So here we are ... the first break... hope everyone enjoys Easter and celebrates it in the manner that the deity of their choice recommends.

With six races under our belts, 3 more in the segment... here are how things are going....

1) JuniorCar 645 Leader
2) bblackstone 616 -29
3) 03JGMonte 612 -33
4) butch049 608 -37
5) Cowboy6622 607 -38
6) zJerry 601 -44
7) montecarlo3831 593 -52
8) RocknSS04 585 -60
9) carlm54stl 581 -64
10) 02 Earnhardt 568 -77
11) SupplySgt 564 -81
12) 77GP 558 -87
13) lougreen03 557 -88
14) 01 Monte SS 549 -96
15) Leprechaun93 521 -124
16) silverfish 420 -225
17) SuperSportSteve 408 -237
18) 06 Mistre SS 383 -262
19) adgm2005 351 -294
20) STUMPMI 337 -308
21) Teacher 306 -339
22) Racebound2 83
23) Possum 77
24) 04chevyboy 76
25) Emily666 61
26) mousehouse 54


Brent is to be congratulated for putting together a dominant season thus far, even reverting back to the old points system isn't slowing him down!!!


Brent won Daytona and has been dominant ever since. We have only had 1 points leader this year. He is also the only multi-race winner of the season. Brent is getting it done in 2012.





So I thought I would put together a few thoughts and discussion pionts for us....


Bristol getting a facelift... again

The fans have spoken, and I applaud Bruton Smith, as arrogant, obnoxious, and egotistical as he is, for deciding to change the track back. This is the man who swore he could actually move Charlotte Motor Speedway to South Carolina and made Cabarrus County, NC rename the road going to the track after his fat@$$. Yet we just proved where his money is coming from... he will repave Bristol. He hasn't said how, but it can only be assumed that he would put it back the way it was.



Roush Fenway Racing

Matt Kenseth winning hte Daytona 500 and putting together solid finishes ever since is a good sign for him, especially a 4th at Martinsville. And the return of Greg Biffle to solid, strong finishes is a great sign for us FoMoCo lovers.

But what about Edwards? He has been good, but not great. I just can't understand why everytime that 99 changes sponsors, it quits winning races and running well.


The Busch Brothers


Look at their average finishes and the way they have run. Busch has crashed his car in nearly every race this season. Which one am I talking about, you ask? Both. Seriously. They're both running like crap.

And Kurt Busch said not knowing what weeks he would struggle and which weeks he would contend would be fun. Well if struggling is fun, he is having a ball right now.

And good ol' Kyle Busch... I think Hunter has had him every week, and it just isn't going well....


Hendrick Motorsports... 0 for 6... but what about Stewart-HAas

It has been 13 races now that Hendrick Motorsports has carried the 200 wins hats in the trunk of hte car. And Clint Bowyer denied them.

Is this a case of the Apprenctice has succeeded the master? Quite frankly, I haven't seen a Hendrick car run well all year until Martinsville... unless it had an 88 on it. And that, my firends, means hell has frozen over. They were good, but not dominant, especially on the 1.5's last year.... Roush and Gibbs seemed to be the two big teams on those two turfs (exception: Tony Stewart)..... so what gives, Mr. Hendrick?



However, with that win at MArtinsville, STewart-Haas racing has won 50% of the races in 2012!! Crazyness.



Is Gibbs running that well?

Hamlin is runing well but not making good calls at the end of the race..... Logano showed he can run a restricter plate race, yet Busch is wrecking every week. Is there trouble in the 'Yota camp

And why is Michael Waltrip Racing doing so well?>

Seriously, why? This is the top Toyota team right now... .I think they are going to intimidate Gibbs into switching to Dodge.

Will Dale Jr finally break that streak???

I'm going to say no. I remember on the radio while I was outside, they said that Letarte said hte car was good and no reason to change it at halfway. Seriously? You have to change the car to keep up with the track. And htat is why Junior ran so well for 100 laps at Las Vegas and then disappeared.

Gordon's only two winless seasons came with Letarte on the pit box. Letarte was a good crew chief with the old car.. but not this new one. I just don't think Letarte has the drive to win races. He just wants to "get a good finish." That mentality has Junior 2nd in points, but I just don't think that mentality will win the race. It's like this Retarte guy just mentally checks out with 100 laps to go. What in the heck?





So those are just some thoughts to ponder... I ran well in both Texas races last year so I am looking forward to a return to that track. Hopefully I cna break my 38 race winless streak there this weekend.

