raceannouncerblog

Since I haven’t posted for awhile, I thought I would try some “semi-live” blogging–giving some quick thoughts as I’m announcing the Pepsi 500 NASCAR weekend at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California…

(Sunday 8/31/08)

• Race day for the Sprint Cup Series at Auto Club Speedway is hot and WINDY!   The wind is gusting 20-25mph and is a headwind down the back stretch and a tailwind on the front stretch.  Average speeds will probably be down as a result.

• So just how WINDY is it?  When is the last time you ever saw a track caution light assembly get loosened up completely by a combination of the cars going past at speed coupled with the wind?  The unit falls in the high line turn one to bring out the yellow…

• Jimmie Johnson has had a very good race car since unloading on Thursday, similar to the kind of racing machine Kyle Busch had last night in the Nationwide Series.  Johnson’s car got the pole (just like Busch) and the car pulls away smartly on restarts.  The difference:  Johnson’s crew will have to deal with the changes brought on by the transition from day to night racing.  Will the car stay as strong???  We’ll see…

• A VERY strong performance for BOTH Red Bull cars.  #84 A.J. Allmendinger has the best car he has ever had in Cup racing and #83 Brian Vickers has another solid run going for the second night in a row…

• Kurt Busch rubbed side-to-side on the high side of Martin Truex Jr. out of turn 4 and by the time he got to turn one, the left rear came apart.  The carcass of the tire made contact with Ryan Newman and both Elliott Sadler and David Gilliland made contact trying to avoid the incident…

• Joe Nemechek had a tire go down on lap 68 and whacked the wall pretty good in turn 2.  Joe got out of the car and is OK…

• Greg Biffle tried Johnson on the restart on lap 74 but wasn’t able to complete the pass.  Biffle then had to hold off Denny Hamlin for the runner-up spot for a few laps…

• Although Johnson has the dominant car at lap 75, there’s been plenty of 3-wide action throughout the field.  Kyle Busch has a very tight race car and the crew believes it will get better as the sun goes down…

• On lap 85, the caution light assembly underneath the starter’s stand on the frontstretch came under intense inspection by NASCAR officials.  The upper “hood” (designed to make it easier to see in the sun) is being buffetted by the wind and the cars going by, shaking it pretty violently.  They don’t want a repeat of what happened earlier…

• Jeff Gordon pitted along with other drivers on lap 114 and complained of a very loose racecar.  Two and 1/2 turns counterclockwise on the wedge adjustment ratchet is the solution Steve Letarte came up with…

• Lap 121 finds Martin Truex Jr. coming in for an unscheduled stop because the lug nuts were not tightened enough on the green flag stop.  Brian Vickers may have a similar problem on the left front of the #83 Red Bull Toyota…

• Johnson’s car still leads just past halfway but Biffle and Denny Hamlin seem to have new life as well…

•  Remember the front stretch caution light that was shakin’ in the breeze earlier??? Believe it or not, it brought out the yellow flag on lap 160 as a piece of it finally came apart and hit one of the cars going by at start-finish!!! That’s just BIZARRE!!!

• Jimmie Johnson drove by EVERYBODY on the restart from sixth to go back to the lead in just two laps.  No one has anything for him right now…

• After Robby Gordon brushed the wall and plowed the turn 4 grass bringing out yet another caution, Johnson again restarted in 6th on the lap 187 restart.  He got 3 positions the first lap and went back into the lead the next lap…

• Caution flies at lap 218, setting up the final pit stop for everyone on the lead lap.  Unless something happens to Jimmie Johnson or someone pulls out a magic rabbit, the #48 team should be able to hold onto the win.  Biffle beats Johnson out of the pit road…

• It only took Jimmie Johnson just over a lap to get by Biffle.  This car has been just stinkin’ AWESOME all race long for the #48 team!

• Johnson WINS!!! First time anyone ever won a race here from the pole!!!

(Saturday 8/30/08)

• Ho-Hum, just another pole position for Kyle Busch in the NASCAR Nationwide Series here at Auto Club Speedway of Southern California.  Let’s see–that makes 14 career poles in the Nationwide Series, 4 in the Sprint Cup Series and 2 in the Craftsman Truck Series to go along with 12 career Cup wins, 17 career Nationwide Series wins and 9 in the Craftsman Truck Series.

• His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, young sensation Joey Logano, starts right behind Kyle from the 3rd spot.  Carl Edwards starts in the top 5 and Jimmie Johnson is a making a rare appearance in the series–WHOOEEE, this could be FUN!!!

• The early part of the race was another Kyle Busch affair, with Brian Vickers providing the only competition.  The first yellow didn’t happen until lap 56.  The first green-flag stops 15 laps earlier proved costly to both Joey Logano and Brian Vickers.  Logano slid through his pit box and had to be pushed back.  Vickers had to come in a second time for a missing lug nut.  Tough luck for both drivers but they both stayed on the lead lap.

