Jeff Gordon is now third on the all time NASCAR win list!
I find it easy to forget, in the era of the 48, just how much the 24 has achieved. Remember Jeff Gordon started racing against the black 3 in Luminas, and you were either a 3 fan or a 24 fan. Yes I was a 3 fan, but I can now look back and appreciate what an achievement those Championships and all those wins add up to.
Watching Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon slipping and sliding their way round Atlanta at the end of the race was great. How sideways was the 48 coming off of the last turn??
And how about Tony Stewart, where did he come from. In the last 100 laps he worked his way from about 20th into the top 10, and with about 10 to go looked like an 8th place finish was as far as he was going to get. However as we watched the leaders go at it, he stormed his way up to third!
So with one race to go the 48 is leading the points standings... am I supposed to be surprised by this? He does not, however, look as dominant as he has in the past. Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon among others can race with and beat the 48. I think the title race will be between those three.
Knock Knock Knockhill at the door...
If you look in a racing encyclopaedia under the topic “bad day”, it will say see the 2011 BTCC Knockhill round and refer to Matt Jackson. He went in to the meeting leading the Championship and came out with three DNF’s. Oops...
It was good to hear that next years new Honda Civic race car will be a NGTC spec car. Following the first two podiums for the new spec car, (well done Frank Wrathall) next year needs to see the series moving forward, and not have another year like this one. Don’t slow the NGTC cars too much. If they are to be the future, encourage them, I want an NGTC car to win a race!
In one way I feel sorry for Plato... but no by much. Even after playing with the turbo boost levels the old naturally aspirated cars cannot keep up with the newer turbo cars on the straights. My answer to that, get a turbo! However... Plato has been known to drive aggressively and when he is on the receiving end of that kind of driving it is hard not to think, “what goes around...”
I find it hard to believe the MSA will not ask Tom Boardman to write a cheque for the restart accident he caused on his way to the win. The leader can dictate the pace and can decide when to accelerate, but stopping in the middle of the track is just plain stupid, and he was lucky not to be taken out himself. Slow the field down, yes, stop, er... no!
There is one thing the drivers need to get their collective heads around. It appears the new spec cars are prone to terminal damage when making contact with another car. This means they will have to give each other room and race cleanly if they want to finish races! That would make a change!
I still say the organisers should ban the old naturally aspirated engines from next year and then just allow the NGTC spec cars from 2013! Firstly it would stop Platos whinging, create a more level playing field, and move the series a step closer to the future!
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