. Michael Waltrip was in second
(his best finish in three years), with
J.J. Yeley (who didn't even make the
previous race) in third. I couldn't have
been any more surprised by that order of
finish if my 93-year old grandmother had
turned up in Victory Lane doing a fan
dance. I mean, a really GOOD fan dance.
Progress is GOOD, but not if I have to
spend too much trying to keep up. Up
here at the top of the map, TSN aired
its live coverage on its digital
alternative channel. Too BAD I don't
have digital yet, so my television
screen was in black and...well, more
black. Thanks to Sirius, I listened to
the Dale Earnhardt Jr channel and I
liked it. I couldn't tell just where
Kurt Busch came from, but I knew a bunch
as to why the #88 went away.
Jamie McMurray ran into Junior's rear
end and tore up both autos late in the
show. This can happen when one forgets
to turn on their turning signal. When
they went back to green, Junior had junk
in his trunk. Only the rains kept him
even as high as 24th as the radio
chatter indicated things were about to
go from BAD to worse.
So, if I had my way (and being a married
man, that never happens), two boys who
finished in the Top 20 would get a free
pass to Daytona next weekend. Yeley and
Joe Nemechek, in 20th, would get a
guaranteed spot in the lineup using my
twist to the rules, at the expense of
Sam Hornish Jr and Michael McDowell.
Hornish, 34th in owner's points, was
39th last Sunday, while the 35rd place
McDowell was 42nd. That is just not GOOD
enough to expect a cookie from Denny's
grandma or mine.
Patrick Carpentier (pronounced Car-pont-chee-yay,
not Car-pont-tea-air) had a GOOD start
last week after taking the pole. No
Canadian had managed to do that in more
than 50 years. He finished 31st. Others
Canadians have managed worse. So far
this season, the former open wheeler has
shown he can run a couple of hot laps to
make the race, but things go cold after
that. I hear that can happen as you get
older.
As for the points, and a chance to
Chase, Kevin Harvick is 15 points to the
GOOD ahead of 13th ranked driver Matt
Kenseth as they swap positions after the
recent action. It is a pretty tight
race, as the gap between the 9th place
Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne in 10th, Clint
Bowyer's 11th place standing, Harvick
and Kenseth is just 41 points. If the
standings were any tighter, they all
would look like Greg Biffle, who
currently is sitting pretty in 8th.
Even the owner's Top 35 isn't a slam
dunk just yet for a few. Scott Riggs is
on the outside looking in, 25 points
behind both Hornish and McDowell, with
Robby Gordon another 35 points up
yonder. Riggs needs GOOD things during
qualifying, do well in the race, and
hope one or more of the other three do
not. It is not that he is wishing ill
well for others, but if it works...
Last week we heard Biffle will remain
with Jack Roush and Bowyer will stay
with Richard Childress next season. If
only Madonna could enjoy such harmony at
home. As for Tony Stewart, he could stay
with Joe Gibbs, take over from Casey
Mears with Rick Hendrick, or move on as
a partner with Haas CNC. Heck, he could
jump back to the Indy cars to be the new
Danica Patrick. Oh, no! I just got a
visual. I think I've just gone blind.
With our sons' Little League season
over, we just might be able to accept my
sister's invitation to drop by and see
the inside of her new house for this
Saturday's action at Daytona. UGLY
baseball season, nice house. Actually, I
got to see it once during a little
occasion she liked to call helping her
move in. I think I'll enjoy my next
visit a bit more. I hope you enjoy the
race!
You can
contact Ron at
thornton@speedwaymedia.com
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the author. Copyright 2000-2008 SpeedwayMedia.com.
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