|| *Comments on the 2014 Crown Royal Presents The John Wayne Walding 400:* View the most recent comment <#469> | Post a comment <#post> 1. 1995z71 posted: 07.26.2014 - 3:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was looking forward to Matt Crafton's Cup debut, sucks for Brett Moffitt too. 2. joey2448 posted: 07.26.2014 - 3:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh, man, Moffitt and Crafton are DQ's? Damn. With Jeff Burton not racing this weekend, that leaves Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte as the only two drivers to compete in every Brickyard 400 since its inception in 1994, and since Gordon won the race in '94 and '04, maybe '14 will be his year? Juan Pablo Montoya returns to Indianapolis in a Penske car and makes it to the final round of qualifying in eighth! Very cool. Here's a stat of the week for y'all to consider...Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Martin Truex Jr. have not led a single lap this year yet. 3. epzik8 posted: 07.26.2014 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick had a fast car in qualifying, also nice to see Jeff Gordon on the front row. 4. Zackary Shawn posted: 07.26.2014 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick and Gordon will be hard to beat in this one, methinks. This will be my last post until after the race is over. I'm leaving town shortly and won't be able to watch it live and I don't want to spoil it for myself until I can get back and watch it on my DVR. 5. Kenny posted: 07.26.2014 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) All I can say is anyone but Jemmie please and why is Jr 24th? He was 5th quickest in finial practice 6. TS1420 posted: 07.26.2014 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) "Harvick and Gordon will be hard to beat in this one, methinks." Harvick's pit crew & Alan Gustafson will help the competition beat them. 7. DB1995 posted: 07.26.2014 - 4:44 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Look at that gaggle of Roush and ex-roush cars 18th-22th while the 3 Penske cars are chillin in the top 10, i knew this race would be Michigan all over again for Roush 8. murb posted: 07.26.2014 - 4:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think Montoya is gonna be really strong. Wouldn't be shocked if he puts himself into position to win. 9. Daniel posted: 07.26.2014 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In using fastest 43: #66 Brett Moffitt Out using fastest 43: #36 Reed Sorenson 10. Schroeder51 posted: 07.26.2014 - 4:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Too bad for Crafton; I was hoping he could qualify for his Sprint Cup debut. Maybe he'll get another shot someday soon... And I just realized that this race means the start of ESPN/ABC's coverage. Get ready for some REALLY phoned-in coverage... 11. NeRF posted: 07.26.2014 - 5:06 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) What a dumb race title. 12. 111111 posted: 07.26.2014 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) 11: Party at the Poconos last year was worse. Especially when Jimmie Johnson leading 128/160 laps is anything but a party. 13. RaceFanX posted: 07.26.2014 - 5:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This was the first Brickyard 400 without Mark Martin in the field. 14. Daniel posted: 07.26.2014 - 6:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Go Gordon! 15. We need more Onion posted: 07.26.2014 - 6:07 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) This race will be 98% HP - 2% talent. Hopefully the leaders will show us something worthy of watching. Too bad Moffitt missed the race, he was pretty good in that car earlier, would have preferred Bobby Labonte going home, but it's not like it isn't good having him, he's just waay past his prime. Nice efforts from McDowell and Wise. 16. Dave #38 Fan-Go Gilliland! posted: 07.26.2014 - 9:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) I have a huge amount of respect for Mr. John Wayne Walding, the U.S. Armed forces veteran who this race is named after and I thank him for his service, but that doesn't change the fact that it's an incredibly long and stupid race name. Fun fact: when this race was known as the Allstate 400 at the brickyard, Allstate was paying $5 million a year for the naming rights. Crown Royal is paying just $1.8 million for the naming rights. 17. epzik8 posted: 07.26.2014 - 9:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Labonte got in with his champions provisional I believe. 18. numbah10hatah posted: 07.26.2014 - 9:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Daniel #9: You're wrong. #43 Aric Almirola would be out using fastest 43. 19. Anonymous posted: 07.26.2014 - 10:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) RAB Racing gets their 3rd Sprint Cup DNQ in their 3rd Sprint Cup attempt. I guess RAB Racing isn't meant to be a Sprint Cup team. 20. cjs3872 posted: 07.26.2014 - 11:53 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I'm not even sure that RAB Racing is even a competent NNS team, Anonymous (#19). And DB1995, a large part of Roush's struggles has to do with a lack of horsepower, though their handling package has been lacking for most of the last two seasons, as well. And as I've mentioned before, to win at Indy, which Roush has never done, you have to have everything, including a great handling package and great horsepower. That's why Indy may be the ultimate examination of every one of a team's abilities on the entire NASCAR circuit, and why so many Brickyard 400 winners have gone on to win the championship in the same year since 1998. 21. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS3872, I usually agree with great horsepower for winning at Indy, but there are exceptions to the rule. This is a race has been won by strategy or pit road misfortunes. RCR won at Indy 3 times in cup, but they are not traditionally know for horsepower. This has been the case dating back to the 1980's for RCR. They are known for their handling. RCR won the 1995 Brickyard 400 due to Rusty had to come to a complete stop on pit road due to a pair of tangled cars and cost him the lead against Earnhardt. RCR also won won Paul Menard due to pit strategy. You also have Ricky Rudd won the 1997 Brickyard 400 with his own team by strategy. 22. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) BREAKING NEWS: Edwards not returning to Roush in 2015. Fastenal will move its sponsorship over to Stenhouse Jr's #17. It's all over Twitter. 23. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:04 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) So Roush's 2015 roster is T-Bayne, The Biff, and Stenhouse. 24. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) It was nice seeing Dale Jr win 21 races but I don't know if he will win after this year. I like Jr but I'm just afraid that he'll get another Lance Mcgrew as crew chief and that he won't win after this year. 25. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was hoping Roush would go ahead and announce that Jimmy Fennig will be Trevor Baynes crew chief 26. RaceFanX posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:34 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ty Dillon won the Nationwide race in the #3 and Daniel Ricciardo won the Hungarian Grand Prix in the #3 (with an Earnhardt-style #3 on his helmet). Could fate line up three times and land Austin Dillon in victory lane here? 27. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:42 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Could fate line up three times and land Austin Dillon in victory lane here? " Maybe if it comes down to rain or fuel-mileage... 28. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:08 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Im gonna try to keep up with how many times ESPN mentions different drivers, im gonna go with these drivers Brad Keselowski Jeff Gordon Jimmie Johnson, how often will they mention his quest for a 5th win? Dale Jr. Joey Logano Harvick Stewart Carl Edwards Kyle Larson Austin Dillon Trevor Bayne Anyone else i should add? Im just gonna start after the green flag drops 29. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) To the back: #43 Aric Almirola (backup car) 30. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:09 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) DB, let's see if they still hype up Danica or they just show her if/when she gets lapped like they did at the tail end of last year. 31. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:15 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oh yeah, i forgot Danica, how many times will they talk about Kurts indy 500 32. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:29 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Since Carl Edwards not being back with Roush is official, it brings up the question of what JGR is going to do with Darrell Wallace Jr. and Erik Jones? I am saying that because one of the two drivers I mentioned will need to leave JGR for another cup team in terms of wanting to go to cup. The fact is JGR really only needs development driver since Matt is going to be 43 next year and did sign a contract extension. The fact is Carl's going to turn 40 in 2019 and Denny in 2020 and Kyle is only going to 30 years old next year. Penske already said in May or June that Carl isn't going to Penske, and that mean JGR is the only organization. 33. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS3872, Don't mention Ryan Newman's in last year in the same sentence as the other teams I mentioned because Stewart-Haas has Hendrick engines. Hendrick Engines are not conservative unlike RCR's usually are. 34. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I checked weather.com and Thunder Storms is supposed to come between 4:00 to 5:00 this afternoon for IMS. 35. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:51 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) Anyone think the timing of the official announcement of Carl Edwards leaving Roush is a little odd? Why would he announce it on the day of one of the biggest races of the year, instead of maybe the beginning of the weekend, or maybe on Monday or Tuesday? And the fact that apparently Carl chose today to do it makes it even stranger. We pretty well knew he was gone at season's end, but he picked a REALLY bad time to make the official announcement. In fact, I don't think his timing could be any worse. We figured that Roush would have the three drivers he announced today as his three for the 2015 season, but the timing of Edwards' decision effectively forced Roush to officially announce it in a hasty manner. But again, this is consistent with Carl Edwards' "me over the team" attitude that I think has been a problem there for years. There was the post-race incident with Matt Kenseth at Martinsville years ago, the situation last year at Michigan where Edwards was upset that Greg Biffle didn't slow down to help Edwards get trash off the grill, the situation in 2011 where Edwards left his team hanging over the contract situation then, something I think may have cost them the championship, which came about only because Edwards wanted more money, and now the timing of today's announcement, which sent Roush scurrying to make his own announcement about his 2015 driver line-up. I've said so before, but this proves again why Edwards leaving may be the best thing to happen at Roush, because he was never interested in the health of the team, as Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, and Matt Kenseth were, but was interested only in himself. The more we see what's happened at Roush, the more I believe that Edwards has been a cancer over there, and him leaving may be a case of addition by subtraction for that team, and I look for Roush to come back toward the front, possibly as early as next year with Edwards and his "me over the team" persona gone. 36. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric, last year's Brickyard 400 was essentially a two-car race between Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman, and Matt Borland won the race for Newman the exact same way that Ray Evernham won the 1994 Coca-Cola 600 for Jeff Gordon, and that was to wait out his competition making four-tire pit stops and call for a two-tire pit stop and win the race by virtue of having spent less time in the pits on that final stop. But Newman was just as fast as Jimmie was that entire day. It was just a case of whoever got in front would stay there, and when Newman got that four or five second lead after that final stop, all he had to do was to manage that lead, which he did. And when Jimmie figured out that he couldn't catch Newman, he backed off and protected second place. And as for the weather, that's going to throw a wrinkle in there, because that means that this could be the first Brickyard 400 directly affected by rain. The 1995 race was delayed over four hours by rain, but was not actually affected, as the race ran to completion with only one caution for a minor spin. So this may end up being a race to 300 miles, not 400, because once those storms hit, it's going to be nearly impossible to dry that track in time to restart the race. It could even end up being like it was there in 1975, when the thunderstorm that ended the race hit suddenly, almost without warning. 37. Sean posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:13 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) I don't like Edwards either, but I think Roush's downfall is mainly a result of Ford losing interest in participation in racing in general. William Ford said something very snarky about how Ford had no interest in reentering IndyCar ever (despite Chevrolet's current participation) and Ford seems to be possibly on its way out in NASCAR in my view too. Penske has no loyalty to any manufacturer in any series historically (indeed despite being the only Dodge team and winning the championship in 2012, he "got out of Dodge" and then they withdrew from the series...I could possibly even see the same happening with Ford). Yet Penske is the only team that seems remotely competitive. When you're relying almost exclusively on a team that consistently changes manufacturers once a decade, you're circling the drain (as Dodge was a couple years ago). Look at Ford's nonexistence in the truck series to see where this might be going, especially if NASCAR continues to lose popularity as I expect since moving Cup races to FS1 and NBC Sports is going to cause people to forget to watch (as it did for IndyCar) and will likely lower the ratings for even the FOX/NBC ratings (same thing happened with IndyCar). They have reentered sports car racing in a fairly big way but we'll see how long that lasts. They're relying on Ganassi in USCC and Ganassi also has a history of not being loyal to any manufacturer. I kinda see Roush going out of business in the next decade (if you think that sounds shocking, ask somebody in the late '90s if they thought Yates would disappear by the end of the 2000s...) While Edwards may have been a team cancer, he still had more talent than Biffle (today), Stenhouse, and Bayne combined, and without Edwards (and with an aging Biffle who is one of the oldest drivers in the series as their only good driver), I can see them dropping from second-tier to third-tier really quickly and pretty soon I think they'll be indistinguishable from RPM (Stenhouse after all is already running worse than Almirola, and I don't think Bayne is going to dominate). I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think that I am. 38. David posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "despite being the only Dodge team and winning the championship in 2012, he "got out of Dodge" and then they withdrew from the series" Nice!! My aunt and her family are attending the race. I'm slightly jealous, just because they get to see a race at the Brickyard. 39. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:29 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @37, I think part of Roush's problems are also with their partnership with Fenway Sports Group. Someone else here mentioned(sorry, I can't remember who)that some of Roush's problems with finding/retaining sponsors is the fact that some of the companies they could partner with are in direct competition with companies that are already sponsors of the Red Sox and now Liverpool FC, and while the Red Sox and Liverpool's on-field success flourishes, Roush's cars have gone from easily a top-3 organization in NASCAR to being near mid-pack and in '15 may fall further back without secure funding and without Cup experience save for Biffle. 40. Jim Davis posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And the fact that apparently Carl chose today to do it..." I don't think Edwards announced anything. Roush announced his Sprint Cup line up for next year and Edwards wasn't in it. 41. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS3872, Roush isn't coming back to the front next year since Carl is gone. Roush doesn't have the drivers for that. Carl's talent is better than rest of the drivers in Roush currently. Greg Biffle is going to 45 years old in December and he's been showing his age last year and this year. Drivers usually just don't suddenly get better at the age of 45 years old. Stenhouse is a disappointment and I just don't see him just suddenly come to the front next year. Trever Bayne isn't inexperienced in cup, but I think he's going to give you a lot of top 5 in a season. Bayne also wouldn't be in the top 5 late in the race for contending for a win. 42. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Something I've noticed about the Crown Jewel races this year: Daytona 500: Jr Southern 500: Harvick Coke 600: Johnson Coke Zero 400: Almirola The Coke Zero 400 is the major outlier here (but it was a rain shortened race, so that's to be expected) but 3/4ths of these races were won by major championship contenders without any repeats among them. You think that trend will continue? 43. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:45 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Sean, there's another factor in how long some of these teams are going to be able to stay in the sport, and that is the age of the car owners. Roger Penske is 77 years old, the same age that Richard Petty is. Jack Roush is 72 years old, Rick Hendrick is 65 years old, and Joe Gibbs is 73 years of age. Of those car owners, only Gibbs has set up a plan of succession after he's no longer able to run his team. The others, Penske, Roush, and Petty have no such plan of succession. Hendrick had a plan of succession set up, but it was lost in the 2004 HMS plane crash. You also mentioned Robert Yates. He handed over the mantle of his team to his son Doug, as Robert wanted to build engines, but I don't think Doug had the desire to be a team owner, because Doug, like his father, wanted to build engines. So while we're talking about the sport not doing as well as it did, let's not forget that many of the car owners that helped build the sport don't have very many years left. That's one of the things the Wood Brothers have always done, as they're closing in on tuning over their team to the third generation, and it wouldn't surprise me if in ten years, the Wood Brothers are back among the power players in the sport, because they've planned for the future, unlike many of the top teams today. Of the owners of the bigger teams, I only see Michael Waltrip, Stewart-Haas, and Ganassi being around for very many more years, because none of those guys are that old. All the other guys are 65 and older (with most of them past 70), with just one having a plan of succession in place, so there might be a big power vacuum in the sport 6-10 years from now, due to the potential loss of some of these teams in the future. 44. RaceFanX posted: 07.27.2014 - 12:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't know if Ford is "losing interest," they are in the middle of developing a new LMP2 racing program for Le Mans and still has their factory programs in NASCAR's Cup and Nationwide series, manufacture support in a couple rally racing series, and the V8 Supercars (where they admittedly dialed back on and may drop out when the Falcon dies). Penske was pretty loyal to Dodge, they ran those for 10 seasons, but saw the writing on the wall that the company's new Italian ownership didn't understand or care about NASCAR and wanted to spend more on reviving the Viper's road racing program. I also suspect that Roush's issues are also more related to the Fenway Sports Group partnership, Jack's had sponsor issues even since he entered that partnership. Take a look at Jack's success at bringing in new sponsors around 2005 (Office Depot, World Financial Group, AAA) with limited deals that all expanded into larger sponsorships in the following years THEN compare it to his team's sponsorship issues that have plagued them since the Fenway merger in 2007. Granted Jack does ask for funding increases from his sponsors too that drove some to other teams (see Valvoline in 2001...granted they also wanted to own part of the team they were sponsoring). 45. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chad's Hair Plugs, Bayne actually has cup experience at some tracks. He already raced 53 times in his cup career in 5 seasons with the Wood Brothers. At some tracks, he has the experience of a cup driver of 4 years of experience matter of fact. Bayne has at least 3 cup starts at Daytona, Vegas, Texas Motor Speedway, Talladega, Charlotte, Michigan, Indy, and Homestead. Some of the tracks I mentioned, he already has 6 to 8 cup starts at. 46. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @39, that would be me that has mentioned that numerous times about Roush's inability to find sponsorship being connected with his partnership with the Red Sox. And Eric, as big a disappointment as Stenhouse is, I think there's a much bigger problem there at Roush with the cars. Leadership is another issue there, and the fact that Edwards as always been about himself more than the overall success has not helped. I've spoken numerous times that the loss of Kenseth's knowledge about chassis has been a big problem there, but it's not as big as the problem that the leadership qualities he left behind when he left has been. I said last year that Edwards couldn't be counted on as a leader, and the team has really struggled to remain competitive without a leader. And Edwards' "me over the team" attitude hasn't helped at all. One thing that has always been underestimated at HMS has been the chemistry they've had with their drivers over this 20-year run of dominance they've had over the sport. That's something that Roush has lacked in recent years, especially after Kenseth's departure, but it's something that, with Edwards gone, they may get back next year. They need to get the cars better, but I think the driver chemistry, and the team is already better for next year without Edwards. It may not be that formidable right now, but I think Roush has a better TEAM for 2105 without Edwards, because as the saying goes, "there's no 'I' in team". 47. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Don't have high hopes for this race (Indy doesn't usually produce good stock car races), but I could always be wrong. Maybe this will turn out to be a good race. 48. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Eric, I was thinking more of the level of experience that Mark Martin and Jeff Burton had when Kenseth, Kurt Busch, and Biffle entered Cup with Roush at the turn of the century. It's one thing to race with a team that has several weeks to prepare for a specific race and racing with a team that has to go through the grind of a season while trying to finish top 10 every week and contend for a championship or Chase spot. @39, that would be me that has mentioned that numerous times about Roush's inability to find sponsorship being connected with his partnership with the Red Sox. I had a feeling it was you, I wasn't completely sure. btw, what in the world is a recording argonist? 49. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:08 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Actually, Penske wasn't the only Dodge team in 2012. They were the only COMPETITIVE Dodge team, but not the only one. Robby Gordon also ran a Dodge in 2012. 50. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I'm hoping McMurray has a good day. McMurray always seems to have his a-game on when it comes to the "crown jewels". 51. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The 21st Daytona 500 was very memorable for the fight with Cable and Donny. I doubt today's running of the 21st Brickyard 400 will be memorable like that. Trevor Bayne will be driving the 6 car next year, which likely means the 99 will go away. 52. