1. Marcos Ambrose losing an engine on lap 19.
This was Marcos’ [and the Woods Bros.] chance to prove themselves on a high speed oval after their impressive
and popular performance at the Glen, but they never got a chance as the famed no. 21 car suffered catastrophic
engine failure on lap 19. Marcos finished dead last in 43rd. His next chance to redeem himself and the Woods
Bros. comes at Bristol where he has never competed in the Cup Series, but finished 19th there in March in a
Nationwide car driving for Tad Geschickter.
2. Hendrick teammates get together on lap 91.
Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson tangle which cuts down tires on both cars. Jimmie has an unscheduled pit stop
and Jeff hits the wall on lap 97. Gordon stated that he didn’t care whose fault the incident was and that what he was
disappointed in was the fact that they were “back there” because of a couple of slow pits stops. “I think a lot further
back when I diagnose what [our] problem is than just who cause the accident” said Gordon in a post race
interview. Jeff is now 9th in points, Johnson remains in 3rd.
3. Kasey Kahne suffering a mechanical problem and dropping to 11th in the points.
It was reported early that it was an electrical issue with the no. 9 car. "I had a problem when I pulled into the pits. It
happened real quick," Kahne said. "I did all that I could do in the car to see if there was anything wrong with the
switches. All the gauges looked good, we just had something break inside the engine.” In spite of Kahne’s issues,
he is still optimistic that he will make the chase with just three races remaining before the cutoff.
4. Junior’s handling issues taking him out of contention for a repeat win.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. got in the wall with 17 laps to go taking him out of contention for a win, finishing 23rd and
dropping him back to in points.
A familiar scene began to unfold for the no. 88 team as the car started out good leading 43 laps and seemed to
fade as the race progressed. Communications on the radio from Dale Jr. was that he was “loose in and loose off”
which was apparent when he had to chase it up the track after getting loose on lap 183 with not much room to
catch the car running close to the wall. Junior hit the wall at the transition from the safer barrier to the concrete wall
which did significant damage to the fender and sheetmetal behind the right front tire. He made up a handful of
positions after pitting and remains 4th in points.
5. Denny Hamlin exploding a motor with 6 laps to go.
After climbing from his no. 11 JGR owned Toyota in the garage, Hamlin lambasted the team. "We came here with
a new engine package," Hamlin said. "We're a bubble driver, we just make stupid choices. We can't keep our cars
together; we have dash malfunctions, motors breaking and at this point we don't even deserve to be in the
Chase… we would just be in the way." “This was the same kind of deal we were doing at the All-Star race, so I don’
t really know…”
Hamlin finished 39th, falling three spots to 12th in the point standings, 26 points in front of 13th place.
Hamlin has one victory this season at Martinsville last March which is also the 6th race in the chase.
This was Marcos’ [and the Woods Bros.] chance to prove themselves on a high speed oval after their impressive
and popular performance at the Glen, but they never got a chance as the famed no. 21 car suffered catastrophic
engine failure on lap 19. Marcos finished dead last in 43rd. His next chance to redeem himself and the Woods
Bros. comes at Bristol where he has never competed in the Cup Series, but finished 19th there in March in a
Nationwide car driving for Tad Geschickter.
2. Hendrick teammates get together on lap 91.
Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson tangle which cuts down tires on both cars. Jimmie has an unscheduled pit stop
and Jeff hits the wall on lap 97. Gordon stated that he didn’t care whose fault the incident was and that what he was
disappointed in was the fact that they were “back there” because of a couple of slow pits stops. “I think a lot further
back when I diagnose what [our] problem is than just who cause the accident” said Gordon in a post race
interview. Jeff is now 9th in points, Johnson remains in 3rd.
3. Kasey Kahne suffering a mechanical problem and dropping to 11th in the points.
It was reported early that it was an electrical issue with the no. 9 car. "I had a problem when I pulled into the pits. It
happened real quick," Kahne said. "I did all that I could do in the car to see if there was anything wrong with the
switches. All the gauges looked good, we just had something break inside the engine.” In spite of Kahne’s issues,
he is still optimistic that he will make the chase with just three races remaining before the cutoff.
