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That caution for Harvick's engine ruined it. JPM was a few cars away from being lapped at that time.

And what's really annoying was that they were expecting it to blow.

Meh. You can't say "hmmm, it might blow, let's just quit" and lose more points by running less laps.

It will be interesting to see how these last 3 races play out. Jimmie is leading the points even without the Chase and he has been pretty consistent all year with 23 top 10's which is one away from what he got in 2006 and 2007.

Gonna be a hell of a battle... not sure why people seem to be giving the title to Jimmie already, because the tracks coming up suit Keselowski just as much as the 48 bunch. Should be awesome!

I was surprised more people didn't stay out when Keselowski/Jr did.. I thought it was initially an awesome call by those two.

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Gael

Come on guys, the pro-JPM anti-Jimmie stuff is really getting old. I didn't watch the race because I was out but I read this thread and assumed the JJ/JPM incident was a desperate divebomb move by Jimmie to get JPM out of the way and he overcooked it. But I just saw it and it was actually mostly Montoya's fault, the initial bump by Jimmie was a harmless bump that is common on short tracks, and then Montoya overreacted (surprise surprise) and crowded him on to the curb and spun himself out. If Montoya has anyone to be mad at, it's himself for continuously over driving his car and driving way too aggressively for 25th place every week, and then wondering why his cars break and why he gets wrecked so often.

I'll defend Jimmie 'til the cows come home, because he unfairly gets a lot of crap from non-fans of his... but he took Monty three-wide there, as the 42 had Kvapil on the outside already when the pass was started. You might be able to get away with going 3-wide on a straightaway (Kvapil would have had to lift), but Montoya was still on the lead lap. He's not just going to move over, and he probably wasn't expecting Jimmie to go three-wide going into turn one.

Just my two cents. I'll defend Jimmie 'til the end, but I don't think he was in the right, in this instance.

Yep, Monty did nothing wrong. JJ was the one overdriving and being impatient. What were Monty and Kvapil to do, disappear?

It all ended happily anyway. JPM didn't lose that much and Johnson won. JPM didn't retaliate. It's a debate that doesn't matter at all.

That accident was all Jimmie, sorry. Anyone claiming that one is Montoyas fault is just looking for an excuse to moan at him.

Yeah, it wasn't a ridiculous or stupid incident. Just a little too aggressive on Johnson's part.


As for the hate, I can't speak for anyone else but I don't have anything against Jimmie Johnson, per se. I'm just still really tired of his success and the prospect of him winning another title (especially with Keselowski in the running) doesn't excite me at all. I respect him and his team (especially their insane ability to turn all kinds of problems into decent and sometimes excellent finishes) and I do admire their accomplishments. It just tires me. It's really how I would feel about anyone in that position that I wasn't actively a fan of.

Yeah, I hear ya Chris. I respect his ability quite a bit, even though many people in my racing circles that I know despise the guy and give Knaus all the credit... and as a Gordon fan, part of me feels like he's carrying his torch, a bit.

Still, as much as I love a chase to history (the home run chase of '98 comes to mind - steroids or not, that was frickin' fun to watch), it does grow tiresome. I want my driver to win, dammit, and someone NEW is always nice. I am really pulling for Keselowski, Bowyer or Kahne to win it all this year, and I think that they're good enough that they can beat the 48.

Still, I can't fault Jimmie and his group for trying to be the best, win every weekend and eclipse records left and right. It happened back in the day with Petty and Earnhardt, and I'm sure people were as sick of seeing them win as they are seeing Jimmie win now.

Just one o' them deals, mang.

My dislike of Jimmie is more about Chad. He just seems like such a shifty bastard. He's been suspended, what, three times for technical violations?

Yeah, something like that. For some reason, some people act like cheating, pushing boundaries and getting suspended and fined as a completely new and unacceptable thing. It isn't and it's been a part of the sport forever... the only difference is the level of media attention it gets nowadays, vs. when guys like Dale Inman or Kirk Shelmerdine would do it.

I'm not saying they'd go nearly as far as Knaus and the 48 bunch, but him doing that is one sure-fire way to A) know where the line in the sand is drawn, and B) know how to perhaps interpret rules and loopholes within them. For all we know, his screwin' with the car has created new rules and regulations.

Like Evernham and the T-Rex car, it's pretty genius, if you ask me.

Bet every time Chad gets busted, he is able to slip by something even bigger past the inspectors.

Clit and Kasey are long shots unless both Jimmie and Brad slip up big-time in the next three rounds so we will have either 6-time or Miller Time.

Damn, I'm an idiot, I guess I shouldn't critique accidents when I'm half asleep, when I saw it last night I could've sworn that they were both past Kvapil when they made contact but I just watched it again and that was not the case and it was just Jimmie being over aggressive, sorry for making a big deal out of nothing. But yeah, I guess it's just the fact that I feel the opposite way about both drivers than a lot of the forum. I like Jimmie and I've disliked JPM ever since he wrecked Regan Smith and himself in the All Star qualifying race a few years ago and then blamed it on Smith because "he shouldn't even be out there." That comment just ticked me off for whatever reason, especially since the crash was Montoya's fault.

And yeah, the Jimmie hate annoys me because I've always liked Johnson and Hendrick, but I understand it because he wins so much. And I definitely would say Knaus is the most innovative crew chief in Nascar, he got suspended so often because he is always a step ahead of the competition and is always exploring the gray areas, and sometimes he goes over the edge. It's a magic combination, one of the most talented drivers with one of the best crew chiefs in Nascar driving for the most well-funded team. I think they are definitely comparable to Gordon and Evernham, and to an extent even Schumacher at Ferrari. And those were 2 of the most hated drivers during their prime, so I'll deal with it I guess.

Saying that, I've liked Brad since he drove for Jr and he's probably my favorite driver, so I'd love to see him win, and I'd also be fine if Bowyer or Kahne somehow caught up too. I think Kahne actually has a good shot since these last 3 tracks have always been really strong for him. The next few weeks are gonna be real interesting.

I like Martinsville. The stretched out oval-shape is interesting.

However, there should be a version of the track with highly banked corners and completely flat straights. Somewhere where the average lap speed is 125mph rather than 90mph.

I will call it "Half-mile Hell".

And only run ARCA on it.

Hmmm.

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Solid Snake's Twitter
RantingYoof

ARCA used to run a track kinda like that Tom, in Anderson, Indiana... although that was a quarter mile.

What's more impressive than stock cars at Anderson is the Little 500, run the eve before the Indy 500. 33 cars, 500 laps on a quarter mile:


The ARCA / CRA Super Series still runs at Anderson, I'd like to make it up there sometime....