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It truly warms my heart
to see people happy. For instance, the
man my little sister is going to marry
(as she tells me, though he apparently
doesn't know it yet), won not once but
twice last weekend. Carl Edwards seemed
to have the GOODs when it counted, did a
couple of flips for our entertainment,
and showed that a Michigan born product
like Ford can still be the best in a
race held in Michigan. I'd be out there
singing the anthem and waving the flag
myself if I weren't so darn Canadian.
As for Edwards, he moved to within 30
Chase points of Kyle Busch by winning
his fifth of the season. He remains
second in the pre-Chase derby, and was
the one guy GOOD enough to keep the
aforementioned Mr. Busch out of Victory
Lane. For some, that was also a
highlight. I know, I can't believe it,
either, but my wife tells me that it is
true. It seems Kyle is not yet
universally loved. I know how he feels.
Cathy J., I apologize in advance.
However, as much as you love Rusty
Wallace, that cat just plain got to go
from the broadcast booth. After hearing
his distinctive drones on the Nationwide
coverage, I turned to satellite radio to
provide the audio for the Sunday race,
albeit with something of a time delay.
At least no one kicked in my television
set on Sunday. Sometimes being a GOOD
driver is not enough to make one a GOOD
broadcaster. This is one of those times.
In listening to Dale Earnhardt, Jr's
radio traffic on Sunday, I'm led to
believe that boy just had himself one
UGLY day. First, the engine heats up,
then the handling went south. If that
wasn't BAD enough, his spotter started
doing his job like Rusty was doing his,
driving Junior nuts. In the end, he said
no to new tires, said hello to the
fence, and went from a Top Ten to a Top
Twenty-Five. The only GOOD thing about
his day is that it ended.
Mind you, it was a day that Jeff Gordon
might envy. While Junior was having his
tribulations, Gordon found himself
cutting a tire to pancake his ride
against the fence, winding up 42nd.
While both Junior and Jimmie Johnson,
who finished 17th, look GOOD to go for
the Chase, their contending Hendrick
team mate is just 82 up on outsiders
Clint Bowyer and David Ragan, who was a
solid third on Sunday. I'm guessing
Jeff's radio might have been just as
blue as Junior's.
Jeff Burton (11th at Michigan), Tony
Stewart (12th), Greg Biffle (4th), and
Kevin Harvick (8th) are pretty GOOD bets
to make the Chase, all at least 100
points up on Bowyer and Ragan. Matt
Kenseth is only 74 ahead, though his 5th
place finish on Sunday helped his cause
a bunch. Not so for the 11th and 12th
place teams of Kasey Kahne and Denny
Hamlin. Both saw their days go up in
smoke to wind up in the bottom five for
the day, and within 50 points of finding
their title hopes put on ice.
Depending on where you are, ice could
provide a lovely thought or two when the
temps get a tad warm. While the family
and I were recently visiting the Little
Big Horn, Yellowstone and Old Faithful,
it was GOOD to see that Darlington
returned to the faith to return to us
the Southern 500. The time of day or the
time of year may alter conditions
somewhat, but you just don't kick
tradition to the curb as they did four
years ago. The world is full of idiots
who believe what rattles around in their
heads is actually an idea worthy of
replacing what most of us hold dear.
Usually such idiots are proved wrong.
Thankfully, we have one such wrong that
is being corrected.
So, we have three races left to
determine who is in and who is just out
there this fall. The bulls will be in
the arena at Bristol Saturday night,
with a bunch of us having our peepers
peeled on David Ragan. He needs to
improve on his previous finishes of
26th, 41st, and 21st on this track. I
don't think he will. My bold prediction
is that Ragan's Chase hopes take a big
hit, while Bowyer will move past Hamlin
for the 12th spot in the standings. I've
never been wrong before, have I?
Meanwhile, enjoy the race!
You can
contact Ron at
thornton@speedwaymedia.com
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