Jimmie Johnson Wins Martinsville
Johnson Tops at Martinsville — Again
Jimmie Johnson moved Denny Hamlin up the race track with 15 laps to go Sunday afternoon at Martinsville to take the lead. It was a lead Johnson would never give up.
Johnson beat 2nd place Hamlin to the finish line by .774 seconds.
After the race Johnson was asked if he would have liked to have been passed the same way he passed Hamlin.
“I got in there alongside of him and he kept coming down to go to the inside line, Johnson said of the race winning pass of Hamlin. ” We made some contact. I think I went up over the curb. We were both sideways. Fortunately nobody tore anything up. It’s really tough, short track racing.”
Denny Hamlin should have been upset with the way he was raced by Johnson – but he wasn’t. “It’s short-track racing-that’s all the fans could ask for right there,” said Hamlin, last year’s winner of this event. “If the roles were reversed, I’d do the same thin. Believe me, I will if it ever comes back around.”
This win also means that Jimmie’s beard is not a jinx after all. He plans to keep it. “Chad hates the beard, so I’m going to keep it as long as I can because I know he hates it,” said Johnson. ”My grandmother hates it. I don’t like to make her mad, but it’s fun to have her complain to me.”
All 4 of Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the top 8. Hendrick’s 2 affiliated cars of Tony Stewart and Ryan Newman also finished in the top 8.
The win came o the 25th Anniversary of Hendrick’s first win. “It doesn’t seem like it’s been 25 years, but when you look back over some of the milestones of the people that have driven the cars, it does seem like it’s been a long time” said Rick Hendrick. “It’s really unbelievable to think that we’ve been fortunate enough to win the championships and the races. And I’ve been very fortunate with the drivers that we’ve had, but I’m just amazed that I’m still in it.”
Photo Courtesy Hendrick Motorsports
You Decide: Should Tony Eury Jr. Stay or Go?
Would You Fire Tony Eury Jr.?
Everyone’s talking about it.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is talking about it.
Rick Hendrick is talking about it.
Tony Eury Jr. is talking about it.
Race fans everywhere are talking about it.
Should Tony Eury Jr. be fired as Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s crew chief?
Team owner Rick Hendrick made it clear this week that Tony Eury Jr. has the full faith and confidence of Hendrick Motorsports.
Rick Hendrick says:
“What I want to say is that I am 100% behind this group. I have no intentions of making any changes,” said Rick Hendrick.
“I’m very happy with the relationship with Dale and Tony.”
In fact, Mr. Hendrick seemed to lay more blame at the feet of Dale Earnhardt Jr. than Tony Eury Jr.
“Dale has step up to the plate,” Hendrick said. “Tony is willing to do whatever he needs to do. We can get it fixed.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. has both defended Tony Jr. and said he would like to have his original crew chief back at the same time.
Junior says:
“There are days where I wish Tony Sr. was still around, said Dale Earnhardt Jr. about the crew chief who took him to 2 Busch series Championships and most of his Cup victories. ”But when they moved Tony Jr. in to the crew chief role it was what was supposed to happen with him.”
“Everybody knows how smart a guy he is. He is a good mechanic and a solid crew chief. I’ll take the fall. I would rather be crucified than him.”
“I feel like I am sending my brother to jail for a crime I committed, you know what I mean?”
So who would you fire? Would you even fire anybody? If Tony Jr. is out as Dale Jr.’s crew chief – then who is in?
Remember, Tony Eury Sr. has zero experience with the current race car.
Some people have suggested a crew chief like Ray Evernham, who is available. But, Evernham still has zero experience with this car.
Eury and Earnhardt made the Chase last year, and finished 12th in the Championship points. They won a race. They had 10 top fives, and 16 top tens. They only had 2 DNFs. What crew chief is available who has done a better job than Tony Eury Jr.?
Would you fire Eury?
So – would you fire Tony Eury Jr.?
If so, who would you hire in his place?
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Mark Martin 2009 All Star Race
Mark Martin on the 10 Lap All Star Shootout
The 2009 Sprin All Star Race will end with a 10 lap shootout to determine the winner.
