Brickyard 400

More like Brick-YAWN 400! HEY-OH!!!

I was very excited to watch the Brickyard 400, but what a terrible show. It was kind of interesting to see the different strategies teams used in the unchartered waters of repeated competition cautions in a way--but I would hardly even call it a race.

I wish they went back to the old cars. These COT ("car of tomorrow") races aren't nearly as captivating, for the most part.

The Brickyard 400 is one of the biggest races of the season, and it was turned into a glorified tire-testing session by the COT.

All-Star Race

Pretty boring, right? I'm not sure what the right formula is for that race. Oh well, hopefully the Coca-Cola 600 is more captivating...and doesn't take 13 hours...

Rubbin's Racin'?

Did Kyle Busch wreak Dale Jr. at Richmond? Or was that just the product of close racing (and/or old tires?). I'm not sure we'll ever know! Here's the video if you missed it.

Danica Patrick Wins!

Some folks said it would never happen, others said it was a matter of time. Congrats to Danica Patrick on her first IRL victory!

I came across this column, which raises a number of potential asterisks, but as far as I'm concerned, it's as much a win as any other race. She's been running up front (with the rest of the Andretti-Green cars), and that's how races are won. If you run up front, the wins will come. Yes, there was a fuel mileage situation involved, but fuel strategy is part of racing. Plus it wasn't as if her team was taking a gamble. They made an effort to save fuel and, in the end, it worked out.

I see the author's point...but that's racin'!

Samsung 500

Anybody see today's race? Anybody else find it pretty boring? Or maybe it was just that I've been spoiled by two weekends of short track racing.

I can't make up my mind about the new car. On one hand, I don't think it has delivered on providing closer racing--I can't think of many captivating position battles from earlier today. Even Jimmie Johnson--who finished 2nd--complained about the car on tracks like Texas.

But on the other hand, the safety features on the new car helped Michael McDowell survive this horrific crash during Friday's qualifying session:



Hopefully there will be better racing next weekend!

Uneventful Race

I tuned in about an hour or so late, but caught most of the NASCAR race in Atlanta. It seemed as if every driver was fighting a loose-handling race car all afternoon. After the race, a number of drivers were critical of the tire compound provided for the race by Goodyear. Tony Stewart was tactful, as always:



Hopefully they get the compound figured out, and the quality of racing is better than what we saw today!

Daytona 500 Recap

I guess you can never tell what'll happen at Daytona. (Or Talladega for that matter...)

A wild finish, as always.

Can't help but feel bad for Tony Stewart, who switched lanes while leading to go with his teammate. But you also couldn't help but feel good for Kurt Busch, who pushed his Penske teammate Ryan Newman past Stewart (who punched him earlier in the week, allegedly) for the victory. Good ol' NASCAR...

Here's the finish for those of you who missed it!

Daytona 500 Today!!

Woo!!! Only a few hours left until the 50th running of the Daytona 500!

There are plenty of storylines this year. Will one of the feel good stories play out? Or will we be surprised with the end result? Regardless, go Jeff Gordon!

Oh the excitement!