Mister Consistency Takes Victory

October 12th is turning out to be a motorsport epic morning. Nascar, live from Charlotte was my first stop of the night. The night race in the US started at 1am Irish time.

It’s the first time I’ve pulled an all nighter for Nascar. Usually I’ve taped them, because staying up without sleep for a race, it’s quiet difficult. It goes to show how things have changed, that I‘m happy to stay up till five am.

Charlotte didn’t disappoint either. The five hundred mile race had its thrills and spills before Jeff Burton ignited his title challenge with victory. The #31, who is a model for consistency, took fuel only on his final stop to maintain track position. The clear track was all important at Charlotte. On multiple times during the race, he who was out front, legged it.

Jimmie Johnson came home in sixth position after running up front all day. The #48 faded in the latter stages, but finished in front of Biffle. Carl Edwards had a torrid day. A pit under green to change tires due to a vibration but him a lap down before his car lost power. By the time the crew got the #99 restarted, he was 16 laps down.

The Coke 600 winner, Kasey Kahne finished second with Kurt Busch coming home in third. Kyle Busch put his nightmare start to the Chase behind him with fourth. The younger Busch bounced back from a lap down due to a drive through penalty is finally showing the sort of competitiveness that we saw for the first 26 races.

It was a day of what might of been for many, with the likes of Gordon, Stewart, Ragan, Vickers all running close to the front at some stage. All ended up running into difficulties, with Stewart and Ragan picking up pit lane speeding penalties. Gordon and Vickers both smacked the wall, damaging their cars. Recent performances by Vickers and Ragan show that both are due for a trip to victory lane sooner rather than later.

With his victory, Burton now moves into second spot. The question to be asked is – can he sustain a championship challenge. Consistency usually isn’t a problem for the #31, but he needs to raise his game to beat a driver of Johnson’s calibre.

Paperclip Racing

Martinsville – the paperclip. The track is completed at speed in twenty seconds. 500 laps of mayhem around the half mile circuit and NASCAR didn’t disappoint last night.

There were a grand total of eighteen yellow flags before Gibbs driver Denny Hamlin took victory. It’s the second of the season for manufacture Toyota. Hamlin took advantage of a different strategy to beat the Hendricks team to the line. At one stage it looked like the #11 FedEx car had made the wrong call when he got himself out of sequence with the lead bunch. Weather threatened to play a part in the race but it was limited to spits and spurts.

Hendricks saw an upturn in fortunes on a track that they have been long dominant on. However the team which was nigh unbeatable at times last year has yet to win a race this year. Not that they should be worried. All but Mears are now into the top 12 – which after 26 races will be locked into the Chase. Earnhardt Junior continued his impressive form since the move to Hendricks. He might not have won a race yet, but you get the feeling it’s only a matter of time for the man with the biggest fan following.

Championship leader Kyle Busch had an afternoon to forget. Spun around by his own brother earlier on he struggled to find the right balance in the car before car issues sent him to the back. It was amazing that for the majority of the race we had all 43 cars out on track. There was plenty of bumping and grinding, but that’s what Martinsville is all about. Of course if you plan to get someone back, you’ll get nicked for it. Just ask Matt Kenseth who got held for two laps after deciding to get his own back on David Gilliland.

Dario Franchitti enjoyed a better than he’s previously had. Although he went much of the race without been mentioned, the Scot finished 22^nd. Still not enough to earn him a spot in the Top-35, meaning he’ll once more have to qualify on speed at Texas, but it was an improvement for him in a season where he’s struggled to impress so far. Jamie McMurray, a man who was outside the Top-35 drove his way back in with a car that rarely left the top ten all day. Regan Smith is now the man on the bubble after Hornish fell out along with David Reutimann, who took over from Dale Jarrett in the #44.

Talk about a tight pit lane. If Formula One thought they had it bad with eleven cars maximum, not that we ever actually that, in the old Monaco pits on race day – just have a look at Martinsville. 43 cars into a tight pit lane with just enough room to breathe. It too saw its share of incidents with a couple of collisions as people tried to exit as others entered.

Mister Consistency Jeff Burton takes the lead of the championship going into this weekend’s race at Texas. I’ll find myself multi-watching dependant on start times with the IRL from St. Petersburg. Add the Bahrain race on Sunday morning and it’s another engine-revving packed weekend of sport coming up!

PC’s Driver of the Day: Jeff Gordon. Slightly late to start his feature for NASCAR. Despite not coming away with the grandfather clock (NASCAR have some of the coolest and unique trophy ideas), Gordon was a dominant force on the half-mile. The four time champion ran into problems after getting caught up in when Almirola spun Labonte, dropping him down to near the rear of the field. Gordon drove with the determination and skill long associated with the former champion to drag his #24 Chevy back to the front and keep Hamlin honest. Had the fates swung a different way for Gordon he might well have won it.