[Racer Duck]

Hmmm, 301? How'd they get that one? OK, let's do the math: 300 laps times 1.058 miles per lap equals 317.4 miles. Not quite the same as 301, is it? In fact, it's not even close. Maybe we ought to hit Bruton up about truth in advertising...

Well, now I know not to trust NASCAR.com's leaderboard to let me know when the race is starting. I saw the note that said so and so had done the “start your engines”. And about a minute later comes another note saying the cars are rolling off pit road. So I pick up my tablet and pen and head to the living room (where the big screen is) and .. WHAT? 3 laps into the race!!! I know I tend to walk slow, but 50 feet don't take 5 minutes!!! Assuming they were traveling around 60 mph on the pace laps, that means it'll take about 5 minutes, give or take a minute, before the green waves. Allow for some delay between TV and the Internet, but this is ridiculous: that means the Internet was running somewhere between 5-8 minutes behind TV (I'm on a cable modem so I get stuff pretty quick – about as quick as you can get it!). Not what you'd call “real time” -- at least my son's PitCommand was only a few seconds behind the TV (running on the same Internet connection.)

Brake Smoke? What the heck is “brake smoke”? I've been around racing for 40+ years and I've never heard of “brake smoke”. Brake “dust”, yes. Brake “fire”, yes, Brake “parts” and lots of other “brake” stuff, but never brake smoke... My son and I looked at each other with blank stares then burst out laughing. How completely off base can two, supposedly knowledgeable announcers be? That smoke has been coming out of the exhaust pipes for at least 2 years, ever since they went to unleaded gas. It's caused by the unburned gas igniting in the exhaust pipes. That's the flames you see coming out of the exhaust .. the smoke is what comes out if the flame burns out before it gets out of the pipe. It happens when the driver takes his foot off the gas .. which happens to coincide with the other foot going onto the brake.

A classic case of no communication: I know the Junior Nation will take out a contract on me for this, but Junior caused his race ending crash. Here's why: 1) the spotters always make sure the other cars know they're coming into the pits (so they don't get run into!!!) .. if Junior's spotter didn't do that, it's probably because nobody told him; and 2) it's common practice for a driver to put their hand out the window to signal they're dropping down on the track heading to the pits – Junior's hand never appeared in any of the replays I saw, and I was watching very closely for any sign of a hand, fingers or something else that indicated he was pulling off. Also, Junior was on the racing surface, not the apron, when he made the dive into the pits .. a fraction of a second before Jamie (who was on the apron) ran into him. Somewhere on the 88 team, there was a breakdown in communications .. I believe it was behind the steering wheel.

First to Pit: Did ya notice the first to pit under green were the Dodges? Yep, just about all of them pitted before any other make came onto pit road. Really ironic a Dodge took home the trophy with a fuel mileage strategy, isn't it?

Speaking of Pit Sequences, when Kasey came into the pits for his first green flag pit stop, he was running 9 seconds behind Junior (who was leading the race at that time.) By the time Junior made his pit stop and returned to the track, Kasey was 3 seconds ahead of Junior. All that time was made up by running on new tires while Junior stayed out way too long on old tires.

Boy, was I confused. Did ya notice how much alike the paint schemes for the #1 and #8 cars were? Except for the hood decal, they appeared identical in the long shots. What finally clued me was a couple shots of them running pretty much nose to tail during one of the cautions.

What happened to the Roush-ka-teers? Just before halfway (lap 131), Mattie was the lead Roush-ka-teer at 14th. By the time the race ended, Flipper and Mattie were the only 2 Fords in the top 20, at 17th and 18th, respectively. Not a good day for the Blue Oval crews.

And, what about that exciting finish? Yeah, I'm always excited when the storms roll in dumping mega-buckets of rain. 'Course that's when my car safely elsewhere and not subject to parking lot flooding! But I guess you can definitely call this one of the most bizarre finishes in quite a while.

A quick story to emphasize a point I'm gonna make. A bunch of years ago, my brother was racing in the big race of the year in San Antonio (the Firecracker 250”). Tuns out nothing could go wrong that night. We qualified on the pole (not normal for us) and lead the race from start to finish, lapping the entire field except 2nd place. In Victory Circle after the race an ardent fan of the 2nd place driver came up and spat out “Yew were just lucky!” My brother looked at her and said “Yes Ma'am, I was.”

I just had to write down Kurt Busch's ironic post race statement (that I've already seen quoted several places): “Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.” He also said he doesn't feel at all ashamed to win a race by sheer luck .. that they'll take them any way they can right now.

