Monday, May 18, 2009 | 6 p.m.
Did you think Stewart-Haas racing would perform this well this early? I didn’t. And neither did a lot of other media types.
When a driver migrates to a team that is mainly concerned with trying to stay in the top 35 in points, his chances for success are usually about as high as Chrysler’s. Add to that the stresses of having a driver who is also the team owner and the level of expectations would fall even further. Just ask the many driver-owners who have tried this before.
But Stewart is defying the odds by using his talent and a quality lineup of team members to transform a formerly lackluster team into a solid performer. And he’s proving his critics wrong. It’s a great thing to watch.
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After Jeff Gordon’s wreck with Kyle Busch, he mentioned in an interview that he wished Kyle had given him a little more room on the track. Judging from the replay, it looked like Gordon was the one who needed to give the No. 18 car a little more room as he washed up the track and clipped Kyle.
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Did you hear Jimmie Johnson’s radio communications with Chad Knaus regarding the format of the race? Twice during the TV broadcast we heard Jimmie’s confusion as to what segment he was in and how many laps were in each segment. This seemed unusual. Maybe, as Mike Joy mentioned, the ever-changing format of this event led to Johnson’s confusion.
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Disappointed with his finish, Kyle left the track without talking to the media again. Kyle is Kyle and that’s just not going to change.
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In addition, Kyle is definitely the king of restarts in Sprint Cup. All season long he has proven that his timing on the restarts is miles ahead of any other driver in the series.
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Speaking of restarts, I loved the double-file restarts. What a competitive difference it makes to have the leaders compete side-by-side every time the green flag drops. This should be applied to every Sprint Cup race.
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