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^Cale, not Cable. 53. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:16 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Go Gordon! 54. SpeedWorld97 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I don't know if Ford is "losing interest," they are in the middle of developing a new LMP2 racing program for Le Mans and still has their factory programs in NASCAR's Cup and Nationwide series, manufacture support in a couple rally racing series, and the V8 Supercars (where they admittedly dialed back on and may drop out when the Falcon dies). Penske was pretty loyal to Dodge, they ran those for 10 seasons, but saw the writing on the wall that the company's new Italian ownership didn't understand or care about NASCAR and wanted to spend more on reviving the Viper's road racing program." From an automobile manufacturer's standpoint, they want their race cars to use the same technology their street cars use. Therefore sports car racing is seen as a more ideal series for manufacturers since the rule book is much more open than a stock car or open wheel series. On topic with the race, the attendance actually looks WORSE than last year. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the NASCAR race should be run on the road course. 55. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Green flag. 56. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Good to see Pawnee, Indiana native Andy Dwyer driving the pace car. 57. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon looks good so far. 58. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick leads lap 1, but Gordon sweeps by him past the start-finish line. 59. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon takes the lead....but Harvick's still the leader... 60. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ^What I meant was Gordon took the lead, but they still showed Harvick as the leader for like 30 seconds. 61. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Casey Mears is really sliding backwards; after starting 26th he's almost back to last place. 62. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:26 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "^What I meant was Gordon took the lead, but they still showed Harvick as the leader for like 30 seconds." Could be worse, could be audio problems could be audio problems. 63. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Already Gordon nearly has a 2 second lead. Jesus. 64. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) And we're racing at the Sickyard! 65. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Already Gordon nearly has a 2 second lead. Jesus. " Kind of like Mercedes... 66. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) TS1420: That is that is true true. 67. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Already Gordon nearly has a 2 second lead. Jesus." Unfortunately, that probably means we'll be getting a Jacques caution soon... 68. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick has 7 mentions already to Gordons 4 69. Pierre posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jacques called in sick. I'm his replacement for this week. 70. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Unfortunately, that probably means we'll be getting a Jacques caution soon..." And time for Alan G to work his magic and Jeff to have one of his famous restarts. 71. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Geez, Montoya is dropping like a rock. 72. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) How is Bowman already a lap down? 73. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Less than 20 laps in, nearly half the field is half a lap behind Gordon. I shudder to think what Gordon is going to do to this field if we get a long green flag run. 74. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Montoya has already dropped 10 spots since the green flag. Casey Mears has fallen ever farther; he's lost 18 positions since the start. 75. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "How is Bowman already a lap down?" According to NASCAR.com he made a green flag pit stop to clean off his grille. 76. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Thanks Schroeder51!! 77. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) God dammit, RaceFanX (#26) I was gonna watch the Hungarian Grand Prix later today, and was trying at all costs to not know the winner, lol...spoiler alert. Oh well, congrats to Ricciardo! 78. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was going to keep track of mentions but i have to drive to the store so that shoots that plan down 79. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn, Gordon is already lapping people. 80. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Competition Caution. 81. JG24FanForever posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon, with his 12th lap led today, became the first Nascar driver to lead 500 laps at Indianapolis. This was also his 144th Front-Row start in Cup. 82. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn, Trevor... 83. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The competition caution comes out. Here's a chance for Gustafson to screw everything up for Gordon and put him back in the field. On a side note, I get we are going to see quite a few questionable yellows today... 84. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:40 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Brian France wants a new leader. That's why the caution is out. 85. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:42 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Joey Logano chooses not to pit. 86. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer do not take tires. 87. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick is the only one towards the front that takes 4. 88. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (2) (3) Piss off Gordon! 89. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Jimmie Johnson and Clint Bowyer do not take tires." Hopefully we get treated to some "I'm Jimmie Johnson. BOOM! Tire Confetti." 90. Jeff Gordon posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I hate restarts. 91. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon has a Jeff Gordon restartTM. 92. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Horrendous restart by Gordon. 93. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #90 Your my favorite driver, but don't text and drive. 94. Cornys posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:49 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Logano's strategy will be a winner if he's fast enough and NASCAR doesn't screw it up on purpose (which they just might). Giving the series a chance today, but first abuse of a caution flag and I'm out. :) 95. Jon posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) how many ppl are in the stands? like 60,000? looks like the weakest crowd ever. 96. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Giving the series a chance today, but first abuse of a caution flag and I'm out. :)" Don't get too comfortable (rolls eyes) 97. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul Menard into the wall, JoLo into pit road. 98. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Paul Menard bumps the wall as it begins to sprinkle. Joey Logano comes in to pit. 99. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Montoya, welcome back! 100. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Juan Pablo being Juan Pablo. 101. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jr's in the top 10. 102. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski, KyBusch, Kenseth, Menard on pit road. 103. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick is closing in on Gordon for second. 104. 1995z71 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Welcome back Montoya (already wrecking anything in his path) 105. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:57 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Giving the series a chance today, but first abuse of a caution flag and I'm out. :)" Honestly, you might as well leave now, because you KNOW there will be a "debris" caution at some point. 106. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Menard has a problem and is going back down pit road. 107. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 1:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 25 seconds to change 2 tires?? 108. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:00 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) With green flag pit stops ongoing, Larson, Dillon, and Danica are the top 3. Sounds like a media dream come true... 109. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 25 seconds to change 2 tires?? They had to pull back the right rear fender. At that point, they should've just put new tires on the left side and tried to hope for a yellow and have fresh tires after the wavearound. 110. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "With green flag pit stops ongoing, Larson, Dillon, and Danica are the top 3. Sounds like a media dream come true... " According to them the top-3 drivers for the next 25 years! 111. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Jeff Gordon's gasman had an epic fail. 112. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) It's slippery on pit road. Gordon's fuelman fell down and one of Kurt Busch's tire changers took a face plant when going to the left side. 113. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon couldn't get any fuel in his car on his pit stop. That could certainly come back to bite him in the ass down the road... 114. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Welp it wasn't Alan that ruined the race for Gordon. It was his gas-man pretending he was on Harvick's pit crew. 115. Cornys posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:08 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Hey, I'm just happy I'm still watching :) The strategy in this race so far is awesome :). Typical racing here is hard to obtain due to aeropush, but a chess match of a race is cool with me too :) 116. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:09 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Menard's shunt into the wall just goes to illustrate how hard it is to spin these cars out. 10 years ago, Menard would've definitely backed it into the wall with a bump like that from Montoya, but now, he almost had it saved. 117. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Strategy races with long green runs usually end up being really entertaining. Unfortunately, most of the time most teams opt to play follow the leader. This race is an exception to the rule.@115 118. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) If the temp could go 10 degrees (which I know it can't) we could write this race off in Jeff's favor :P 119. DH101 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The crowd for this race is so embarrassing even nascar is crying 120. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:15 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) @119 Which is a shame. This is one of the better Indy races here in recent memory. 121. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Keselowski is really struggling right now. He's fallen all the way back to 18th position. 122. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The strategy in the race is entertaining, but the racing itself is terrible to be honest 123. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Danica... is actually doing decent today. Good for her I suppose. 124. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) While the attendance is nothing to gloat about, it is made to look worse because how spread out everybody is sitting in the grossly overbuilt selection of seating. IMS would benefit from taking out all those view blocking stands at pitroad (and may help with attendance since most race fans I know that went to Indy have never went back because they hated the limited view of the track due to the obstruction from those pitroad stands). 125. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:24 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @122 I actually prefer this to debris cautions every 5 laps to bunch everyone up. Let the cream rise to the top. 126. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Someone just jinxed Danica. 127. The Long Shot posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon has a bad pit stop. 128. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Danica... is actually doing decent today. Good for her I suppose." JINX!!! 129. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What the hell?? 130. The Long Shot posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Engine problems for Danica. 131. New14 & 88Fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution for Danica. 132. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Alan Gustafson and crew are trying their best to fulfill Chad's fantasies... 133. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution is out because Danica did a burnout. Are the one's who just pitted still on the lead lap? 134. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:27 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Wow, i have never seen that before with all the smoke 135. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @133 Most aren't. Only the ones at the front were still on the LL. Jr gets the free pass. Since Hamlin stays out, most will remain lapped. 136. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What exactly happened to Danica? I had to step away for a moment and didn't get to see what happened. Keselowski and Kurt Busch are both trapped a lap down thanks to this caution. 137. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For once, I have no ammo. 138. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alan Gustafson and crew are trying their best to fulfill Chad's fantasies... The crew is really missing their chance to be understudy's for the 48 Chase crew. 139. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @136 Something broke on her car coming off pit road. She was actually running decent too. 140. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Schroeder51: Her rear axle broke coming out of pit road. 141. New14 & 88Fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "What exactly happened to Danica? I had to step away for a moment and didn't get to see what happened." She broke a rear axle leaving pit road. 142. epzik8 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Danica has a problem. 143. numbah10hatah's Danica Patrick horse posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I don't have to die on account of this! I live! 144. The Long Shot posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) Maybe the closest Danica will ever come to doing a burnout. 145. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think ESPN is doing that bad so far. 146. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny Hamlin was the only car who hadn't already pitted to stay out under this caution. Look for him to drop like a rock on the restart. 147. Sarf52 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Brad Daugherty reminds me of Grimace from Ronald McDonald's gang of thugs 148. The Long Shot posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) In all seriousness, Danica isn't a very good driver, but she really does have a horrible pit crew. 149. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Harvick pulls a Gordon and has a terrible restart. 150. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch is up to second. 151. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My goodness, the sun is out at Indy. Looking at the stands, you can see where the price range changes from turn 4 to the main straight. 152. DH101 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah it is spread out. But its still pretty sad.. But indeed this hasn't been a bad race so far. 153. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:37 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Obviously not surprised about Carl Edwards. Still expecting a fourth JGR car. Missed the first half of this race. Hope the second half is decent. 154. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Thank you Steve Letarte or Rick Hendrick or whoever is responsible. Jr was running good but now he is running so bad yet Johnson, Kane and Gordon are doing good. This is nothing new. 155. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kahne looking like he might be able to steal one. I might be wrong in saying he'd go winless. 156. DH101 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Still really early in the race..155 157. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @154 It's like halfway through the race. There's plenty of race to go. 158. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Thank you Steve Letarte or Rick Hendrick or whoever is responsible. Jr was running good but now he is running so bad yet Johnson, Kane and Gordon are doing good. This is nothing new. " Ummmm... this is why Kahne is one of the worst full-time drivers so far this season? 159. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) @156 I know that, but I also said Kahne would go winless and he looks like he's in a good spot right now. 160. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I commented #154 and #22 about Jr. Do I deserve to live or should I kill myself? If I should kill myself let me know. 161. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Kahne looking like he might be able to steal one. I might be wrong in saying he'd go winless." If Kyle Busch closes up, then Kasey's Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Season continues. 162. Cornys posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I've always said that the inside of track grandstand is the dumbest thing I've seen done with seating, but in truth the stands are not over done. The Indy 500 fills almost all of those seats :) Just tear down the middle stands and put them on the back or add on to the front stretch with height. :) 163. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:46 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "I commented #154 and #22 about Jr. Do I deserve to live or should I kill myself? If I should kill myself let me know." You're thinking about killing yourself over Junior struggling? Are you serious?! 164. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Schroeder51, I'm not going to kill myself over Jr. I just wonder since I came up with a crazy theory about Letarte or Hendrick being responsible for Jr not doing good now, should I go on living or not. 165. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jr's struggling because he got caught by the yellow. But he's slowly making his way back up through the field. Most likely, he'll get his usual 8th place finish or something like that at the end. 166. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:55 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Schroeder51, I'm not going to kill myself over Jr. I just wonder since I came up with a crazy theory about Letarte or Hendrick being responsible for Jr not doing good now, should I go on living or not." A crazy (and unpopular) conspiracy theory is not worth killing yourself over. If you're actually serious about this (and not trolling), please think about your friends, family, and loved ones, and what they would think if you ended your life. Suicide is NOT something to joke about. 167. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) PRAWBLEMS FOR TREVOR BAYNE IN THE 21.... 168. RaceFanX posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Trevor Bayne spins and clips the inside wall, caution, and his top-20 run is gone. 169. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Trevor Bayne spins out and can't quite save his car from the inside wall. 170. New14 & 88Fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Trevor Bayne goes around due to a flat tire. 171. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Almost looked liked he was drifting through the corner. 172. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 2:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know suicide is nothing to joke about. I DON'T want a pity party or anything but I have depression and sometimes I let things that shouldn't matter at all bother me a lot. 173. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica's back on track. 174. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ...And Clint Bowyer is now the leader because he made it to pit road just before the caution came out. 175. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) NO. NOT BOWYER. ANYONE BUT BOWYER. 176. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Itchy Arm lucks into the lead. 177. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Bad restart for Gordon in 3, 2, 1... 178. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) On an unrelated note, who took over for Barney Hall in the MRN Booth?? 179. New14 & 88Fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:05 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Bowyer sneaks his way into the lead by getting on pit road just before the yellow. Interesting to see what he does in clean air. 180. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:10 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Bayne's car has been retired from the race due to his crash damage. He's the first driver to record a DNF at Indy in the Cup Series since 2012. 181. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @Knighter01: #NASCAR driver @RossChastain is here spotting this weekend @IMS for @ColeWhitt. #NASCAR 182. epzik8 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Never knew Indy is the only track at which Toyota hasn't won in Cup. 183. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Why hasn't the 5 team shown this kind of speed all year along? 184. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kyle Busch pulls over to let Jeff Gordon pass him in order to get some trash off his grille. 185. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Once again, Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. is being outrun by a Phil Parsons car. 186. epzik8 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now Bowyer is in trouble. 187. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Gordon's coming. That is, until a debris caution comes out and he has a really bad restart. 188. John Royal posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:21 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Clean air is brought to you by K&N" 189. epzik8 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just noticed that Kyle Busch hasn't led at all. 190. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Whew, good stop by Gordon's crew. 31 laps to go. 191. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Annett's leading?? 192. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kasey may be a lap short of fuel, he'll have to save... And here comes Gordon! For the lead with 29 laps to go! 193. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Qusetions about whether Kahne pitted too early and may not have enough fuel. 194. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon has caught Kahne. 195. epzik8 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I knew Annett still hadn't pitted, but now he has and Kahne is back in front. 196. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:32 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) *activates Daniel mode* Go Gordon! 197. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oops, spoke too soon. But Gordon is def stalking Kahne. Just make him run harder than he has to... 198. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:33 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) So if this race goes green, Gordon wins. If there is a caution, Kahne will likely win since Gordon can't have a good restart to save his life. 199. New14 & 88Fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) *Jaws theme playing on full tempo" 200. SpeedWorld97 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) This has actually been a very entertaining race. 201. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) 16 seconds back to fourth place? Yeah, it would TOTALLY not be a shock if a "debris" caution came out with less than 10 to go to bunch everybody back up. 202. John Royal posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Speaking of Kyle Busch, I love how his paint scheme today is reminiscent Rick Wilson's Snickers car back in the day. 203. