WHEW!
Did you hear that? On both Saturday and Sunday there were huge sighs of relief coming from the Midwest.
Sunday’s big sigh came from Junior Nation, as Dale Earnhardt Jr. snapped his 76-race winless drought with a strategy victory in the Sprint Cup LifeLock 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Junior’s popularity can’t really be underestimated, so all is now right in the world with a huge segment of NASCAR fans.
He ran a smart race, and his oft-maligned crew chief and cousin, Tony Eury Jr., closed his eyes, crossed his fingers, and made the risky calls that put Junior in position to win.
Kind of fitting that it came on Fathers Day, wasn’t it? Considering Junior’s star really began to rise after the 2001 death of his father and redemptive victory at Daytona — the track where Dale Earnhardt died — later that same year in the Pepsi 400.
My pick to win Sunday’s Cup race, Jeff Burton, finished 15th.
Saturday’s sigh of relief came from NASCAR, as the designated savior of stock car racing, Joey “Sliced Bread” Logano recorded a historic victory in his third NASCAR start at the Nationwide Series race in Kentucky.
The PR folks from NASCAR must be ecstatic. After all, Logano has been the focus of their Nationwide TV advertising campaign all season long; quite a gamble to take on a driver who wasn’t even old enough to drive in the series until four months into the season.
Still, there is no doubt the young man can drive. Yes, he has some great equipment coming out of Joe Gibbs Racing, but I think we’ve seen enough busts to know the best car still needs a good driver.
And Logano, who was my pick to win that Nationwide race, is a good driver. Congrats to him.
Did you see the end to Saturday’s Craftsman Trucks race in Michigan?
Talk about close, with Erik Darnell edging Johnny Benson by about 3 inches at the line.
The race for third was almost as close, with my pick to win, Todd Bodine, getting edged into fourth place by Scott Speed.
1. After finishing second last weekend at Pocono, Brian Vickers finished fourth in Sunday’s Cup race. Vickers looked strong in the first long run, then dropped off a bit in the middle of the race before coming back in the late going.
2. After a really rocky first broadcast from Pocono, I thought TNT did a pretty good job with the race at Michigan. I didn’t hear any sound glitches this time, and I really enjoyed Kyle Petty’s commentary.
3. Give credit where credit is due, Bryan Clauson of Chip Gannasi Racing recorded a career-best fifth-place finish in Saturday’s Nationwide race in Kentucky. Clauson, whose previous best finish was a sixth-place in the season opener at Daytona in February, drove a smart race and brought his Dodge home without a scratch.
1. Can anyone help Jeff Gordon? The former champion — picked by most of the media to win this year’s Chase — seems to only be able to complain about his car these days. Too loose, too tight, too free on entry, etc. etc. etc. And how many times did we hear that his team didn’t know, couldn’t figure out, was struggling, etc., etc.
I know they don’t necessarily live out of each other’s pockets, but two other members of the Hendrick stable — Earnhard Jr and Jimmie Johnson — seem to be able to run up front these days.
2. Facing a $225 million sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit, NASCAR definitely took an image hit off the track this week.
Two officials who allegedly exposed themselves were placed on administrative leave, although Brian France cautioned everyone not to jump to the conclusion that action was related to the lawsuit.
As I said before, this case bears close watching to see how it will turn out.
3. Chip Ganassi’s PR folks need to learn a bit of finesse.
AP writer Jenna Fryer has been conducting a series of interviews with Ganassi Cup driver Juan Pablo Montoya. During her most recent sit-down with Montoya (CLICK HERE) who should walk in to pal around with Montoya but Chip Ganassi himself.
Of course, Ganassi is still reeling from the image hit resulting from firing Montoya’s crew chief without consulting the driver. That led Montoya to demand a meeting with Ganassi, who had to leave Indianapolis before the 500 to fly down to Charlotte to smooth the waters.
So now it would appear part of the “Everything’s OK at Ganassi” campaign is to show that Chip and Juan get along just fine.
Er, okay.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
