One to go and we have a horse race, ladies and gentlemen! Despite all the mind games being played by Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards was able to stay even with Stewart by virtue of finishing one place in front of the former champion, even if he did lead the most laps. The question many have these days is why did the Stewart-Haas team get so good so fast? Spending an entire season and being almost a non-factor, what happened?
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[/media-credit]Fans have some interesting theories on this and some of it involves Jimmie Johnson, the five-time champ who isn’t in the running this year. Many have told me that since Hendrick Motorsports and Stewart-Haas are joined at the hip, all the technology and good stuff is going to Tony. The theory continues that since Jimmie and Chad are being watched very closely, the No. 48 is being very conservative, as witnessed by their lackluster performances lately, and all the good stuff is going to Tony and Ryan. Black helicopters everywhere.
I don’t know about any of that, but Stewart’s performance has been a real turnaround. He’s gone from a guy who admitted he had little chance or even didn’t deserve to be in the Chase to a guy who can win the thing next week. IN the meantime, Carl Edwards has been doing what he always does—finishing in the top 5 and occasionally the top 10.
So who is going to win? I am not physic, but if I had to bet the family home, I’d go with Stewart. Why? Mainly because the lineage that goes from the last five championships is not that far from his team. Add to that the fact that the driver is pretty talented. All it takes is a little slip from Cousin Carl and the thing is over. Add to that the theory above—that Hendrick has a team to work on those cars. Also in consideration is that Edwards is ripe for a mistake and that the No. 99 team is not quite ready to win a championship—and I see the handwriting on the wall. I just wonder if Mr. Rick will claim it’s six in a row or if he’ll be more diplomatic. I think you know the answer.
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I had to wonder, as I watched Brian Vickers deliberately wreck Matt Kenseth on Sunday, if NASCAR would say anything. The silence has been deafening. According to many, Vickers has been planning this since Martinsville. Vickers hit everything but the pace car at Martinsville. At one time, he had caused several cautions with reckless driving. Normally mild-mannered Kenseth had had enough and Vickers was sent into the wall. That’s not anything to be proud of and Kenseth agrees. The trouble is I don’t see anything in what Vickers did that makes it any different than what Kyle Busch did in the truck race at Texas. Vickers had little to lose. He’s not running for a championship, much like Busch at Texas, and payback was easy for him. In this case, Kenseth was still in the hunt, though a long shot, and it was obvious that Vickers intentionally wrecked him. So what’s the difference? History? A long rap sheet of problems? Regardless, it would appear that something should be said about this incident.
I may be surprised if we get a communication from NASCAR this week, but it appears that this will be considered, “just racing.” It was not just like Carl Edwards hunting down Brad Keselowski so many races ago. And it was no different than what Kyle did to Ron Hornaday, Jr. last week. I think we need a little consistency in what is going on, but I’ve been saying that for about 30 years.
Tony’s resurgence is his teams doing and not so much Mr Hendrick. It could be that they finally stepped up their game at the right time. Yes Hendrick provides him equipment, but you can bet all his resources went into his other teams in the Chase first, so I find it less likely when all the other Hendrick are still in the hunt.
With all the other Hendrick drivers out of it, now, its certainly not out of the question that Tony would get the best of what is produced by HMS for Homestead. After all, if Tony wins, so does Hendrick
I can’t beleive I’m discussing this but how many Chevy drivers will be making life hard on Edwards this weekend and vise versa. I really hope this race doesn’t turn into that and they both are able to settle it among themselves.
I always find the “Driver x gets the good stuff” argument laughable. Why would a top-notch organization such as Hendrick Motorsports have anything other than “good stuff” for all of its drivers?
If the HMS engine shop builds ten engines, and nine of them dyno within .5 HP of each other, and the tenth one is a dog and several HP down, do you think they are going to stick one of their drivers (or engine lease customers) with that dog an engine? I think not. That one likely will never see the track, instead being torn apart or dynoed to death to figure out why it is not performing up to spec.
The same applies to the myriad of other specialized parts and assemblies that make up a Cup car.
From Rick Hendrick’s perspective, does it make more sense to have four cars that have the potential to finish 1-2-3-4 every week, or to have the potential for 1-2-3-in the back ?
There is no evidence and no reason to think that all four Hendrick teams (6 if you include the Stewart-Haas teams) do not have the potential to be mechanically equivalent every race.