I wish Bruton Smith would buy Pocono Raceway and move one of its races to another track. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the race this weekend; I just think it’s repetitive to hold two races at the same track within an eight-week period. At the very least, I’d like to see this race shortened to a 400-mile event.
Carl Edwards wasn’t the only person at the track doing celebratory backflips at the conclusion of the race. Officials from Goodyear must have been doing a few backflips to celebrate the lack of any tire blowouts at Pocono. I know tires weren’t expected to be an issue at this race, but just image the outcry if some unforeseen problem had developed.
My favorite comment from a blog reader this week asked if the tires used at the Brickyard were made in China.
It’s a good thing the Goodyear blimp isn’t made out of the same material as those tires. A giant blimp popping over a race wouldn’t exactly be a good public relations move for Goodyear.
Carl Edwards’ insistence that he pit under caution to take two tires as the rain started to fall ended up being a winning strategy. But I was a little surprised that crew chief Bob Osborne waited to caution Carl to save gas with only seven laps to go. I would think that the call to conserve would have come earlier, especially since the No. 99 car was over six seconds ahead of the second-place car.
We learned in a pre-race interview that the No. 99 car was using an “experimental” setup that Bob Osborne was counting on to give his team an edge. Whatever that setup was, it sure worked.
Mark Martin wonders when he’s going to get a break and I’m wondering the same thing. Next to Dale Jr., Mark is the driver most fans want to see experience some success. But for whatever reason, he can’t seem to close the deal. His team’s pit stop mistakes and its failure to pit as the rain began to fall cost him a chance at the win this time, which is a shame since he had one of the most competitive cars in the field.
Speaking of drivers who need a break, when will Kurt Busch get one? This was the second week in a row that Kurt spun early in the race. Running out of gas close to the end of the event didn’t help matters either. With Kurt’s luck, his car would be the one the blimp hits after it popped.
Will someone please give the No. 38 car a full-time sponsorship. Exxon Mobil just announced a record quarterly profit of $11.68 billion, which means that the oil giant rakes in nearly $90,000 a minute. I think it’s safe to say it could afford to stick its name on the hood of David Gilliland’s Ford. Mobil already has a home on the No. 77 car, but that’s not enough exposure to smooth over the public relations nightmare Exxon Mobil’s obscene profits have created.
Finally, I would have liked to see the broadcast go a little longer to include a few more post-race interviews. But SportsCenter took priority. Frankly, I’d rather hear a few more comments from drivers instead of the latest news about that whiner, Brett Favre.
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