Sep 19

Written by: The Commish
9/19/2010 8:23 PM 

Clint Bowyer won the 300 -mile Chase opener at Louden on Sunday with Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Dale Jr. and Kevin Harvick second through fifth.  Jeff Gordon, David Reuitimann, Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. filled out the top 10 with Carl Edwards, A.J. Allmendinger, Kurt Busch, Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton and Juan Pablo filling out the FMFL points-paying top 16.

Third-fastest qualifier and late race leader Tony Stewart ran out of fuel as he took the white flag and ended up 24th, one spot better than Jimmie Johnson.  Joey Logano got wrecked to be classified 35th.  Greg Biffle was 17th, one spot ahead of polesitter Brad Keselowski.  

It was a darn good race with a lot of lousy results for many Super 7 Sweep players.

Kyle Busch started on pole and led the most laps to win the truck race at New Hampshire Speedway -- but only after retaking the lead from second place finisher James Buescher on the last late restart.  Of course there was a little banging.  Nothing to see here, move along.  Just some boy's having at it on track again.

Kevin Harvick was third ahead of Matt Crafton and Austin Dillon with Timothy Peters, Johnny Sauter, Aric Almirola, Todd Bodine and Bobby Hamilton Jr. filling out the top 10.  Mike Skinner was 14th, Jennifer Jo Cobb as 22nd and Ron Hornaday wrecked to finish 24th after running strong from his inside second row start.

Helio Castroneves dominated the weekend at Motegi to win the Indy Japan 300 IZOD IndyCar race over Dario Franchitti, Will Power, Ryan Briscoe, Danica and Scott Dixon.  Tony Kanaan, Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Dan Wheldon filled out the top 10 with Marco 11th in front of Takuma Sato, Justin Wilson in 16th, Paul Tracy 22nd, one spot ahead of Simona.

Two things:

1) I don't like push to pass.  Push to pass is supposed to be used on pedals, a steering wheel or a gearshift lever or paddle shifter.   It's supposed to be a function of a driver's butt, hands, head and cajones.

But that can't happen when the pilot is more a passenger that steers than a true race car driver.

In 2012 the so-far-just Honda new IndyCar engines are supposed to offer an extra 100 push-to-pass horsepower on top of the 550-650 hp they'll 'normally' put out.

I just don't understand the logic in building high performance engines and having them de-tuned for all but a few minutes in each race.  If IndyCars are supposed to be the baddest open wheelers on the planet they need to have more than enough power; too much power, at all times, to put speed, performance and passing (i.e. competition) back in the hands of the driver.

Push to pass is a gimic.  It adds another element to race strategy but does nothing to improve the actual on-track product.  People in the grandstands can't tell when the button's being pushed or how many pushes are left.  It's a carnival act that should go away.

2. ,  I owe Danica an apology.  I'm always amazed or amused when I see how many teams are picking the GoDaddy.com brand instead of a Penske or Ganassi driver for any given IndyCar race.  My experience as the Commish has shown that most players are darn knowledgeable, passionate, well-informed fans who make smart picks for logical reasons.  Yet Danicamania still prevails.  

She's often picked in Nationwide races, sometimes when she's also been picked for an IndyCar race on the same weekend.

But she did pretty good at Motegi, qualifying 12th and finishing fourth without any lucky breaks or misfortune for others.  She didn't block or whine (that I know of) and finished the highest among all Andretti Autosport drivers.

I still think its a shame Ms. Patrick is going to split her time with NASCAR again next season, probably in preparation for a full-time switch in 2012.

She's an IndyCar driver who should keep working on both a championship and an Indy 500 victory instead of chasing more fame and money.

Danica's got enough of both.

Copyright ©2010 The Commish