NASCAR's Biggest Fan – Girl of the Week | Ron Ripple

Just when you thought Kyle Busch was going to dominate again… Carl Edwards takes the checkered flag.  I’ve said this before… nice guys don’t always finish last, especially when it comes to Carl Edwards.  He’s making this his 5th Sprint Cup win of the season and has backed up the reason of why he’s sitting pretty in second place overall.

Carl Edwards lifted his leg this weekend and “marked” his territory after winning both the Nationwide series race as well as the Sprint Cup race.  He becomes the second driver to ever win both races in one weekend at the Michigan track, Mark Martin did it in 1993.

Kyle Busch ran an incredible race yesterday afternoon and set himself up to win until they pitted on lap 180 out of 200.  Just when you think NASCAR is only about RACING on the track… nope… yesterday’s advantage went to Carl Edwards because his crew ”out raced” Kyle Busch’s crew and got Carl out on the track quicker.

After Carl and Kyle’s pit, they enter the track with Dale Earnhardt Jr and David Ragan running 1-2.  Once Carl Edwards passed them, he continued to stay in front and held Kyle Busch off till the end.

Kyle Busch said in his post race interview that he had nothing for Carl Edwars.  He said “Carl came off the corners a lot quicker and he did his best to stay close to him.  Overall we just didn’t have the car this weekend, Carl Edwards ran a great race.”

It was another great win for Carl Edwards and it allowed him to execute his famous backflip he’s been performing all year.  There’s a rumor going around the pits that Carl Edwards has been training with the U.S. Olympic team of Paul and Morgan Hamm, which has allowed him to perfect his backflip.  Also there are rumors going around that if Carl Edwards wins the Championship this year, he will attempt a double back hand spring with a flip into a twist double double twist flip and land on his hands. (I hope he wins because I can’t wait to see what the hell this is.)

All I know is yesterday was a great race and I was glad to see Carl Edwards out there winning.  Whatever flips he attempts it’s better than what I can do.  The only hand stands you’ll be seeing me do is one off a keg… we call it the keg stand.

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Great racing to all… there were a lot of disappointments this weekend for the top 12 racers.  Kasey Khane had engine failure which caused him to finish in 4oth place, dropped him down to 11th overall in the points standings.  Hamlin who finished in 39th dropped down to 12th position in the points standings… now on the bubble. 

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson had a rough weekend as well.  Both were involved in a three car fender bender that punctured Johnson’s tire giving him a 17th place finish.  Jeff Gordon didn’t feel the fender bender drama till later in the race when his tire then punctured making him hit the wall.  He finished 42nd which dropped him in the overall points from 6th place down to 9th place.

There was a lot of movement in the overall standings…

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The Allstate 400 was an interesting race to say the least… it came down to who had the fastest pit times and who could keep their tires from exploding. 

NASCAR delt with a tough situation this past Sunday and took the race into their own hands.  I think they did a great job by preventing further wrecks from taking place and I’m glad to see they were taking this seriously.  NASCAR officials implemented scheduled cautions that required teams to come in and make adjustments and tire changes.  As much as I love to see racers race, I don’t like to see teams race their ass off and have a tire explode and blow their chances. 

From the start of the race it looked like it was going to be a Hendrick Motorsports race from start to finish.  Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon were driving around the track as if they had about 1,000 extra horse power.  In some of the scheduled pit stops they would come out 4th or 5th and immediately make their way back to the front.  They had a lot of great team work and were extremely dominate for most of the race.

Another driver that impressed me was Carl Edwards.  Carl Edwards has been a competitive driver this year and has shown the world he’s a contender.  This weekend he ran extremely strong and had one of the fastest cars of the day.  I thought he almost had it after the last pit stop… but like I said before… Jimmie Johnson was strong and held him off. 

This was a tough weekend for NASCAR officials and for the crews.  The tires only lasted about 7 laps before you saw cord and to run a race where every 7 laps you needed a new set of tires, isn’t really racing.  Obviously the racers are watching what they say about Goodyear, especially since Tony Stewart created drama at the beginning of the year.  But Goodyear needs to start testing tires at Indy considering they run into this problem every single year. 

I must applaud the teams and NASCAR for turning the situation into a positive.  Every single team owner they interviewed said positive things about the actions NASCAR was taking and didn’t place any blame on Goodyear.  I thought what Joe Gibbs said was perfect “every team is going through this so not one team is at an advantage.”

It was just another day of racing and another race closer to the Sprint Cup Championship.

P.S. Look out for our “Girl of the Week” later today.