 

nah stevie made changes to the car the whole race, i dont know why some people believe everything they hear on the radio or tv lol... They also said jr was two laps short on fuel when in fact he was fine to go to the end they were just saving some fuel to make sure they had enought in case they decided to stay out when the gwc came out. Stevie wants to win just as bad as jr, everyone just down plays jr and his whole team every year and says he wont win ever again, but the way i look at it, u have to first finish in the top-5 and run in the top-5 to win races and contend for the championship. Jr hasn't won a race this year and is still ahead of stewart(who has won 2 races) in the standings due to the fact that he has finished consistently ever race in the top-15 which in fact should be the atleast top-5 if it wasnt for speeding at bristol and gettin behind on the car at vegas which was his own fault not stevie's fault.

 

Jeff Gordon ran well and finished well too... just iddn't win. I just don't think Letarte has what it takes to get a car to victory lane.


However, we're going ot the one track that Retarte did get Gordon a win in the COT... Texas... and the site where Dale JR won this first race all those years ago.

 

stevie is alot smarter than most people think he is, i have listened to him many times on the radio on the internet along with being right behind the pit box at Chicago with my scanner on. he knows what he is doing and its showing by jr getting even closer to winning. just because he didnt win very much with jeff gordon in the cot car doesnt mean he wont get jr wins, jr and jeff are totally different drivers and have totally differnt driving styles.

 

I don't think Junior will get a win this year.....even with Steve Letarte's help. He just doesn't have the skills. However, I think this is his best shot at a championship. It's all about consistency. They're obviously giving him great cars for each race. If he can keep out of trouble, he might have a legitimate chance at a championship.

 

all about the skills? he has won 18 races in his career, up until last year matt kenseth had the same amount of wins as jr. he has proven he can win races but since he had 2 bads years everyone says he will never win a race again. listening to race hub last night larry mac even said jr will win this year and dw on sunday said jr will win this year. espn power rankings have him #1, fox sports has him #2, Yahoo sports has him #2, he is gonna win and everyone has been saying its going to be texas where he wins or dega or even charolette. its not a matter of if he will win its just a matter of win this year.

if u look at it last year smoke did horrible up until the chase made it in the chase and won 5 of the 10 chase races, it just shows u that once u hit on something and win one race u can go on and win a lot of races which is looking like what will happen to jr this season.

 

I'm not a huge fan of Brutan Smith, but the one thing I do like that he did was buying Kentucky Speedway and bringing a Cup race there. It will give me my first chance to see a Cup race ever when I go this summer.

I hope to see Jr back in Victory Lane this year. It's been a long wait but he's been running a lot better lately and there seems to be a renewed fire in him.

 

yeah jr is more aggressive and everything this year.

i wish brutan would have never bought kentucky tho lol.. i live up here in iowa and we pull more people to nationwide and truck races than most sprint cup tracks pull for a cup race. im hoping we get a cup race in the next couple years up here at the iowa speedway.

brad keselowski said iowa was one of his favorite tracks after his win at bristol , dale jr said that if he had to add a another track to the cup season it would be iowa if we put up more seating which we will, and jimmie johnson last week on twitter was asked if he thought iowa should get a cup race and he said he thought we deserve one.

 

What do you think of this...
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nascar...140055643.html

First off, I am sorry to read that two veterans lost their lives at what should have been a celebration of their accomplishments so many years after their lives were safe at home. However, I can remember when I had the '68 Torino at Charlotte Motor Speedway for their Black Friday celebration... and I distinctively remember looking down at my speedometer, which was somewhere between 85-90 mph, and watching hte cars ahead of me drive away, probably doing 120 mph... and hte motorcylces that hit the track before us were going even faster than the groups of cars were, at least from my perception sitting on pit road waiting my turn to go out.

I have to think that to allow people who have never been on race tracks, at this age, after some of them had probably been drinking and celebrating their welcome home party, and then if they were going the speeds the motorcycles were going when I was there (which was a group called the 100 mph club, they tried to maintain over 100 mph around hte track for an entire circuit), that this is somewhat negligence on the part of hte track and because the track wasn't controlling the speeds, passing, and enforcing safety like they should have, that someone has now died as a result and they will probably never allow any of us who have sense enough to realize that 90 mph is 90 mph whether it be on a crowded city street, an interstate, or a race track, and 90 mph is still deadly.

 

That sucks Duane. A day of fun turns deadly. You are right about the rules probably changing from this.