Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

Where did Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch come from? All everybody was talking about before the race was how this was going to be a battle between the Toyota’s of Gibbs Racing and the dominating force of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Hendrick Motorsports. Then from out of nowhere comes the Dodge boys. Did the Penske teams set up for the race under the lights?

The Race During Daylight

From the drop of the green flag Sunday, all that I could think about was how badly It looked like these cars were handling. I thought for sure that they were going to wad up most of the field at any moment. The new car reacted to the dips in the track in what looked like a most violent fashion. The amazing thing was the way that the drivers were able to get them back under control in short order. I can’t count the number of times that I saw cars get sideways and then the driver was able to just reel in back in. Like when Kurt Busch got forced below the yellow line and he went through the grass without losing it, Or when Jimmy Johnson wrecked and kept the car from flipping over, the wing on the trunk lid had a great deal to do with keeping him from getting too airborne. If they had been running the cars from last year, so loving called “The Twisted Sister”, there would have been a lot of wrecks including “The Big One”, which by the way didn’t happen this year.

Toyota, Not Too Bad!

I was not surprised to see the Toyota camps doing well in the race as they all did pretty well during speed weeks. I thought that it was going to be a battle between the Toyotas and the Hendrick teams in the end. What happened to that battle? Well Jimmy Johnson and Casey Mears wrecked out of the race, and Jeff Gordon had Mechanical problems that put him into the garage. That left Dale Earnhardt Junior without any teammates in the race. You can get people to draft with you when their teammates are nowhere around but when its go time and you have a teammate, you go with them. On the last restart Kyle Busch Jumped the start and went below the yellow line, If he didn’t give the position back he would have had a penalty. This caused him to have to slow down and let those that he passed go by, therefore breaking his and Dale Earnhardt Junior’s momentum. It takes a full lap to get up to speed at a restrictor plate track, and a few seconds time lost is a whole lot of real estate on the racetrack. The only shot that Kyle Busch had to win was to draft with his Toyota teammate Tony Stewart. That left Junior out of it with no real drafting partner. I thought for sure that this was it, this was going to be a Toyota win with either Tony Stewart or Kyle Busch winning the thing. What I couldn’t believe was Tony Stewart hanging his teammate out to dry. That move cost Toyota the Daytona 500. At any rate it was kind of neat to see the Toyotas finally doing well enough to contend for the win. Maybe those two teams will get on the same sheet of music for next year.

Dodge! How Did They Do That?

From out of nowhere comes Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch! They were not much of a factor for the most part Sunday until the sun went down and the lights came on. Did they set their cars up to run better after the lights came on? You bet they did, with Newman being an engineering graduate from Purdue, and both teams being heavily populated by engineers, you have to know they were thinking about what time of day that the race was going to end. I didn’t hear a whole lot mentioned about it after the race but you could see it from just watching the end of the race. What I don’t understand is how so many other teams missed that? I’m glad to see Ryan get a win again. He too was in a winning slump like Junior was, something like a bit more that 80 races ago I think? Dale Earnhardt Junior came out with a top ten so the day was not all lost.

There Is Always Next Week

Next week the series heads to the California Speedway, A two-mile super speedway in Fontana California. They always have trouble selling this race out end that is a sore point with me as they got a second date there for a track that does not sell out. If you want to see a race sometime this year but you are worried about truck parking, here is your chance drivers. Did you know that the California Speedway is right up the street from the Cherry Street Truck Stop? I wouldn’t park there as it is not really that safe in my opinion but the twin TA’s are right up the road from there. You can park there and catch a cab to the track which is only a mile or two away. I worked for a company that had a terminal in Fontana and dropped my trailer there and bobtailed to the track. If you do that, get there early but plan on getting parked in for a bit after the race. This is a great place to see a race. If you buy a Nationwide Series ticket for the Saturday race you usually get a free ticket to the infield concert Saturday night. I have no idea who is playing but a year or two ago it was Joan Jet.

Here Is How They Crossed The Finish Line

I look forward to the California race as I have been there before. I won’t get to go there this year as I am no longer on the road but seeing it on T.V. will be like seeing an old friend. Look for the race preview here later this week. As always stay safe out there and thank you for the job you do.

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