Denny Hamlin wins at Martinsville. Whoop-dee-doo. OK, while I'm not exactly excited about the outcome, at least it wasn't Brian Vickers shaking around the suds. Why I am no longer a fan of Vickers goes back a couple of years. You might remember the race. Why Hamlin? I'm not so sure. He is a fine driver, has more charisma than Matt Kenseth can buy, but just maybe I find the soon-to-be 29 year old just a bit too whiny for my tastes. Maybe I'm just an ornery old cuss.
Another great day for Dale Earnhardt Jr. Tire goes down more than once, he finds the wall and drops off the lead lap. It was enough to make a guy cry a whiskey river or take a dip in the same creek. Sadly, the 35-year-old legacy of the legend isn't getting any younger. Junior's last big season ended nearly five years ago when he won six times, including the Daytona 500 and races at both Bristol and Talladega. Our hero has won just three times since -- just once over the past 130 events.
There is more spark to be found with Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch. At 24, Shrub has 16 wins, two shy of Earnhardt, with a dozen of them coming over these past two seasons. He drives like second place is an insult, though his march from near the tail end to fourth was a pretty good day's work. Montoya has won just once -- never on an oval -- but when he is behind the wheel, things happen. Just ask Jeff Gordon, who at times thought Montoya considered himself one of the Duke boys trading paint with Gordon's Roscoe P. Coltrane. He was good enough to finish third. When the dear Juan and Kurt's little brother hit the track, we got a reason to watch. Martinsville was another case in point.
Jimmie Johnson had won five of the last six races on that track. He settled for second on Sunday, still extending his points lead to 118 over Mark Martin with the rest 150 and more in the dust. The champ should make it four straight titles unless someone at Hendrick Motorsports messes up and puts Johnson in one of Junior's damned autos. Considering who is second and third in this derby, I'd make sure his teammates Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin don't get a chance to be anywhere near the paint shop this week.
Carl Edwards better get in good with that insurance duck of his, as Talladega is next on the dance card. You might remember the spring race, when Edwards tried to muscle down on Brad Keselowski only to go flying off Ryan Newman's roof and into the catch fence. Fun times.
That same race saw a crash leaving Johnson in 30th place. Then again, it also saw Gordon limping around in 37th, 60 laps off the pace, with Martin crashed out and dead last. At least Junior got a runner-up nod. Come to think of it, this might not be the week to put Johnson in Earnhardt Jr.'s car. He'll just wind up winning the thing.
Talladega is a crapshoot, but it is starting to appear that Johnson is a lot like the Road Runner and his opponents are driving something picked up from Acme. Yes, that "beep beep" could win this upcoming Sunday. Still, it could be worse. Hamlin could win again. Or Vickers.
