The Pit Stall

Mother Nature is not a Kyle Busch fan.  She definitely made that clear this weekend, as Kyle came up empty handed in both the Nationwide and Sprint series races, despite having the dominant car in each event.  Kyle and many of the other race leaders pitting on cautions for rain handed Mike Bliss and David Reutimann victories, when the rains kept coming and the races were called.  I was happy to see Reutimann get to Victory Lane, but it would have been nice if he had ‘earned’ the first one.  Don’t be surprised if he does win a race later in the season, to validate what he accomplished this weekend.

David Reutimann wins the rain shortened 2009 Coca-Cola 600

Does anyone else think the countdown is on until Dale Earnhardt Jr has a new crew chief?  I can’t see Mr. Hendrick waiting around too long, after another dismal performance this weekend.  I’m not sure where they’d pull one from, since the other 3 Hendrick teams are performing quite well as is, but they have to do something, with Junior already 200+ points out of a Chase spot.

Group 1 – Mark Martin(8), Greg Biffle(9)

Mark Martin was tearing up the track yesterday.  He had a great car and I think he could have challenged for a win in a full race.  He was running with the leaders until a penalty for an errant tire on pit road put him to the back.  By the end of the race (which pretty much would have been the halfway point) he had worked himself back up to the top 15 and was still moving.  He ended up with a 17th place finish, which was a huge disappointment, considering how well he ran.  The Biff was towards the front for a bit after a two-tire stop jumped them 15 spots on a caution, but he was never really in contention and finished 20th.

Group 2 – Ryan Newman(6), Kasey Kahne(6), David Reutimann(8), Brian Vickers(8)

Ryan Newman continues his top 5 streak with a 2nd place finish.  He had a great car and was running with the leaders until a pit miscue dropped him down in the field.  He was working himself back through the field, and chose to stay out on the final caution which turned out to be a great move.  Kasey Kahne spent most of the race towards the front, and had the race gone the distance, he very likely would have been better than his 7th place finish.  I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do with the new Dodge engine in the coming weeks.  We’ve already covered Reutimann and his victory.  Vickers, like Kahne was in the mix all day, and ended up with a very positive result at 5th.  Solid picks all around in this group.

Group 3 – Bobby Labonte(7), Reed Sorenson(9)

I was really wanting to start Sorenson here to save Labonte in case I waste away my lead later in the season, but I just couldn’t do it.  I’m definitely glad I went with my gut on this one as Labonte had an solid 12th place finish, and Sorenson managed a 35th, one lap down of the winner.

Recap

• Points for this race: 313 (Martin, Newman, Kahne, Labonte)
• Most Possible Points: 412 (Busch (Gordon qual), Reutimann, Newman, Gordon)
• Season Points : 3489
• Current Place : 1st
• Lead over 2nd : 318
• Overall Percentile : 99th (1335 overall) 

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

Filed under: Intermediates, Pit Picks by Site Admin - Tuesday, May 26th, 2009