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "This has actually been a very entertaining race." Yeah, I've only been watching since about lap 73, but this is the best racing I've seen at Indy (in Nascar, obviously) in quite a while. 204. John Royal posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Caution. Gordon just lost the race. 205. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Ryan Truex's BK shitbox screws up the race. 206. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Your weekly Ryan Truex Caution is brought to you by Burger King. 207. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So, if we get a caution with <10 to go, how many guys pit and get fresh tires? 208. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ryan Truex hates traditional racing 209. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And sure enough we get a caution. But at least it's a real one; for Ryan Truex's car stalling on the race track. 210. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:39 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Caution for Ryan Truex slowing down. He should expect a nice gift basket on his doorstep on Monday. 211. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:40 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @207 was posted like well before the caution actually came out. It just finally popped up, if there's any confusion. 212. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like half the lead lap cars decided to pit. 213. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I love these drivers... "The top two cars are insanely better than us... Let's stay out and follow them to the end and not try and get a tire advantage over them!" 214. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, seriously. I thought everyone from 4th on back should have pitted there because otherwise they don't really have a shot to win the race. 215. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:44 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The top two cars are insanely better than us... Let's stay out and follow them to the end and not try and get a tire advantage over them!" I know. No idea why Kenseth and everyone on back didn't pit. 216. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I love these drivers... "The top two cars are insanely better than us... Let's stay out and follow them to the end and not try and get a tire advantage over them!" To be fair, Jeff Gordon is one of those top 2 cars and he's due for a Jeff Gordon restart(TM). 217. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Look for Gordon to struggle on the restart and fall back to 5th or so. 218. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Holy shit, Gordon had a good restart! 219. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Kasey "Jeff Gordon" Kahne 220. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) COME ON GORDON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 221. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Credit where credit is due, Gordon had a hell of a restart. 222. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow. Gordon actually got the lead on the restart while Kahne is sliding backwards. 223. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well Gordon wins.... 224. New14 & 88Fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon's got it in the bag. 225. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Reminds me of the GWC restart at Pocono last year, except reversed... 226. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:49 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't think Gordo's crew chief is happy. Obvious sarcasm is obvious. 227. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon has this race won barring another caution flag. 228. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Remember when I said Jr would eventually move up through the field and get his usual 8th place finish? He's running 9th. Whoever was worried about him earlier need not have worried. 229. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:51 pm Rate this comment: (2) (4) Come on caution flag!! 230. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) DON'T F***ING JINX IT DB1995!!!! 231. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Looks like Danica decided to park it as she couldn't gain any more positions. 232. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:54 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "DON'T F***ING JINX IT DB1995!!!!" He doesn't want a Hendrick car to win. 233. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Both of the main rookies in top 10 234. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) He doesn't want a Hendrick car to win. Right on the money!! 235. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Careful, Jeff...if you get too far out in front, NASCAR might start looking for Jacques/Pierre... 236. Sarf52 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Biffle has bounced back from a miserable day. He's knocking on the door for a top 10. 237. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Five laps to go for Gordon. 238. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 3:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I don't want to see it, but I can't help but anticipate a debris caution. 239. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Two laps to go. 240. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) White flag! 241. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) YYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSS!!!! 242. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) YES!!!!! 243. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Great restart and great win for Gordon. All time Nascar winner at Indy now. 244. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) You know, when I first started watching in the early 2000's I didn't like Gordon that much. But right now I can't help but smile. 245. New14 & 88Fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Checker Flag! Jeff Gordon is t first 5-time Brickyard winner! 246. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:02 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Jacques/Pierre does not appear in the final laps, and Gordon pulls away to win his fifth Cup Series race at Indy! He had one of the cars to beat today, and despite struggling on restarts most of today, got a good one when it counted. 247. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) The Big 9-0. 248. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) 90th career win. Only the third guy ever to win 90 races. 249. SpeedWorld97 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ten years ago, I watched my first ever NASCAR race, the 2004 Brickyard 400 won by Jeff Gordon. Almost ten years later, history repeats itself. Unbelievable! 250. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) Ahh dammit, he won the first one and i wish he would had just won the very last one at this shit (for NASCAR) track, i could be more disappointed, but it would be hard to top this. 251. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon just became the third driver in Cup Series history to win 90 career races. Could he get to 100 before he retires? I don't think he will, but I think he could at least get 95. 252. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (4) (2) 3rd driver in history to reach 90 wins. Who else wants to see him hit 100 before he retires? 253. JG24FanForever posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:04 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) Number 90!!!! The greatest outside pass for a win in his career!! The best!! THE BEST!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOO GORDON!!!!! 254. SpeedWorld97 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:05 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Best Brickyard 400 in years. 255. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The Dillon brothers had a good weekend at Indy; Ty won his first Nationwide race while Austin managed to score a top 10. And for the guy who was worried about Junior finishing poorly after being trapped a lap down, he came back to score a 9th place finish. 256. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) We also get the pleasure of hearing ESPN say Gordon is better than the 4 time Indy 500 winners and Schumacher. Nice top 5 for Logano, good recovery for the Biff, and both rookies in the top 10. 257. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:07 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Yeah, I only saw the second half, but it seemed to be the best Brickyard 400 in quite a few years. 258. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:09 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) I like how Jeff Gordon has won 5 at the Brickyard and ESPN just kind of throws that fact out there before going to commercial. Had Jimmie been in position to win his 5th today, that's all we would have heard about all race long. "Jimmie trying to make history with his 5th win at the Brickyard" "Jimmie is just 100 laps away from his history and heroic 5th win at Indy" "JIMMIE JUST WON HIS 5TH OH MY GOD THE HISTORY!!!!" 259. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) A much better Brickyard 400 than I was expecting; as I said, I had low expectations for this one seeing as the Cup races here have been usually mediocre at best over the years. I don't think I would say this was the best Brickyard 400 I've ever seen, but I'd say it's top 3-4 for sure. 260. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) I had a good feeling about that 24 today, I just didn't wanna pick him and jinx him! Whoooo! What a day! 261. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (3) I'M SO f**kING ECSTATIC RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 262. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:13 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) So, when does Gordon retire? I just can't see this being his last year, he's running too well. 263. New14 & 88Fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Could he get to 100 before he retires? I don't think he will, but I think he could at least get 95." I certainly wouldn't bet against him. 264. Ian posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:15 pm Rate this comment: (7) (0) I may be in the minority here, but I feel that tracks like Indianapolis and Pocono, despite their reputations for producing dull racing, are important tests for both the drivers and teams. We don't need tight, manufactured racing at every single track every single week. Congratulations to Jeff Gordon on his 90th win. 265. numbah10hatah posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Of course, there are some dumbasses who thought this race was rigged.... 266. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) For the first time since Kentucky, Jimmie Johnson manages to last past the first 20 laps of a race. 267. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn! I missed it! Hell yeah, #24! 268. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Of course, there are some dumbasses who thought this race was rigged.... " There are those who call every race rigged unless their driver wins... Just ask every #48 fan in the nation. 269. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @Ian I find races like these interesting for the reason you mentioned. It doesn't need to be super tight races to be entertaining, but some people are idiots. 270. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Of course, there are some dumbasses who thought this race was rigged...." Let me guess. The geniuses who regularly comment on NASCAR.com? I'm not checking it this time to see (I've pretty much been turned off ever reading the comments on there again thanks to the lunacy I saw after Daytona), but I can definitely see people there crying "RIGGED!" 271. epzik8 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Jeff Gordon wins the same race 20 years apart, with three other Brickyard wins in between. Also this is his 90th Cup win. I always like to see him win but this is a bit more special. 272. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:20 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "There are those who call every race rigged unless their driver wins... Just ask every #48 fan in the nation." Oh c'mon, that's not fair. Not EVERY #48 fan out there is a delusional fanboy... 273. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) Point standings: Gordon- 717 Earnhardt- 693 Keselowski- 666 Kenseth- 661 Johnson- 628 Ky. Busch- 609 And this is what is wrong with the Chase. How fair is it that as of right now Gordon would be BEHIND Johnson and Keselowski in the Chase when he has over a full race lead over both of them (1 over Kes, 2+ over Jimmie)? 274. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Also, Gordon is 1 top 10 away from tying Bobby Allison for 3rd all-time and 8 away from tying Mark Martin for 2nd all-time. 275. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Oh c'mon, that's not fair. Not EVERY #48 fan out there is a delusional fanboy... " Nah, my mother is though as is every #48 fan who comments at ESPN and Yahoo. 276. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) It's time for the annual Kissing of the Bricks...complete with Crown Royal pillows. 277. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Only once has the #24 won Indy and NOT won the title. That was 2004. BTW, without the Chase the #24 was the 2004 champion. 278. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The Crimson King, There is a couple things you have to look at with Jeff Gordon. Jeff has a bad back and it did act up for Charlotte. The older he gets, it is going to get tougher for Jeff to handle a good lick from a crash due to his back. The other thing is Dale Sr., Lee Petty and Bobby Allison are the only drivers that won a cup championship at an older age than Jeff is right now. 279. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) LOL looks like Leo Benjamin wants no part of kissing those bricks! 280. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #273 The same thing happened in 2007 281. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "It's time for the annual Kissing of the Bricks...complete with Crown Royal pillows." The "Kissing of the Bricks" used to have a somewhat genuine feel to it. Now it's just as manufactured and scripted as the Victory Lane celebrations. 282. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was the person worried about Jr. I admit I overreacted. Jr is my favorite driver and I want him to win, like any other race fan wants their driver to win. 283. The Crimson King posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Are you new to Nascar? Because I've seen a driver get buried in the 30's halfway through the race and then recover to a decent finish way too many times to count. 284. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Only once has the #24 won Indy and NOT won the title. That was 2004. BTW, without the Chase the #24 was the 2004 champion." 2004, 2014 , both end in 4 maybe we will have a repeat of 2004 285. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Crimson King, I've been watching Nascar over since 2001 and I know exactly what you are saying about drivers starting out bad but finishing good. I overreacted to a lot of things that I shouldn't. 286. The Long Shot posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "90th career win. Only the third guy ever to win 90 races." Fourth. You forgot about "Little League Maestro". Really hope Gordon wins it all this year, as long as nobody makes any "3 car" connections (since Gordon's last title was the same year as the last time the #3 raced in Cup). 287. We need more Onion posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Totally indifferent towards Gordon, still showing he can win in one of the strongest cars. Good. McDowell finished on the lead lap and done great all weekend, kudos to him and Leavine, who just scored their first non-plate oval lead lap finish. 288. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @178, unless something's changed, MRN does not do the radio broadcast for the Brickyard 400. For the Brickyard 400, the radio broadcast is done by the IMS radio network. Also, I think the incident in which Trevor Bayne spun out showed great composure on his part, because when he spun the car out, he scrubbed off a lot of speed so if he hit something, he wouldn't hit it very hard at all, and it also gave him a chance to save it and continue on in the race, which he was unable to do. Frankly, I'm amazed that he was able to stuck around as long as he did with such an evil handling car, because he almost hit the wall on about lap 15. And I'll eat crow on this one. In the comments threat after the last race, I said that I didn't think Jeff was going to win any more this season, and boy was I wrong about that, as his was, by far, the fastest car in the race. And this win is a milestone on two fronts. First, he becomes the first-ever five-time winner on the IMS oval, setting his name apart across American motorsports. Now whether he's as good as the four-time Indianapolis 500 winners are is something I think is open for debate, but the fact remains that he's the first to ever win five on the oval. The second milestone is one that, as recently as a year or two ago, I'm not sure was one he'd reach, and that's the 90 win mark. This was the 90th win of his career, and I can say that we've officially started the countdown to 100 wins for Jeff, and that's something I didn't think anyone thought they'd ever see in this era. And on another note. They say the greats win on the biggest stages. Well, NASCAR's greatest big-race driver added still another notch to his imperial record of success in the sport's biggest races by not only becoming the first 5-time winner on the IMS oval, but also this is his 21st win in one of NASCAR's crown jewel events. In addition to his unprecedented five wins at Indy are his equally unprecedented six Southern 500 wins, 4 wins in the Talladega spring race, also a record, and his three wins in both the Daytona 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. There's a reason I've on numerous occasions called him NASCAR's version of Jack Nicklaus, the greatest big event golfer in history, and we saw still another example of that today, as the king of the big races once again showed why today. 289. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sportscenter just said Keselowski is the points leader, and added that Gordon moved from seventh to third in the points! Those dumbasses don't realize that they were showing a graphic of the current Chase lineup, should it begin today, not the actual points standings! You can't lose the points lead when you win the race! 290. DB1995 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:48 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You can't lose the points lead when you win the race!" You could, its just according to what happens in post race inspection and penalties afterwards 291. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Now Sportscenter said that Carl Edwards has 67 career wins with Roush Racing. I mean, if you start counting minor league wins, you might as well just rewrite the record book, amiright? 292. SportsCenter posted: 07.27.2014 - 4:57 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Jeff Gordon wins his record fifth Brickyard 400! Now enough of that stuff, on to the non-stop coverage of NFL training camps.... 293. Jim Davis posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "And this is what is wrong with the Chase. How fair is it that as of right now Gordon would be BEHIND Johnson and Keselowski in the Chase when he has over a full race lead over both of them (1 over Kes, 2+ over Jimmie)?" Eleven years ago everyone was complaining how "unfair" the Latford system was because we got an "undeserving champion" in Matt Kenseth who was just "points racing". You still hear the same talk about Labonte's 1996 title. Complaints about how champions are chosen invariably lead to changes which invariably lead to complaints, lather, rinse, repeat. 294. BON GORDON posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:18 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) Great win for ole' BIG DADDY! I had one of those feelings he would win today. I've had them before and he's won. Today was no exception. This is the bounce back they needed after running out of fuel at New Hampshire. Win #90, can he get to 100 wins or even David Pearson's mark of 105. It's gonna be close. So proud to be a BIG fan of his. Shocked at how Keselowski, Stewart, and Johnson ran today. I thought they'd be right up there battling for the lead. Harvick lost his mojo the last 50 laps or so after having a great car. He's probably very disappointed to finish 8th. For Brickyard 400 standards it was a great race but then again I'm a bit biased. Congratulations again to Jeff Gordon and team #24. Celebration time!!! 295. Neal posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Congrats to Jeff, but my god this race is still a huge pile of dung. So adding a bunch of meaningless races to the undercard didn't increase attendance for the Blechyard 400. What's next? Night racing? Starting the Chase at Indy? C'mon NASCAR, this race needs more gimmickry. 296. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:21 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was expecting this board to be a bit different. I half-thought that with Jeff's win today, half of everyone here would try saying that Gordon is better then legends like Mears or Foyt. Good to know that everyone is sane. anyways... 90 WINS HELL YEAHHHHHHHH!!!!! I'm a Johnson fan second and a Good-Hardcore racing fan first, but with Burton's retirement Gordon is my second favorite driver now, so YEAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! 297. Daniel posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Gordon was faster than anybody. 298. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:24 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) CJS 3872, I don't think Jeff Gordon is going to win a 100 cup races. The odds are against him due to 3 facts. 1.) His back is still question mark based on him missing practice time at Charlotte because of his back. The fact is his back can't a hit like it used to and that is going to cause him to retire at some point. Lets remember that David Pearson had to retire due to his back also. 2.)His clock is ticking on the amount of chances he can win a cup championship and could cause him to retire before he gets a 100 career wins. 3.) He is not winning like he was before 2008 and getting another 10 career cup wins is a question mark with his back and his championship clock. There also is his restarts. 299. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Not true, NicoRosbergFan (#277). Jeff also failed to win the championship in 1994, the year he won the first Brickyard 400. Ironically, Dale, Sr. won his final championship that year and then both Jeff and Dale, Sr. reversed that in 1995, with Dale, Sr. winning the Brickyard and Jeff his first Cup title. And joey2448, it's nice to hear others vehemently disagree with obvious factual errors, because Edwards has only 21 Cup wins with Roush, not 67 as ESPN mentioned. Obviously, they were counting wins in all three major series, as they always do with Kyle Busch, but of those wins, only 21 have come in the Cup Series. Also, does anyone else think that the same weather magic that for so many years blessed the Daytona 500 has moved to Indy and the Brickyard 400? After all, in 21 years, that race has not only never been postponed, but they've always gotten it all in. Even in 1995, when it looked like they might not even get the race started due to heavy rain the morning of the race, they not only got it started, but got it all in. And that's amazing, considering the volatile nature of the weather in Indianapolis in the summer, if nothing else. In fact, even the Indianapolis 500 has never enjoyed the good luck, in terms of weather, that the Brickyard 400 has always enjoyed, as the longest streak of the Indianapolis 500 always being run to completion on the day it was scheduled, without interference from the weather, has been 15 years (1951-'65). There were races between 1927-1949 that were affected by rain, but run to completion. 300. joey2448 posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The last time we saw a driver win his 90th career race, it was March 1976. David Pearson at Atlanta. Only two others have won 100 races or more. Petty won his 100th at Bowman Gray in August 1969. Pearson won his 100th at Rockingham in March 1978. When and where will Gordon get his 100th? 301. