Edwards Gets Nashville Busch Win
LEBANON, Tenn. — Two weeks after winning at the high-banked concrete surface of Bristol, Carl Edwards dominated once again on the concrete surface of the Nashville Superspeedway. It was his sixth top-five of the season.
His victory in Saturday’s Pepsi 300 was Edwards’ first career back-to-back Busch Series win, and he accomplished the feat with relative ease.
His margin of victory, 4.673 seconds, was the largest of the season and his 74 laps led were the most of any driver during the race. With the win, he remains the NASCAR Busch Series points leader.
Top 10 Busch Series leaders: 1. Edwards-1,200, 2. Blaney-879, 3. Harvick-808, 4. Reutimann-757, 5. Kyle Busch-757, 6. Ambrose-754, 7. Hamilton Jr.-738, 8. Huffman-703, 9. M. Wallace-696, 10. Smith-691.
Hendrick Teams Are on Top
Few can deny that only a handful of teams have any hope of winning a Nextel Cup championship.
Hendrick Motorsports is at the top of the list.
Normally a prediction like I’m making is only worth about a $1.25 cup of coffee at McDonalds.
Here it is!
I envision a Hendrick Motorsports driver sitting at the head table this December.
I’m going out on a limb and saying that Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon or Kyle Busch will win the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship.
This might rile some Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart or Matt Kenseth fans, but trust me on this one. I’m not speculating on this because I believe the Hendrick teams have better drivers.
No, what has placed the Hendrick teams above others this season is the new “Car of Tomorrow.”
The Hendrick teams are way ahead of everyone else in developing and getting the handle on how this new car performs.
Look at the first two races for this new car.
In the car’s maiden race at Bristol, Kyle Busch came home the winner. Jeff Gordon sat on the pole and finished third. Jimmie Johnson qualified sixth and finished 16th.
One week later, these three Hendrick drivers finished first, second and fourth.
Practically all the teams tested the COT this past week at Richmond. Jeff Gordon had the fifth-fastest time and Kyle Busch was eighth fastest.
“We are very pleased,” said Johnson. “We started out of the gate slow at Daytona but I think you have seen the strength of this race team at the other tracks. Our goal right now is to race as well as we can and enter the ‘Chase’ with a lot of momentum.”
All three drivers were very satisfied with their cars. Jeff Gordon had nothing but praise for it.
“NASCAR is still dealing with some issues, but I think it’s great,” said Jeff Gordon. “I like it, and I think once all the teams get used to it, they will change their mind.”
The reason that Hendrick drivers are doing so well is that the Hendrick engineers and development teams did their homework. They tested and tested and tested some more. They even tested the COT at tracks that do not run a NASCAR race.
As Darrell Waltrip would say, “Boys, they’re ready to go racing.”
There will be 16 COT races in 2007. Hendrick has already won the first two.
It’s a no-brainer. Everyone else will be chasing Hendrick Motorsports drivers for the remainder of this season.
The other teams can only look forward to 2008.
Jimmie Johnson and the entire Nextel Cup Series enjoyed an off weekend before traveling to Texas Motor Speedway for the April 15 race with the conventional-style car.
“We haven’t made the transition back yet so I am not sure what it is going to be like going back to the old car,” continued Johnson. “Every time I get in this car, I have a question mark because I am learning about the car and I am not sure what to expect. When we go back to the old car, there might be a lap or two where you question which car you are in and what it is going to do.”
Johnson is the only driver in the modern era to win at least three races in each of his first six full-time seasons. Johnson is in third place, 75 points behind leader Jeff Gordon in the season points race. Jeff Gordon, in 1996, was the last driver to win three of the first six races. At Texas, Johnson will pilot the No. 48 Lowe’s Monte Carlo after racing the Impala SS (Car of Tomorrow) at the Bristol and Martinsville short tracks.
In seven starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson has completed all 2,343 laps. He owns an average starting spot of 10.7 and average finish of 7.3. He has led three laps at Texas.
Top 12 points leaders after 6 of 36: 1. J. Jeff Gordon-966, 2. J. Burton-938, 3. Johnson-906, 4. Kenseth-836, 5. Kyle Busch-804, 6. Hamlin-776, 7. Bowyer-751, 8. Stewart-726, 9. Edwards-710, 10. Harvick-687, 11. Earnhardt-677, 12. McMurray-650.
Petty Would Franchise NASCAR Teams
Richard Petty is pushing NASCAR to franchise teams like football, baseball, basketball and hockey.
Petty is one of several car owners who are struggling. Petty Enterprises has not had a win since 1999. His two teams have been unable to keep up with the larger teams with megabucks.
“I think the only thing in my mind that keeps NASCAR from becoming a legitimate major league with football or baseball or whatever is being franchised,” said Petty.
In a fax to the Associated Press, NASCAR’s vice president of racing operations, Steve O’Donnell, said the subject of franchising has been discussed with owners many times in the past.
“We are different from the stick and ball sports,” he said. “Competition, not contracts, dictates whether teams compete week in and week out.
“So far, no model has been developed to insure that the need to perform would remain a team’s priority. True, side-by-side competition is at the root of NASCAR, and it’s important to be maintained.”
Cup TV Ratings Down 14 Percent
John Saunders, spokesman for International Speedway Corp., which operates 12 tracks where Nextel Cup races are held, said TV ratings for Cup races are down about 14 percent from this time last year. He said Busch TV ratings are down about 9 percent and truck ratings are up about 3 percent.
Saunders said most of the drop in Cup ratings came with the Daytona 500. Last year’s Daytona ratings were artificially boosted, Saunders said, by the Winter Olympics, which preceded the race. Ratings also were down for the California and Bristol races. Despite these examples, Saunders said he thinks the industry outlook is bright.
Weekend Racing Schedule
The Nextel Cup and Busch teams will be at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The Craftsman Trucks do not race again until April 28.
Saturday, April 14
Busch Series O’Reilly 300, race 8 of 35, Starting time: 3 p.m. (EST); TV: ESPN2; Distance: 200 laps; Defending champion: Kurt Busch, Dodge.
Sunday, April 15
Nextel Cup Samsung 500, race 7 of 36, Starting time: 1:30 p.m. (EST); TV: Fox; Distance: 334 laps; Defending champion: Kasey Kahne, Dodge.
Racing Trivia Question: Who is the defending Busch Series champion?
Last Week’s Question: Who is Ward Burton driving for this year?
Answer: He drives the No. 4 Larry McClure Racing Chevrolet.
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