This years race will be broken down into 4 segments. A 50 lap race, tow 20 lap races, and a final dash of 10 laps for $1 million.
“1 million to win — everything else doesn’t matter,” joked Ryan Newman. He was quickly corrected by NASCAR Vice-President of Competition Robin Pemberton who said “Yes, it does matter.”
I think everything’s on the line for this race. Here are Mark Martin’s thoughts.
Kyle Busch Fans
Kyle Busch Doesn’t Want Earnhardt’s Fans
Kyle Busch had the chance to zing the driver who replaced him at Hendrick Motorsports. He didn’t let the opportunity pass.
Busch doesn’t want to be NASCAR’s most popular driver – a title that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has held for the past six years. He doesn’t care how many hats or t-shirts his fans buy. In fact, Kyle has said he doesn’t even have any fans.
NASCAR executive Kerry Tharp asked Busch if his recent wins had brought him any new fans or helped out with Kyle Busch merchandise sales.
“I haven’t paid attention to the souvenir sales, said Busch. ”I really don’t care about that stuff.”
The fact is Busch’s souvenir sales are a fraction of what Dale Earnhardt Jr’s or Jeff Gordon’s are. I’m not out there to be No. 1, Kyle Busch said. ”We all know who No. 1 is and forever will be,” he said, talking about Dale Earnhardt Jr.
“I don’t think I would enjoy having the most fans. I think that there’s probably too much pressure on one guy’s shoulders who doesn’t win very often,” said Busch.
That’s some pretty big talk from Kyle Busch.
Earnhardt has 18 wins in Sprint Cup – 4 more than Kyle Busch. The two are tied at 22 wins each in the Nationwide series, but Earnhardt has 2 championships – Busch has none.
So are you going to vote for Kyle Busch as Most Popular Driver this year?
Photo Courtesy Hendrick Motorsports
Kyle Busch Wins Bristol
Kyle Busch Dominates Bristol
Kyle Busch led 378 laps Sunday in Bristol’s Food City 500.
“This thing really came to life today,” Kyle said. Bringing home Snickers to victory lane was cool.”
“The Snickers Toyota was really fast. We knew it was fast. We knew it was going to be a good racecar coming here from our performance last fall.”
Busch crossed the finish line with one of his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates in tow. Denny Hamlin finished 2nd.
Joey Logano — the third Gibbs driver — blew an engine just 10 laps from the finish and was credited with 38th place.
Skydiving into Bristol Motor Speedway
Video Special: Skydiving Into Bristol Motor Speedway
Mark Schlatter is a professional skydiver who flew into Bristol Motor Speedway with a big American Flag in tow as part of the pre-race festivities lading up to the Sharpie 500.
It’s pretty impressive to watch Mark float into Thunder Valley with all the NASCAR haulers and 160,000 NASCAR fans at his feet.
The professional skydiver not only landed right on target with that American Flag – he caught the whole thing on video.
Watch the video and see it for yourself.
Dale Earnhardt Jr is Best at Bristol
Dale Earnhardt Jr Tops All Drivers at Bristol
Here’s some good news for Junior Nation. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has scored more points in the last 10 Bristol races than anyone else. He leads 2nd place Kevin Harvick by 50 points.
“Bristol is one of the more exciting stops,” said Dale Earnhardt Jr. It is a great racetrack. I have seen a lot of neat races there, and been involved in a few of them.”
This chart shows Dale Earnhardt Jr’s finishes in the last 10 previous Bristol races.
| Race | Date | Finish |
| 2004 Food City 500 | March 28, 2004 | 11 |
| 2004 Sharpie 500 | August 28, 2004 | 1 |
| 2005 Food City 500 | April 3, 2005 | 4 |
| 2005 Sharpie 500 | August 27, 2005 | 9 |
| 2006 Food City 500 | March 26, 2006 | 11 |
| 2006 Sharpie 500 | August 26, 2006 | 3 |
| 2007 Food City 500 | March 25, 2007 | 7 |
| 2007 Sharpie 500 | August 25, 2007 | 5 |
| 2008 Food City 500 | March 16, 2008 | 5 |
| 2008 Sharpie 500 | August 23, 2008 | 18 |
| Average Finish | 7.4 | |
Junior has led 743 laps at the high-banked half-mile track.