Some people have all the luck, and some don't.

• Poor AJ. Was looking like that team had finally turned around their season when, BOOM! That engine let go and scattered itself all over that track.
• And I saw where Mikey was a little despondent the race was called: seems he claimed he was faster than Kurt and would have passed him for the win had the race re-started.. But then I'm prompted to ask the question: “If he was faster, why wasn't he already in front?”
• Did ya hear them announce Smoke joined a elite group of drivers? Yeah, only two others have lead 10,000 laps or more. I think he'd rather had the win, though.

Some more quotes:

• “Loot at that! Casey Mears looking for a ride .. has the lead!” - Wally Dallenbach
• “Boy, those tires are so low when they come out of the pits.” - Kyle Petty

And a few commercials:

• “Never miss Anything!” - Dish Network
• “90% of all statistics...” - DirectTV
• “Ralph Machio is Spiritual Advisor...” - Vitamin Water
• “Snow tracking it...” - Coors Light
• “Agent Sadler, Master of Disguise” - Sunoco (my favorite this week)

Some concluding thoughts.

Another statistic that was mentioned that just jumps out at you: Toyota has lead more laps in 2008 than any other make. Seems not too long ago, just a few months, actually, that the “rice burners” were getting a lot of ridicule for trying to run with the Big Boys. Then a major defection and suddenly all the 'Yotas performance has improved. Now NASCAR is considering changes which will limit Toyota's horsepower advantage. I guess the Big Boys can't figure out how to beat them, so they're getting “big brother” to do it for them.

No matter what you think of them, Kyle Busch and Juan Montoya have energized NASCAR this year. It's too bad one of them let his quick temper get away and cause a mindless incident during the last caution. NASCAR did the appropriate thing and penalized Mr. Montoya for his stupidity. I know the money isn't a problem for him but hopefully the driver and owner points will help get his head back on straight. I really enjoy watching both of these guys race. And I enjoy their calling it how they see it. Now, it they can just keep the yellow flag carnage down, almost everyone will be happy.

Lastly, on the last caution, Robby Gordon got the Lucky Dog. But NASCAR would not allow him to take his proper place in line. He finished the race in 29th position rather than in 24th where he should have been. I noticed NASCAR gave him a few spots in the official results (26th). Makes you wonder why Robby wants to stick around this series when it's obvious the folks at NASCAR are trying every underhanded trick they can to get him to leave. But then, nobody ever said Robby wasn't hard-headed himself. I hope he continues to find ways to embarrass those dunderheads in the tower. We need the Robby Gordon's and the Kyle Busch's and the Juan Montoya's of the racing world .. they are what makes racing exciting. NASCAR gave up that kind of excitement for the excitement of the pursuit of $$$ long ago. Racers like these are the only vestiges left of what was a very exciting and enchanting racing series, and I, for one, will be sad if they are “civilized” or run off.

[LSC9901]

I don't recall the exact reason, I'm sure someone will, but the race was actually scheduled for 301 laps. Not sure if it was a Red Cross thing but there was a cause that it was listed for.

[LSC9901]

Found it:

The Lenox Industrial Tools 301 is a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car race held at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, New Hampshire. Organizers added an extra lap starting in 2008 to signal the fact that the title sponsor, Lenox Industrial Tools, "is looking for users and suppliers of industrial tools that go the extra mile, whose jobs are physically demanding, day after day, and still find time to contribute to their communities in a meaningful way." The race has been dubbed "The Extra Mile at the Magic Mile."

[bob101]

The brake smoke they were referring to was I believe just like on the road coarse last week....on flat tracks they are carrying the left front tire so much that it locks up for a sec when it unloads and has almost no weight on it. For just a brief second while it's coming up and there's still brake pressure on it it smokes/locks up then either they lift off the brake or the tire totally unloads.

Never saw it in the old car but we're seeing it more and more in the new car. They really only showed it from the in car cameras and it would appear to be coming from under the car or whatever because of the speed of the car, but it's coming from the front left tire.

[3fanforever]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Brake Smoke? What the heck is “brake smoke”? I've been around racing for 40+ years and I've never heard of “brake smoke”.

As a former trucker for many years, I know that brake smoke is something that occasionally happens with 18-wheelers coming down a steep grade, if they're using their brakes to much. If you've ever been behind one, the first thing you'll notice is the smell. Next thing you'll notice is smoke coming out from the wheels. Usually the next thing that happens is the truck loses his brakes altogether, which is a very bad thing, if he's not all the way down the hill yet. Basically a driver won't always smell it, but if he looks in his mirrors and sees smoke coming out from his wheels, he knows he's in big trouble.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by bob101

The brake smoke they were referring to was I believe just like on the road coarse last week....on flat tracks they are carrying the left front tire so much that it locks up for a sec when it unloads and has almost no weight on it. For just a brief second while it's coming up and there's still brake pressure on it it smokes/locks up then either they lift off the brake or the tire totally unloads.

