Can Jimmie Johnson or Jeff Gordon Fans Blame Danica Patrick?

Here's an interesting take on the situation... last weekend the closing laps of the Martinsville race saw Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon putting on a good racing demonstration on the best venue there is for that, the short, tight corners of Martinsville.  And those closing laps would have been a joy to watch these two put on a driving demonstration.  But that was not to be.

Instead, a caution flag came out, everyone but our two contenders got tires and the green flag flew with nary a few laps to go.  But as the master of disaster (lady luck) would have it, that was not to be.  As we all saw, Jimmie and Jeff were caught up in a three wide battle going into turn one and the race for the checkered flag was over for the No. 24 and 48 cars.

The ensuing scramble saw Ryan Newman take his first Martinsville win.

But did that need to happen?  Did Jimmie and Jeff have to get wrecked?  The caution that preceded the wreck came out because David Reutimann's car sputtered to a stop on the track, bringing out the yellow flag.  And the press corp went nuts questioning why in the world David Reutimann would stop on the racing surface instead of getting off the track when he had the chance.  Well, almost all the media.  Michael Waltrip, when asked, said he wasn't in the car and so could not surmise why this took place.  That was probably one of the smartest statements about this event.

After the race was over, we found out what happened to David's car and why he stayed out.  The first order of business was something was amiss with the car but, being the team player he is, and thinking about his part-time teammate, Danica Patrick, he stayed out on the track to make as many Owners Points as he can.  But then the additional issue reared its head when his engine up and died.

It wasn't as if David stayed out there to just stay out there.  I've seen that enough times, when an engine blows on the track and rather than getting off the racing line, the smoking culprit limps around track in it...  No, David was trying to make points to keep Danica in the top-35 in Owners Points... and failed.

The No. 10 car is now one point outside of the top-35 and the next time Danica Patrick gets in the car, she might be needing to race into the field.  Her next Sprint Cup Series attempt will be on May 12th...  at Darlington!  So there's time for David to get the car back into the game.  Now, we see how that all pans out!

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