Over his entire Cup career he has completed 8,862 laps out of a total of 9,010 – that’s over 98%.
Dale Jr. will be driving a brand new race car at Bristol Sunday — Hendrick Motorsports chassis 88-526. The car has never turned a lap on a racetrack in testing or in a race.
Tony Eury Jr’s biggest concern for Bristol is the inevitable crash. “Lady luck stands a lot in Bristol for the simple fact that you can have a great car, and you’re in lap traffic so much that you can come up on something at any time so it’s a matter of being at the right place at the right time and being lucky and missing the big wreck,” said Earnhardt’s crew chief.
Photo Courtesy Hendrick Motorsports
Ric Flair to NASCAR
Does NASCAR Really Need Wrestler Ric Flair to Sell All Star Race Tickets?
Excuse me – but didn’t Tony Stewart get into trouble a while back for comparing NASCAR to professional wrestling?
“I guess NASCAR thinks, ‘Hey, wrestling worked, and it was for the most part staged, so I guess it’s going to work in racing, too,’” Stewart said. “I can’t understand how long the fans are going to let NASCAR treat them like they’re stupid.”
NASCAR found Stewart’s remarks “very, very disappointing.”
Well, now it seems Marcus and Bruton Smith the owners of Lowe’s Motor Speedway have gone all out in making the NASCAR / Wrestling connection.
They’ve hired iconic wrestler “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair to be the Honorary Race Director for May’s All Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte. Flairs qualifications? He’s the 16 time World Wrestling Heavyweight Champ.
Flair will attend the drivers meeting; assist SPEED with the TV broadcast and driver introductions, and serve as a judge for the Pennzoil Victory Challenge – a burnout competition – with $10,000 going to the winning driver’s favorite charity.
And just to make sure that no one thought Flair’s role was just a celebrity spokesperson, and not really wrestling related the Smiths have produced a wrestling card style poster promoting the race.
All Star Slug-Fest
Saturday Night – May 16 is slated to be an “All Star Slug-Fest. A Night of Fractured Fenders and Broken Dreams.”
In the Transmission Submission Match its Dale Earnhardt Jr versus Tony Stewart.
Dale Jr is wearing the Champion’s belt – and promoted as The People’s Champ — even though Smoke actually has 2 more Cup Championships than Earnhardt.
In the Grudge Match its Kyle Busch against Just About Everybody.
In The Intercontinental Roll Cage Match – a tag team fight – features Kurt “Vegas Violator” Busch paired with Clint “The Destroyer” Bowyer against Kasey “Night Train” Kahne paired with “Marvelous” Mark Martin.
Kyle Busch is the only driver on the poster who doesn’t have a big cartoon wrestler body. According to Kevin Harvick that’s because “they couldn’t find a body big enough for his head.”
Flair Giving Fighting Tips
Flair is offering to school some of the drivers on how to take down their opponents when they get into a fight following a big wreck on the racetrack.
The folks at Lowe’s Motor Speedway are having a lot of fun with this, and I think it’s a good thing.
Just don’t take it too seriously. If NASCAR were fake don’t you think there would be a few more fights after someone gets wrecked, maybe a few more helmets thrown? If NASCAR decided the winner wouldn’t they pick Dale Earnhardt Jr. or Jeff Gordon once in a while?
Dale Earnhardt’s Lucky Penny
Dale Earnhardt’s Lucky Penny
Wessa Returning to Bristol
Wessa Miller dreamed of meeting Dale Earnhardt. The Make-A-Wish Foundation made her dreams come true.
That was on February 14, 1998, the day before Dale Earnhardt’s 20th Daytona 500. A race he had never won.
Wessa presented Dale with a lucky penny in hopes of bringing him his first victory in the Daytona 500.
On Saturday before the 500 Wessa, along with her Mom and Dad, Juanita and Booker, waited in an office in the Daytona International Speedway garage as Earnhardt and the other drivers completed the final practice.
