Kyle Busch survivied a wild day Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway to win the Aaron's 499, his first win at the fastest track on the NASCAR circuit. Following him to the finish line were Columbian Juan Pablo Montoya and Busch's teammate Denny Hamlin.
Thoughts and observations
Thoughts and observations
When I picked Kyle as one of my three possible winners on Thursday, it was based totally on his performance at Daytona in February. He proved that his performance at Daytona was no fluke Sunday, coming back from a lap down to win the race. That's an impressive performance if I do say so myself.
What a great job by second year drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and David Ragan. Both came home with impressive top 5 finishes. It's not like they just appeared at the front at the end of the race either, both drivers were regular faces at the front of the field most of the day. Montoya's run actually pushed him into the top 12 in points. Does anyone else wonder if he can maintain that position?
Another that-a-boy should go out to Yates Racing and driver Travis Kvapil. With sponsorship from Northern Tool + Equipment, Kvapil raced a smart, safe race and came home 6th, his best finish of the young season. More runs like that and he should have fulltime sponsorship on that car in no time flat.
Another bad week for Matt Kenseth. Another early crash ended any shot Matt had at being a threat Sunday. That wreck caust Matt another four spots in the standings, dropping him all the way to 19th in the points.
Other victims of bad luck (aka the big one(s)) this weekend: Martin Truex Jr., Joe Nemechek, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart (who led the most laps), David Stremme, Regan Smith, Kevin Harvick, Elliott Sadler, Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte, A.J. Allmendinger and i'm sure i'm missing a few.
I was highly impressed with Joe Nemechek and his pole winning run, until I remembered he had a qualifying setup in the car when most of the other field didn't. Still, that pole run will help the team and qualifies Nemechek for the Shootout (or whatever it will be called) in 2009.
Tough, tough break for Dario Franchitti and the entire No. 40 Chip Gannassi Racing team on Saturday. Incase you missed it, Franchitti broke his right ankle in a hard crash during the Nationwide race Saturday. It's likely he will miss as much as a month, maybe more, depending on the seriousness of the injury. Too bad they can't have David Stremme, who just signed a test driver contract with Roger Penske, drive the car like he did this weekend at Talladega. Before he wrecked on the last lap of the race Stremme was a threat to win the race (he actually pushed Montoya to second, where he ended up finishing).
Another woman made a big statement over the weekend in the world of motorsports. Ashley Force, daughter of NHRA Funny Car legend John Force, beat her own father to win her first NHRA Funny Car final, becoming the first woman to win a Funny Car final in the history of the NHRA. Ashley is not the first woman to have success in the NHRA, Shirley Muldowney won three NHRA Top Fuel drag racing championships (1977, 1980, 1982). She was the first woman to win any major racing championship (that i'm aware of) in the United States.
Not much change in the weekly Top 35 report. Everyone that was in entering this week stayed in. 61 points seperate Regan Smith's No. 01 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet from the No. 40 Chip Gannassi Racing Dodge in 36th.
Tough, tough break for Dario Franchitti and the entire No. 40 Chip Gannassi Racing team on Saturday. Incase you missed it, Franchitti broke his right ankle in a hard crash during the Nationwide race Saturday. It's likely he will miss as much as a month, maybe more, depending on the seriousness of the injury. Too bad they can't have David Stremme, who just signed a test driver contract with Roger Penske, drive the car like he did this weekend at Talladega. Before he wrecked on the last lap of the race Stremme was a threat to win the race (he actually pushed Montoya to second, where he ended up finishing).
Another woman made a big statement over the weekend in the world of motorsports. Ashley Force, daughter of NHRA Funny Car legend John Force, beat her own father to win her first NHRA Funny Car final, becoming the first woman to win a Funny Car final in the history of the NHRA. Ashley is not the first woman to have success in the NHRA, Shirley Muldowney won three NHRA Top Fuel drag racing championships (1977, 1980, 1982). She was the first woman to win any major racing championship (that i'm aware of) in the United States.
Not much change in the weekly Top 35 report. Everyone that was in entering this week stayed in. 61 points seperate Regan Smith's No. 01 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet from the No. 40 Chip Gannassi Racing Dodge in 36th.
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