Never saw it in the old car but we're seeing it more and more in the new car. They really only showed it from the in car cameras and it would appear to be coming from under the car or whatever because of the speed of the car, but it's coming from the front left tire.

yep, I'm very familiar with tire smoke. and usually the LF is the culprit if there's too much unloading going into the turn or too much front brake. And tire smoke is blue. What I saw was black and from the right side. With the right camera angles you can see lots of it as the cars enter the corners. Trust me, it's from the unleaded gas.

Originally Posted by 3fanforever

As a former trucker for many years, I know that brake smoke is something that occasionally happens with 18-wheelers coming down a steep grade, if they're using their brakes to much. If you've ever been behind one, the first thing you'll notice is the smell. Next thing you'll notice is smoke coming out from the wheels. Usually the next thing that happens is the truck loses his brakes altogether, which is a very bad thing, if he's not all the way down the hill yet. Basically a driver won't always smell it, but if he looks in his mirrors and sees smoke coming out from his wheels, he knows he's in big trouble.

that particular brake smoke is a fire that hasn't burst into flame yet. I actually had a fire on an inside dual one time that was caused by the brakes getting so hot they distorted the axle seal and allowed rear end grease to drip onto the wheel. Wasn't a problem until I stopped and the grease caught fire. I had just topped Loveland Pass in Colorado and stopped about halfway down the other side when this happened. But this wasn't a brake fire even though it was caused by hot brakes.

[jks812]

We had a great car [Sunday]. I think everybody saw it," said Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief. "We've had great cars the last six or eight weeks, but there is always something weird that happens to take us out of it. ... With this car, and the way the speeds stay consistent, and everybody running the same speed, it's just all about track position. So pitting near your window and just staying out there makes for a lame race."

I thought the statement in bold was just to funny. How many races has HMS won by doing that? Oh wait, both races they've won this year was won that way.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by jks812

We had a great car [Sunday]. I think everybody saw it," said Chad Knaus, Johnson's crew chief. "We've had great cars the last six or eight weeks, but there is always something weird that happens to take us out of it. ... With this car, and the way the speeds stay consistent, and everybody running the same speed, it's just all about track position. So pitting near your window and just staying out there makes for a lame race."

I thought the statement in bold was just to funny. How many races has HMS won by doing that? Oh wait, both races they've won this year was won that way.

Chad's having a problem 'cause wild cards are continually changing the outcome and if he can't control it, he can't win. What he's really saying is LUCK is playing into the final results more than anything else -- not good for "control freaks"...

[jks812]

I just found it funny that a member of a team that has won so many races that way, said it makes for a lame race, when they're not the one winning it.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by jks812

I just found it funny that a member of a team that has won so many races that way, said it makes for a lame race, when they're not the one winning it.

it's never a good race unless you win it...

[PenelopePitStop]

Thanks, RD. Nice job as always.

Though the Jr. incident could be debated for decades, I don't know enough about the communication, or lack there of, that went on just before Jamie ran into him. So, no argument from me today. It's your lucky day!

The best part of the race for me was to see Shrub and "you know who" wreck.

You know what? I hate this "Junior Nation", formerly "Red Army", label. I know you didn't create the phrases, but it has such a negative tone. Yes, I love Jr. as I did Sr., but I like other drivers as well. I don't think the name "Earnhardt" makes you super-human. Do Jeffie-poo fans have a label?

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by PenelopePitStop

Thanks, RD. Nice job as always.

Though the Jr. incident could be debated for decades, I don't know enough about the communication, or lack there of, that went on just before Jamie ran into him. So, no argument from me today. It's your lucky day!

The best part of the race for me was to see Shrub and "you know who" wreck.

You know what? I hate this "Junior Nation", formerly "Red Army", label. I know you didn't create the phrases, but it has such a negative tone. Yes, I love Jr. as I did Sr., but I like other drivers as well. I don't think the name "Earnhardt" makes you super-human. Do Jeffie-poo fans have a label?

Yeah, I think is has something to do with rainbows, but I try not to muddle my mind with such things.

I was really just giving the constabulary a written hint where to look should I come up missing, or worse: Tango Uniform (as Bob is want to say.)