Martin Masters Michigan
Written by Racin with Russ, Monday June 15 2009
Racin’ with Russ By RUSSELL SCHMIDT
In what has to be the surprise ending of the year, Mark Martin watched the two cars in front of him sputter out of the ‘go juice’ on the final laps, handing the 50-year-old driver his third win of the year and 38th of his career.
Brian Vickers grabbed his third pole of the year, leading the field to the stripe. It didn’t take long for Jimmie Johnson to show his hand by getting to the front for numerous occasions, leading the most laps on the day by far.
Late in the go, it appeared Greg Biffle would take his Ford to victory lane, but Johnson was coming to the front. With both Biffle and Johnson rolling the dice on both speed and gas mileage, they pressured each other into an ultimate loss. Johnson took over the top spot very late, only to run out of fuel on the white flag lap, handing Biffle what appeared to be a win, yet Biffle’s Fusion sputtered out within sight of the checkers, gift wrapping the win to what was third place runner Martin.
Martin’s latest win was even a surprise for the wiley veteran claiming he was trying to get a good points day for the team. Good indeed, as the No. 5 Chevy moved up five spots to eighth with Stewart still on top by 47 over Jeff Gordon.
The rest of the top five finishers included an amazing performance by Gordon after starting dead last, followed by Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Biffle on fumes.
Notable: Dale Earnhardt Jr continued to develop a communication with his new crew chief, Lance McGrew in order to perform better on the racetrack. The day’s outing netted a marginal 14th place finish, slightly elevating him in the points by two spots to 18th, yet a huge 634 points behind first place.
--- Bad boy Kyle Busch moaned about his ill-handling car, finishing 13th.
Nationwide - Different track…this time Kentucky, same scenario however as Kyle Busch led the most laps and what is becoming a pattern, Busch loses to ‘sliced bread’ Joey Logano.
The 19-year-old driver sped past his teammate with 10 to go, going on to claim his third career trophy in the series. Busch wound up as runner-up with Brad Keselowski, Brendan Gaughan and Penske young hot-shoe, Justin Allgaier completing the top five.
Carl Edwards had a horrible day struggling to a 20th place finish, yet still sits second in the ‘big picture’ by 137 behind Busch.
Truckin’ - Roush Fenway NASCAR truck driver Colin Braun used lapped traffic to his advantage to take the lead from race long leader Kyle Busch with 24 laps remaining, going on to win his very first truck victory over sore loser Busch.
Capping off the top five in Michigan included Brian Ickler, Matt Crafton and Mike Skinner. Ron Hornaday had yet another rough day, clawing to a seventh place finish after numerous problems. The Team Harvick driver now sits behind leader Crafton by 39 in the overall standings.
From Rumorville - After losing his truck ride while in the top ten in points, reigning NASCAR truck champion Johnny Benson was competing in a super modified racer on Saturday night in Berlin, MI. The veteran wound up in a nasty fiery wreck, leaving him in the hospital in serious, but stable condition. Reports indicate some broken ribs among other injuries, yet he is expected to recover ok.
--- Major Cutbacks….It was announced last week that both Dodge and Chevy will be cutting back their once promised financial backing in all three divisions of NASCAR effective immediately. Those immediately affected were JR Motorsports with Brad Keselowski, Rusty Wallace Motorsports with both Nationwide cars, Petty Motorsports Cup teams saw nine team members let go this week and others salaries scaled back…and well, the hits keep coming in the wake of GM and Chrysler assisted bankruptcies.
--- Look for approximately 26 Formula One cars as a starting grid for next season, up from the usual 20. The more, the merrier.
Did you know? - Mark Martin’s latest win, his 38th, puts him 17th on the all-time list of 176 drivers that have ever won at least one NASCAR Cup race.
That’s it for this week. Next week’s RWR will review the left’s and right’s of NASCAR racing from the Infineon roadcourse in California, open wheel action from the IRL and F-1 series along with more racing news from around the globe.
Questions? Comments? Contact Russ at racinwithruss@comcast.net
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