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "because Edwards has only 21 Cup wins with Roush" Not to nitpick, but he actually has 23 Cup wins. As for Gordon, I think if he drives for about two more years (which I think he will - I think 2016 may end up being his last year), then I think he can end up with about 96 or 97 wins. I don't think he'll reach 100 unless he has some sort of magical throwback year where he wins 8 races or something. 302. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The last time we saw a driver win his 90th career race, it was March 1976. David Pearson at Atlanta." I was a full 16 years away from being born when Pearson won his 90th race. Out of the drivers in this race, only Gordon, Kenseth, Harvick, Junior, Biffle, Johnson, Stewart, Montoya, Bobby Labonte, and Kvapil were alive back then. Really puts it into perspective how long it's been since we've seen a driver accomplish that feat! Like I said before, I don't think Gordon is going to get to 100 wins, pretty much for the reasons that Eric mentioned. I can definitely see him getting to 95, but not much more than that. I can easily see Gordon retiring with 96 or 97 career victories. I think he can get CLOSE to 100, but not quite there. 303. Schroeder51 posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) One more little fun fact: if Gordon races just one more year without having to miss any races (which barring anything freakish happening, I'm sure he will), he will surpass Ricky Rudd's Ironman streak for the most consecutive starts. He only needs to start 44 more consecutive races to break that record. 304. Eric posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) cjs3872, Carl Edwards has 23 career cup wins with Roush, not 21 career cup wins. 305. We need more Onion posted: 07.27.2014 - 5:59 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I was expecting this board to be a bit different. I half-thought that with Jeff's win today, half of everyone here would try saying that Gordon is better then legends like Mears or Foyt." No way, you got to keep it real... He is nowhere from Casey Mears or Larry Foyt. lel "if Gordon races just one more year without having to miss any races (which barring anything freakish happening, I'm sure he will), he will surpass Ricky Rudd's Ironman streak for the most consecutive starts. He only needs to start 44 more consecutive races to break that record. " If he gets his championship this year, he'll retire. Don't care about Jeff, but I love Rudd, so would prefer him winning the cup and Ricky remaining where he belongs, as he is THE Ironman. 306. TS1420 posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:02 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Now Sportscenter said that Carl Edwards has 67 career wins with Roush Racing. I mean, if you start counting minor league wins, you might as well just rewrite the record book, amiright?" In BSPN's world, NNS/Truck wins are the same thing as Cup wins (hence their coverage of Kyle Busch's Quest to "200"). 307. SpeedWorld97 posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Was it just me, or did this Brickyard 400 have a lot more passing than the previous 5 or so 400s? It seemed as if the drivers could go through the turns two-wide and easily be able to pass one another. 308. Sean posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:09 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) "Eleven years ago everyone was complaining how "unfair" the Latford system was because we got an "undeserving champion" in Matt Kenseth who was just "points racing". You still hear the same talk about Labonte's 1996 title. Complaints about how champions are chosen invariably lead to changes which invariably lead to complaints, lather, rinse, repeat." I hate this argument. Nobody who was criticizing the old points system for rewarding mediocrity too much and rewarding winning and/or dominance not enough wanted a playoff system. We wanted the top positions to be rewarded more and (especially) the bottom positions to be rewarded much less, yet you seem to be arguing that those of us who wanted a change shouldn't be criticizing these changes, even though the change NASCAR provided was not the change ANYBODY really wanted (and the current 43-1 points system is even worse with regard to rewarding mediocrity than the Latford point system was...) "I was expecting this board to be a bit different. I half-thought that with Jeff's win today, half of everyone here would try saying that Gordon is better then legends like Mears or Foyt." I think Gordon is unquestionably better than Mears historically. Mears drove for Penske in one of the most sterile eras in IndyCar history when only 2 or 3 teams with 2 or 3 cars each at any given time could fight for wins. Mears's dominance more closely resembles Johnson. At least the little guys had a shot in Gordon's earlier years, while they really didn't at any point in Mears's career. Not to mention that Gordon himself singlehandedly elevated Hendrick to powerhouse-team status and was a lot more consistent from track to track than Mears was. Gordon has also proven to have considerably more longevity. Foyt is obviously more important historically than Gordon, and Unser is a tough call. But Gordon > Mears, definitely. Maybe Mears was better than Gordon at Indy, but Gordon was better overall in NASCAR than Mears was in CART (especially when considering road course races.) 309. Sean posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Not to mention that Gordon himself singlehandedly elevated Hendrick to powerhouse-team status" What I forgot to say in this comparison is that Mears did NOT elevate Penske to powerhouse status, considering Tom Sneva had won a winless championship there the year before Mears got there... Hendrick wasn't even really sniffing titles before 1995 despite having some great drivers. 310. RACE34 posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:11 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) I'm glad to see that some people on here are saying this was a better than usual Brickyard 400!! I've gotten so tired of race fans crying every week because these races don't have 2-3 wide racing every lap and sometimes get really strung out!! It's RACING people, not PASSING!! If you want to see constant 2-3 wide passing go overlook a highway!! Much more to racing than passing!! 311. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sorry about the oversight regarding the number of wins Edwards has, but it's still a LOOOONG way from the 67 that was brought up in that SportsCenter mention regarding Edwards' number of NASCAR wins. And also, I never actually said that Gordon was going to get to 100 wins. I just said the countdown to 100 officially begins with this win, because there's only ten to go to get that 100th win, whether he gets it or not. 312. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Sean, let's not forget that the winless championship that Sneva had for Penske in 1978 was actually his second consecutive title, having already won the USAC championship in 1977, a year in which he did win twice, including at the Pocono 500. (His other win that year came at Texas World Speedway.) But as he often did, Sneva finished up front in the bigger races that paid the most points, winning the Pocono 500, winning the pole with the first-ever 200+ MPH laps at Indy (which got him no extra points) and finishing second at the Indianapolis 500, and he was third in the California 500 (the same trio that finished 1-2-3 at Indy that year did so in a different order at Ontario). In fact, Sneva earned 2,500 points at just the three 500-mile races in 1977 by finishing first, second, and third. Only one other driver, Al Unser, got more than 3,000 points for the ENTIRE season, which was 14 races in 1977, and he was still more than 900 shy of Sneva's total for the year. 313. Nascar Lead Lap Points posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:42 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Update #98 I Don't Dance Lee Brice / Curb Records 314. Jim Davis posted: 07.27.2014 - 6:52 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "Nobody who was criticizing the old points system for rewarding mediocrity too much and rewarding winning and/or dominance not enough wanted a playoff system." But you do see people who were "criticizing the old points system for rewarding mediocrity too much and rewarding winning and/or dominance not enough" now nostalgically wishing for that same system to return so we can have "real" champions again. 315. Jared posted: 07.27.2014 - 7:08 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) When I got into NASCAR about ten years ago, Gordon was my least favorite driver. But ever since I realized his importance to the sport, I've come to really respect him and can't help but be happy when he wins. Based on last season and 2012, I seriously believed it was the beginning of the end. I know people haven't picked Gordon to make it into the "Final Four" at Homestead based on the past two years, but this year feels a lot different. And on the Edwards leaving RFR front, did Edwards make the announcement himself or was it Roush? I got the impression that Roush got pressed into making the announcement. I think Edwards to JGR is almost a near certainty, but I don't think it's a good move for two big reasons. As mentioned above, Edwards doesn't come across as a "team" guy and from stuff I've read, he has had problems with Biffle and Kenseth and has had incidents with other drivers (Keselowski being the most obvious). He doesn't seem like a guy that gets along with other drivers in the garage area. Maybe that's just me, but that's the impression I get. I don't see him getting along with Kyle or Denny and I think his relationship with Kenseth won't change. Kenseth going to JGR was a great move in the sense that he's a much needed veteran presence for Kyle and Denny; adding Edwards would hurt what JGR has established the past year and a half. Edwards to JGR would also probably hinder JGR's driver development. It wouldn't surprise me to see Edwards driving Nationwide races like Kenseth has, but I don't know what the rides would be like. Unless JGR cans Sadler at the end of the year, I'm not sure what they would do since they have Darrell Wallace and Erik Jones waiting in the wings. 316. WinstonCup4Ever posted: 07.27.2014 - 7:14 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Karma bites Kyle Busch again here at Indy. I wonder if it was due to the "taunting" fans saw of him at IRP Friday in the ARCA CRA race. Anyway, congrats to Jeff Gordon on his 90th win. 317. Thomas posted: 07.27.2014 - 7:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica's issue today was self-inflicted. As soon as I saw the replay, I saw why she broke her axle. On the pit stop in question her left side tires were on the concrete part of her stall, whereas the right side tires were on the asphalt at the very outside of the stall. With the different grip levels of concrete and asphalt, it's easy to see how she snapped the axle. Yes, that's bad pit stall design, but it's the same for everybody and she shouldn't have been that close to the outside edge of her pit stall to start with. 318. 18fan posted: 07.27.2014 - 7:53 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) "Karma bites Kyle Busch again here at Indy." Not sure how this applies since he never led today and never challenged for the lead despite being in the top 5 for a majority of the race. 319. 111111 posted: 07.27.2014 - 8:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Just wondering but when did Carl Edwards have an altercation with Greg Biffle? 320. racefangurl posted: 07.27.2014 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) David Pearson, I once read saw himself in Jeff Gordon. Both are said to be smart, as is Trevor Bayne, who reminds people of a young Jeff Gordon or, in the way he drives, David Pearson. He (Trevor) saved his car twice at the Brickyard last year. In yesterday's race, he had handling issues but managed a top-10. 321. 111111 posted: 07.27.2014 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Never mind it was Michigan last year... But still it's not like it's anything major, it was a one race ordeal... 322. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 8:31 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) And believe it or not 111111, it was over such a little thing as Biffle not slowing down and giving up a four second lead so that Edwards could get a piece of trash off his grill. That's what I mean by Edwards being a "me over the team" guy, and I don't think anybody at Roush is upset that he's leaving, because he was a bad teammate for those guys at Roush. And for that reason, I think team moral and chemistry is going to do nothing but improve, because he's being replaced by a guy that seems to be the total opposite to him, at least from a personality perspective, in Trevor Bayne. Bayne seems to be a guy everyone seems to gravitate toward, where as Edwards was a guy seemingly nobody wants to be around. And you can be sure that Roush is going to put everything into trying to make Bayne succeed at the Cup level, if for no other reason than to have his iconic #6 car, which is his flagship car, be a factor, and I think Bayne has the temperament to be successful. The biggest question surrounding Bayne is his health, because I think he's going to make for a better Cup driver than Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. will, because Bayne seems to think through and process a race much better, as well as not overextending his car. He's a guy that will save his equipment until he needs it, and that's what has always separated the elite drivers from the ones that are very good. And Bayne also seems to want to be in the big moment, because there seems to be a calm about him that you don't see in guys like Edwards, Kyle Busch, or even Greg Biffle. Some guys want to be in that spotlight and others don't, and Bayne seems to be one of those guys that wants to be in the big moment. 323. 111111 posted: 07.27.2014 - 9:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (2) 322: Maybe Carl Edwards developed that attitude because it was apparent to him that he was Roush's main driver. I think it's possible that Carl could change his attitude when he's the new guy at Gibbs. 324. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 9:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) No 111111, Edwards has always had that attitude. A number of years ago, when he had a get-together with Dale, Jr. in a NNS race at Michigan (I want to say about 2006), which Dale, Jr. won, Edwards broke the unwritten rule regarding barging into someone else's victory lane. He's always had somewhat of a bad attitude, but has usually been able to cover it up with his "nice guy" smile and public personna, but he's always had somewhat of an attitude problem, and I believe it was Edwards that made the decision today that he was leaving Roush, and that he may have even signed a contract with another team, probably JGR, which forced Roush to hastily announce his 2015 driver lineup prior to the race today. 325. murb posted: 07.27.2014 - 9:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Apparently the 11 car had some parts confiscated after the race. 326. Anonymous posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:06 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Sponsor Updates: #1- Cessna / Greenlee #16- 3M Safety / Peltor #34- MDS Transport #42- Target / Cottonelle 327. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "A number of years ago, when he had a get-together with Dale, Jr. in a NNS race at Michigan (I want to say about 2006), which Dale, Jr. won, Edwards broke the unwritten rule regarding barging into someone else's victory lane." Before that, after the checkered flag, he rammed into Jr's driver side as Dale was sticking his hand out the window to wave to the fans. 328. cjs3872 posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:41 pm Rate this comment: (3) (0) By the way, Kasey Kahne actually had the nerve to complain after the race that Jeff Gordon, who was in second place on that final restart, "controlled the restart", which to me is poppycock, because all he had to do was to step on the gas any time after the restart point. Replays showed that Kahne was about a half car-length AHEAD of Gordon at the S/F line. That sure isn't jumping the restart to me. I just think he was making an excuse for his own failure on that final restart, which as he admitted in that interview may have been a blessing in disguise, since it allowed him to save fuel and come home sixth. And why did Kenny Francis pit Kasey when he did. If that final caution would not have come out, Gordon would have won without passing Kahne because Kasey would have run out of fuel anyway. Ricky Craven had another take on this final, and deciding restart on SportsCenter when he bluntly said that the difference was that Jeff Gordon is a 4-time NASCAR champion and Kasey is not, asserting that Jeff had what it took in that situation and Kasey did not. (Remember that Kasey lost the 2005 Brickyard 400 to Tony Stewart on a restart in an almost identical situation when Stewart blew by him in the same corner.) I have another view of it. What happened on that final restart was a simple case of a driver being comfortable in the big moment in Jeff Gordon beating someone that's not nearly as comfortable in that situation in Kahne. Remember that Gordon's won more big races than any driver in the history of the sport, as this is his unfathomable 21st win in one of NASCAR;s crown jewel races, or more than most very good drivers have in all races, Kasey included. The only big races Kasey has won have come at Charlotte (three Coca-Cola 600s and one All-Star race), and he didn't seem as comfortable in that situation (leading one of the biggest races with 17 laps left). Winning races is one thing, but there's a whole lot more pressure when you're trying to win one of the biggest races in the sport, and I think Kasey gagged on that final restart, to put it bluntly. He couldn't stand up to the pressure of the moment, which is sure defeat when you're up against the best ever in those circumstances. 329. David posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Odd fact: every time I've been in the same state as the Cup race that weekend, Jeff Gordon won it. I was traveling back from Indiana when I read about Jeff's win here. Congratulations to him. I was actually able to catch a snippet of the race: about thirty laps after the first competition caution. From what I could tell, Jeff's car looked very fast, especially when he was back in the pack slicing through traffic. I knew he would contend today. He still got it in him. As meaningless as the title is nowadays, I'd sure like it if he could hoist the trophy one more time. So, was the race good enough to merit watching the replay tonight? Fortunately, I'm in a position to. 330. BON GORDON posted: 07.27.2014 - 10:56 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Post #329: If you're a Jeff Gordon fan the race is definitely worth re-watching. I felt it was one of the better Brickyard 400s but then again my favorite driver won. 331. Evan posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:13 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) * Yo Chad's Hair Plugs when you read this, I remember that incident between those two, Carl stepped over the line that day. * Jeff Gordon's win was the 5th one for him at Indy which makes him the winningest NASCAR driver at Indianapolis. The best thing is that it comes at time when he can share it with his kids, because in Jeff's heart he wants to show them what dad does for a living and you can see it in his emotion today that he wanted this race, bad. * Take nothing from Kasey Kahne, he had an awesome car today as well. It did not help when Mike Massaro asked him about winning this year to get in the Chase. Kasey did not appreciate that, he was already upset about losing and he hated the line of questioning. * Danica Patrick tore off axle leaving the pits and by the time she got to the end of the pit lane it just gave out. She ran pretty well all day but the mechanical issue is what held her back. * No surprise here, Carl Edwards is leaving Roush-Fenway and it looks like Carl has decided to leave on his own. To me, the move is a good thing. Carl Edwards seemed to put himself over the team, he got a fat contract and was making well over the amount Biffle and Stenhouse were making, hell he was making more than Matt Kenseth when he was there and Edwards got Jimmy Fennig on his team after his longtime crew chief Bob Osborne left due to health issues. Osborne and Carl were like Chad and Jimmie once Carl lost Bob, Fennig was not able to replicate that chemistry. The main reason is that Roush could not meet Carl Edwards demands and expectations after Osborne left. Roush will have a better team where Biffle will be the elder statesman, Bayne and Stenhouse will be the two that may benefit greatly. Stenhouse needs a crew chief he respects an older, wiser one like Fennig who can help him with the issues. Bayne finally gets a full-time ride but his health is a question mark. * Question now is where will Carl end up? Will he end up in a Ford or Toyota? Rumors had him going to Childress but he turned down the offer. But my hope he is that ends up at a competitive operation. Ford has lost a lot of good drivers, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, and now Carl Edwards. I sense Carl loves racing, but he does not like the media attention that his leaving receives, at one point it looked like Biffle was leaving but then Edwards was negotiating a new contract as well and Edwards was staying tight-lipped on his plans but as media continued to pressure him the more annoyed he got. Whatever his choice is, we'll see what kind of driver he truly is. I wish him good luck in the future because he was a hell of a driver at Roush, question is can he replicate it somewhere else. 332. ii posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:28 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) For whatever odd reason I tend to dislike the drivers at JGR, specifically Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin. Edwards might be another if he does indeed move here, which would appear to leave Darrel Wallace and Erik Jones out to dry, but if you look, Denny Hamlin's contract ends in 2015, and Kyle's and Kenseth's both end 2016 at the earliest (from Jayski.com). If Edwards moves to JGR, it wouldn't surprise me if two of those drivers (maybe Hamlin and Busch? It looks like Dollar General's going to stay with Kenseth for however long he stays with JGR) were not re-signed heading into 2016, giving Bubba a ride; and 2017, which would open up a spot for Erik Jones. As for Roush, apparently there wasn't supposed to be an official announcement on Edwards' future with the team until September, so it's clear Edwards rushed/influenced the announcement or made it himself. Sucks to see RFR go down the tube, as I'm a Red Sox fan and have a moderate reason to cheer for the team. They haven't done anything with their NNS drivers since Carl Edwards (since then: Todd Kluever, Danny O'Quinn, Jr., Colin Braun, Erik Darnell), with the exception of Bayne and Stenhouse, and I don't really see Chris Buescher or Ryan Reed in Cup with RFR anytime soon. It wouldn't surprise me to see them merge/sell the team by the end of the decade, depending on their performance. "So, was the race good enough to merit watching the replay tonight? Fortunately, I'm in a position to." Yes, it was short and Kahne and Gordon put up a really good battle before the last caution. I wasn't able to catch the whole race myself (only the last 40 laps), but it was entertaining to say the least. 333. ii posted: 07.27.2014 - 11:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Ford has lost a lot of good drivers, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, David Ragan, and now Carl Edwards." Ragan is still in a Ford with Front Row Motorsports. 334. TT#24Fan posted: 07.28.2014 - 12:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Way to go Jeff Gordon! :D 90 out of 200 Still to go out there. 