4. Junior’s handling issues taking him out of contention for a repeat win.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. got in the wall with 17 laps to go taking him out of contention for a win, finishing 23rd and
dropping him back to in points.
A familiar scene began to unfold for the no. 88 team as the car started out good leading 43 laps and seemed to
fade as the race progressed. Communications on the radio from Dale Jr. was that he was “loose in and loose off”
which was apparent when he had to chase it up the track after getting loose on lap 183 with not much room to
catch the car running close to the wall. Junior hit the wall at the transition from the safer barrier to the concrete wall
which did significant damage to the fender and sheetmetal behind the right front tire. He made up a handful of
positions after pitting and remains 4th in points.
5. Denny Hamlin exploding a motor with 6 laps to go.
After climbing from his no. 11 JGR owned Toyota in the garage, Hamlin lambasted the team. "We came here with
a new engine package," Hamlin said. "We're a bubble driver, we just make stupid choices. We can't keep our cars
together; we have dash malfunctions, motors breaking and at this point we don't even deserve to be in the
Chase… we would just be in the way." “This was the same kind of deal we were doing at the All-Star race, so I don’
t really know…”
Hamlin finished 39th, falling three spots to 12th in the point standings, 26 points in front of 13th place.
Hamlin has one victory this season at Martinsville last March which is also the 6th race in the chase.
The Top 5 Best and Worst at Michigan
By: Gregg A. Shultz, RaceFanVote.com
Read and Vote on the Top 5 Best and Worst from Michigan. Dale Jr. hitting the wall, Edward's
victory or bubble drivers having mechanical issues. Commentary, quotes and stats to help you
make your decision.
By: Gregg A. Shultz, RaceFanVote.com
Read and Vote on the Top 5 Best and Worst from Michigan. Dale Jr. hitting the wall, Edward's
victory or bubble drivers having mechanical issues. Commentary, quotes and stats to help you
make your decision.
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1. Late race cautions in which [sort of] made the finish more interesting.
It looked as if the 2-mile oval was going to provide some of the same runaway finish racing that it usually provides
when fuel mileage isn’t a factor. Of course some fans might not have liked the cautions because the driver running
in second was Kyle Busch, but three cautions in the last 20 laps did allow for Dale Jr. to draw up and pass a few
cars. Carl Edwards had the field covered, so some late race cautions did make the ending a little more exciting,
but only a little.
2. David Ragan tying his career best finish of 3rd at Michigan.
The driver that the announcers like to say is no longer a surprise to be running in the top 10 did it again. Roush
power was dominant all day, but Ragan has earned himself a non-surprised status when his teammates weren’t
fairing as well at other tracks week in and week out. David hovered around the top 5 all race never getting far out
of the top 10 even during pit stops. Ragan [14th in points] is tied with Bowyer [13th in points] both just 26 points out
of the top 12. Even though he is no longer dubbed the “surprise” driver, if he makes the chase there will still be
some who are surprised.
3. Matt Kenseth having a great run along with his Roush Teammates.
Matt was short on his comments about his [good] finish and more vocal about being unhappy with the team’s
overall performance [this season]. His 5th place finish moves him solidly into a chase berth 10th in points, 27
points ahead of Kasey Kahne. Matt has never missed a chase since its inception. You have to figure that a driver
of Kenseth’s caliber is wondering if a victory is in his future in 2008.
4. Carl Edward’s victory and closing up on Kyle Busch in the points.
Now just 222 points behind Kyle Busch in the standings which is an improvement of 20 points, Edwards is
optimistic for his chances to be the 2008 Cup Champion. Carl with 5 wins this season will only be given bonus
points [10 per win] for 4 races so far as part of his penalty in regards to the loose oil tank cover.
