We were wrong. We were wrong about the big wild card that is Talladega, though to our credit neither Jimmie Johnson nor Matt Kenseth finished in the top ten that day. Still, even with a runner up finish there, Dale Earnhardt Jr remained miles away from the leaders. Kyle Busch made up all of seven points on Johnson and a whopping 15 on Kenseth, but still nowhere near enough.
We were wrong about Martinsville, which should be renamed Johnsonville the way Jimmie lays it down there. While Jeff Gordon tied Five Time in wins at the paper clip, claiming his 8th at the track and the 88th of his Cup career, and while Johnson made it 17 top fives in 24 attempts, Kenseth finished second. It was only his 4th top five there in 28 attempts. So, it would appear that whatever the 2003 champ did while employed by Jack Roush no longer applies in any negative sense since he joined Joe Gibbs. For Matt, his history is history as he forges a new path.
What we have is a new Matt, a renewed Jimmie, and as we change our focus to Texas we have these boys tied in points, 27 points ahead of Gordon and 28 up on Kevin Harvick. It remains a two way fight, unless fate intervenes and messes up the plans of one or both of them. Could that intervention come in Texas? Based on the past two weeks, how in hell should I know?
Still, both leaders have done well at Fort Worth in the past. Both have a couple of wins there, both have an average finish of better than tenth, both are tied with 15 Top Tens on this track. So, both should do well on Sunday. Should.
There should be peace and harmony the world over, but Kevin Harvick is preparing to leave RCR after a thirteen year association by crapping all over the bosses grandsons. It is one thing to criticize a young driver with whom he had issues in the truck race on Saturday. It is another to state that a reason for the job change next year was due to these punk-ass, rich kids, who have had everything spoon fed to them, coming up to eventual Cup rides with grand pappy while having no respect for the sport. Who urged the boy to run into Harvick to get things nice and hot? Well, that would be Grandpa Childress himself, never mind the less than loving comments the two had in regards to Harvick in the garage area afterwards. Kevin said on Sunday’s telecast that he was sorry. I am sure that will make everything all better between all concerned. Hallmark, no doubt, has a new card to write.
Rating Martinsville – 5.5/10 – The oldest venue on the NASCAR circuit deserved better on Sunday’s telecast. We all did.
Fort Worth just means more of the same. A two-man race with a few waiting in the wings for something bad to happen to the front duo. Maybe we should dub this the Tango in Texas, because it takes two to…ah, forget it. Enjoy the week.