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The Coke Zero 400 was a race that goes down in the history books for it’s photo finish that couldn’t be called till the tapes were reviewed.  Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards were literally nose and nose, racing for the finish as a huge wreck took place behind them making the race a difficult race to call.  Kyle Busch just barely took the win with Carl Edwards less than a foot away from being crowned the Coke Zero 400 champion.

The photo finish!

Kyle Busch says he was on the edge of his seat doing everything he could to prevent a repeat of last years race with him taking second place to Jamie McMurray after a  similar situation with a photo finish.

In my opinion the real talk of the day should be about Dale Earnhardt Jr and his domination of this race that resulted in earning his 8th place finish.  The kid was driving around the course as if he owned it and nobody deserved to be on it but himself.  He was driving so aggressive and passionately that I was afraid he was going to wreck Jimmie Johnson when he dared to get in front of him.  He led more laps than anyone but when they counted he got left hung to dry and drifted back to the 10th place position.  In his post race interview he said there were a lot of ignorant drivers in the final laps and he claims he deserved a top 5 finish.

I guess if winning a race means Dale Jr needs to be ignorant than I guess he better start learning how.  Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and of course Kyle Busch were making runs for the front.  They didn’t hesitate when it came down to racing hard and doing what it takes to get out in front.

Two guys I need to give a lot of credit to even though they didn’t make it to the front is Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch.  Both started in the back of the pack and both made it to the top 10.  Kasey Kahne started in 41st position and picked off every driver as he made is way towards the front giving him a 7th place finish.  Kurt Busch also started in 36th position and also made is way to the front giving him a 4th place finish.  I guess when you’ve got a strong car and know how to drive it you can do anything.

This was one of my favorite races to watch.  It was action packed and reminded me of what true racing is. What did everyone think of my boy Tony Stewart and the good ol switcharoo allowing Yeley to step up and drive it like he stole it? Stewart had an extremely strong car racing in the top 3. Was I the only one to notice that Vickers was the cause of at least two of the wrecks?

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This weekend we’re heading down to Sonoma for an incredible road course with turn after turn after turn and I cannot wait.  This is going to be an awesome race to watch, and as much as I love to see these guys turn left, it’s going to be incredibly fascinating to see them turn right.  I mean… do these cars even turn right?  We’ll just have to wait and see. 

Wow… Did they seriously just take a right turn?

Sonoma is a track where road course racers are supposed to stand out and show the world what they’re all about.  Many times a team owner hires a road racer to come out here and show the world what they’ve got and in the end make a fool of themselves by getting owned by the true NASCAR racers themselves.  The statistics show (Nascar.com) only 1.5% of hired guns actually finish top 5 at the end of the day and usually get shown up by the true NASCAR (left turn only) racers. 

I love watching road courses and i’m glad NASCAR has a few on the schedule.  This course has a lot of history behind it and a lot of drivers really enjoy it.  Jeff Gordon is one of the guys to beat this weekend with having won 5 out of the last 10 starts here.  He hasn’t been dominating much this year but he’s been in the shadows and this could be the race that lights the fire underneath his panties. 

Another racer who has done well here is Juan Montoya.  This is his kind of course and he’ll be going out there trying to defend his title.  Juan won this race last year by basically driving by ever single car in the field.  He started in the 32nd position last year and is the first driver to win the race having started further back than 13th position.  I’m not a big Montoya fan but I think he’s going to be a driver to watch out for.  He obviously knows this course and knows how to pass… (Craig you better call your boy and tell him to step up his game because he’s going to make me look bad if he doesn’t)

Of course there is going to be a lot of hype behind other racers such as Tony Stewart, Boris Said, Terry Labonte, and many more due to the fact that they are great road racers.  But I think the guys that will need to shine and make a solid finish are those focused on making the top 12 for the chase at the end of the year…  Matt Kenseth, Ryan Newman, Brian Vickers, Clint Boyer, Martin Truex Jr.

Of course an article on Ron Ripple wouldn’t be an article without mentioning Kyle Busch.  For once I have to say Kyle Busch is making a great decision and has decided not to race the Nationwide Series race this weekend in Milwaukee.  Sonoma is a tough course and takes a toll on these racers especially if they’re not in their prime come race day.  There are a couple racers who have decided to race both and those are David Reutimann, Clint Boyer, and Carl Edwards.  All are great racers and have a chance at Sonoma but I think racing both races is going to be a mistake. 

Who do you think will take home the trophy this weekend?  Is it me or are you excited about the road course as well?  Boy do I love NASCAR….

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Alright… I made a little mistake on my last post and named off all these great names that “I said” were going to be racing down in Mexico City.  The truth is… hardly anybody will be racing down there in Mexico City and I’m curious as to why.  The big name road racers such as Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon both snubbed the Mexico City race this weekend.  The only big names that will be down there racing are Kyle Busch, David Reutimann, Carl Edwards, Clint Boyer and then Scott Pruett who is one of the best road racers that have ever existed. 

