Martinsville was as I expected with the occasional spin, bump and spin, spin and bump, tire issues, brake issues and brake and tire issues. But the tires seemed to be the attention getter again this weekend.The last few weeks the right side tires have been the issue of focus. With the brakes baking the tire beads, I don't think we should be too quick to castrate Goodyear, but it's hard not to.
Eh, let's!
The broadcast booth from ESPN says the heavier cars are harder on the brakes, and hence, more brake heat. More stress on the tires from that heat.
The early part of the race saw an array of normal race issues:
Electrical system issues for Kasey Kahne on lap 62;
Brake fluid leak on the RR for Kurt Busch on lap 70. His day gets worse;
Jamie McMurray got spun off of the front bumper of Dale Earnhardt Jr. on lap 82. Jr seems to be using his bumper with a liberal ease of use as he moved up through the field.
On lap 89 Regan Smith spun it and his RF tire / brake combo erupt in flames.
The interesting tire behavior kicked in around lap 162 when Kyle Busch, Sam Hornish, Tony Raines all got flat RF flat tires in the same lap, same corner. Wacky. Then Kyle's luck got worse as he was held 2 laps for intentionally bringing out the yellow flag.
Lap 196: Elliott Sadler makes like a top and spins out.
Lap 351: being 4 laps down, Kyle Busch has to pit for a RF flat.
Lap 362: RF for Stewart
Lap 380: RF for Kurt Busch 3rd time for Kurt today and he wants to park it.
Lap 437: Another LF for Kyle Busch?
It's a bad day to be a Busch.
Lap 453: RF for Stewart, again.
Green flag with 8 to go saw Jimmie Johnson lead them to the green, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon. Jimmie pulled away while Dale and Carl played tag spot for 2nd then Ragan spins with 3 to go, setting us up for the Green/White/Checkered finish.
Jr didn't even have a chance. Jimmie just pulled away, end story.
This is Jimmie Johnson's 5th win at Martinsville. He led the most laps today. 339 laps. The most he's ever led in any race in his career. (The Sprint girl was different than the usual one and wasn't nodding in the background as if she was in a conversation she didn't understand.) That was a nice change.
In a post interview question, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he wanted it to go green the rest of the race with 100+ to go, but he said that wouldn't happen with how NASCAR tends to find cautions near the end of the race to make it exciting. Huh?
I'm thinking there might be some interesting media on that one, and Brad Dougherty pointed it out in addition a few minutes later, so ESPN wasn't going to let that rest either!
Let's see if we get public retractions or explanations, depending who has to speak up first. (Gee, I wonder who that will be.)
TOP 10 TODAY at Martinsville:
1 Jimmie Johnson
2 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
3 Carl Edwards
4 Jeff Gordon
5 Denny Hamlin
6 Casey Mears
7 Kevin Harvick
8 Matt Kenseth
9 Martin Truex Jr.
10 Clint Bowyer
Complete, unofficial Cup Series Results
(Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images)
I was at the race, and what I noticed was that the right sides had some serious camber in a lot of the cars... and they wonder why the tires go pop.. :-)
ReplyDeleteStacey, that's an awesome observation.
ReplyDeleteIt's been said that sometimes, despite being told about the limitations on different aspects, the teams still tend to push the equipment past their suggested limits.
So what we're seeing is not a Goodyear thing, but a Bad-camber thing!
Was there anything else you saw or noticed from the race Stacey?
Any good pics posted anywhere? Thanks for leaving that at-track observation.
Cool... an at-race reporter!