Darlington Observations
Thoughts, observations and questions following the Dodge Charger 500 at Darlington Raceway:
Greg Biffle, Doug Richert and Co. finally got their long overdue trip to victory lane this season. This team still is more than 500 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson and will need several more races like this one to make up the deficit.
I agree with Jeff Gordon. Ken Schrader could have given Gordon the same room he gave Biffle on that final lap. It might have made the difference between Gordon winning and losing the race. Biffle knew it, too.
I'm not sure if was because NASCAR officials had a little "discussion" with Fox's television crew, but for the first time this season, Fox didn't miss a restart.
I hope for viewers' sake that it continues.
Aren't Matt Kenseth, Robbie Reiser and Co. looking more and more like true championship contenders? No, they didn't win Saturday night, but they stayed in the top 10 most of the race (280 of 367 laps, to be precise) and led 64 laps. That's what champions do.
It was an ugly night for the Home Depot team, wasn't it?
I find it remarkable how quickly the tires wear out at Darlington. With fresh tires, the cars almost seem to be going too fast. After 30 laps, they seem to be too slow. And I can't think of another track where everyone has to run the high groove up against the wall.
The only other track where drivers used to do it regularly was Rockingham.
That's another top-20 finish (20th) for Tony Raines, his third of the season. I'll bet that Raines has become the secret weapon of nearly everyone's fantasy leagues.
You've got to hand it to Dale Earnhardt Jr. I wouldn't even think of getting up out of bed with the flu, much less driving a car. Junior hung in there for 500 miles while feeling sick with flu symptoms and finished fifth.
Moving Darlington's race date to Mother's Day weekend, traditionally an off-weekend for NASCAR, was pure genius. I'm willing to bet that the track won't have any more problems selling this race out again.
The Hard Luck of the Race Award goes out to three drivers this week: Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards. All three had good cars and all three had really miserable luck. I think Edwards had the best car in the field until he went out.
I wonder if someone just forgot to put the catch screens over the oil pump belt drives on the Roush cars. If so, Biffle, Kenseth and Mark Martin were very lucky.
It was a very quick, very polite and fairly caution-free Darlington race. Perhaps it was because everyone knows that this was the start of three weekends at home and it was best to get out of Darlington as fast as they could so they could go back home.
Robby Gordon had a great run going until the final 40 laps. At least he has moved solidly up in the top 35 in owner points.
On lap 130, Gordon passed Kasey Kahne and immediately got very loose and almost lost it, forcing Kahne to back off quickly to avoid a wreck. Gordon stuck his hand out the driver's side window and gave Kahne the peace sign to let him know he appreciated Kahne not running into him.
Speaking of Kahne, his car just got worse and worse as the evening went on. After several strong showings, this was the third consecutive race in which Kahne has finished 20th or worse. The one-time points leader has slipped to eighth.
Meanwhile, current points leader Johnson seems to enjoy starting at the back of the field and racing his way to the front.
Expect Johnson to pad his points lead as the Cup series heads to "Jimmie's House" – Lowe's Motor Speedway – for the next two race weekends. Johnson has won the last four points races there.
Kudos to Dale Jarrett for taking the big money and padding his retirement account. I'll bet there will be a Dale Jarrett Toyota dealership appearing somewhere in the Carolinas within the next few years, too.
On a related note, does anyone expect the 88 car to be anything but mediocre for the rest of the season?
While we were watching the Cup guys go at it, Steve Wallace, the 18-year-old son of former Cup champion Rusty Wallace, led 63 of 103 race laps en route to claiming his first win of '06 in the ARCA/ReMax race at Kentucky Speedway. It was his second career ARCA win.
Postscript
Next weekend is NASCAR's made-for-television reality show called the All-Star Challenge.
This is absolutely must-see television. It features specially built, you-can-wreck-it-if-you-want-to, one-race-only race cars – and a $1 million payoff for the winner.
It's the best all-star "game" of any major league sport.
Don't miss it.
