Welcome to the latest Happy Hour mailbag! You know how these work: you write us at nascarmail@yahoogroups.com or on Twitter at @jaybusbee, we respond to your messages, everyone goes away with a smile on their face. Today, we're talking Junior, plate hate, teammate team-ups, and more. Away we go!
Last week we got all warm and fuzzy with the Yahoo article about Dale Earnhardt Jr. not dumping Kevin Harvick, and what a "great guy he was." This week it's what a great teammate Junior is. Of course the common denominator in all this is that Dale Jr does not win races…but that won't stop Yahoo from fawning over their meal ticket. How helping Jimmie Johnson (of all people) win a race is a good thing is beyond me. If Jeff Gordon were pushing Johnson he would have left him in turn 3 and gone for the win. Maybe that's why Jeff Gordon is a four-time champ and winner of 80-plus races, and Junior is the most overrated driver in NASCAR history. But what a great guy!
? John Clarke
Los Angeles, CA
When you get a letter like this, it's like getting turned loose in a megastore with a $500 gift card. (Feel free to send one to me anytime.) So many ways to run with this! So, let's begin.
First off, let's be honest: John is right, we do write a lot of articles about Junior here. That's because there's a lot of interest in Junior here. (And I hope John sees the delicious irony in the fact that his critique means that there's yet another Junior story on the site.)
But enough behind-the-scenes stuff. I get a lot of these kinds of emails and comments, and you can tell that the frustration behind them has ratcheted up a level. It's very easy to make fun of a guy who's running 20th in the points as being a pathetic driver. It's not so easy to make the same argument about a guy who's running 3rd, and has stacked up more points than all but two of the season's seven winners so far.
And let's dispense with the "Junior could've won" nonsense at Talladega. Once Johnson and Junior made the commitment to run with Johnson in front, the race was over for Junior, just as it was for Harvick and Mark Martin. To switch at that late moment would have sent the two-car team plunging back in the standings, and they'd have been lucky to finish top-10.
No, Junior hasn't won a race, and yes, Talladega was his best shot for awhile. But he's running well, and chances are he's beating your guy. So roll with it.
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Three things come to mind after this pretty good race: NASCAR condones cheating, Jimmie is still a cheater, and Kurt Busch is a dirty-driving SOB just like he always has been. I mean, it's quite evident that Johnson was below the yellow line regardless of NASCAR's ruling/mindset. Jimmy knows he was below it; the race should go to Bowyer. Now for Busch. Dave Blaney should have won the race except for Busch's low-down tactics. I say he should be suspended for at least one race, just like Edwards should have been for his actions with Brad lat year. Yet NASCAR does nothing but a little probation.
?Sheldon "Pup" Schulte
Vandalia, IL
Yeah, the whole "Jimmie went below the line!" business lit up my inbox. Here's the thing: He was clearly ON the line. But according to NASCAR ? and I talked to spokesman Kerry Tharp after the race to clarify this ? the rule is that he has to have his tires BELOW it, AND not be forced down there. The line is IN bounds. (Why is that not written down anywhere? Next question, please.)
And you could make an argument that Martin forced Johnson down. What you can't make a convincing argument for is that he cheated to win this race. NASCAR's already shown that it will throw a penalty that costs Johnson the race ? remember the pit road penalty at Martinsville? ? so let's just cool it with this particular spindly-legged conspiracy theory.
As for Busch? Well, I think it's more that he had trouble pushing than that he's a dirty driver. Remember, these guys got only a few laps of practice on Talladega, as opposed to more than a week at Daytona. Pushing somebody blind is a tricky business, and for Busch, it didn't quite work out.
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What if they made Bristol 1/8-mile, and increase the banking to oh, say, 80 degrees. This is slightly insane!
?Sam Sevr
I find absolutely nothing wrong with this idea whatsoever. Delightful.
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I am outraged that you wouldn't put Jeff Gordon in the top 12 of the Power Rankings. Clearly he had the fastest car out there. Won the pole, played "the game" correctly every second of the race. Laid low in the back of the pack, he raced his race that day, and it was a very smart move. But then you have the likes of Kurt Busch still up there in the #9 spot. What's up with that?� What gives?� Are you a Gordon hater?� Although I do love the blog you have about him, that is funny. And you have JPM up there also. I am at a loss for words right now.
?Jeff G.
