[Racer Duck]

I missed all of the pre-race show .. don't expect there was anything new .. just broadcasters trying to justify their commercial space.

Chase Ticker: how many liked it? I didn't see much use in it .. they could have done the same thing as a pre-commercial shot instead of taking up even more screen space.

Chase Focus: was it just me, or did everyone notice that the first two segments (racing between commercials) were totally occupied by focus on Chase cars? Ryan was running in the top 10, but was not mentioned and was only in a shot when one of the Chase cars was following him.

Pit Stop Focus: at first I was annoyed, then came to see the logic of it; when the cars pitted, the focus was on the 2nd, 3rd & 4th place cars then switched to the leader. since the leader was last to reach his pits, it made more sense to show the lower place cars first.

Yeley Smokin': I never heard a good explanation of why Yeley was smoking out of the exhaust; was he doing his best to drive the mosquitoes away? (a couple rumors I've heard is the new unleaded gas they're running is the culprit .. I know from experience it makes the engine run hotter.)

Bulletproof Splitter: WOW!!! that's amazing! no wonder the thing doesn't ever get hurt.

Tony & Denny: what's this about Tony blocking Denny in the pits? I don't remember seeing it, but the announcers talked about it. are we having some inter-team warfare?

Gordo vs 24 Crew: this week the 24 crew are what kept Gordo in the race; they consistently gained positions with their quick pit stops. positions that Gordo gave up as soon as he got back on the track. in his post race interview he did say his car sucked for the first 6-10 laps after a pit stop.

COT Handling: amazing how the pendulum swings; early in the year the COT had lots of drive off the corner, but wouldn't turn in the middle; now it's turning great, but doesn't have any drive off.

• Dale Jarrett's comments regarding driving the COT: "cant see out the back" & "can's see thru the car in front of you" so need for spotters to be more on their toes.

• Hamlin Sour Grapes? Denny doesn't like the COT, said you can't pass. tho, I think it had more to do with his setup and driving style than the car; I think Clint passed everyone at least once and Happy & Kurt didn't seem to have passing problems 'till their cars went south on them.

Kyle's Big Gamble: it paid off .. didn't look like he had more than an average car and probably wouldn't have gotten close to the top 10, so they gambled and he got lap leader points and a respectable 4th place finish.

Harvick Help: did ya notice Happy helping Clint at the end of the race? not only did he move over for him, he coached him on the last few laps to calm down and slow down and finish the race easy. I kinda think if anyone would have been able to catch Clint, Happy might have thrown a block or two.

4th 1st Time Winner this season. seems like the same small group has been winning, and I guess that little statistic proves it as we finish race #27.

7 of 12: of the Chase cars finished in the top 10 .. in fact they finished 1-7. (all 4 of HMS entries were in the top 10, next closest was JGR with 2.)

43 of 43: finished the race .. a new record for NA$CAR. but then there weren't any big wrecks either.... will have to wait for Talladega to see how really tough the COT is. (it's good to see A.J. finish another one!)

The Chronicles of Said: Boris barely made the race .. in fact his qualifying effort was 44th fastest, but a little tech problem with John Andretti's car after qualifying gave Boris the tail-gunner spot. Boris was running a GEM car and was completely unfamiliar with it. Still he said all he needed was some laps to figure it out .. he brought it home 40th .. in one piece. Boris has only made 5 races this year, and yet he's 50th in points just ahead of Michael Waltrip (8 races) and 6 points behind Regan Smith (7 races) who drove Mark Martin's car when Mark took the weekend off. Here's hoping Boris gets a major sponsor or picked up by a major team in 2008. There's no doubt he deserves it.

Commercials: seems every week we have something to talk about in the TV commercial area.

• Mikey didn't have letters from fans (guess they used all 5 of them up) and moved on the what he needs most: a Genie!
• Caveman commercials are getting worse and worse. I plan NOT to watch the show.
• Gordo's Nextel commercial brought a smile to my face. Bob's "She Who Must Be Obeyed" quote popped into my mind every time I saw it.

Jamie Little's Post Race Interview: what's happened to the girl? she didn't ask a single "feeling" question of Clint. now she's starting to ask "smart" questions.

Quote of the Week: "I need a better waterjug" said Martin Truex, Jr. - his broke (how does that happen?) and he finished the race thirsty... me thinks the boy needs a drink sponsor

Chase Round 1:

1. Jimmy Johnson .. 5210 nc
2. Jeff Gordon .. -0 nc
3. Tony Stewart .. -15 nc
4. Clint Boyer .. -25 +8 => Big Gainer
5. Kyle Busch .. -40 +4
6. Martin Truex, JR .. -45 +1
7. Matt Kenseth .. -54 +1
8. Carl Edwards .. -63 -4
9. Denny Hamlin .. -82 -3
10. Kevin Harvick .. -88 +1
11. Jeff Burton .. -91 -1
12. Kurt Busch .. -102 -7 => Big Loser

[LSC9901]

As always Ducky ... great observations. One added item and maybe you intentionally didn't bring it up since we heard very little about it/him. Jr. Little to no chat about him. I was OK with that but in reality there are 31 other drivers out there on the track that I'd like to hear a little about.

Lastly I will toss this challenge out to anyone willing to accept it. It's to much for my feeble mind. Would anyone like the task of scoring points within the old system just so we'll know who wins for real and see who can make it into and out of the top 12 ??? Volunteers ???

[kcoruol]

I noticed at the end of the race, the vile Jeff Gordon pulled up along Clint Bowyer to congratulate , I mean to flip off and curse Bowyer for winning the race!