 There are g0ing to be a lot of local favorites from Mexico that will be racing, one of them being Adrian Fernandez who has had three top 10 finishes in the last three Nationwide races he’s raced in down there in Mexico City.  Adrian Fernandez is a local racer and very popular with the local Mexicans who will be hoping for a home town favorite to win the big race.  He not only has a competitive advantage by knowing the race course but he also has an advantage because it’s his birthday on Sunday and I know there are a lot of generous racers out there.  Haha… I highly doubt anyone’s going to help him out though!

 Another great racer who is making a guest appearance is Sam Hornish Jr. who was the winner of the 2006 Indy 500.  Sam doesn’t have much experience if any at all in a stock car but he defintiely knows road courses and is hands down a great driver.  I don’t think he has a chance at winning this race but I have a feeling he’ll end up somewhere in the top 15. 

 I personally think it’s going to be an exciting race to watch.  Road races are a lot of fun especially when you have someone to route for.   I’m going to be pulling for Kyle Busch or Carl Edwards because they’re regulars and I highly doubt any of these randoms are going to do anything extraordinary.  I wish everyone luck and will be drinking a beer on turn 3 of the race course. 

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KYLE BUSCH.  All I have to say is holy shitzu… this kid is good.  I have a feeling that while I was playing with G.I. Joe’s at the age of 3, Kyle Busch was driving the lawn mower learning how to put the pedal to the metal.  This kid was dominating yesterday’s race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway basically the whole time.  If I had to put my money on someone to win the season I would have to say Kyle Busch.  I know I know… kinda obvious since he’s ahead in the points, but I don’t see anyone else putting on a show like this kid.

 Other shoutouts I have to give after watching the race is Dale Earnhardt Jr, Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards.  All three ran an incredible race leading quite a few laps.  It was unfortunate Carl Edwards blew an engine after leading for so long but I guess that’s racing.  Dale Earnhardt was in the hunt the whole time and was always a threat.  I’d love to see him win a race and get the taste of victory back in his blood.   Tony Stewart was in the top 10 most of the race but obviously crept up to the front towards the end.

 It was soooo cold this past weekend up there, I was worried that they were going to have to post pone the race again.  I almost wanted to put my bathing suit on and see if the track was a slip in slide because after watching Sunday’s race and seeing those guys slide through the turns I figured it had to be fun.  I talked to Tony Stewart in his hauler after the race on Sunday and he was not too happy about the tires Goodyear brought to this race.  He said it was the worst tires he’s ever used and that Goodyear better step up their “A” game if they want to get off his “Shit List.”

Overall I have to admit I really enjoyed watching this race.  It was definitely a driver’s course with the rough conditions of the track and the poor tires Goodyear brought.  Three of my favorite drivers, Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, and Dale Earnhardt Jr finished in the top three and I’m already excited for next weekend.  It feels like these weeks are flying by…  we’re almost a month into the season. 

 I’m glad to be back… now let’s get cooking on those comments.  I want to hear your opinions.

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Congratulations to Carl Edwards for fending off Mr. Gordon and Mr. Johnson who were absolutely dominating yesterday’s race before the rain delay.  I am beyond impressed with the way the race finished today.  You have Carl Edwards who stepped up his “A” game today to beat the three guys who to me seemed unstoppable yesterday.  Jeff Gordon finsihed in second place with Jimmie Johnson riding on his coat tails.  The one driver we need to keep our eye on throughout the season is Kyle Busch.  He is officially leading the points after today’s race with a third place finish in Daytona and a fouth place finish in today’s Auto Club 500.

So Carl Edwards did an incredible job today driving by basically everyone who got in his way.  He does admit though he was very fortunate to get by Jimmie Johson and claims that it was more like a drag race today than a NASCAR race.  Overall big ups to my boy Carl Edwards…. That’s one guy who can’t claim to have a case of the Mondays.  I also have to give him credit for not breaking his neck on his successful back flip after the race.  Do you think he practices?  Does he get out of his car after each practice and attempts a back flip?

Anyway…. about that Rain Delay!  NASCAR needs to have a better strategy the next time they decide to keep letting the guys get back on the track.  It was more like a ‘slip and slide’ last night than a race track.  In my opinion they should have realized they were losing more cars to crashes then they were getting around the track.  I think next time if the track is that saturated with water and the weather doesn’t look any better then they need to make an executive decision.  But enough about my personal opinion about the matter… It’s not like I wasted my whole evening staying up watching the Simpsons. 

What do you think about the rain delay?  Do you think the 24 or 48 car could have been stopped if the race would have gone off without a hitch last night? 

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