A.K.A. ? Cyrus The Great #24
Cyrus is a regular at our Wednesday chats, so I know this letter isn't totally on the level. But it does bring up a point: you people sure love to get insanely, irrationally angry about power rankings. I've given up trying to explain that it's not just based on one week's results. But I will do this for you: a handy clip-and-save complaint to use next week. Fill in your own driver and event accordingly:
Busbee: You idiot. I cannot believe you ranked ___________ below _________ and _________ ! Don't you know that if _[early-season accident/mistake]_ hadn't happened, he'd be in first? Didn't you see __[good performance in most recent race, ignoring bad performances in five prior races]__? Come on! These power rankings are awful and biased, and you should be __[torture recommendation outlawed by the Geneva convention]__.
Don't say I never did nothin' for ya.
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What a waste of time restrictor plate racing is, even moreso now than before, if that's possible. Just tune in for the final 3 laps, and that's it. The rest of the time is spent cruising around waiting for the end. At least the old pack-style racing gave you a reason to watch the whole race. Glad I spent most of the afternoon mowing the lawn. Now, time to get this nasty NASCAR manufactured "racing" aftertaste out of my mouth.
?Eric Campbell
Clint Bowyer said that the ending of the race justified the riding-around beforehand, and I could hear fandom's teeth grinding as he said it. As I noted earlier this week, we've had four finishes decided by a total of less than a second, which is pretty damn impressive, but there have been many, many hours of ride-around racing. So this week's question for you: does an amazing finish offset a dull race?
Last week's question asked you to pick your best two-driver team. Not two-by-two, but a hypothetical situation in which two drivers switched off over the course of the season in one car. Here are a couple of the better ones:
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For my two driver team, I would pick Jeff Gordon and Joey Logano. Both drivers have been good this year, but have either had bad luck (Logano) or junk cars (Gordon, for the most part). We know that it's only a matter of time before Sliced Bread hits his stride, and JG's just gotta get the right setup (See Phoenix).
?Luke
Laramie, WY
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I too like the idea that the team, not the driver, gets the points. It would not penalize a team where the driver is too sick or hurt to perform.�I would think that the second driver could not be from a team that runs every week so here are my 2 driver teams.
48...Johnson and Terry Labonte
22...Busch and Rusty Wallace
18...Busch and Todd Bodine
11 ..Hamlin and Mike Skinner
24...Gordon and Ricky Carmichael
5....Martin and Danica Patrick
88...Earnhardt and Aric Almirola
17...Kenseth and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
16...Biffle and Justin Allgaier
29...Harvick and Ron Hornaday Jr.
31...Burton and Elliot Sadler
33...Bower and Jason Leffler
14...Stewart and J.J. Yeley
39...Newman and Kevin Lepage
99...Edwards and Joe Nemechek
55...Truex and Ryan Truex
00...Reutimann and Max Papis
How is that for a list??
?Tim Butler
Tracy City, TN
That's a damn good list. I like the Kyle/Bodine and the Biffle/Allgaier duos as the best across-the-board talent. You? Make your case in the comments below.
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Joey Logano use to be called "Sliced Bread." More recently he's been dubbed "Stale Bread." Do you think after taking out one Busch and almost causing the other to get clipped, we should start calling Joey "The Pruner"? His botanical skills seem to outdo his driving ones of late. And by the way, Joey, thanks for giving us Kyle haters an awesome moment to shout about!
?Joyce Keith
"Stale"? Come on, the kid's still only 14 or whatever! Yeah, Logano has been a bit of a disappointment this year, but he'll come around. Taking out teammates may not be the best way to get love from Joe Gibbs, but it certainly sits well with a certain segment of fandom.
And finally, today in spam:
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Dear Sir,
We understand from your information on Internet that you are in the market for
inflatable boats. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our company
and products, with the hope that we may cooperate in the future.
Yep, cat's out of the bag, folks. Starting tomorrow, Yahoo! NASCAR becomes Yahoo! Inflatable Boats. Don't wear your high heels!
And on that note, we're out. Thanks to all our writers this week. You want in? Fire up the computer and hit us with whatever's on your mind, NASCAR-wise, at nascarmail@yahoogroups.com, find us on Facebook right here, or hit us up on Twitter at @jaybusbee. Make sure to tell us where you're from. We'll make you famous!
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