It looked like Tony Stewart wanted to do the same but ran out of track space because of Jeff Gordon , I mean the vile Jeff Gordon taking so long.

[Bob Tanner]

Good observations, Ducky... May I ad a couple of mine?

I got tired around lap 75 of watching the "Chosen of the Chosen" driving carefully around, taking care to not touch anything which might prematurely hurt her chances for winning the All Mighty and All Important [insert sponsor name] Cup. It was almost as tedious watching the aforementioned as it was watching the "Chosen" and the "Not So Chosen" carefully motoring around Louden being careful to not be the driver who cost one of the "C of the C" his rightful shot at the throne.

I ended up spending most of the race mowing my yard, which was probably infinitely more entertaining than watching yesterday's race.

I did peek in from time to time and it appeared to me that ABC/ESPN/Disney has reduced drastically the garbled multi-spotter conversations and the poignantly silly Laugh Track...Ooop! My bad... Draft Track. Since the 43 starters were also the 43 running finishers, I bet Tim Brewer and his techno-center was about as lonely as the Maytag Repairman yesterday. Did they ever have to call on him for other than the now famous "Bullet-Proof Splitter infomercial?

I also read in our local fish wrapper this morning that Jeffie-Pooh said, post-race, that this new car gets lighter in the front end than the old "twisted Sister, engineered down force car. I wonder if NASCAR has decreed that the dreaded term, "Aero Push" IS NOT to ever be used in conjunction with any of the new car races? It's been alluded to multiple times but I have yet to hear those EXACT words said.

Bottom line, to me, is that any time you have the same number of cars finish as start, it means one of two things:
(1) Someone is NOT racing, and/or
(2) Someone is NOT pushing his engine to its fullest extent.

Either one of the above can add up to being a really crappy race. I'd love to say that if yesterday's race were to be held at either N. Wilksboro or Rockingham it'd been more exciting. However, in hindsight, I seriously doubt that. Yesterday's race was all about succeeding, and making sure no one kept another from succeeding, in the New NA$CAR Playoffs. My guess is that in the next nine races, we'll get probably four or five more of the same.

On the very sparse plus side, it was good to see Bowyer get his first win. It was also gratifying to have a Cup race that wasn't completely consumed with The King of the [Former] Red Army. Truly a breath of fresh air.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

I did peek in from time to time and it appeared to me that ABC/ESPN/Disney has reduced drastically the garbled multi-spotter conversations and the poignantly silly Laugh Track...Ooop! My bad... Draft Track. Since the 43 starters were also the 43 running finishers, I bet Tim Brewer and his techno-center was about as lonely as the Maytag Repairman yesterday. Did they ever have to call on him for other than the now famous "Bullet-Proof Splitter infomercial?

yeah, they pulled out the "bent then broken valve" touch screen illustration when Kurt went down a cylinder while speculating on what was happening inside the engine.

also saw the Draft Track once .. I think they're tired of it too!

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

yeah, they pulled out the "bent then broken valve" touch screen illustration when Kurt went down a cylinder while speculating on what was happening inside the engine.

also saw the Draft Track once .. I think they're tired of it too!

Yeah, I've seen that one, too. I wonder if they even have a graphic for a thrown rod?

Draft Track... I don't know about you but it was inconclusive and doesn't jive with the little I know about air flow and turbulence. (To those who want to know how air can affect you, go to your nearest airport and take off in a Cessna 150 or a Piper TraumaHawk about 1/2 or 3/4's of a mile behind a departing Boeing 737 or a Douglas L-1011!)

Actually, serving the TV audience is quite simple. Get an announcer who in extremely knowledgeable about NASCAR and its racing (Mike Joy). Then get an assistant who is also knowledgeable and realizes that the drivers and the race is the show, and not him (can you say Benny Parsons?) Do that, then treat the audience as though they have a clue, and are not clueless dolts. Throw in some simple technology and <presto!> You have a successful production. Now, if they'd only just race to win and not to capture the [insert sponsor] Cup!

[kcoruol]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

yeah, they pulled out the "bent then broken valve" touch screen illustration when Kurt went down a cylinder while speculating on what was happening inside the engine.

also saw the Draft Track once .. I think they're tired of it too!

I can never get enough of the draft track or the bent then broken valve!!

I was hoping that he'd pull out a 1911 .45 cal. and start blasting away at the splitter, just to show everybody what bullet proofs means!

[Bob Tanner]

The more I think about last week's race, the more disenchanted I get with this current NA$CAR.

The race, in hindsight, was horrible! It was ever bit as exciting as the 2000 Louden race was (for those who don't remember, it was after Kenny Irwin and Adam petty were killed in practice and NASCAR panicked and mandated restrictor plates for the race??!! It was a snoozer with no passing, no racing and Jef Burton led from flag-to-flag).

The new car was supposed to cure the dreaded "aero-push," problem, but from all I've seen, nothing has changed. If the leader is in clean air, it's really difficult to pass because his car makes any following car light in the front end, ending in a tight condition.

The Playoff makes the Chosen of the Chosen too careful to actually race each other, and it makes the "Invisible cars" (the rest of the field) paranoid about being the driver to put one of the Chosen of the Chosen out of Playoff contention.

About all last week's race managed to do was to give Bowyer a platform to win his first race, and to both alienate any potential fans (I can visualize myself trying to convince a "newbie" that last week's race was a really nail-biting, exciting event) and irritate the old fans.

Let us hope and pray that Dover, this week, is different!