335. WinstonCupStandings posted: 07.28.2014 - 12:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) Top 25 (that are on the big teams) 1) Jeff Gordon (2895) -Leader 2) Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (2821) -74 3) Brad Keselowski (2745) -150 4) Matt Kenseth (2721) -174 5) Jimmie Johnson (2609) -286 6) Kyle Busch (2545) -350 7) Joey Logano (2487) -408 8) Carl Edwards (2484) -411 9) Ryan Newman (2478) -417 10) Kevin Harvick (2417) -478 11) Clint Bowyer (2405) -490 12) Denny Hamlin (2382) -513 13) Kyle Larson (2365) -530 14) Kasey Kahne (2339) -556 15) Paul Menard (2320) -575 16) Austin Dillon (2313) -582 17) Greg Biffle (2312) -583 18) Brian Vickers (2266) -629 19) Tony Stewart (2242) -653 20) Marcos Ambrose (2177) -718 21) Jamie McMurray (2150) -745 22) Aric Almirola (2137) -758 23) Kurt Busch (2065) -830 24) Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. (1831) -1064 25) Danica Patrick (1777) -1118 336. Mr X posted: 07.28.2014 - 1:03 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) It was a great day of racing overall. Jeff Gordon capturing #90 and his 5th Brickyard 400 win was just the cherry for the cake IMO. Whilst I still agree that Indy and stock cars will always struggle to put on a good race, and I really wasn't expecting much from Indy today, the Jeff Gordon vs Kasey Kahne battle surrounding the final set of green flag pitstops was a caliber of racing that I didn't think was possible at Indy. It was legitimately exciting, although most of the rest of the race was the typical NASCAR/Indy marriage of not a whole lot. The Hungarian Grand Prix was even better, with some very good racing and some brilliant overtakes from flag to flag, and a very near miss for Sebastian Vettel. 337. Scott B posted: 07.28.2014 - 1:36 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danica is listed as a DNF due to rear gear. Did they really have a second mechanical problem at the end of the race, or did she or someone on the team simply make the call to park it since they had already gained the only possible position by passing Trevor Bayne? It may not make a difference in points, but it says a lot about attitude. This isn't a low budget operation. If you task your crew with putting a damaged car back on track, and it is up to speed with no safety issues, why hang a DNF on them instead of finishing out the race? 338. Scott B posted: 07.28.2014 - 2:00 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Re: The future of Gibbs development drivers. JGR will do everything in their power to keep Wallace in the fold. He's not only good behind the wheel, he's also sponsor friendly. Jones is less of a sure thing to stay in the organization long term, IMO. Gibbs could form a new "alliance" with another Toyota team to place their prospects, but closing their in house engine program hinders that somewhat. If the satellite team has to negotiate their own engine deal from TRD (which has been very selective about how they dole out equipment) or from another source, it limits how much benefit they would gdt from the arrangement. 339. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.28.2014 - 5:10 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) "It may not make a difference in points, but it says a lot about attitude. This isn't a low budget operation. If you task your crew with putting a damaged car back on track, and it is up to speed with no safety issues, why hang a DNF on them instead of finishing out the race?" Because continuing uses tires, time, and fuel, which equals money lost. Indy bears no resemblance to any other track, except maybe Pocono, so there is nothing to gain by staying out there and running a personal test session. Pocono isn't in the Chase, so the team couldn't even possibly get info that the other SHR cars could use in the Chase. 340. James W. McLaughlin posted: 07.28.2014 - 9:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Nine-O for Jeff Gordon. There's just no stopping him, is there? 341. numbah10hatah posted: 07.28.2014 - 9:23 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) David: If Gordon is in the final 4, could you travel down to Florida? :P 342. ii posted: 07.28.2014 - 9:53 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Gibbs could form a new "alliance" with another Toyota team to place their prospects, but closing their in house engine program hinders that somewhat. If the satellite team has to negotiate their own engine deal from TRD (which has been very selective about how they dole out equipment) or from another source, it limits how much benefit they would gdt from the arrangement." The only full-time Toyotas other than Gibbs are BK Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. MWR just cut to two teams this year and I don't really see them moving up to 3 again in the near future, nor giving a ride to a Gibbs development driver, and BK Racing appears to be picking up drivers nobody wants. Of course they could both turn into Matt DiBenedetto, or Brad Coleman, or Drew Herring and disappear from the sport or park Nationwide cars. 343. racefangurl posted: 07.28.2014 - 10:18 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Re: Danica: She broke her rear axle. 344. WinstonCup4Ever posted: 07.28.2014 - 10:38 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @318 I meant it from his race weekend so far. Yes, I'll take back what I said about Sunday's lost as my post's usually reflect fan reactions. To me though, Saturday should be seen as minor karma as he's still running a development league race, against drivers he has no business running against, with the end result 75% of the time being a win. Maybe if he was a "claim jumper" (Larry Mac's word in sub of Buschwhacker) like Kasey Kahne more often and didn't run so many lower tier races he'd have more respect again among fans. Again, these really aren't my views. 345. The Crimson King posted: 07.28.2014 - 12:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Yeah, I can't see JGR not giving Wallace Jr a cup ride when it comes time for him. That would be a huge blow to that organization to lose him. 346. The Crimson King posted: 07.28.2014 - 12:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @344 I don't mind guys doing a few lower tier races each year. Maybe 5-10 races, as that's only a third of the whole schedule. But when it's every single week then it gets ridiculous. 347. Scott B posted: 07.28.2014 - 12:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Because continuing uses tires, time, and fuel, which equals money lost." No, it doesn't. Fuel is supplied by NASACAR, it is not an expense to the team. Tires are paid for in advance of the event. If they're not used, it's just wasted money. Go Daddy is paying for TV exposure, even if the car is not in contention for a win. I would not think they'd be happy with the team leaving early to beat traffic on the way home. The only real risk of added expense is if the car ends up in the wall, but at 20-some laps down you can be in equipment preservation mode and still stay on track. I'll be sure to bring this up next time I hear one of her defenders say "she's still adjusting to stock cars, give her more time" because now she apparently has nothing more to learn. It really bugs me that some drivers have to start and park because of legitimate money issues, or have no ride at all, and yet this goes on. This needs to go down as "quit" on the score sheet as used to be done, not blamed on a mechanical failure that was addressed in the garage so the car was in condition to go the distance. 348. Scott B posted: 07.28.2014 - 12:46 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wonder if Gibbs would use Kyle Busch Motorsports as a way to bring a development driver up to Cup if they already have four full time drivers locked into multi-year contracts? No idea if Cup ownership is something Kyle would even want to attempt at his young age. That's a lot to take on while you're still driving full time, even if you can delegate most of the day to day work. Gibbs still can run a 5th car for an approved development driver as a part-time team, though, and both Wallace and Jones would qualify for that exemption. That would be the path of least resistance and buy the organization more time to see how they progress and make a decision. 349. Scott B posted: 07.28.2014 - 1:04 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Of course they could both turn into Matt DiBenedetto, or Brad Coleman, or Drew Herring and disappear from the sport or park Nationwide cars." I sure hope not. From the small sample size of Truck and Nationwide races they've run, these are two very talented kids. 350. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 07.28.2014 - 1:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I may be in the minority here, but I feel that tracks like Indianapolis and Pocono, despite their reputations for producing dull racing, are important tests for both the drivers and teams. We don't need tight, manufactured racing at every single track every single week. Congratulations to Jeff Gordon on his 90th win." Indy is a drivers track, you screw up the penalty is severe. ""A number of years ago, when he had a get-together with Dale, Jr. in a NNS race at Michigan (I want to say about 2006), which Dale, Jr. won, Edwards broke the unwritten rule regarding barging into someone else's victory lane." Before that, after the checkered flag, he rammed into Jr's driver side as Dale was sticking his hand out the window to wave to the fans." Actually Carl hit Jr. under caution after Jr. dumped him (which he did.) But as usual Carl lost his mind. BTW i still trying too figure out why Robby Gordon got called too the hauler when he had NOTHING too do with what happened. "But you do see people who were "criticizing the old points system for rewarding mediocrity too much and rewarding winning and/or dominance not enough" now nostalgically wishing for that same system to return so we can have "real" champions again." Let it go. Let people live in the past because they can't handle the present or future. 351. The Crimson King posted: 07.28.2014 - 1:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @348 I always figured JGR would let Hamlin go once Darrell was ready for Cup, especially since that team hasn't been all that great in the last couple of years. 352. NicoRosbergFan posted: 07.28.2014 - 1:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) ""But you do see people who were "criticizing the old points system for rewarding mediocrity too much and rewarding winning and/or dominance not enough" now nostalgically wishing for that same system to return so we can have "real" champions again." Let it go. Let people live in the past because they can't handle the present or future. " I always preferred the old system. Can't handle the present? Really? We're not allowed to worry about a sport that's headed down the shitter? 353. The Crimson King posted: 07.28.2014 - 2:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The problem with this system is there's no underlying theme to it. The Latford system at least had a theme of the most consistent driver will be the champion. This system doesn't really embrace winning a lot of races so much as it does winning very particular races. A points system that was built around winning I have no problem with. This system is merely a crapshoot. 354. Neal posted: 07.28.2014 - 2:25 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @310 - Before you crucify yourself on the "it's racing, not passing" cross you might want to consider the position NASCAR is in - ratings and attendance are BOTH declining because the product on the track, while improved from the COT fustercluck, isn't perceived to be good enough to spur growth. As much as the ideological snobs love to drop their drawers and take dumps on the "casual fan," NASCAR _needs_ them to secure the growth necessary to score those obscenely overpriced TV contracts. Without the TV cash, the "crown jewel" at Indy would be losing money. Yesterday's race was sleep-inducing, and single-file "technical racing" fests will not win new converts over. Like it or not, the racing needs to be MUCH more action-packed for today's ADHD-addled society. 355. DaleSrFanForever posted: 07.28.2014 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (16) (2) Last year, when Jeff won the pole for the Fall Charlotte race on the 20th anniversary of his first Cup pole at the same event, I gave a list of lesser known Gordon facts that have got lost in the avalanche of mind blowing Gordon career facts. In honor of his record 5th Brickyard 400 win on the 20th anniversary of his win in this inaugural event, here are some more lesser known facts about The Man In Neon. June 1972: Takes his inaugural step in his living room. 20 minutes later, takes his 5th step in the same room. 1975: Taking his first ever laps in a quarter midget bought by his stepdad, Jeff begins a lifelong love of living out John Bickford's own dreams. 1985: Drives a full size Sprint car for the first time. Has to go to Florida to do this as they are the only state which allows drivers to compete while sitting on phone books to see over the steering wheel. Mid to late 80s: Becomes a National star while driving Sprint cars on ESPN Speedworld's kick ass Thursday Night Thunder series, back when ESPN would actually use their airtime to show series like these to a National audience instead of dedicating 24/7 coverage to already overhyped people like Lebron James and Peyton Manning. 1992: Wins every single pole in the Busch Series that season. It is because of the Baby Ruth sponsorship. If Baby Ruth had sponsored him in Cup all those years instead of DuPont, he'd have 160 wins, 14 championships ('95, '96, '97, '98, '99, '01, '02, '04, '06, '07, '09, '11, '12, '13) and 20 consecutive Most Popular Driver awards. November 1993: Becomes the youngest driver in Winston Cup history to be dumped by Dale Earnhardt. February 1994: Shaves his porn 'stache, cuts his mullet, and gets engaged to Brooke. Bad times all around. August 1994: Wins the first non Indianapolis 500 race at IMS since pre World War I by winning the inaugural NASCAR Sprint Cup Series John Wayne Walding 400 presented by Crown Royal at the Brickyard presented by Golden Corral. May 1995: After losing a wheel and exposing illegal suspension parts to the world at the Coke 600, Jeff states in his interview "I hope NASCAR doesn't notice our illegal suspension parts". Late 1995: Wins his first Winston Cup championship despite bad runs down the stretch at tracks like Charlotte, Rockingham, and Atlanta, places he had dominating wins at early in the season before the Coke 600 HubGate which I'm sure was a coincidence. 1997: Switches from being sponsored by Coke to being sponsored by Pepsi. This is regarded as Coke's worst move since The New Coke. March 1997: Jeff is so mad they changed Rusty's paint scheme from the kick ass black and gold colors to the generic blue and white, he bumps Rusty out of the lead in the final corner of the final lap in protest of Miller beer. August 1997: While underneath the dominant Jeff Gordon at the Bristol Night Race, Jeremy Mayfield suddenly gets a glimps of his future, causing him to slide up and wreck Jeff. June 1998: In his historic season, Jeff takes the points lead for good from..... Jeremy Mayfield? I don't know what to believe anymore. August 1998: Prior to the start of the Bristol Night Race, it dawns on Jeff that the Earth has moved 62,700,000 miles since somebody other than him won a Winston Cup race. This stunning revelation distracts him all night and he is unable to win a modern era record 5th consecutive race. 1999: Mike Skinner leads the points for 3 weeks during the season compared to just one week for Jeff. This fluke injustice makes Brian France vow to destroy NASCAR when he inherits it. August 1999: Jeff gets damage in a last lap crash in the Bristol Night Race that has been largely forgotten. November 2002: Jeff actually wins the 2002 Winston Cup championship but it is erroneously given to Tony Stewart. Due to the crappy nature of the late season points "battle" nobody, including Jeff himself, notices or cares. This is similar to the 1991 Winston Cup championship which was won by Ernie Irvan but given to Earnhardt. 2003: Begins a professional tennis career on the side under the pseudonym "Roger Federer" winning a record 17 Grand Slams including a record tying 7 Wimbledon titles. Seriously, look at a picture of Roger Federer. That is clearly Jeff Gordon. May & June 2003: After the divorce is settled and Jeff is able to focus on racing again, he realizes he never retaliated against Sterling for wrecking him at Richmond 2001. So he blatantly wrecks the shit out of him in the Winston and at Dover. If you closed your eyes you could feel the spirit of Dale smiling proudly down. February 2005: Wins his 3rd Daytona 500 and 6th Daytona points race at the track close to his hometown in Northern Florida. June 2006: Wins his record extending 6th race at Sears Point in Sonoma which is near his hometown of Vallejo, CA. April 2007: In an attempted race winning bump and run in the final corner of the final lap at Martinsville, Jeff slams Jimmie Johnson so hard he forgets how to lose a championship for the next 4 years. April 29, 2007: Realizing that the Wonderboy nickname that he hates so much is gonna stick with him forever, Jeff passes Dale Earnhardt for career Cup wins on his birthday at his most successful track. Dale, who appreciates a good prank, can be heard laughing. October 2007: Jeff wins his 5th race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, near his hometown of Charlotte, NC. March 2008: Dies in a viscous wreck at Las Vegas. However, Jeff refuses to lose to Death, and is able to walk away. August 2012: Jeff wins his record 6th race at Pocono Speedway, the track closest to his hometown of Manhattan, NY. Also becomes just the third driver to win 86 Cup races. November 2012: Becomes just the third driver to win 87 Cup races. October 2013: Becomes just the third driver to win 88 Cup races. May 2014: Becomes just the third driver to win 89 Cup races. August 2014: Wins his record 5th race at IMS, which is near his hometown to Pittsboro, IN. Also becomes just the third driver to win 90 Cup races. 356. racefangurl posted: 07.28.2014 - 2:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Both Carl Edwards and Trevor Bayne seem to be extroverted type guys. The latter has a good personality like you said. Carl Edwards, a few years ago was said to in front of the camera a lot, which seems extroverted type behavior. They also spoke of "his giant smile ,charm and wit". Guess that's the public persona you talk about. Trevor usually has that big smile on his face and likes to talk. He also can be very funny. On his anniversary, he said some sweet things about Ashton on his Twitter. His talkativeness and enthusiasm imply extrovert tendencies. Sometimes, people with extrovert in their personality are competitive and strong-willed, which Trevor says he is. My mom, though not a big sports fan may be drawn to a story, like Trevor Bayne, when he won the Daytona 500 a few years ago. He was on the sports front page of our paper with that grin on face and "I found him endearing" was her words on that picture. 357. racefangurl posted: 07.28.2014 - 2:36 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My mom thinks the racers are hyperactive. I read that and adrenaline junkie go hand in hand, people that are hyperactive are adrenaline junkies that is. 358. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 07.28.2014 - 2:50 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) Here's an idea for a point system. This could work with or without the chase. Go back to the Latford System (I like the simplicity of the current system, but finish a race would be worthless with this system I'm about to propose) but get rid of the bonus points for leading a lap or leading the most laps. Instead, give out 1 point to a driver per mile, not lap, led. ONLY the miles under green count, so you can't stay out during a caution flag and pick up an easy set of 5 or 6 points. Yes, I know that there would be two inherit issues with this. A). Some races are ridiculously short (Infenion barely makes 220 miles if I remember correctly, New Hamphsire has a 301 Mile race) while others are ridiculously long (Charlotte clocks in at 600 miles for it's longest race). But considering most races are 400 or 500 miles in length total, and usually about 70-90 percent of the races are under a 'green' flag condition, we should be good, right? All we really need to do at this point is lengthen the shorter races so they are all at least 350 or 400 miles. The biggest issue is that B) It makes tallying points a b*tch at a track that isn't exactly 1 Mile, 1.5 miles, 2 miles, or 2.5 miles. My idea around that is this: Martinsville and Bristol we could get around this easily, just 'round' their distances off to a mile so 2 laps led their equals 1 point. Richmond takes some maths, but 4 laps led would equal 3 points. New Hampshire can be rounded to 1 lap equals 1 point. Darlington would be a b*tch, but with some math we can resolve it (I will kick the first person who says we should redesign Darlington just so it would fit this system). Atlanta gets rounded down to 1.5 miles like's it sister tracks, even if it is officially 1.54 miles. Infenion should be changed to whatever course put it the closest to 2 miles exactly. Watkins Glen should be rounded up from 2.45 miles to 2.5 miles, so Leading two straight laps there becomes 5 points. Daytona would be inherently difficult to tally, but we can set up timing lines at the track's 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 mile points in addition to it's start-finish line. 'Dega would be a b*tch, but you can figure that if luck is in your favor and you can lead three consecutive laps you have earned eight points. The only other major issue with this system is that it assumes all the races will be run to their conclusion. If a race is not, (taking A 500 mile race for example) anywhere from 1 to 249 points can be lost, not counting possible caution laps taken by the field to circle the track under a heavy downpour just to get to a race's halfway point, or to 'dry' the track out (Example: 1979 Daytona 500, 2005 Pepsi 400). There. Done. If a driver runs dominates a race for three-quarters and leads, for instance, 275 miles of a 400 mile race, he earns 275 points, and won't be murdered if he get's taken out by someone else's mistake dropping him a lap down or crashing him out of the race. We'd have consistent hardcore passing for the lead because EVERY MOMENT YOU ARE NOT LEADING COUNTS AGAINST YOU! Sound good? Just lengthen the shorter races to about 350 or 400 miles, set up extra hyper-exact scoring loops, and wa-la. No I am not being satirical. I'm dead serious. 359. numbah10hatah posted: 07.28.2014 - 3:35 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 43 on Pocono entry list: Dave Blaney in the #37 Joe Nemechek in the #66 Mike Bliss in the #93 #12, #21, #29, #95 not entered 360. The Crimson King posted: 07.28.2014 - 3:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Or you could just use a modified version of the F1 points system, just tweaked slightly to emphasize wins. 361. Sector posted: 07.28.2014 - 3:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) OMG (late) JEFF GORDON WON THE BRICKYARD!! WOOHOO!! Twice this season Jeff Gordon has finished outside of the top 15, only to win the following race: 39th @ Talladega; 1st @ Kansas 26th @ New Hampshire; 1st @ Indianapolis. 362. Destroyahirismix666 posted: 07.28.2014 - 4:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Maybe I'm the only one, but I feel that the F1 point system should not be used because, y'know, it's Formula 1 and not NASCAR. As stupid as it sounds, it's the same reason why I do not think the stop-to-sudden-start in Indycars (like what provided the nightmare in the Indy Road Course Race this year) should be used. The various racing series don't need to take off after each other. 363. The Crimson King posted: 07.28.2014 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I like F1's points system because it awards both consistency and dominance. 25 points for a win, 18 for second place. A win represents about slightly more than a third of a race lead over anyone else in the points. So yeah, win three races in a row and you've automatically wiped out a full race's points deficit (if not more!). I think the old latford system was 175 for a win and 170 for 2nd. To erase a full race's deficit, you'd have to win like 34 straight races assuming 1st and 2nd were the same. The differentials between drivers was way too small and that IS a legitimate criticism of the latford system, which is why I prefer F1's so much. Just extend it to the top 20 drivers (Since Nascar has more guys in it than F1 does). 364. Neal posted: 07.28.2014 - 4:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Overnight TV ratings are in. Gordon's win was good news in Indy, but the ratings were down around 6% nationwide. 365. numbah10hatah posted: 07.28.2014 - 6:47 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Alex Kennedy's Facebook page says he's going to run Pocono and Watkins Glen in the #33. 