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February 26, 2008
Driver by Driver: California I
I'm a little handicapped because I couldn't watch yesterday's race, only listen with the volume low to Sirius and to Michael Waltrip's radio via Trackpass. So I probably missed some things but I'll give going through the field a shot.
1. Carl Edwards - On his XM show Michael predicted that Carl was going to win based on how strong he was at testing - that was definitely a good guess! Roush has always done well at this track so it's no surprise that one of their cars would end up in Victory Lane. Apparently Carl is still doing flips to celebrate his wins - it's cool for the fans but I hope that one day he doesn't crack his head open if he misses a landing.
2. Jimmie Johnson - Started on the pole for the second week in a row thanks to qualifying getting rained out. Led 76 laps but Carl had the better car at the end.
3. Jeff Gordon - Could have been a second disastrous week in a row for the #24 team thanks to a mechanical issue. However, Jeff had some good luck - his engine held together until the white flag before it went. Of course every team experiences mechanical issues from time to time but usually the Hendrick cars are pretty sound so it's unusual that two weeks in a row there's been a major problem with the #24 car.
4. Kyle Busch - Kyle is currently the points leader after the first two races which is driving some fans nuts. He's also the points leader in the Truck Series where he won a race, and second in points in the Nationwide Series so Kyle is off to a phenomenal start to the season with Joe Gibbs Racing. Yesterday I saw someone comment that they thought that JGR is going to regret signing Kyle but I really doubt it if he continues to race this well for them. Sure he has some behavioral issues but if JGR is willing to put up with misbehavior from Tony Stewart, they'll do so with Kyle as well.
5. Matt Kenseth - Led four laps but wasn't a contender at the end of the race.
6. Martin Truex Jr. - I don't think too many people noticed that Martin finished in the top ten but he did. After DEI didn't have a strong showing last week at Daytona some felt that it was a sign that they were in for a poor season but I think Martin is going to do just fine.
7. Tony Stewart - Kind of funny - this morning on Sirius they were talking about how Tony might be struggling with the COT since he "only" finished 7th yesterday. Some drivers would love to "struggle" like Tony!
8. Kevin Harvick - Kevin did a good job of overcoming a penalty for pitting too soon, a penalty which might not have been deserved.
9. Kasey Kahne - 2008 has already started out better than 2007 did for Kasey. Hopefully two top tens in a row, at two different kind of tracks signals that Kasey is going to rebound from his struggles last season.
10. Ryan Newman - I'm sure Ryan would have liked to make it two in a row but following up his Daytona 500 win with a top ten isn't bad.
11. Brian Vickers - Has anyone noticed how well Brian's done in the first two races? 12th last week and 11th this week. Just like last season when he makes races he generally races well. If he can qualify for the next three races he shouldn't have any problems sticking in the top 35 this season. That's the good news for Red Bull Racing. The bad news is that due to qualifying being rained out A.J. Allmendinger missed his second race in a row which will make it hard to get his team in the top 35. With Brian doing well, A.J.'s really going to step it up or he may not last long at RBR.
12. Jeff Burton
13. Kurt Busch - Started 36th and fought a loose condition to finish 13th.
14. David Ragan - I'm sure a few fans are surprised that David not only finished this race without wrecking but also finished pretty well.
15. Greg Biffle - Seemed to have a good car on Sunday but faded by the time the race resumed on Monday.
16. Mark Martin - This was Mark Martin's 700th start, something which I think is a pretty big accomplishment.
17. David Gilliland
18. Robby Gordon - Finishing 18th moves Robby back into the top 35 in owner's points. Maybe if Robby focused on racing and finishing as well as he can over the next few races instead of whining about how unfair the penalty as, those 100 points he lost wouldn't make much difference.
19. Clint Bowyer
20. Juan Montoya - Highest finishing Ganassi car despite losing positions towards the end of the race after he brushed the wall.
21. Scott Riggs
22. Jamie McMurray - Towards the end of the race Jamie was in the top ten but suddenly began falling back pretty quickly. I thought he had either a mechanical issue or that he brushed the wall but apparently it was because his car was very loose.
23. David Reutimann - For a while David was able to race in the top ten but the handling on his car went away. But in comparison to this race last season when David was involved in a very hard wreck, this is a good result.
24. Elliott Sadler - Got into the wall on Sunday but recovered to finish okay yesterday.
25. Bobby Labonte - Rumors continue to swirl that Bobby's leaving Petty and his contract with them is up at the end of the season - if they want him to say they'll have to give him cars that he can finish better in.
26. Bill Elliott - Made the race when qualifying was rained out thanks to being a past Champion. Jon Wood was supposed to race the #21 at Las Vegas but Bill is going to race it again just in case his Champion's provisional could come into play. I can't blame the team for wanting to go that route - missing the Daytona 500 put them in a hole that could be hard to climb out of.
27. Paul Menard - Never had a very good car.
28. Michael Waltrip - Not a good race for Michael and his team. First on the parade laps, a clamp fell off the oil line which dumped oil on the track. Luckily the team was able to make repairs before the race went green but once the racing got underway it quickly became evident that the car wasn't very good. I thought different track conditions might help yesterday but if anything it was worse. Michael eventually spun because the car was so loose but luckily there was no damage. Towards the end of the race the changes that Paul Andrews made ended up helping the performance, but by then Michael was stuck two laps down.
29. J.J. Yeley - It's only been two races but so far the results for the #96 haven't been much better with J.J. behind the wheel.
30. Dave Blaney - Had a terrible car that he couldn't do much with. Needs a few good finishes in a row to get into the top 35 and stay there. I'm not sure BDR has the resources right now to make that happen.
31. Regan Smith - Had an ill-handling car all race long.
32. Dario Franchitti - Starting the season worse than David Stremme did last season. Franchitti will need to get some good results if he wants to be in the top 35 this season and that may be hard if he's still adjusting to racing Cup.
33. Dale Jarrett - Like his MWR teammates, DJ never had a very good car but he would have finished a little better if not for spinning on the last lap of the race.
34. Joe Nemechek
35. John Andretti
36. Travis Kvapil - Travis was racing up front until the splitter on the car broke. Poor finishes are exactly what this team doesn't need since they're still looking for sponsorship.
37. Reed Sorenson - Was collected in one of the wrecks on Sunday but his team was able to make repairs so that he was able to get back on track.
38. Kyle Petty - Another race, another poor finish for Kyle.
39. Jeremy Mayfield - A blown tire ruined his day.
40. Dale Earnhardt Jr. - Bad luck for Junior - he got caught up in a wreck touched off by his teammate Casey Mears, and although he was able to get back into the race he was many laps down.
41. Denny Hamlin - Blamed poor track conditions for getting into the wall but a blown tire might have had something to do with it too.
42. Casey Mears - Went over one of the weepers on the track and moisture and these cars aren't a good mix. Ended up getting flipped over when Sam Hornish, Jr. ran into him, but luckily he was uninjured.
43. Sam Hornish Jr. - Some fans have criticized Sam for hitting Casey and causing him to flip over but Sam couldn't see anything since his hood was pushed up and apparently his brakes weren't working too well either.
Posted by silverdsl at February 26, 2008 11:43 AM