The Final Word – Some like it hot, but sadly Fontana was not

[media-credit name=”Simon Scoggins” align=”alignright” width=”225″][/media-credit]Daytona provided us some sit on the edge of your seat excitement. What a great way to start the season. Phoenix was nice, not great, but nice. In fact, the last four events have been just that way. Not a lot to write home about, or to write to you about. Still, I got to write something, even though there are jobs out there that require even less effort.

For example, I want to be a Cup flag man. You get one of the best vantage points in the house, you wave a green flag to start things, another to show the midway point, a caution flag, a checkers, and you get to go home. At least, that was the job description at Fontana where the only caution was the one that would end it early for rain.

Tony Stewart won it, his second of the season, which is pretty good for a guy who rarely wins before June. Jimmie Johnson was belching smoke and spilling oil after a line broke, but the caution came out at just the right time so he could finish 10th. With the return of those 25 points he had lost at Daytona, Johnson is back in a place Chase. So are Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr, who rounded out the Top Three on a nice sunny day in southern California.

Jeff Gordon was a lap down in 26th, his best highlight coming when he took the gasman and his tank for a slight trip on leaving the pits. Too bad they both rolled out of their stall, bringing the former four-time champ a penalty. Stewart fake fought broadcaster Rutledge Wood before the race, after Wood threatened to insert a Coke where Kevin Harvick’s sun don’t shine, and that pretty much sums up the action last Sunday.

Maybe Saturday provided something. Well, not if you tuned in to watch Danica Patrick in the Nationwide race. She still looked good out there, but when something went through the radiator her day was done before the midway point to finish 35th. As good as she looks, she also doesn’t have much to write home about.

At least we still got Martinsville coming up this weekend. Since 2006, and a dozen contests, the winners have been Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, and Jimmie Johnson. That is it. Each of them has at least one spring victory on the Virginia short track, with Harvick the defending champion with his lone win there a year ago. All four are sitting nicely in the Chase at the moment.

Two who are not are Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch. Both ran well at Fontana, and Edwards would have been fine for the moment except for the Bristol disaster. Busch, on the other hand, did well at Phoenix but really not worth a darn anywhere else until last week. Still, both are capable of a strong result this Sunday.

Maybe I will get to write about something rivetting that took our collective breathes away this Sunday. Maybe a close finish. Something, anything. Drop me a line as to what you think about this season thus far. Has it just been lukewarm to this point, or am I missing something? In the meantime, enjoy the week.