366. Jim Davis posted: 07.28.2014 - 8:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "The Latford system at least had a theme of the most consistent driver will be the champion. This system is merely a crapshoot." I'm no fan of the chase but I think that assessment is too harsh. The best driver and/or best team should have the best chance to win a championship, but a championship should not be intended as a means of determining the best driver/team that season. The major sports understand that and all have playoff systems where a scrappy team can get hot and pull off an upset. I don't think it delegitimizes the NASCAR championship now that it has followed suit. Even college football is getting into the playoff act. No one thought the 9-7 New York Giants were illegitimate champions when they beat the 16-0 New England patriots in the Super Bowl. I think the fears of Aric Amirola or (horror of horrors) Danica Patrick backing into a championship are way overblown. All that said, I still prefer Latford because that was what I was weaned on. 367. Feetduck posted: 07.28.2014 - 10:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I wonder whos the most crash prone drivers and the least crash prone 368. joey2448 posted: 07.28.2014 - 10:11 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I'm starting to think it's a good thing that DaleSrFanForever doesn't post as much as he used to, because the times he does post now are absolute gems...I lol'ed at #355. 369. 18fan posted: 07.28.2014 - 11:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Brad Keselowski is the only Cup driver in the Nationwide race at Iowa, just like last year. Of course last year he won the Iowa race helping the #22 team win the all-important owners championship. 370. cjs3872 posted: 07.29.2014 - 1:06 am Rate this comment: (2) (0) Watching the highlights of the race, I noticed something I didn't notice, or remember watching the race live. As we know, Jeff Gordon passed Kasey Kahne on that final restart to win the race, but here's something that I missed until watching the highlights. Kasey Kahne's car looked almost exactly like Geoff Bodine's car did in 1994, with the black paint job with the blue front bumper. Even the color of the car number was the same as it was on Bodine's car in 1994. And in that inaugural race, Geoff Bodine was Gordon's only real competition until he got knocked out when he got wrecked by his brother Brett on the 100th lap, and until the latter part of the race when Gordon's car began to go away on him. But it is ironic that Gordon beat a driver with a car that looked almost identical to the one that was his key competition in the inaugural Brickyard 400 20 years ago, and Kahne ended up being his only real competition in the 2014 Brickyard 400 in a nearly identical looking car. Also, while everyone's amazed at the fact that Gordon has won the same crown jewel race 20 years apart, which is the second-longest such spread in NASCAR history (Terry Labonte won his first and last Southern 500s 23 years apart), consider that the top four in this race was one of the best top 4s ever seen in this race. Aside from Gordon, you had Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Matt Kenseth finishing second, third, and fourth. As we know, Gordon's win Sunday was his 90th, but Busch, who was second, has 29 wins, third-place Hamlin has 24, and fourth-place Kenseth has 31, with two Daytona 500 wins and the 2003 championship to his name. Of course, the greatest top of the finishing order in race history will likely always be that first race, and every win Gordon gets just furthers that. But behind Gordon and Brett Bodine, who was second, you had Bill Elliott finishing third, Rusty Wallace fourth, Dale Earnhardt fifth, and Darrell Waltrip sixth. Even with Brett Bodine in there, you have five of the absolute best the sport's ever seen in that top six, with Gordon's 90 wins (and counting), all his crown jewel wins (21 with his 2014 Brickyard win), and four championships. Elliott, who finished third that day, won 44 races and the 1988 Cup Series title, fourth-place Wallace won 55 times and claimed the 1989 title, fifth-place Earnhardt won 7 titles and 76 races, and Waltrip, who finished sixth that day, won 84 races and three championships. So while we focus on Gordon's accomplishments over the years, consider some of the finishing orders he's topped in some of the marquee races. You have those two, and the 1998 Brickyard 400 had Gordon beating Mark Martin and Bobby Labonte, with Dale Earnhardt (fifth), Ernie Irvan (sixth), Terry Labonte (eighth), and Rusty Wallace (ninth) all finishing in the top ten. The 2005 Daytona 500, also won by Gordon, also had a doozy of a top ten. Following Gordon that day were Kurt Busch, Dale, Jr., Jimmie Johnson (fifth behind Scott Riggs), with Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Sterling Marlin, and Rusty Wallace also finishing in the top ten. Also, let's not forget that this was not the first time that Jeff Gordon won the Brickyard 400 on a restart. In 2001, he beat Sterling Marlin by passing him entering turn one on a late restart, and pulled away like he did on Sunday, so Kahne's not the first driver Gordon's beaten at Indy on a restart. And the move he made to get the lead from Kahne was also similar to one he made to keep Rusty Wallace behind him shortly after the final restart in the 1994 inaugural when Wallace, by all rights, had Gordon passed, but Gordon was not to be denied by legends that day, nor was he to be denied this past Sunday. 371. RACE34 posted: 07.29.2014 - 2:59 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) @354 Neal- I understand the tough position NASCAR is in, however I don't think it's fair that every week the racing has to be spectacular to keep fans involved. Is every F1, Indycar, NHRA, TUDOR Sports Car, AMA race exciting? The answer is NO. I know that NASCAR is supposed to be the king of Motorsports but fans need to realize it's not the tracks in general for the bland racing, it's the cars inability to race at certain tracks!! NASCAR needs to get more of a drafting thing going with the race cars and get rid of the aero-push at the intermediate and big Indy and Pocono tracks!! Look at the Indy 500 the last few years, NASCAR needs to go with something like that and get rid of these fake debris cautions!! If NASCAR did that, it would improve the racing!!! 372. DB1995 posted: 07.29.2014 - 10:07 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hermie Sadler will drive the #19 in the nationwide races at Bristol and Richmond, I love Hermie Sadler, more so than his brother, i always enjoy it when hes on John Boy and Billy, I dont know what Mike Bliss will drive in those 2 races though. 373. Zackary Shawn posted: 07.29.2014 - 1:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Shouldn't Gordon's sponsor be listed as Axalta Coatings so as to be consistent with the other races in which he has run that paint scheme? 374. Zackary Shawn posted: 07.29.2014 - 1:22 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Or shouldn't the Kansas race be changed to simply Axalta? Unless he ran a special scheme in that race. I didn't get to watch that one. 375. Scott B posted: 07.29.2014 - 1:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #367- Full time drivers with the most DNF's due to crashes over the first 20 races of this season: Ryan Truex (4-Rookie) Justin Allgaier (4-Rookie) But in fairness, each of these drivers had two crashes at restrictor plate races, where wrecks are a bit of a lottery. After them, 6 drivers with 3 DNF's due to crashes: Kurt Busch Alex Bowman (Rookie) David Gilliland Jamie MacMurray Aric Almirola Kasey Kahne Keep in mind this is just a raw stat, some of these drivers are not ones I'd immediately think of a crash-prone. It doesn't attempt to separate at-fault crashes vs. innocent bystander situations, and it doesn't count contact where the car can continue on and finish the race (Ricky Stenhouse, I'm looking at you). :) 376. KennyWallaceFan posted: 07.29.2014 - 1:54 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) I guess Eldora isn't going to have a cup race any time in the future. Man I don't know if I'm NASCAR I get rid of some of these cookie cutters that don't draw the greatest attendance (chicago and kentucky at least) and I give Eldora a race, give Iowa a race or two, and what about a new road course? I guess it really is going to be the same schedule. It just doesn't make sense to me. They are changing everything possible with NASCAR, yet they won't change the schedule and get rid of some of these cookie cutters, and add fresh blood into the series. And it really sounded like the article from Jayski that they aren't planning to add Eldora any time soon, if ever. I would post more on here, I used to watch most of the NASCAR races but now I only watch most of the truck races, and that's about it. I don't know it just seems like common sense to me that you would add a new, different track like Eldora and get rid of some of these cookie cutters that people complain about 24/7. 377. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 07.29.2014 - 2:14 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "I always preferred the old system. Can't handle the present? Really? We're not allowed to worry about a sport that's headed down the shitter?" Then we should all grab the toilet paper then. "Brad Keselowski is the only Cup driver in the Nationwide race at Iowa, just like last year. Of course last year he won the Iowa race helping the #22 team win the all-important owners championship." Brad, Roger, you need get a hold of your lives. "@354 Neal- I understand the tough position NASCAR is in, however I don't think it's fair that every week the racing has to be spectacular to keep fans involved. Is every F1, Indycar, NHRA, TUDOR Sports Car, AMA race exciting? The answer is NO. I know that NASCAR is supposed to be the king of Motorsports but fans need to realize it's not the tracks in general for the bland racing, it's the cars inability to race at certain tracks!! NASCAR needs to get more of a drafting thing going with the race cars and get rid of the aero-push at the intermediate and big Indy and Pocono tracks!! Look at the Indy 500 the last few years, NASCAR needs to go with something like that and get rid of these fake debris cautions!! If NASCAR did that, it would improve the racing!!! " You do realize that dirty air will ALWAYS be a problme with speeds above 150MPH? As long as one car is in front of another dirty air will be there, the law of aerodynamics says so. "I guess Eldora isn't going to have a cup race any time in the future. Man I don't know if I'm NASCAR I get rid of some of these cookie cutters that don't draw the greatest attendance (chicago and kentucky at least) and I give Eldora a race, give Iowa a race or two, and what about a new road course? I guess it really is going to be the same schedule. It just doesn't make sense to me. They are changing everything possible with NASCAR, yet they won't change the schedule and get rid of some of these cookie cutters, and add fresh blood into the series." 1: Eldora isn't ready for Cup, not by a long shot. 2: The term "cookie-cutter" needs too get out of NASCAR fans vocabulary. They make "look" the same but they drive differently. Not one track in NASCAR is the same as another. 3: On the other hand you are correct, not every race needs too be a barn burner. Too quote Dave Dispain: "most races are average, some are good, few are great, a handfull are awsome, then there is the once-in-a-generation-grade-A-classic." 378. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 07.29.2014 - 2:16 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Oops, #3 in my post was directed at post 371. 379. RACE34 posted: 07.29.2014 - 3:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @377 1995 Subaru WRX STi- I totally agree with your 3 comments. Eldora is an awesome race track and facility but the Mudsummer Classic truck race is special and Eldora isn't ready to host bigger series YET. My opinion on the cookie cutter's is the same as yours, they look alike but they don't drive alike. People need to stop complaining about them, NASCAR needs to try to make intermediate track racing like short track racing. One idea I have is to make every intermediate track narrower by pulling the wall in, then it would be a little tighter racing in my opinion. It's these fans who act like every race has to be the race of the CENTURY who are ruining NASCAR. 380. 23andJoe posted: 07.29.2014 - 4:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) >You do realize that dirty air will ALWAYS be a problme with speeds above 150MPH? As long as one car is in front of another dirty air will be there, the law of aerodynamics says so. However, until the late 90s it wasn't an issue. Watch, especially, the mid 90s Pepsi 400s; I was shocked to be reminded that the cars were running full-tilt down the back straightaway with the cars' noses far enough off the asphalt to stick a fist between the air dam and track with room to spare - and the racing, even with the plates, was good. Single cars could pull out and pass. By the late 90s though we were getting the "air dam glued to the track" cars, and then came the splitter, and now the no-ride-height rule. All of which emphasise "dirty air" and "aero push". 381. SpeedWorld97 posted: 07.29.2014 - 4:35 pm Rate this comment: (4) (0) "3: On the other hand you are correct, not every race needs too be a barn burner. Too quote Dave Dispain: 'most races are average, some are good, few are great, a handfull are awsome, then there is the once-in-a-generation-grade-A-classic.'" As a previous poster already mentioned, today's generation has such short attention spans that they constantly need action to stay entertained. Twenty to thirty years ago, people could sit and watch what we define as a "boring race" today and not become bored at all. Us being die hard race fans on this site, we can endure the boring races to appreciate a true "once in a generation grade-A classic," and I tend to feel bad for the casual race fans who don't see it that way. By the way, I came across a true gem on YouTube documenting the infamous Split of American open-wheel racing in 1996. Back when ESPN actually cared about other forms of motorsport besides NASCAR, Outside the Lines documented the events of May 26, 1996 from both Indianapolis and Michigan and provided the views of the drivers, team owners, CART and IRL personnel, sponsors, and fans. It's crazy to watch now and see what the end result was just 12 years later when Champ Car had to completely fold, and by then the damage had been done. What also amazes me is that you have to realize how much interest there was in American auto racing at that time. Remember that both the U.S. 500 and Indy 500 basically had sellouts, and the Coca-Cola 600 was most likely sold out too in Charlotte. All three races total meant a total attendance probably near 750,000 for just one day, and all three races were on the east coast. Fast forward 18 years later, and both the Indy 500 and especially the Coca-Cola 600 are both nowhere near sellouts. It may just be the best old racing documentary I've ever seen. It's titled "500 Miles Apart" for anyone interested. 382. RACE34 posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:01 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) @381 SpeedWorld97- I agree 100% with you!! I think it's just sad and stupid how short of an attention span the generation of fans have these days. It used to be about real, natural racing and now today's generation of fans need a hell of a show every week to keep themselves entertained!! At least we still have DIE HARD NASCAR fans like us on this site who will always love NASCAR no matter what!!! 383. Eric posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:18 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Guys, Marty Smith on Espn's turn 4 article mentioned his opinion on how to Revive the Brickyard 400. His opinion is "changing the car. Chop down the spoiler some, and soften up the tires so they fall off." Does anyone have an opinion on Marty's answer to revive the Brickyard 400? My own take is something needs to be done with the Areo push of the track in terms of the cup car. The drivers didn't have that complain in 1994 at IMS, but did in 1995 and has been the issue since. 384. HinchForMayor posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) DSFF, I LOL'd at that so hard I burst my spleen! Now you have to come save me! 385. RACE34 posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:23 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @383 Eric- I am right there with you on fixing the aero push!! I've thought for a while that's what produces the racing that the new generation of fans can't stand!! 386. 18fan posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) 75 point penalty for Denny Hamlin and 6 race suspension for Darian Grubb. 387. Eric posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Big news came out in terms of the 11 car. Denny Crew chief is now suspended for 6 races and 75 driver and owner points were taken away. 388. murb posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:30 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "soften up the tires so they fall off." If there was a way to do this without overdoing it and having a 2008 repeat, I would be all for it. 389. murb posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:31 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Wow, that's a harsh ass penalty for the 11. 390. Eric posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Murb, The problem in 2008 with the tires was Car of Tomorrow. We are dealing with a different car now than we did back than and it was the Cot's first year that it was used on all the tracks. The COT in 2007 was used on 1 mile or less tracks, Road Courses, Darlington, and Talladega. I believe Goodyear did a tire test in 2008 for IMS, but they had the wrong tires for the car. 391. Schroeder51 posted: 07.29.2014 - 5:47 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) "75 point penalty for Denny Hamlin and 6 race suspension for Darian Grubb." WOW, they must have had some REALLY illegal parts on that car for NASCAR to hand out that stiff a penalty. When was the last time they handed out a penalty that stiff? It's been a while... Alas, this penalty probably won't mean a thing in the long run, as Hamlin already has a win and has attempted every race, and I can't see him dipping out of the top 30... 392. murb posted: 07.29.2014 - 6:03 pm Rate this comment: (3) (1) Apparently the problem on the 11 was that the rear firewall block off plates weren't sealed off properly, which may have led to a slight downforce advantage. I personally think it's a pretty bullshit penalty. It seems like this is just another overreaction to a measurement misjudgement, just like Kenseth's penalty last year. I could understand a fine and a crew chief suspension for maybe one race, but six races and 75 points for something like this is totally ridiculous. I hate to sound like a tin foil ass clown, but it really annoys me how they'll give out these harsh penalties to one time offenders, and then they don't even bat an eye when the 48 repeatedly has problems getting through inspection. It just seems like more wishy washy officiating and favoritism/singling out by Brainless Brian's Stooges. 393. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.29.2014 - 6:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Alas, this penalty probably won't mean a thing in the long run, as Hamlin already has a win and has attempted every race, and I can't see him dipping out of the top 30..." If the penalty stands, he's still 211 pts ahead of 30th; he can average a 31st place finish in the final 6 races to stay in the top 30. To me, 75 pts is akin to intentionally messing with the tires, fuel, restrictor plate, or any other equipment that is meant to be equal to all competitors. 394. DB1995 posted: 07.29.2014 - 6:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) just to verify how harsh this penalty is, The most points you can get in a race is 48, which puts the 75 points at over a race and a half, this is the harshest penalty i can remember anyone getting, i could understand a penalty this harsh if they deliberately tampered with a restrictor plate or ran a 427 cubic inch engine, but not for something that probably wasnt intentional. 395. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 07.29.2014 - 7:19 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Apparently the problem on the 11 was that the rear firewall block off plates weren't sealed off properly, which may have led to a slight downforce advantage." Even with that advantage, they still didn't win the race. Which in my opinion is laughable. 20-30 more pounds of rear downforce means alot and they still didn't win anything. With the way the #11 has run this year should we even be labeling them as championship contender? I think not. "As a previous poster already mentioned, today's generation has such short attention spans that they constantly need action to stay entertained. Twenty to thirty years ago, people could sit and watch what we define as a "boring race" today and not become bored at all. Us being die hard race fans on this site, we can endure the boring races to appreciate a true "once in a generation grade-A classic," and I tend to feel bad for the casual race fans who don't see it that way." Every major sport goes for "casual fans" not just NASCAR. As much as i dislike Brian France, he is only doing what everyone else is doing; reach out for the casuals and keep them in as long as possible. And i can't blame him for that because everyone does it. "Does anyone have an opinion on Marty's answer to revive the Brickyard 400?" Agree with shortening the spoiler but that is it. Rip the back bumper cover off and shorten the spoiler is my fix. 396. MayorHinch posted: 07.29.2014 - 7:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) That's a stiff penalty for something that at Indy would probably be a disadvantage! Wow! It is a big deal though, even if it sounds like something as simple as how the part is bolted in. 397. Spannerhead29 posted: 07.29.2014 - 9:05 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) The reason the penalty was so harsh was because it was f**king with safety. 398. TS1420 posted: 07.29.2014 - 9:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "I hate to sound like a tin foil ass clown, but it really annoys me how they'll give out these harsh penalties to one time offenders, and then they don't even bat an eye when the 48 repeatedly has problems getting through inspection. It just seems like more wishy washy officiating and favoritism/singling out by Brainless Brian's Stooges." I find it funny NASCAR likes to drop the hammer on teams without a history of cheating but then continuously gives the poster child for cheating in NASCAR slaps on the wrist (Like New Hampshire last year with their multiple failed pre-qualifying and post-qualifying inspections and then only having to start at the back as "punishment") 399. dennyfan11 posted: 07.29.2014 - 9:57 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Holy Crap! That might be one of the harshest penalites I've ever seen. Only Matt Kenseth beats that! And that was all for the addition of 20 pounds of rear downforce. Meanwhile,in 1983,Richard Petty had an engine 24 cid over the limit and left side tires all the way around at the end of the race,and got penalized 105 points,the equivalent of 25 today,and 25000 dollars,the eqaivalent of 60000 today To me,75 points and 125000 would be like removing the restrictor plate at a superspeedway,having a bigger engine,bigger fuel tank,and making the car lighter. Not adding 20 pounds of downforce! #FireBrian 400. dennyfan11 posted: 07.29.2014 - 10:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was away in England,so that's why i did not comment. Even worse,NASCAR has 6 levels of penalties,from P1 to P6. P1 is very minor,while P6 is like having a very big engine or adding nitro. Nascar somehow rates 20 more pounds of downforce as P5. #NoLogic 401. cjs3872 posted: 07.29.2014 - 11:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) A reply to recent comments, especially those on the penalty handed to Denny Hamlin's team today. One point I think everyone seems to be missing is that Denny was so far out to lunch in qualifying, that he admitted that he was off by more than a full second. For him to make up that much ground, and for NASCAR to catch that car with something that was an infraction of the rules, and apparently a major infraction (if not an intentional one), NASCAR had to put the hammer down on the first such offender, and when they do that, they usually hand down an excessive penalty as a deterrent to others, as was the case here. Now as for aero push and how to get the racing at the Brickyard better, I'm not sure there's anything anyone can do. Taking downforce away is not the answer, because it makes the cars undriveable, especially in traffic, but the more downforce they add, the worse the aero push problem, which began at Indy in 1995, gets. However, I think what happened to create the aero push situation in the first place was the 1995 Monte Carlo. Aero push was not a problem in 1994, the year before the '95 Monte Carlo was first raced, nor was it a problem in the '96 Brickyard 400, because you had Fords racing up front all day, nor did it seem to be a problem when Fords or even Pontiacs were the lead cars. But the Chevrolet was so much more aerodynamic that it caused problems for others trailing it. But I think Marty Smith is missing the point entirely when it comes to adding competitive racing at the Brickyard. