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Well … I would say Jimmy Johnson did exactly what he needed to do to keep distance between him and Carl Edwards in his attempt to win his third consecutive Nascar title … and once again … I called it before it happened, right down to the him leading the most laps.
So … who cares? Well, I do for one.
I know it sounds like I’m bragging, but I’m really not … I’m just glad I do call it right sometimes. I’m sure it sets me up for being humbled in the future, but, it feels good at the moment.
Besides, I have a very good friend that has a saying that goes something like this:
“He who tooteth not his own horn, the same remains untooted.”
This week, I tooteth it — Next week, who knows … maybe it could happen again.
Oh, well … enough about me and the “Just A Fan’s View” prediction of who would win the race in Phoenix over the weekend. Let’s talk a little bit about the events of the race.
To me, it seemed Carl Edwards struggled to move up through the pack unlike last week when it seemed nothing could hold him back. He was definitely mired back in the frenzy that went on most of the day for quite a while. Even when it seemed he was going to make up some positions something else would go wrong either in the pits or on the track. It just took a lot of time for him to move up into position to possibly catch Jimmy Johnson. He finally finished fourth.
The thing I find missing so far in the ‘after chatter’ of Phoenix is the incidents between A J Allmendinger, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart, (and let’s not forget Juan Pablo Montoya for the second week in a row.) Although I have heard a couple of things said about the situation, for the most part it didn’t make the headlines. At the checkered flag, it was pretty obvious from “A Fan’s View” that what happened was a little payback from Matt Kenseth to A J and it resulted in a lot of damaged cars, including Tony Stewart’s for the second time in the race and Montoya for the second, (actually third) week, in a row.
I’m not against payback, but I am surprised by the lack of chatter about it. Maybe that is because ABC decided to terminate their broadcast of the race to “honor their obligations” to “America’s Funniest Home Videos” instead of finishing their coverage of the race.
I think they made a drastic error in judgment and It is my opinion that ABC should be terminated from coverage of Nascar racing in the future. These are strong words I know, but, this is inexcusable.
First of all let me say, I understand more people watch the races when they are broadcast on the major networks and I can appreciate that. I just don’t think that ABC should be allowed the privilege of prospering from the popularity of Nascar in the future.
I realize this means possible problems for the future and I understand the situation but I also know that no one else would have interrupted another sports broadcast until it was over. That speaks very loudly of whoever made the decision to transfer the coverage to ESPN2. Contrary to popular opinion, not everyone has ESPN2 to turn to. I personally wouldn’t have it because I hardly watch ESPN anything and don’t like the expense it adds to my monthly bill. I know it is popular for others, I just don’t watch it because I just don’t watch it. It’s a personal thing and I won’t get into that right now. (Maybe someday I will.)
Now that I’ve said all of that, it is time to look forward to the coming weekend in Homestead. The Chase for the Cup has been narrowed down to two, Jimmy Johnson and Carl Edwards. The rest are racing for the also-ran title. I think it is going to be an interesting race and finish to the Chase. Last week Jimmy Johnson and the the entire 48 team, did exactly what they needed to do.
This week, Jimmy only has to finish 36th or better and that isn’t much of a challenge … or, is it …?
See ya next time …
Rusty
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