Martin Truex Jr has the best sideburns in the business, and now he has the shortest losing streak. That 218 race gap between victories came to an end as he drove away in the hills of Sonoma, just outside of San Francisco on Sunday. Have there been longer droughts? Certainly. Michael Waltrip went 462 before he finally won a Cup race. J.D. McDuffie went 653 and never won. In fact, in 1991 he died at Watkins Glen in his final attempt.
Kurt Busch roars in to the pits, way over speed, and gets a drive through penalty. He again roars in to the pits, way over speed, and gets a stop and go penalty. All he did after that was drive through the field, got his lap back on the track, and wound up fourth. A bad day just three positions behind the guy with a great day. I wish I was that bad.
So does brother Kyle. He got spun by Juan Pablo Montoya early, then stalled on pit road, got punted by Carl Edwards, and went for a spin in the dirt. Some Busch’s finish fourth, others 35th. One consolation is that Kyle finished just one position behind Montoya. Funny how one can be second at one moment and 34th at another when the fuel runs out on the final lap. Yes, I bet his team thought it real hilarious.
Just in case you were wondering, Jacques Villeneuve was entered at Sonoma, my mother was not. The former F1 champ lasted 19 more laps than Mom did, and picked up three points to Mrs. Thornton’s zero. Neither are slated to run at Kentucky on Saturday night. Just keeping you informed.
So, JTG-Daugherty Racing sat Bobby Labonte so A.J. Allmendinger could provide them some feedback as to what the team might be missing. On Sunday, Labonte was back in and the damn car blew its engine on the first lap. So, unless the former Cup champ did something real stupid real early, or the problems with that team has nothing to do with who is driving but rather who is working on it. Just an observation.
Rating Sonoma – 9/10 – Can you beat the rolling hills in the background? Can you beat the surprises that often lurked in the turns, especially that last one? Is there a better crew than Adam, Kyle, and Wally, or better tech analyst than Larry, or better track-side reporters? Any worse? I will let you think about that for a few weeks. I am sure some names will come to you.
As they venture to Kentucky Brad Keselowski might consider repeating his win from last year. Presently, the defending Cup champ is just nine points to the good, with no wins in 2013. A hiccup on Saturday night, especially should Paul Menard, Kahne, Jeff Gordon, or Joey Logano do very well, could prove to be rather nasty. As for two-time winner Kyle Busch, he remains 16 points within a Chase place, but another bad day for him and things could start getting complicated. Enjoy the week.