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway was originally built as a test track for cars that existed 100 years ago, and it certainly was not designed as a track where cars could race at 200 MPH. Heck, they couldn't even race competitively when the roadsters reached 150 MPH for the first time in 1962. Only drafting has saved the Indianapolis 500 in recent years, or the racing in that event wouldn't be any better. The thing about Indy that has always set it apart is that it has always demanded that whoever ends up succeeding has to get everything right. The driver, the chassis, the engine, and the pit crew all have to hit it right, plus you have to have Lady Luck riding with you to win at Indy. As a result, IMS has always identified the best of the best in racing, regardless of the era or the category of racing. Just look at the drivers that have won the Brickyard 400 over the years. And there's a reason why the same drivers and teams always won, or were in contention to win the Indianapolis 500 in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. They were the best and at the top of their game. More than any other track, Indy has almost always identified the best in racing, regardless of whether it was IndyCar racing, or in more recent years, NASCAR. And @377, aero push is becoming a significant problem even at shorter tracks and road courses now. Let's not forget that Jeff Gordon's crash in the S's at Watkins Glen last year was caused entirely by aero push, and they weren't going more than 120-130 MPH at that point on the track. And aero push is even becoming a factor at places like Phoenix, Loudon, Richmond, Watkins Glen, and I think we even saw it at Bristol over the last couple of years. Frankly, I don't think there's anything that can be done about it. 402. Scott B posted: 07.30.2014 - 12:23 am Rate this comment: (1) (0) "The reason the penalty was so harsh was because it was f**king with safety." Exactly. The driver's compartment is required to be sealed to protect against fire. Put someone's safety at risk for a few extra pounds of downforce? No whining about the penalty if you get caught. 403. joey2448 posted: 07.30.2014 - 1:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Even worse,NASCAR has 6 levels of penalties,from P1 to P6. P1 is very minor,while P6 is like having a very big engine or adding nitro. Nascar somehow rates 20 more pounds of downforce as P5." Well IMO I think the penalty system (from P1 to P6) is good, because at least teams have a clear-cut understanding of what is okay and what isn't. But you're right otherwise, the penalty for the 11 team seems a bit harsh for unsealed firewall block off plates, which seemingly had no effect Sunday, since the only reason Hamlin was in contention at all was due to a different pit strategy than other teams. BUT, if the penalties for the 11 team were given out for a safety violation (since I'm not sure because I'm not very familiar with that aspect of the car) then I mostly agree, because tampering with something that could lead to injury or death should never be tolerated (as I'm sure cjs will also support). 404. cjs3872 posted: 07.30.2014 - 3:11 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, if it was for a safety infraction, joey2448, then it should be met with the harshest penalties possible, not just from NASCAR, but also from the team itself. I know that if I was a car owner and found out that a safety component on one of my cars was compromised, no matter the reason, and especially if there's intent involved, the person responsible would be fired on the spot, because there's no place in the sport, or within a team, for someone that would jeopardize the safety of one of their drivers. But we don't know if it was for a safety infraction, but if it was, and if there was intent involved, not only should NASCAR issue the harshest penalty possible, but the culprit(s) should also be fired immediately by whatever team he happens to work for. 405. MayorHinch posted: 07.30.2014 - 6:19 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) Future NASCAR: Someday (2017), NASCAR will change the Chase again. The drivers eligible to compete in the Chase will all be reset to the same number of points. Much like this year, after every third race the same number (in this year's case it's 4) of drivers will be cut. In 2017, it will be four drivers as well. Going into Homestead there will no lap led bonuses (why there isn't one still for the non-Chase guys I have NO idea) for the Chasers, and the remaining Chasers will have a 400-mile balls-to-the-walls all-star shootout. All 30 of them. Fuel mileage plays in and thanks to some timely cautions and careful preparation, David Stremme, ironically one of the non-Chase drivers, will storm under the checkered flag first ahead of 2017 NASCAR T-Mobile Cup Champion Timmy Hill, driving the Circle Sport "Start & Park Special," who will win the first annual "42 Driver Chase for the Cup." 406. NewJack posted: 07.30.2014 - 7:31 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) The penalty isn't an issue to me. I wouldn't compare it to previous years only because they re-did the penalty rules this year, so not really a fair comparison. Plus they hit them for 25 points extra since the violation occurred post race. From what I've read, a P5 Penalty is considered "may include but are not limited to violations such as combustion-enhancing additives in the oil, oil filter, air filter element or devices, systems, omissions, etc., that affect the normal airflow over the body." They probably could have called it a P3 penalty, but they must have made the determination that they gained too much of an advantage. Link I was looking at can be found here: http://www.justfishnascar.com/rules-changes.html Now if Jimmie Johnson does it next week and only gets a P3, that would be a bigger issue. 407. MayorHinch posted: 07.30.2014 - 8:28 am Rate this comment: (0) (2) I don't know whether MayorHinch or Hinch27 sounds better. Thoughts? 408. cjs3872 posted: 07.30.2014 - 11:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And that's another problem with the penalty they handed down to the #11 team, NewJack, because what NASCAR did, in terms of the points and monetary penalty was definitely a case of double jeopardy, meaning they penalized the #11 team twice for the same infraction. Penalizing them $75,000 and 50 driver and owner points was enough, but to dock them an additional $50,000 and 25 driver and owner points is too far, and an obvious case of double jeopardy. I think that's why JGR is appealing the penalty. I think they may be in agreement with the suspensions handed down, but they penalized them monetarily and points-wise twice for the same infractions (there appeared to be three of them that NASCAR discovered). However, this appears to be purely a competition-based infraction, and not anything that had to do with compromising the safety of the driver. However, this seems to be an obvious case of cheating since three different infractions seem to have been discovered at once. I see Chad Knaus taught Darian Grubb how to cheat when Grubb was at HMS, because, short of an oversized engine or using tire softeners, this is just about as blatant as it gets. Getting caught with one infraction is bad enough, but three at once? 409. Watto posted: 07.30.2014 - 12:32 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Only Matt Kenseth beats that!" and Carl Long's penalties from a blown motor in all-star open practice puts Matt Kenseth's 2013 penalties to shame 410. Watto posted: 07.30.2014 - 12:46 pm Rate this comment: (2) (1) "That's a stiff penalty for something that at Indy would probably be a disadvantage!" It's actually a huge advantage at a place like Indy. "I hate to sound like a tin foil ass clown, but it really annoys me how they'll give out these harsh penalties to one time offenders, and then they don't even bat an eye when the 48 repeatedly has problems getting through inspection. It just seems like more wishy washy officiating and favoritism/singling out by Brainless Brian's Stooges." You should go watch tech at a Cup race some time. You might be amazed at just how many teams have to go through inspection repeatedly. That's the beauty of pre-race or pre-practice inspection: you feel for the limits so that you're fine in the race. That's what the 48 is known for. They've only gotten post-race penalties a fraction of the time, and not since 2005, despite how often their car has been looked at with a fine toothed comb. One time offender or not, NASCAR deals with blatant cheating like blatant cheating and black and white issues harshly. Some things are very black and white, other things are riding the border of being a fraction of an inch safe or a fraction of an inch out of bounds. What Denny's team did is very black and white. "I find it funny NASCAR likes to drop the hammer on teams without a history of cheating but then continuously gives the poster child for cheating in NASCAR slaps on the wrist (Like New Hampshire last year with their multiple failed pre-qualifying and post-qualifying inspections and then only having to start at the back as "punishment")" WITHOUT a history of cheating? Um, using magnets to trick dyno tests? Unapproved oil pans that were better for aero and COG? Light connecting rods? When Gibbs gets penalized, it's usually the more black and white things that always result in big penalties. Let's not pretend that JGR is the shining example for the rest of the garage. 411. 1995 Subaru WRX STi posted: 07.30.2014 - 12:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (1) Watto i'm glad your here, shed some light on the un-enlighted ones. "I find it funny NASCAR likes to drop the hammer on teams without a history of cheating but then continuously gives the poster child for cheating in NASCAR slaps on the wrist (Like New Hampshire last year with their multiple failed pre-qualifying and post-qualifying inspections and then only having to start at the back as "punishment")" Where were you at when NASCAR nailed the 48 too wall at Daytona in 2012 but got let off the hook by John Middlebroke(sp?) aka the ex-GM guy? "That's the beauty of pre-race or pre-practice inspection: you feel for the limits so that you're fine in the race. That's what the 48 is known for." Careful, don't stop conspiracy theorites from making wild claims and having a bash fest. :-P 412. SpeedWorld97 posted: 07.30.2014 - 2:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Chase Eliott's Nationwide #9 crew chief, Greg Ives, will officially be Dale Jr's crew chief beginning next year. 413. cjs3872 posted: 07.30.2014 - 2:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) The thing that Matt Kenseth got caught with following one of his victories last year, in regards to the lightweight connecting rods, was not on Joe Gibbs Racing, but rather on TRD, since TRD does the engines for the two top Toyota teams, JGR and MWR. So I don't fault JGR on that one, since they no longer do their own engines for the Cup Series. That said, what happened at Indy was that they apparently got caught doing three different things at the same time, rear wheel well panels that failed, an oil box cover that failed, and a shifter boot cover that also failed. All of these things give a team an edge, but for all three to happen at the same race tells me that there was deliberate cheating going on. That said, they should not have been penalized twice for the same rules infractions, and that's what happened. They were penalized $75,000 for the crew chief and 50 points for both the car owner and driver, and then the crew chief, owner, and driver were hit with additional penalties of $50,000 for the crew chief and 25 driver and owner points, and that's a case of double jeopardy, being hit twice for the same infraction. They should only have penalized once for those infractions. 414. The Crimson King posted: 07.30.2014 - 2:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @412 Where did you get that from? 415. The Crimson King posted: 07.30.2014 - 2:53 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Still, penalties don't seem to do too much with this championship system. They only affect you if you haven't won yet, which Hamlin has. Unless nascar makes a rule that allows you to keep your winners trophy and your place in the recordbooks, but your win is negated as far as qualifying for the chase goes, of course. 416. SpeedWorld97 posted: 07.30.2014 - 2:57 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "@412 Where did you get that from?" It's all over Twitter. Dale Jr. himself even made it official. 417. The Crimson King posted: 07.30.2014 - 3:00 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) @416 Oh damn. I completely missed that. I wonder who Chase's crew chief for next year in nationwide will be then. I have no idea what the consensus on Ives is, however. 418. 23andJoe posted: 07.30.2014 - 4:18 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Pocono entry list update: Mike Bliss out of the #93, Johnny Sauter in. 419. KennyWallaceFan posted: 07.30.2014 - 4:38 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hey 1995 Subaru WRX STi you mentioned that Eldora wasn't near ready for a cup race. I'm completely ignorant on this matter, what exactly would a place like Eldora need to do, to fit the standards for a cup race? 420. Eric posted: 07.30.2014 - 5:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Ives has been a very good crew chief Junior Motorsports for the last 2 years. The other reason this move was made because Ives was the engineer of the 48 team during their 5 straight cup championships. The only question mark I have is the cup cars changed after he left the 48 team after the 2012 season for Junior Motorsports. The advantage Dale Jr. will have next year is his crew chief was accustom to tapered spacers since that is what the cup cars will have that next year, but Dale Jr. doesn't have much experience with racing with tapered spacers compare to Brad, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Brad, Trever Bayne,Stenhouse,Harvick, Patrick . 421. murb posted: 07.30.2014 - 6:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "You should go watch tech at a Cup race some time." lol, If I (A) lived near a Cup track, and (B) actually had the money to go to a race, I certainly would. I still think it's too harsh of a penalty for the 11. I never said that they shouldn't be penalized. I just think Nascar overreacted and over-penalized them. Grubb getting fined, being suspended for 1-2 races, and the team losing 25 points (the same amount Logano and Keselowski lost for their penalties last year) would have seemed like a much more reasonable penalty to me. 422. murb posted: 07.30.2014 - 6:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "they apparently got caught doing three different things at the same time, rear wheel well panels that failed, an oil box cover that failed, and a shifter boot cover that also failed." I'm not sure where you saw this, because in all the articles I've read, the only thing it says they got caught for was the rear firewall block off plates. 423. The Long Shot posted: 07.30.2014 - 7:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) People seem to be overreacting a tad about the Hamlin penalties, considering they actually don't do him any damage when you think about it. Even after the penalty, he's still ahead of two other winners from this year (Almirola and Kurt), so even if we have six straight first-time winners to close out the regular season, which is highly unlikely, Hamlin will still make the Chase barring him absolutely tanking it down the stretch. And to top it all off, Grubb's suspension ends right at the beginning of the Chase, meaning Denny won't have to deal with an interim during the races that count. Not saying that NASCAR didn't act a bit harshly in this case (although Carl Long's 2009 penalty would make this look like a slap on the wrist and a disappointed finger-wag), but the penalty really isn't nearly as bad as you're making it out to be. 424. cjs3872 posted: 07.30.2014 - 9:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) My biggest problem with the penalties that were handed out to the #11 team was that it was a case of double jeopardy, because they were penalized twice for the same infractions (and three were listed, and apparently, they were in violation of four different rules in the rule book). Personally, I think the heavier of the two sets of penalties given were the right ones ($75,000 and 50 owner and driver points). And murb, where I saw the three infractions was on Jayski, and the rear firewall blockoff plates might be the same as the first listed on Jayski (the rear wheel well panels failing), but two other rules infractions were also mentioned, the oil box cover failing and the shifter boot panel failing. And in that same piece, there were four different sections violated by these infractions. I think that's why that was classified as a P5 penalty. But here's something. I scrolled down and noticed that no penalty category listing was listed for what happened between Marcos Ambrose and Casey Mears at Darlington, though P2 penalties ($10,000-$25,000 fines) were given to both drivers for that incident. What penalty category does driver conduct at the track fall under? Is it P2 (as was the case regarding Ambrose and Mears earlier this year), P3, or is it case by case, because we know that the conduct of the drivers has to fall under a certain category under the penalty system. (For instance, what Jeff Gordon did at Phoenix in 2012 is apparently a P5 infraction, since the same penalties were levied to him in that case.) 425. murb posted: 07.30.2014 - 9:52 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And murb, where I saw the three infractions was on Jayski, and the rear firewall blockoff plates might be the same as the first listed on Jayski (the rear wheel well panels failing), but two other rules infractions were also mentioned, the oil box cover failing and the shifter boot panel failing." The shifter boot and oil box are just examples (hence the "e.g.") Nascar gives in the rulebook under the section that the 11 team violated. Jayski quoted the Nascar rulebook, so that's why those showed up in the article. The only thing the 11 was caught with was the rear firewall plates. 426. cjs3872 posted: 07.30.2014 - 11:20 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Then murb, the only thing that we know of that they were caught with was those rear firewall plates, but I have a hunch that they had something else that NASCAR caught, but won't say what it is, because the penalty certainly wouldn't fit the crime if that's all they got caught with. Otherwise, the penalty level wouldn't have been so high. After all, we saw two drivers (Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose) get hit with P2 penalties after their post-race altercation at Darlington. I do expect more of this kind of thing as the season goes on, especially as the Chase nears, because NASCAR can't catch a rules violation if the car in question isn't looked at, and had Denny Hamlin finished sixth, instead of third (only the top 5 plus one random car get inspected after each race), they would have gotten away with this violation. It's possible that we'll se cheating go on during the Chase, but go undetected if the team that's doing it finishes out of the top five. For instance, who knows what might have been going on with the #5 car. If the #5 team was cheating in some way, by running out of fuel and finishing sixth, any violation they may have committed, they likely got away with since the car was likely never inspected following the race, since it did not finish in the top five. If teams fear their car may not pass inspection, we may see them try to finish just outside the top five, just so that they aren't looked over, and that may end up being the ticket in the Chase. Who's to say that the #48 team hasn't already done that in the finales in which they didn't have to race hard to win the title. The odds of this happening are remote, at best, but I can't say that it's never happened. 427. jabber1990 posted: 07.30.2014 - 11:22 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) So, we finally get a simple penalty system ( thank you fans) and now everyone is Angry with what we got Please make up your mind 428. Watto posted: 07.30.2014 - 11:29 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "lol, If I (A) lived near a Cup track, and (B) actually had the money to go to a race, I certainly would." I hear ya, and it's one of those things where I think there's enough said about it in the media... e.g., "____ had problems getting through tech this morning", "_____ was late getting through tech this morning", etc. It's nearly weekly. With that being said, there are of course things that are very black & white that you can't get away with if it shows up in pre-practice, pre-qualifying, etc tech. With Jimmie Johnson and many others, though, it's templates or ride heights or something similar that usually only gets dealt with during the race. It's pretty rare that a morning tech session results in penalties. 429. murb posted: 07.30.2014 - 11:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) "Then murb, the only thing that we know of that they were caught with was those rear firewall plates, but I have a hunch that they had something else that NASCAR caught, but won't say what it is, because the penalty certainly wouldn't fit the crime if that's all they got caught with." It's possible for sure, though I don't really understand why Nascar would keep it a secret if there were more violations. I agree though, the penalty doesn't fit the crime if it is just the firewall plates (which seems to be the case, judging from the four or five different articles I've read on it today). 430. Schroeder51 posted: 07.31.2014 - 12:02 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "After all, we saw two drivers (Casey Mears and Marcos Ambrose) get hit with P2 penalties after their post-race altercation at Darlington." Erm, I'm pretty sure you mean Richmond. If Mears and Ambrose fought at Darlington, I would remember seeing it because I was there... 