Life on the Road – Trucking News Blog

Man I think I am a Jinx. I get this feeling in my last post that this could be Dale Earnhardt Juniors time to win and he comes in 12th, one lap down! Man what a bummer! But hey who can argue with the dominance of the #99 team? Is Carl Edwards on fire or what? Some people may still think that they are cheating, as for me, well you have to prove it to me first. I can’t remember who interviewed him in victory lane Sunday on T.V. but they looked in the car and said “Yup the Oil Reservoir cover is on”. From the look on Carl’s face that really didn’t go over very well.

I Gotta Rant A Bit

It is obvious that the 99 team has found something that others have not. I thought that Tony Jr. and Dale Jr. had also. So what happened to the 88 team? I hope that I am wrong and it may be too early for it but I’m gonna say it. I don’t like Tony Eury near as much as I did his father. With that said, I don’t think that he is half the crew chief that his father is either. If they don’t get something going soon it may be time for a crew chief change there at the 88 team. I wasn’t all that fired up about Tony Jr. coming over to Hendrick with Jr. in the first place. Don’t get me wrong now, I’m not asking for Tony’s job at this point and time, I just have my doubts about him being successful even at Hendrick Motorsports. I would have liked to have seen Dale Junior go over there alone and start fresh. Hendrick didn’t fare as well as people would have liked and I heard Jimmy Johnson complaining about how bad his second place car was. Second place? Did he complain about second place? He sure did. I didn’t hear him complaining about any aero problems last year did I? How about The 24 team huh? Man, dead last has to hurt! How do you come back from that? Jeff Gordon was just junk all day long, Jimmy complains about second place when his buddy is running last. It is times like those that I want to walk up to him and slap him wide awake again reminding him that he races a car for a living and that has made him rich beyond my wildest dreams. Hey Jimmy! Suck it up and get on with it will ya?

I Told You So

What did I say in my last post about Texas being a track that drivers love when they have it figured out and on that they hate when they miss the setup. There were a lot more that missed the setup than those that did. There were only ten cars on the lead lap when the checkered flag waved. Many were more than a few laps down to the leader at races end. There are of course a lot of factors that play into this but one that didn’t get a lot of air time today is the tires. Here we are into the second season with this new car, I know they didn’t run it all season last year, and Goodyear still doesn’t have a decent tire for this car. They have not in my opinion put out a tire for this car yet that has any decent grip. For some reason Nascar and Goodyear want these drivers to be sliding around like they are on a dirt track. These cars are really loose when you get close to being fast with them and I think a lot of that has to do with the tire that Goodyear brings to the track. I know that it is really cool to see these drivers reel these cars back in like it is nothing when they get loose like that but its getting old now, lets build them a tire that they can race on. If I wanted to watch “Stock Car Racing On Ice” I would go look for that! As far as excitement goes last Sunday? I was getting bored with the race before it even got to the half way point. And one more thing, I heard the television broadcasters say more than once that they had a full grandstand. Bull Pucky! I saw a lot of empty seats there Sunday! Whole sections on the backstretch were empty! I get the feeling that what was said was P.R. for the track as they are still trying to get a second date.

I’ll tell you why there were empty seats there Sunday. This economy is going in the tank, that’s why! Who can afford the ticket prices when the oil companies have lost their minds? I know that we won’t be going to Talladega this year for the spring race. Maybe thing will change by the time that October gets here, but the spring race is out.

OK, I’m done ranting, lets see how it all shook out in the end.

Here is the points standings.

For the full rundown head on over to Nascar.com 

Next week we are off to the Valley Of The Sun for the Subway 500 from Phoenix. Look for my pre race post smetime after qualifying. Remember that you guys and Gals out there are the professionals, give those four wheelers some room. Thank you for the job you do for the rest of us.