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.

Kahne Victorious At Charlotte Again

Sunday’s motorsport bonanza ended with the Coke 600 from Charlotte.

NASCAR prepared for its toughest test. The race started in daytime before transforming as the sun went down before finishing under the lights. As if that wasn’t challenging enough, drivers had to contend with an extra one hundred miles.

The race was a test of how a team could adapt to the changing conditions. Some faired well and ran good all night while others waited for their time to pounce. One such person was Tony Stewart. The #20 struggled to keep on the lead lap early on. But as the night wore on the orange Toyota powered it’s way to the front. His chance of a first victory at Charlotte went up in smoke with a tire blow late into the race.
One more his team-mate Kyle Busch was the man at the front. However the #18 team was beset with issues. It is something the team will have to deal with if they intend to win the Chase. Any lesser driver wouldn’t have pulled off the sterling finishes the Las Vegas native has. Dale Earnhardt Junior was top dog at Hendricks. His own chances of victory suffered when he hit the wall and was rear-ended by JJ Yeley. Despite this he still game home with a top-five along with team-mate Jeff Gordon. Both men got good fuel mileage from their Chevy’s to limit the damage of their misfortunes.

All this allowed All-Star winner Kasey Kahne to pick up his second win in two weeks. As the old saying goes, when it rains, it pours. Kahne snapped a long-running winless streak last week and the confidence it has instilled in the GEM Dodge team is showing. Kahne is showing signs that he could recapture is 2006 form. Time will tell, but the team is off to an excellent start. The result seems him sneak into the top-12, ahead of the ever impressive David Ragan in the #6 Roush Ford. Ragan, who endured a crash-fest rookie year, is proving that Jack Roush was right to back him for a second year. Seeing the #6 running back at the front brings back memories of what Mark Martin did with the car.

The NASCAR circuit heads to Dover this weekend. A return to day-time racing is a welcome change with the time zone difference! It will also be the last race broadcast by Fox. I’ve grown to enjoy the Fox team commentating and will be interesting to see how it is handled from here on out. I think Darrell Waltrip will be missed most of all.

So we’ll have to tighten those belts one more time at Dover!

A Month Under The Lights

It’s been a while since I pulled up a Nascar round-up. The main reason for the delay is the late night races that are on the schedule over the last while.

The last three weeks have been night races with the fourth, the Coke 600 at Charlotte this coming weekend. Adjusting to this schedule has been a pain in the arse. I tried to stay up for Richmond in vain. Midnight to 4am races are pretty taxing. The race was dominated by Denny Hamlin. Lady Luck decided against letting the youngster record his second win of the year with a tire blow out near the end.

The race will be remembered for the contact between Kyle Busch and Dale Earnhardt Junior. The former has endured the wrath of Earnhardt Nation since. Clint Bowyer snuck through to take his second career victory.

Kyle Busch was dominant force at Darlington. The tight confines of the track didn’t stop ‘Wild Thing’ from overtaking anywhere on the track. Even a penalty for a loose nut, which put him to the back of the pack couldn’t stop Busch. The youngster, who was promoting the new Indiana Jones flick, provided a swashbuckling performance to win the race. Common sense was to the front for me to watch Darlington with taping it. While I hate the idea of watching races re-live like this, it’s better than nothing.

The third consecutive night race was the All Stars race on Saturday night. A non-points race which Kasey Kahne, who only made the race after been voted in by the fans, walked away with the one million dollar cash prize. Dale Jarrett stepped back into the car one last time and even drove big brown truck before the race got off.

The common thread through all these races was the force that is Kyle Busch and Toyota. The Gibbs team were beset with mechanical issues at the All Stars race. But, better to get them out of the way now than have them this coming weekend.

Busch is also in the spotlight over his tangle with Earnhardt Junior. As I said before, he is now incurring the wrath of Earnhardt Nation. His former Hendricks team-mates Gordon and Johnson can give him tips on that. I noticed that the pair of them, Busch and the open-wheelers received a less than appreciative applause from the fans at the All Stars.

I love the way the Kyle is handling it though. He admitted after the race it wasn’t intentional and that he wasn’t thrilled that it occurred. In most cases, that should be enough and everyone gets on with it. But now when the other driver is Earnhardt.
It’s just the way things are over there. I read plenty of times about the Nascar.com journalists having their inbox’s filled with such comments that are really... well.. narrow minded.
But Kyle just feeds on the crowd, the hate. It’s like a pantomime where he is the villain, one which in public he is happy to play. The team bow at the All Stars driver intro’s – I loved it. It’s just a shame that in all likelihood most pre-race interviews are going to see that this issue cropped up. Earlier on the season I enjoyed his comments and playful attitude over things.

Whether Earnhardt Nation likes it or not, Wild Thing is here and he isn’t going away.