Word came down that Earnhardt was not happy with his car during happy hour, and that made Juanita a little more nervous. This was, after all, The Intimidator. She was concerned that he would be abrupt and gruff – and that Wessa would be disappointed.
Juanita need not have worried.
Dale walked in and knelt beside Wessa’s wheelchair and gave her a huge smile. That wasn’t lost on Juanita. She had noticed how most people would stand above Wessa and look down at her. Not Dale Earnhardt.
Dale visited with Wessa for nearly fifteen minutes while Juanita and Booker looked on. He gave Wessa his undivided attention. Juanita could see the goodwill in Earnhardt’s heart as he talked to Wessa.
Earnhardt had the lucky penny attached to the dash of the No. 3 Chevrolet. It was still there when he took the checkered flag to win the race. Wessa’s penny had worked.
To show his gratitude Earnhardt invited Wessa and her family to be his guests at Bristol a few weeks later. That worked for Wessa. Bristol was only 120 miles from her home in Phyllis, Kentucky. Dale also bought Wessa and her family a van. The Miller’s still use that van to this day to drive Wessa to her doctor in Lexington, KY – 175 miles from their home in Phyllis.
Wessa Going Back to Bristol
Today Wessa is 16 years old – and she’s returning to Bristol on March 22 for the Food City 500 race thanks to efforts from The NASCAR Foundation, NASCAR Angels, Motor Racing Outreach and the Pennies for Wessa Fund.
An online auction is set up to benefit the MRO Benevolence Fund.
Pennies for Wessa was founded by NASCAR reporter David Poole to help Wessa and her family. You can learn more at penniesforwessa.org
Right now Earnhardt’s Daytona 500 winning car sits in the Richard Childress Racing Museum in Welcome, North Carolina. Wessa’s penny is still glued to the dash.
Please visit penniesforwessa.org to learn how you can help.
Atlanta Post Race Chatter
What Do You Have to Say on The Kobalt Tools 500?
Kurt Busch dominated the Kobalt Tools 500 Sunday, leading 232 laps on his way to Victory Lane. Busch was able to pass Carl Edwards on the next to last lap for the lead and the win.
After the race Busch’s car was scraped all down the right side from more than one brush with the wall.
“Our car was dynamite,” said Kurt Busch. At times it got a little loose, I overdrove it, got into trouble. Brushed the wall, scraped the wall. That’s where you’ve got to refocus, get back to racing the racetrack and have confidence in the car to know that it can take a couple bumps and bruises.
Kurt Claims Bragging Rights Over Kyle
Kurt was claiming bragging rights over brother Kyle following the win. It does give us bragging rights,” said Kurt. “We get to definitely to pour the Miller Lites for a week. I’m real proud of him. Real happy for him. He’s done a tremendous job transitioning to Gibbs Racing. To be up front every week like he has, to run strong. To beat him today, beat guys like Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, it’s really a special day.”
In the final laps Brian Vickers was closing on Busch when Robby Gordon blew a tire bringing out the caution and leading to a green — white — checkered flag finish.
“I felt like the 83 car was catching us. Brian Vickers and I were going to put on a heck of a show. It kept reminding me of Darlington: to never give up, put your car in the right groove and let the other guy try to pass you clean, or if he’s going to bounce off you.
Pole-sitter Mark Martin blew a tire in turn 2 and crashed into the wall. Martin would finish 31st — leaving him 34th in the NASCAR points for the season
One of Marcos Ambrose’s crew members caused a caution when he chased a loose tire that was rolling from pit road toward the race track. That move put three quarters of the field one lap down.
Just 5 laps before that Bobby Labonte had spun his No. 96 Ford through the grass in that very location.
Too Many Empty Seats
NASCAR and the race tracks are going to have to get to work at selling tickets. The grandstands at Atlanta Motor Speedway were a long way from full. It’s hard to say. Jeff Gordon was asked why in the post-race press conference. “It’s really hard to say. That’s not my job, to figure that out,” said Gordon. “If I just base it off of the excitement that I see in the fans that I hear, the ones I hear from, my fans, the racing we’re putting out there, this place should be packed.”
So what did you think about Sunday’s race, and what can NASCAR do to put more fans in the seats?