• Busch continued to dominate through the middle of the race as well.  Bad luck for Brad Keselowski in the #88 NAVY JR Motorsports Chevy on lap 105 as electrical problems ended their competitive run.  Another unscheduled pit stop for Kevin Harvick on the same lap for a possible wheel mounting issue put him a lap down but it may work out for him as the pit window opened up to go the rest of the way without a stop.  Joey Logano has a potential top 5 going… 

•  Busch had a scare around lap 115 as the temps soared on the #18 Toyota but he found a lapped car to follow for awhile and was able to shake loose some debris which had accumulated on the radiator opening on the front of the car.  Driver took care of the problem himself!
• Final pit stops for the field started on lap 123.  These stops will go a long way to determining the final finishing positions in the race.  Edwards came in one lap later and his crew had no issues getting the car in and out quickly.  Logano came in as well and no problems on his stop.  Leader Kyle Busch came in on the next lap and his crew was as quick and smooth as they had been all night long.  Reutimann and Stremme came in on the next lap, turning the lead over to Clint Bowyer.
• On lap 126, Busch pinned Carl Edwards up against the wall behind the lapped car of Steven Wallace.  He kept him up there until the entrance of turn 3 where Kyle was able to pull away from Edwards.
• Pit stops finally cycled the lead back to Busch on lap 129.  Keselowski came back out on the same lap, some 22 laps down.  Chase Miller brought out the yellow flag with a solo spin and brush up against the wall on lap 132.  Only Kevin Harvick, who was off pit sequence with a wheel problem earlier, decided to pit on the yellow flag.

• Green flag flew on lap 142 for an 8-lap shootout.  Edwards tried to challenge Busch but had to go to a defensive posture as Jeff Burton tried to get by for 2nd.  Edwards held him off and drove away with Burton losing third to Brian Vickers.  Vickers went to work on Edwards and that’s all she wrote.  Kyle Busch won his 7th Nationwide Series race of the year.  It’s too bad a lot of people don’t like him.  We are seeing an unbelievable performance from this driver in all 3 of NASCAR’s top divisions.

(Friday 8/29/08)

• Joey Logano, tabbed to be Tony Stewart’s replacement in the #20 Home Depot Toyota next year, continues to impress.  He had the fastest practice times in both NASCAR Nationwide Series sessions on Friday.  Qualifying is Saturday but it’s an “impound” race and some teams concentrate on race setup rather than going for the pole.  He is a legitmate threat to win the Camping World RV Service 300 here.  Next weekend, he’ll get his first start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series as Joe Gibbs Racing will field a second Home Depot Toyota, #02, for Joey.  I’ll be there as well…

• As tremdous a season as Kyle Busch has had this year (I, too, am truly impresed with his on-track performances), he may not be a certain lock for the championship.  Both Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson are coming on strong (Johnson got the pole for the Cup race and Edwards is 2-for-2 in the win column in the last two races) and these teams will definitely figure into the Chase for the Sprint Cup.  Johnson has ALWAYS been tough at Auto Club Speedway ever since he got his first career win here in ‘02 and the experience of having won 2 championships will give this team a huge boost going down the stretch.  Edwards (and, in fact, the ENTIRE Roush-Fenway organization) is historically good here and also at Michigan, the “sister” track to this place.  The newest “rivalry” between Busch and Edwards only serves to further heighten the interest in NASCAR as we go through the final 12 races of the year.  It’s gonna be a wild ride! Stay tuned…

• Speaking of great performances, GEM (Gilette-Evernham Motorsports) had a pretty good day in Sprint Cup qualifying here on Friday.  Their 3 cars, the #9 of Kasey Kahne, the #10 of Patrick Carpentier and the #19 of Elliott Sadler, qualified 4th, 5th and 6th respectively for the Pepsi 500 on Sunday.  Sadler went out second in the qualifying order and his time stood strong for awhile.  Dodges have needed a good run in the series as they haven’t had much to celebrate since Ryan Newman’s Daytona 500 win at the beginning of the season…

• A.J. Allmendinger was the surprise of Cup qualifying as he got the outside pole in his #84 Toyota.  Remember, this is the same driver who was taken out of the cockpit for a few races earlier this season, replaced by veteran Mike Skinner to evaluate the car and give some advice both to the crew and the driver to get it going in the right direction.  Together, they must have found something and the “time off” looks to have been just what Allmedinger needed to get his “head screwed on straight”.  Nice job!

• Speaking of Mike Skinner, he accomplished something in qualifying on Friday that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.  Most of the drivers and teams opted to run only the first lap due to the hot track conditions.  Skinner was one of the few to put in a second lap and his time for BOTH laps was IDENTICAL–right down to the thousandth of a second!  Talk about consistency–JEESH!

That’s it for now–check back often for more updates from the “best seat in the house” from Auto Club Speedway!  Just Pazzin’ Thru…