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Chicagoland Observations

Bob Margolis

Thoughts, observations and a few questions following Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway:

  • Was it just me, or were you also having a tough time trying to stay awake during this race? At least until Jeff Gordon bumped Matt Kenseth in the final laps?

I don't know if it's the Chicagoland track, the weather, the stars or whatever, but every one of the Cup races held at the beautiful facility outside of Chicago have been yawners. A lot of the drivers complained this weekend that they couldn't get close enough behind other cars to make passes because of the aerodynamic turbulence.

  • Not surprisingly, some members of the television broadcast team were quick to try and make the Gordon/Kenseth incident look like payback for Bristol. I guess they still are trying to make good on the old "TNT – we know drama" drivel they used in their promos last season.

It was a racing deal, pure and simple. Sorry Matt, but you know your car wasn't as good as Gordon's and that you were running out of fuel. Maybe your car stuttered going into that turn and you lost momentum?

  • I can understand the emotions that spurred the comments made by both Kenseth and crew chief Robbie Reiser after the incident, both on camera and off. But need I remind them both that a critical word or two thrown in the direction of NASCAR officials usually will get them nothing more than a longer and more tedious prerace inspection process for each of the next several races?

  • Isn't amazing that there will be an F1 driver in NASCAR next season?

  • Thank you Chicago race fans for reinforcing the stereotype that there are thoughtless and drunk NASCAR fans in your area. Why not save that stupidity for Soldier Field the next time the Packers beat your Bears?

  • On lap 190, Yeley put a real hit on Joe Nemechek. Fortunately, both drivers continued on. These days, the Army car is just lucky to be able to finish a race.

  • I've got to hand it to Sprint. Their creative department has produced some of the funniest NASCAR commercials seen on television all season. First there were the Jeremy Mayfield/Tony Stewart commercials. Now there are the Ricky Bobby/Will Ferrell spots that are very, very funny.

I still predict the "Talladega Nights" movie will be a blockbuster.

  • Ryan Newman scores another finish of 30th or worse. It's his sixth of the season. What in the world is going on? Are there some surprises brewing at Penske South?

  • NASCAR president Mike Helton's prerace warnings about bending the rules (before both the Busch and the Cup driver meetings) sounded like the same kind of warnings about a similar subject spoken a little more than a year ago.

Taking away points and money isn't doing it anymore. Sitting out crew chiefs isn't doing it either. I would expect the next step is to have an entire team sit out a race if they are caught "racing outside of the box."

  • The comments from Jeremy Mayfield this weekend about team owner Ray Evernham's lack of focus were dismissed by Evernham, who claims he is very busy and that other team owners aren't at every race either. Not so, Mr. Evernham. The only owner I know who isn't at the track every weekend is Rick Hendrick, whose recent history and stature of success in the sport give him a free pass to stay home now and then.

It sounds like Mayfield was read the riot act by Evernham and that the truth lies in Mayfield's original comments made to Yahoo! Sports and others earlier in the weekend.

  • Have you noticed that there is a group of drivers consistently finishing at or near the front of the pack every week now?

Among them are RCR teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. Same goes for teammates Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch (when he doesn't wreck).

  • Yes, boys and girls, Junior will make the Chase this year.

  • The Hard Luck of the Race Award goes to Todd Kluever, whose Cup debut came complete with a 41st-place finish. He was penalized for running over an orange cone (I guess they don't have them in the Busch Series) on pit road.

  • Is it me or has Wally Dallenbach gotten a whole lot better as an analyst over the years? Maybe ESPN should give him the opportunity to continue.

Postscript:

Without a doubt, the announcement that Juan Pablo Montoya has been signed to drive the No. 42 Dodge next season overshadowed anything that happened on the race track Sunday.

I've written elsewhere on these pages all the reasons why Montoya will succeed in NASCAR.

He's not like any other open wheel racer who has attempted to make the switch – except Tony Stewart.

Say what you will, naysayers, but the crafty Colombian is the real deal when he's in a race car. Any race car. I guarantee that by this time next year you all will be Montoya fans.

This truly was a historic day for NASCAR.