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You know, it isn’t often I start off with statements like I am about to make about a race, but, I think the race this last weekend in Loudon was one of the best overall races I have seen in a while. Whether it had something to do with the fact it was much like a normal weekend short track race and only 301 laps long, or because it went kinda like I figured it would, I don’ know. All I know is that it held my interest throughout all the 301 laps and, although it looked like we all knew how it was going to end, there was just enough doubt and drama as to who might win to make it interesting all the way to the drop of the checkered flag.
It is interesting how the luck of the two Stewart/Haas teams turned toward the positive and they finished the race exactly the way they started it. As we all know, Ryan Newman who sat on pole and Tony Stewart started with him on the front row and they finished first and second after the 301 laps. With the way their luck has been running over the first and middle part of the season, this fan thinks they were probably wondering what might go wrong in the closing laps but, all went well, neither of them ran out of gas and they crossed the finish line without any major disasters of any kind.
Jeff Gordon had a very fast car and constantly moved toward the front. That is, except when he had problems with the alternator not charging the batteries properly causing him to fall back and, at one time, he was a lap down. Even though he had those problems, he had moved back up into fourth place by the last lap. His troubles weren’t over even then though. On that last lap he had a flat tire that caused him to finish in eleventh as he crawled across the finish line.
From this fan’s view, he has to have mixed emotions about the day. Finishing eleventh had to be a major letdown with as strong as his car was and with how his crew kept him in the hunt even with the problems. He should be encouraged by the fact that his car was so strong and that could possibly mean he may have an even better race when the NASCAR Cup teams return to Loudon in the second week of the Chase. Naturally, all that is dependent on how he does over the next seven races and how he stands in the points when the Chase actually begins.
It was no surprise to me how the Fords finished. Marcos Ambrose was highest finishing Ford in ninth place and the next highest finisher was AJ Allmendinger from the Richard Petty camp. There were those that said they could have finished better but they were in fuel conservation mode. That may have been the case and we will have to take them at their word, but from my view, they just didn’t look like they had enough speed all during the race weekend to do much better than they did.
The Toyotas had a very strong weekend also, but Kyle Bush had a very rough weekend. It was obvious with all that was happening to him during the first part of the race, he was frustrated by the day. Still yet, we have been seeing a much more composed Kyle Bush this season and it has been an amazing transformation. He has been much less out of control, (although not anywhere near docile yet), and it is obvious he is maturing and working his way even closer to becoming a Cup Champion. Personally, I have enjoyed watching the process. From my view, he is much more likeable overall and yet he still lives up to one of his nicknames, “Wild Thing.”
Personally, I’m glad the Cup Series has a weekend off to catch their breath. It has been hectic and hard weeks since the last breather. One thing I notice when they have a break is there is generally a slight shift in momentum. I’m anxious to see how these last seven weeks go before the Chase begins and how the points shake out over the next few weeks. I really don’t see much happening with the top five or six, but there can still be ‘a whole lot of shakin’ going on’ in the rest of the top twelve. It also remains to be seen how those with wins in the top twenty figure into the final two wild card spots. It could get really interesting over the next few weeks in particular.
Overall, Loudon was a great race (and from this fan’s view, of course), it wasn’t that much of a surprise either. Going in everybody knew it was going to be a race where track position, fuel mileage and pit and tire strategy would all figure into the end results… and by the way; did anyone notice that it was a Chevy kind of day. Not only that but it was a Hendrick associated and Hendrick kind of day at that. (Hm-m-m… I wonder where I heard that?)
See ya next time…
All views expressed are strictly the opinion of the writer
© July 21, 2011 – all rights reserved
Rusty Norman and Nascarfansview.com
All audio productions by www.podcastnorm.com and PodCastNorm Productions