431. cjs3872 posted: 07.31.2014 - 12:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Well, it was one of those night races, Schroeder51. Of course, since neither driver figures to make much noise the rest of the season (unless Ambrose wins at Watkins Glen and joins teammate Aric Almirola as a Chase berth-stealer), it certainly wouldn't figure to affect the overall scope of the season, except for the fact that they basically got P2 penalties (Ambrose's bordered on a P3-level penalty, at a $25,000 fine), something I think the others are going to be wary of late in the season, especially during the Chase. And speaking of the Chase, we know of 12 drivers that are effectively locked in, the 11 race winners and Matt Kenseth. In fact, if any 2014 race winner wins at Pocono, all the 1-time winners in 2014 clinch Chase berths, assuming they all stay in the top 30 in points. And Kenseth is in simply because he's nearly 3 full races ahead of the sixth winless driver in points with just six races to go until the cutoff. With all that said, who figures to be the other four drivers to make it into the 2014 Chase? If I had to predict right now, I would say that Ryan Newman looks very good at seventh in points, as does Clint Bowyer at tenth. I think Bowyer and Newman can get in with or without a win. I like Marcos Ambrose or A.J. Allmendinger to steal a berth by winning at Watkins Glen, and I think Roush is going to put everything behind getting Greg Biffle into the Chase, but I think Biffle's going to fall short, as will Tony Stewart, unless he pulls out a miracle win. If Biffle falls short and neither Ambrose or Allmendinger win at Watkins Glen, I think the final two spots will be decided among three drivers, Paul Menard and the two rookies, Austin Dillon and Kyle Larson. And I think Larson is the odd man out if it comes down to those three, because Menard and Dillon figure to be better at points racing their way to the Chase. The one wild card to all this is Kasey Kahne, but I think his best shot at making the Chase went down the drain with crew chief Kenny Francis' dumb decision to pit two laps too soon, which would have resulted in a 26th place finish, instead of sixth, if he had beaten Jeff Gordon on that final restart. Kahne's been running better since Kansas, but I think it's too late for him. 432. Zackary Shawn posted: 07.31.2014 - 3:13 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "And that's another problem with the penalty they handed down to the #11 team, NewJack, because what NASCAR did, in terms of the points and monetary penalty was definitely a case of double jeopardy, meaning they penalized the #11 team twice for the same infraction. Penalizing them $75,000 and 50 driver and owner points was enough, but to dock them an additional $50,000 and 25 driver and owner points is too far, and an obvious case of double jeopardy. I think that's why JGR is appealing the penalty. I think they may be in agreement with the suspensions handed down, but they penalized them monetarily and points-wise twice for the same infractions (there appeared to be three of them that NASCAR discovered)." cjs, you do realize that "double jeopardy"* is a legal philosophy that applies only to a courtroom setting, right? It has no application in the real world and NASCAR certainly isn't bound to maintain that standard. Before the beginning of the season, the new rulebook that detailed the tiered-penalty system made it clear that infractions discovered after a race would receive an additional penalty. The teams knew this and agreed to accept it. It's not a case of double jeopardy. It's a case of NASCAR enforcing the rules as they are written and agreed to. Having said that, I don't know if the penalties were too harsh or not. NASCAR gets to make that decision. I do know that, they don't actually matter in Denny's case. *By the way, "double jeopardy" means that you can't be tried for the same thing twice, not that you can't receive multiple penalties for the same action. Even if NASCAR was bound to uphold the "double jeopardy" standard, which they aren't, this particular instance still wouldn't be a case of "double jeopardy". 433. Chad's Hair Plugs posted: 07.31.2014 - 7:41 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) @431, I think Tony Stewart's chance at a "miracle win" is at the Glen along with Marcos and AJ. He's won there 5 times in both his own equipment and Gibbs'. Kahne is also only 4 pts behind Dillon for the last Chase spot assuming no one new wins. Besides the Glen, he's won at the other 5 tracks and in a Hendrick car, he has a chance to click off a run of top 5's, perhaps even winning one of the races. 434. Hinch27 posted: 07.31.2014 - 8:37 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think this will be my new screen name. 435. cjs3872 posted: 07.31.2014 - 9:56 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Zack, it's still wrong to penalize a team twice for the same infraction. That's why I refer to it as double jeopardy. I think NASCAR needs to look at that, because I don't think they thought that through when they came up with their penalty system in such a hasty manner this past off-season. If they just penalized them a straight $125,000 and 75 driver and owner points, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with it, but they penalized the #11 team twice for the same infraction ($75,000/50 points in penalty phase 1 and $50,000/25 points in penalty phase 2), and there's something terribly wrong with that. And @433, I think that's a possibility, but I don't think the #5 team has been running that well until recently, when HMS has put everything into getting that team into the Chase (a reversal for the 5/24 shop the last two years), but for them to be as strong as they were at Indy, as weak as that team has been this year, tells me that something may have been going on with the #5 car, as far as the possibility of cheating goes, but anything they did, they got away with since they finished just outside the top 5, resulting in that car not going through post-race inspection. And any penalty that could be handed down could crush the #5 team, given their current position, and even though he's won at both Bristol and Richmond, I just don't like Kasey's chances going forward, since he's historically struggled at Watkins Glen and Richmond. And to add to that, the strategical blunders by Kenny Francis are also going to hurt Kahne's chances, as they did this past Sunday when they pitted too soon on their final stop. I've gotten on Alan Gustafson, Jeff Gordon's crew chief for being a bad tactician, but Kenny Francis isn't much better, if he's any better at all. After all, Francis cost Kahne the Coca-Cola 600 last year, and he's cost Kahne other races through the years through bad pit strategy. But I think there could be a big difference if there are just three Chase spots available, instead of four, depending on what happens at Watkins Glen. If there ends up only being three spots available should either Ambrose or Allmendinger win that race, then it's going to be a mad dash for those three spots, and I like Clint Bowyer and Ryan Newman to claim two of them, because both can get in, either by winning or by points racing their way in, given their points positions inside the top ten. But they're going to have to battle with the likes of Kahne, Paul Menard, Austin Dillon, Kyle Larson, Tony Stewart, and Greg Biffle. If there are four spots available after Watkins Glen, then I could see the two RCR drivers getting in, or possibly even Biffle. However, with the Roush cars being such slugs this year on big tracks, and with three such races coming up, I don't see Biffle making it, and Stewart hasn't been running well, either, and I don't trust the #5 team, nor do I trust Kahne to get the job done when it counts. That's why I think the final two spots, if four are available after Watkins Glen, may be between Kyle Larson and the two remaining RCR drivers, and I give the edge to the RCR drivers, because no team can points race like RCR. 436. The Crimson King posted: 07.31.2014 - 2:26 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Don't forget the upcoming Michigan race. Michigan frequently turns into a fuel mileage race which can create an unexpected winner out of nowhere and screw some of the others out of a points spot. 437. The Crimson King posted: 07.31.2014 - 2:34 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) What I think will happen up until the chase: - Pocono: One of the regulars will win this. Probably Brad. - Watkins Glen: Surprise winner, possibly Ambrose but I won't count out Tony at one of his best tracks. - Michigan: Surprise winner via fuel mileage. Can't say who, but I think it'll be a shocker. -Bristol: A regular. Don't know who as Bristol is too wacky to really predetermine that. -Atlanta: Probably Harvick or Brad. -Richmond: Gordon got SCREWED out of winning the last race here so I say it'll be him. 438. murb posted: 07.31.2014 - 4:55 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Mark Martin has returned to Roush to work as a driver development coach. I think that's a great move by Roush. Stenhouse is a guy that clearly needs mentoring, and Mark working with Trevor Bayne (who already shows a ton of composure for his age) should help Trevor out even more. I know he won't be driving (at least I don't think so - though I have to admit it would be cool to see Mark run one final race in the #6 this year before turning it over to Trevor), but hopefully Mark will bring a bit of veteran presence back to the team. So I definitely think this is a smart move by Roush. 439. Eric posted: 07.31.2014 - 6:19 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) Mark is a first ballot NASCAR Hall of Fame driver once he gets on the ballot. Having Mark as a coach is a great move, but it depends on what on who he's working with because he can't do miracles with lost causes. I am saying that because Mark worked with Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards and they all turned out to have good, very good or great cup careers. At the same time, Mark did work with Danica Patrick. The problem is the talent is not there for Danica to work with. 440. DB1995 posted: 07.31.2014 - 7:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) -Richmond: Gordon got SCREWED out of winning the last race here so I say it'll be him. I dont have the greatest memory, but how did Jeff get Screwed out of it? 441. Clint Bowyer posted: 07.31.2014 - 7:51 pm Rate this comment: (0) (1) "I dont have the greatest memory, but how did Jeff get Screwed out of it? " Arm... itchy... must... SCRATCH!!!!!!! 442. cjs3872 posted: 07.31.2014 - 8:17 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I think you're confused, The Crimson King. Ryan Newman was the one screwed out of winning the fall race at Richmond last year. He had that one in the bag before Clint Bowyer's intentional spin. Sure, Jeff Gordon was going to be in the Chase (along with Newman), but he was not going to win that race. Newman was the one that was going to win it before all that late race chaos ensued, and Carl Edwards ended up being the beneficiary, in terms of winning the race was concerned. 443. DB1995 posted: 07.31.2014 - 9:01 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) ""I dont have the greatest memory, but how did Jeff get Screwed out of it? " Arm... itchy... must... SCRATCH!!!!!!!" That was last September 444. cjs3872 posted: 07.31.2014 - 9:30 pm Rate this comment: (2) (0) But the guy that was really screwed by that was Ryan Newman, DB1995, because he was cruising to victory inside the last ten laps before that happened. Not only was he screwed out of that victory, but he actually had been knocked out of the Chase before NASCAR took the appropriate actions. Gordon was added later as the 13th driver in the Chase when FS1 uncovered the collusion between Penske and Front Row Motorsports to get Joey Logano into the Chase in the middle of the following week. But the real victim of what MWR did at that time was Ryan Newman, not Jeff Gordon. Of course, the biggest victim ended up being the very driver that MWR was trying to assist, Martin Truex, Jr., because he lost his spot in the Chase, and later his ride (because his sponsor left) through no fault of his own. 445. DB1995 posted: 07.31.2014 - 11:09 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Has a rookie ever made the chase?, i ask this because right now we have 2 rookies in the chase i think, if you ask me, even though i despise both of them, that is pretty damn impressive for them. 446. Mr X posted: 07.31.2014 - 11:12 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Denny Hamlin made the chase as a rookie in 2006. 447. cjs3872 posted: 08.01.2014 - 12:01 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) And Mr X, that was an even more impressive feat, considering only the top ten in points made the Chase in 2006. (And in fact, then JGR-teammate and reigning champion Tony Stewart was NOT among those that made the Chase in 2006.) 16 drivers are going to be in the Chase this year, and not all of them are among the elite in the sport. Hamlin was among the elite in 2006 when he made the chase as a rookie. And it's about time that Roush brought a true mentor into the fold, and it's none other than his first driver, Mark Martin. However, I view this multiple ways. sure, Martin is a mentor to the younger drivers over there, but I think he adds something even more important at Roush, and that is the knowledge of the chassis of a race car, and they need to get the cars better over there, or nobody's going to do very good. I also think he brought Martin back to give Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. a firm kick in the rear end, since he's been underperforming badly, although I have a sneaking suspicion that he may have also brought Martin back to teach Trevor Bayne some of the nuances of some of the tracks he's never driven for next year, such as Martinsville. Granted, Martin himself was never that great there, but he did score two wins at Martinsville, and his vast experience there will also help Stenhouse, who to put it bluntly, has been terrible in each of his three races there. And also, let's not forget that Martin was giddy when it was announced that Roush was bringing the iconic #6 back for next year, so I think we can expect a substantial amount of communication between Martin and Bayne, who will drive a car that Martin naturally has a great deal of fondness for, since he won 35 times in the #6 car, not counting one Budweiser Shootout (1999) and two All-Star Races (1998, 2005). And unless there's a crew chief/team swap over there, Bayne may very well end up with Jimmy Fennig as his crew chief, so he might be able to help Bayne with that, if Fennig ends up being Bayne's crew chief in 2015. Remember that Fennig was Martin's crew chief for some of his greatest seasons, including his best ever in 1998, when he won seven times (eight, if you count the All-Star Race). I said that Edwards leaving was going to be a good thing for Roush, and I don't think this happens (Martin returning to the organization) if Edwards had stuck around. Let's also remember that Martin's not the first driver coach that Roush has hired. A number of years ago, Roush had ex-Petty and L.G. DeWitt driver Joe Millikan as a driver coach. Although I don't think we ever saw it in public, I don't think Martin particularly cared for Edwards and his attitude the 2+ years they were teammates. After all, doesn't anyone think the timing of this announcement is ironic, since it came days after Edwards announced his departure on the day of the Brickyard 400, something I think Edwards triggered, because I don't think Roush ever wanted to make that announcement on that particular day, since he knew it would overshadow the race until it was run. 448. Hinch27 posted: 08.01.2014 - 7:14 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) "I said that Edwards leaving was going to be a good thing for Roush, and I don't think this happens (Martin returning to the organization) if Edwards had stuck around. Let's also remember that Martin's not the first driver coach that Roush has hired. A number of years ago, Roush had ex-Petty and L.G. DeWitt driver Joe Millikan as a driver coach. Although I don't think we ever saw it in public, I don't think Martin particularly cared for Edwards and his attitude the 2+ years they were teammates. After all, doesn't anyone think the timing of this announcement is ironic, since it came days after Edwards announced his departure on the day of the Brickyard 400, something I think Edwards triggered, because I don't think Roush ever wanted to make that announcement on that particular day, since he knew it would overshadow the race until it was run. " It's doubtful. Negotiations like this take a long time, so Martin and Roush were probably already in discussion before the Edwards announcement. 449. Jim Davis posted: 08.01.2014 - 8:14 am Rate this comment: (1) (1) "...since it came days after Edwards announced his departure on the day of the Brickyard 400, something I think Edwards triggered, because I don't think Roush ever wanted to make that announcement on that particular day..." Are you sure it was *Edwards* that announced his departure? My reading of the situation is that Roush announced his 2015 sprint Cup driver line up and Edwards wasn't on it. 450. Anonymous posted: 08.01.2014 - 8:54 am Rate this comment: (0) (1) "Are you sure it was *Edwards* that announced his departure? My reading of the situation is that Roush announced his 2015 sprint Cup driver line up and Edwards wasn't on it. " Why must you always be an asswipe when pointing out mistakes? 451. The Crimson King posted: 08.01.2014 - 10:12 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) I was referring to this year's Spring Richmond race when I mentioned that Gordon got screwed. He clearly had the fastest car in that race. 452. Hinch27 posted: 08.01.2014 - 11:21 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) An announcement will come soon to reveal Ryan Blaney as the successor to Trevor Bayne in the famed Wood Brothers car. 453. racefangurl posted: 08.01.2014 - 12:02 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Cjs, Trevor raced at Martinsville in April 2011. He's never Cup raced at Darlington, Dover, Pocono, Sonoma, Kentucky, Loudon or Watkins Glen, though some of these are Nationwide tracks as well. Pocono and Sonoma are totally new to him and he has only one Cup race at a significant number ( I think 6 is fairly significant given how many tracks they use) of tracks other than Martinsville: Phoenix, Bristol, Fontana, Atlanta and Kansas. I checked his Cup stats on this site. 454. cjs3872 posted: 08.01.2014 - 1:43 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I know that, @453. But by the time he gets there next year, it will have been four years since he raced there for the one and only time, so he'll definitely need a refresher course on racing there, and who better than Mark Martin to give that refresher course. And Hinch27, that has now been announced. I find it, at the same time, peculiar and understandable. I find it peculiar because Ryan Blaney is a Penske development driver, and since we know that Penske and Roush are not on the greatest of terms, I find it somewhat surprising that Roush would let a Penske development driver into a car that's so closely tied to Roush. On the other hand, the young Blaney is exactly the kind of driver the Wood Brothers prefer, in that he's always been good at conserving his equipment and finishing races, while not tearing up his cars. That's something the Wood Brothers have always liked and preferred in their drivers. But my question here is this. Are the Wood Brothers changing their allegiance form Roush to Penske, because they've been a Roush satellite team for a number of years when they've run, but since they are now going to have a Penske development driver in that car, are they going to become a satellite team for Penske, and how might this adversely affect Roush's Cup effort going forward, since quite a bit of the R&D work that the Woods have been doing for Roush in recent years is now likely going to be on the behalf of Penske. And The Crimson King (#451), I don't think there was anything intentional that happened in the spring race, though there were a significant number of bizarre tire-related issues, if I recall right. That was a race in which the cautions didn't fall right for Gordon, and led to that wild finish between Gordon, Matt Kenseth, and the two Penske cars, with Joey Logano winding up on top. The race where the Clint Bowyer spin took place last fall was a race that Ryan Newman was going to win, and seeing that, that's when the MWR brass began to fix the outcome of the race, knowing that a Newman win was going to knock Martin Truex, Jr. out of the Chase. 455. jabber1990 posted: 08.01.2014 - 2:30 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) I do also wonder if Roush will dust off an old 99 car for 3-5 races for Martin, also is Roush-Fenway running 2 Nationwide cars in 2015? 2 1/2? I am happy and excited for Blaney, but does Wood Brothers have the infrastructure to run a full season? I don't remember how great they were before they became the JRM of RFR. Yes, Penske Jr. Will be better than Roush Jr. But you get my point 456. Smiff_2 posted: 08.01.2014 - 2:58 pm Rate this comment: (1) (0) CJS, I'm pretty sure the story about it on Jayski mentioned that is was going to be the beginning of a technical alliance between Penske and the Wood Brothers. Having Penske's chassis, engines and knowledge will certainly elevate the 21 car to levels not seen in well over a decade. You *know* when Blaney races the 21, it's going to be a full-on Penske car. 457. cjs3872 posted: 08.01.2014 - 3:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) They were horrendous jabber1990, even missing races with a past champion and one of the sport's greatest qualifiers in Bill Elliott in 2008. In fact, they were so embarrassed that they almost quit, it was THAT bad. That's what made their winning the Daytona 500 a few years ago with Trevor Bayne so incredible. That's also why they cut back down to a 12 race schedule in 2009 They ran 16 in 2011, using the winnings from their Daytona 500 win, along with a 4-race sponsor to enter more races), and that's what they'll be running for the foreseeable future, unless they get more sponsorship. 458. murb posted: 08.01.2014 - 3:11 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Really cool to hear about Ryan Blaney getting a shot with the Wood Brothers next year. As I've said a few times, I've been thinking that that would be a great fit, but I wasn't too sure if it would happen based on the Roush/Penske relationship that CJS pointed out. Glad to see it's happening. Hopefully now this will free up Sam Hornish (who was rumored to be taking over the 21) to be Ambrose's replacement in the 9. He deserves another full time Cup ride, and I think he would be a great fit in that car. 459. jabber1990 posted: 08.01.2014 - 4:41 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Larson on pole 460. Bradley Thomas posted: 08.01.2014 - 4:45 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Danican't to Round 3 at Pocono. 461. The Crimson King posted: 08.01.2014 - 5:03 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Damn, Larson on pole? 462. racefangurl posted: 08.02.2014 - 7:33 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Smiff_2, cjs I saw that story on jayski.com mentioned the former's comment. I couldn't talk much after Trevor's Daytona 500 win 'cause he's younger than me (I was 21 then) and had little experience, I knew. I can't be sure how I knew how little but his age told me that, even if Fox didn't. Maybe they did, though. If they mentioned how he was a Nationwide driver, that may have contributed to my shock. He won a Cup race and wasn't a regular in the series, that told me once I knew it. I know they mentioned how he'd just had his 20th birthday, but am unsure if they mentioned it was his second Cup race. I learned how long it had been since the Wood Brothers won a race, a Daytona race or a Daytona 500. I learned his name that day. What a turnaround the Wood Brothers had in the three years after 2008, at least regarding Daytona! They were embarrassed and hung their heads in 2008 and then, in 2011 it was all wide smiles. 463. Anonymous posted: 08.03.2014 - 5:15 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) #16 update: 3M Safety / Peltor / Speedglas (Peltor and Speedglas were each featured on one side of the car) 464. Maverick19 posted: 07.09.2017 - 1:48 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Hamlin's 75 point penalty in this race would be equivalent to almost 300 in the Latford system. 465. Sector posted: 07.29.2017 - 4:27 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon winning this Brickyard 400 marks winning it every 10 year the year ends with 4 (1994, 2004 and 2014). What a record. 466. RaceFanX posted: 01.02.2019 - 9:45 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Jeff Gordon's record breaking fifth Brickyard 400 victory turned out to be his last but in the process he became the first racer to win five times at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, no other driver to date has won five Indianapolis 500s or Brickyard 400s. Gordon was the second driver to record five wins at Indy but while Formula 1 legend Michael Schumacher won the U.S. Grand Prix here five times he does get an asterisk to that record given that everyone who could have plausibly beaten him withdrew on the parade lap during the chaotic 2005 U.S. Grand Prix. 467. RaceFanX posted: 01.02.2019 - 9:46 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Starting shotgun on the field in an extra Tommy Baldwin Racing entry, Bobby Labonte makes what turned out to be his final non-restrictor plate NASCAR Cup start in this race. Labonte continued running in the plate races through 2016 before moving into more of an analyst role and dabbling in racing in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series overseas. 468. Anonymous posted: 01.27.2019 - 7:39 pm Rate this comment: (0) (0) Final cup series start for Juan Pablo Montoya. 469. Rich posted: 12.30.2020 - 7:47 am Rate this comment: (0) (0) Allen Bestwick, Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett were the commentators. Dr. Jerry Punch, Dave Burns, Vince Welch and Jamie Little were the pit road reporters. Nicole Briscoe, Brad Daugherty and Rusty Wallace were in the ESPN pit studio. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *Post a comment:* Your comment may not appear immediately - all comments must be approved by the moderator. Name: Comment: