[Racer Duck]

Congratulations to Kurt Busch on his win. He definitely had the best car and set a new record leading 175 of the 200 laps surpassing Jeff Gordon's record of 168 laps.

Here's a few things that caught my attention during the race:

Edwards' catch can miscue: why was the crew in such disarray when Carl pitted unexpectedly. where was the crew chief Bob Osborne? it was obvious the the pit crew needed direction.

Busch's "entourage": I never knew an "entourage" included a championship. I learned that from the illustrious ESPN announcers today.

Hamlin - the "bag-man": I'm always amazed and amused (sort of) when trash appears on the track and is caught on the front of the race cars. I know this particular event didn't hamper the car at all, but still, why can't people keep their trash in check at the track? Seems like every race is filled with errant hotdog wrappers flying around the track. Maybe the solution is to make them edible...

More Mikey fan mail: and so Mikey, who made the race this week, continues to share his fan mail during N.A. PA commercials... his head's always been there <chuckle>

Tech Center: the Tech Center continues to get high marks.

Robby Riser says: "a Top 10 isn't good enough .. we need a Top 5" every week to win a championship.

Jr.'s early complaining and eventual solution: I guess the Jr.s (Eury & Dale) were bitten by their experimentation with an untested shock package. Dale Jr. was heard saying "I'll shut up .. tired of talking about it." but he found a way to cause a caution (was that spin intentional?) to get the offending shock changed.

Dodge's "old" nose: evidently the old nose is much better than the new one for the Everham crew. while on the track they at least looked competitive.

Rusty's quote of the day: "'Here kitty-kitty' turned into 'kitty litter'"

Super Mouth?: who was that super announcer who couldn't get names right with 20 laps to go? did you know "David Vickers" was in the Red Bull car? me neither.

NASCAR playing favorites?: how come when Jamie McMurray spun his car, the yellow lasted 3 laps and when Jr. spun his car the yellow lasted 6 laps? was it because Jr. needed the extra time to fix his car?

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

[b].

Here's a few things that caught my attention during the race:

Tech Center: the Tech Center continues to get high marks.

Tim Brewer and his Tech Center is very good. This might be the one item where ESPN has absolutely K.O.'ed the other networks.

Now, dump the Draft Track. It's, at best not accurate as to how the air travels acxross a car, anmd transfers to a drafting car. It's a gimmick which will outlive its usefulness rather quickly.

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Jr.'s early complaining and eventual solution: but he found a way to cause a caution (was that spin intentional?) to get the offending shock changed.

NASCAR playing favorites?: how come when Jamie McMurray spun his car, the yellow lasted 3 laps and when Jr. spun his car the yellow lasted 6 laps? was it because Jr. needed the extra time to fix his car?

The King of the Red Army has done it before, and it worked. (three years ago but I don't remember which race)

As to the announcer who couldn't get the names correct: at first I thought ken Squire had returned. Then I realized that it was Petree, which was disconcerting because his voice sounds a lot like Ned's, and Ned never, to my knowledge, screwed up anything like that.

I caught the last 15 minutes of the pre-race show on ESPNjr. (NASCAR Now?) Who is the ex-con with the jailhouse tattoos all over his arms who was up there on the stage with Roberts and Rusty's idiot brother? I believe someone called him Ricky? Real touch of class, ESPNjr!

[kcoruol]

Did I predict Kyle Busch?
No no, I meant Kurt Busch!



What happened with Jimmie Johnson & Mark Martin?
I must have missed that, was it shown on TV, What lap if they did?

What?! Tony "The Tiger eating kitty litter" Stewart didn't win?!
I'm sure he's really happy for Kurt though since they're best friends and all! I always look forward to Tony's Live post-race interviews, I was hoping some young ambitious ESPN reporter would've interviewed him.

It seems like the caution flag can really mess up a driver's momentum. The lead driver could be a couple hundred feet ahead, but under the caution even though he retains his position he's lost the couple hundred feet of lead. It didn't seem to matter to the #2 car this race.


What's the square can for, that they use while refilling?



kcoruol

[Bob Tanner]

One more observation and this has always bothered me.

Why, when there are cars racing for the checkered flag, do the cameras cut to the pit crew celebrating? I mean, there is possibly some action going on, on the track and let's face it, when you see one group of high-priced tire changers hi-five one another, you've seen them all.

Maybe it's just me, but I don't like it.

[kcoruol]

Hi, I'm back again.

It just seemed to me that during the race portion they'd cut to commercials and then during cautions I got to watch the pit crews change tires, then back to racing and cut to commercials. If I do have to watch pit crews change tires could they at least put the little timer on the screen like the TNT channel does?

[3fanforever]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

The King of the Red Army has done it before, and it worked. (three years ago but I don't remember which race)

That would be Bristol, I believe.
If he spun himself out today, I bet he didn't say a word about it on the radio.

[Jeffrey4318]

Did anyone watch sportscenter after the race coverage? When they reviewed the race it was all about Jr and Busch. It was more about Jr, but they threw in Busch here and there because he totally dominated. I got so sick. They didn't even explain anything about any other drivers. I guess ESPN feels it is better to just talk about Jr because he has the bigger fan base. The thing is the Jr fans will still tune in if they talk about other drivers too. The non Jr fans wont if all they talk about is Jr. I wonder what the best strategy would be? hmmm... doesn't take a rocket scientist.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by kcoruol

Did I predict Kyle Busch?
No no, I meant Kurt Busch!



What happened with Jimmie Johnson & Mark Martin?
I must have missed that, was it shown on TV, What lap if they did?

What?! Tony "The Tiger eating kitty litter" Stewart didn't win?!
I'm sure he's really happy for Kurt though since they're best friends and all! I always look forward to Tony's Live post-race interviews, I was hoping some young ambitious ESPN reporter would've interviewed him.

It seems like the caution flag can really mess up a driver's momentum. The lead driver could be a couple hundred feet ahead, but under the caution even though he retains his position he's lost the couple hundred feet of lead. It didn't seem to matter to the #2 car this race.


What's the square can for, that they use while refilling?



kcoruol

it's to catch the overflow.

the way the fueling system works on one of these cars is there's a spring loaded plug, if you will, that seals the gas filler receptacle where the gas can man "plugs in" the gas can. when the gas can is plugged in it opens the receptacle and the nozzle on the gas can and 11 gallons of gas dump thru a 3 inch tube into the gas tank (called a fuel cell). but there has to be a way to get the air out of the fuel cell, so they have another line about an inch in diameter that comes back to the rear of the car. but instead of that line being open, there's a valve just inside the car that must be opened to allow the air flow. the square can has a long probe (kinda looks like a screwdriver shaft) that's put into the valve to open it. when the fuel tank is full, gas comes up the vent hose, thru the valve and into the square can (called a "catch can") when that happens the "catch can" man motions with his arm usually holding the empty gas can, which signals the rest of the crew re-fueling is complete.

[Team Yates]

I Hate Smashed M&M's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Lefty Noob]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey4318

Did anyone watch sportscenter after the race coverage? When they reviewed the race it was all about Jr and Busch. It was more about Jr, but they threw in Busch here and there because he totally dominated. I got so sick. They didn't even explain anything about any other drivers. I guess ESPN feels it is better to just talk about Jr because he has the bigger fan base. The thing is the Jr fans will still tune in if they talk about other drivers too. The non Jr fans wont if all they talk about is Jr. I wonder what the best strategy would be? hmmm... doesn't take a rocket scientist.

Welcome to the world of ESPN, the only place where Tiger Woods can finish t-35th in a golf tourney and still dominate the coverage, with a complimentary "oh yeah, this guy won" thrown in for good measure. I so miss the CNNSI network because it was about covering sports results, not just cramming personalities down our throats.

[kcoruol]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

it's to catch the overflow.

the way the fueling system works on one of these cars is there's a spring loaded plug, if you will, that seals the gas filler receptacle where the gas can man "plugs in" the gas can. when the gas can is plugged in it opens the receptacle and the nozzle on the gas can and 11 gallons of gas dump thru a 3 inch tube into the gas tank (called a fuel cell). but there has to be a way to get the air out of the fuel cell, so they have another line about an inch in diameter that comes back to the rear of the car. but instead of that line being open, there's a valve just inside the car that must be opened to allow the air flow. the square can has a long probe (kinda looks like a screwdriver shaft) that's put into the valve to open it. when the fuel tank is full, gas comes up the vent hose, thru the valve and into the square can (called a "catch can") when that happens the "catch can" man motions with his arm usually holding the empty gas can, which signals the rest of the crew re-fueling is complete.

Thanks for the explaination!

Two races at Pocono is like having a root canal and colonoscopy scheduled six weeks apart.

[saltysenior]

why does a driver who has a car ''that can run away from the field'' maintain a 4 to 30 car length lead for 175 laps????

[Quality88]

Originally Posted by salysenior

why does a driver who has a car ''that can run away from the field'' maintain a 4 to 30 car length lead for 175 laps????

So he doesn't get caught up in any wrecks would be my guess, and to also just rub it in.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by salysenior

why does a driver who has a car ''that can run away from the field'' maintain a 4 to 30 car length lead for 175 laps????

as man became more technologically proficient, he discovered that failures happened more often when the maximum output was maintained over long periods of time. because the racing community often lags behind, it took a while to realize "you go slow enough to win the race." or, in other words "why stress your ride if you don't have to?"