Testing, Racing and a Ring
If you're new here, thanks for coming by. You may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
The test sessions are over. The Sprint Cup drivers have tested at Daytona, Las Vegas and California now. What did we learn? The Hendrick cars are fast. Just like last year. The Gibbs cars are fast. Just like last year. Everybody else is trying to catch up. Just like last year.
I think a lot of nay sayers were expecting the Gibbs Toyotas to struggle. Come on people, this is JGR. You don’t think they would have made this decision if they didn’t know they would be just as good as they were in the Bowties do you?
How good are they? They packed up on Thursday night and went home, rather than stick around for Friday testing at California. Sounds like they are ready to go to me.
We’ll get a much better idea in a week when we FINALLY get down to racing.
Only one more week to go. Saturday Night, Feb 9th, it’s the Budweiser Shootout. 8 pm on Fox, 8:30 on MRN radio. Here’s the probable line-up from Jayski.
1) #38-David Gilliland
2) #24-Jeff Gordon
3) #9-Kasey Kahne
4) #12-Ryan Newman
5) #11-Denny Hamlin
6) #07-Clint Bowyer
7) #96-J.J. Yeley
8) #26-Jamie McMurray
9) #22-Dave Blaney
10) #5-Casey Mears
11) #41-Reed Sorenson
12) #88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr
13) #2-Kurt Busch
14) #48-Jimmie Johnson
15) #55-Michael Waltrip
16) #16-Greg Biffle
17) #1-Martin Truex Jr.
18) #99-Carl Edwards
19) #20-Tony Stewart
20) #44-Dale Jarrett
21) #8-Mark Martin
22) #49-Ken Schrader
23) #21-Bill Elliott
In case you’ve forgotten how it works, here’s the breakdown. It’s a 70-lap race run in two segments. The first segment is 20 laps, followed by a 10-minute “pit stop,” when crews will be allowed to make normal pit-stop adjustments on their cars. The second segment is 50 laps and the race must finish under green flag conditions. There are no mandatory pit stops and all restarts are double file.
Yeah, it’s kind of hokey, but in a nice way, like the all-star race. And it’s racing!
Honors for Tony: Tony is scheduled to receive a ring for winning last year’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in a ceremony Monday at the Indiana Statehouse. Stewart, who grew up in nearby Columbus, will receive the champion’s ring from Indianapolis Motor Speedway boss Tony George during a ceremony on the floor of the Indiana House. He won the NASCAR race last July in a late duel with Kevin Harvick. It was Stewart’s second Brickyard victory in three years at the track he considers his home.
Leave a Reply