5. Next Race(s) on the schedule.
The fans are used to [being fed] the hype on Michigan, being a “multi-groove race track” and “the manufacturer’s
backyard”, but is it the best racing? Who’s in and who’s out of the chase is an interesting topic, but with 3 night
races in a row coming up with the next being the hottest ticket in NASCAR [Bristol], one of the “best” choices had
to be what’s coming up. Last week it was that we were done with the road courses, so this may be redundant, but
who wouldn’t rather see a Bristol night race over Michigan? Vote appropriately.
It looked as if the 2-mile oval was going to provide some of the same runaway finish racing that it usually provides
when fuel mileage isn’t a factor. Of course some fans might not have liked the cautions because the driver running
in second was Kyle Busch, but three cautions in the last 20 laps did allow for Dale Jr. to draw up and pass a few
cars. Carl Edwards had the field covered, so some late race cautions did make the ending a little more exciting,
but only a little.
2. David Ragan tying his career best finish of 3rd at Michigan.
The driver that the announcers like to say is no longer a surprise to be running in the top 10 did it again. Roush
power was dominant all day, but Ragan has earned himself a non-surprised status when his teammates weren’t
fairing as well at other tracks week in and week out. David hovered around the top 5 all race never getting far out
of the top 10 even during pit stops. Ragan [14th in points] is tied with Bowyer [13th in points] both just 26 points out
of the top 12. Even though he is no longer dubbed the “surprise” driver, if he makes the chase there will still be
some who are surprised.
3. Matt Kenseth having a great run along with his Roush Teammates.
Matt was short on his comments about his [good] finish and more vocal about being unhappy with the team’s
overall performance [this season]. His 5th place finish moves him solidly into a chase berth 10th in points, 27
points ahead of Kasey Kahne. Matt has never missed a chase since its inception. You have to figure that a driver
of Kenseth’s caliber is wondering if a victory is in his future in 2008.
4. Carl Edward’s victory and closing up on Kyle Busch in the points.
Now just 222 points behind Kyle Busch in the standings which is an improvement of 20 points, Edwards is
optimistic for his chances to be the 2008 Cup Champion. Carl with 5 wins this season will only be given bonus
points [10 per win] for 4 races so far as part of his penalty in regards to the loose oil tank cover.
5. Next Race(s) on the schedule.
The fans are used to [being fed] the hype on Michigan, being a “multi-groove race track” and “the manufacturer’s
backyard”, but is it the best racing? Who’s in and who’s out of the chase is an interesting topic, but with 3 night
races in a row coming up with the next being the hottest ticket in NASCAR [Bristol], one of the “best” choices had
to be what’s coming up. Last week it was that we were done with the road courses, so this may be redundant, but
who wouldn’t rather see a Bristol night race over Michigan? Vote appropriately.
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The winners for Best & Worst from last week at Watkins Glen was a runaway…
The Best with 55% of the vote was “Marcos Ambrose bringing it home in 3rd for Woods Bros. Racing.”
The Worst with 52% of the vote was “Bad pit strategy by the no. 88 team.”
We will post this week’s Best and Worst here next Monday so be sure to bookmark our HOME PAGE or look for the RSS feed from SpeedwayMedia.com.
Thanks to all of the visitor’s positive comments on this weekly feature. Comment of the week posted below.
The Best with 55% of the vote was “Marcos Ambrose bringing it home in 3rd for Woods Bros. Racing.”
The Worst with 52% of the vote was “Bad pit strategy by the no. 88 team.”
We will post this week’s Best and Worst here next Monday so be sure to bookmark our HOME PAGE or look for the RSS feed from SpeedwayMedia.com.
Thanks to all of the visitor’s positive comments on this weekly feature. Comment of the week posted below.
Comment of the week from last week, Watkins Glen:
"This feature is a great way to get a recap of the week’s race and get a chance to voice my opinion while seeing what others think as well. I like it, it’s a
good feature that I will visit every week."
Jill Duval, Ann Arbor, MI
"This feature is a great way to get a recap of the week’s race and get a chance to voice my opinion while seeing what others think as well. I like it, it’s a
good feature that I will visit every week."
Jill Duval, Ann Arbor, MI
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