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February 25, 2007
California Thoughts
I watched the Truck and Busch races this weekend, but because I was sick I wasn't really able to concentrate on watching too much. So there's not much I can say about either of those races. But a few thoughts on the Cup side of things...
*Michael Waltrip just missed qualifying into this race. In fact he was beat out by David Reutimann, in a car Michael owns. I'm extremely sad for Michael the driver, that already he's failed to qualify for a race on top of the whole he's already in due to the penalties. However, I'm happy for Michael the owner that his other two cars made it into the show, David because of his time, and Dale Jarrett because of his past Champion's provisional. That said, Michael Waltrip Racing has some work to do to make these cars better. DJ has a limited number of provisionals, and for as long as they're outside the top 35 in owner's points, David and Michael have to have cars good enough to qualify in for the races. What happened during Speedweeks probably sent shockwaves throughout the entire organization, and made it difficult for them to concentrate on the task at hand, but they've got to put it behind them. I believe that MWR can be a strong organization that fields good teams, but it may take them time to establish themselves. But the sooner they can do that the better.
*I was shocked that Jeremy Mayfield failed to qualify for this race. I really figured that after they missed Daytona, Bill Davis Racing would make sure to give Jeremy an outstanding car this week. But they didn't. Not only that but Dave Blaney lost an engine midway through the race. I had been thinking that with full manufacturer support BDR would be much improved this season, but the one thing that I wondered was whether they'd be able to fix some of the other issues such as the constant mechanical woes, communication problems, and other things that plagued BDR last season. It's still early but one of their teams missing the first two races, plus a host of problems for Dave, isn't a good sign for how this season is going to go for BDR.
*David Reutimann got wrecked again this week. Not a very good start to his rookie season in Cup. Apparently Greg Biffle got frustrated trying to pass him and spun David with less than ten laps to go. Although some fans felt that it was because Jack Roush has an issue with Toyota and MWR, I think it had more to do with a veteran not having much patience for a rookie driver than anything else. Unfortunately it led to David going into the wall hard and getting the wind knocked out of him. He got out of the car and walked to the ambulance gingerly with help which was a good thing, but I'm hoping that he doesn't have any broken ribs or anything. Even though the softer barriers were there, David still hit extremely hard. Unfortunately he doesn't have an off-weekend like most of the other Cup drivers do either since he'll be heading to Mexico to race in the Busch race.
*Bad day for the DEI - both Martin Truex, Jr. and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. lost engines. DEI has major work to do in their engine department. With how competitive things are if the blown engines and other problems continue, DEI could find themselves in a position where more than one of their cars are outside the top 35 in owner's points after the 5th race. Of course it's only the second race, and it seems crazy to think that DEI would struggle that badly, but it sure isn't a good sign for this organization that they've struggled so much across the board to start the season. One has to wonder how much these problems might influence whether Junior re-signs with DEI or not?
*After another strong race, Mark Martin leads the points. He says he's not going to race the full season, but if he keeps racing this well, how can he not?
Posted by silverdsl at February 25, 2007 08:42 PM