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

The NASCAR chase for second place is the new excitement in NASCAR.    I’m tired of hearing the name Jimmie Johnson… so let’s talk about who’s going to earn the second place position… a.k.a. the first loser?  Will it be Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, or Jeff Burton?   Make your predictions!

The way this year has been going, I would think Carl Edwards is going to earn the “first loser” position.  He’s been in contention all year… from chasing Kyle Busch at the beginning of the season… to chasing Jimmie Johnson at the end.  He’s had an incredible year but unfortunatley it just wasn’t good enough.  With only one more race left in the season, Mr. Edwards has given it all he’s got.  He turned that “nice guy” image into a well…. “nice guy” image who got second place. 

If anyone was going to beat Jimmie Johnson this year it was going to be either Kyle Busch or Carl Edwards.  Kyle made his bed early, but Carl Edwards went down fighting. 

Another racer who I put all my money on before the chase began was Greg Biffle.  I picked “The Biff” as an underdog to win the Championship, but the S.O.B. just couldn’t get ‘er done.  He fought a good fight, but just didn’t have that winning edge to pull through.  He won a couple races at the end but he just didn’t have that winning streak he needed in order to take home the title.

 Who was the biggest dissapointment?

In my opinion the biggest dissapointment this year had to go to two drivers.  Now these two drivers I tend to make fun of in one way or another, but it’s only because they’re incredible racers and I have to make fun of someone.

Kyle Busch… I can’t say it enough!  Kyle Busch absolutely dominated the 2008 Season up until the chase.  He was the “bad guy” of the season and brought a lot of attention to the sport.  If I were a race God, I would have restructured the Chase and made these last final races a battle between the good and the bad.  Jimmie Johnson vs. Kyle Busch.  But unfortunately for me, I’m not a race God and can’t restructure the ending.  Kyle Busch is just gonna have to start over next year and prove himself again.  If anyone can do it… it’s him.

Jeff Gordon… the guy is one of the best racers to date.  He’s won championships and has beat some of the best drivers that have ever walked into the NASCAR world.  But unfortunately for Jeff Gordon, he got owned in the 2008 season.  He’s had a winless year thus far, and with only one race left, it doesn’t look good.  Lucky for him, he’s got a ridiculously good looking wife to go home to. 

Who do you think is going to earn the “first loser” title?  Who do you think was the biggest dissapointment?

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We’re getting so close to the end of the season and as I said at the beginning of the Chase, my money is on Greg Biffle.  Yeah yeah yeah… Jeff Gordon has a 7.0 rating at Martinsville, and blah blah blah… Jimmie Johnson has a 6.0 rating at Martinsville, well I’m not saying ”The Biff” is going to win Martinsville, but I am saying he’s going to be the champ at the end of the season.

As usual, the press constantly talks about the stars such as Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch or Jeff Gordon.  They’re always talking about “What color underwear they wear… what they ate for breakfast… how many times they dropped the kids off at the pool… who they’re dating… blah blah blah.”  And if you haven’t noticed, but before every race people are betting on these guys to win, and when they don’t, they still always seem to talk about what went wrong and why they shouldn’ve won. 

Jimmie Johnson… the Media Whore!

After my last Gas Card Giveaway contest, I realized there are a number of driver’s who don’t get the credit they deserve.  When I picked ”The Biff” to win the Championship at the beginning of the Chase, I picked him because I thought he was an incredible driver and he was an underdog in the eyes of the media.  So far ”The Biff” has been showing strong and staying in the hunt, right where he needs to be.

Another underdog who should never be considered an underdog is Jeff Burton.  The only time this guy gets any attention from the media is when he wins.  We never hear about his hobbies outside of racing, or his Garage drama at the race track.  I’m almost wondering if I should create rumors for these guys so they get more attention and get more fans behind them. 

How about this one… “Jeff Burton  lost 12 lbs for his Lowe’s win this past weekend.  Rumors are going around that he is throwing up his lunches just to stay thin and give him the weight advantage when he’s goes into turn 1.”  Pretty scary when the man only weighs 158 lbs… hopefully he passes his physical in the pre-race exam for Martinsville.

Ron Ripple has the pictures to Prove it!

Anyway… “The Biff” is still my pick.  If I have to make up rumors for him then I will.  Martinsville isn’t his track of choice, but if he stays consistant and gets a top 5 finish, then he’ll still be sitting pretty. 

Obviously this is Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson’s track… I think we need Jeff Gordon to get the win this weekend and make sure Jimmie Johnson stays out of the top 5.  Anything’s possible.

Who do you all think the Dark Horse is in the Race for the Championship?  Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle, Clint Boyer, Kevin Harvick?  Hey… we haven’t heard about Kyle Busch as much as we used to!!!!

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Just when you thought the chase was dominated by Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards, or even Greg Biffle… Jeff Burton decides he’s not going to let it go that easily.  Burton wins at Lowe’s to put himself in Second place over all in the points.  The Championship keeps getting that much more interesting… Boy do I love NASCAR!

 Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson battled it out late in the race on Saturday night at the Bank of America 500.  Jimmie Johnson ended up having handling issues which pushed him back into the 6th position and allowed Jeff Burton to take the win.  Running in second was Kasey Kahne who just didn’t have enough for Jeff Burton late in the race.

One driver who I was impressed with Saturday night was Jeff Gordon.  You all know Jeff Gordon is a sissy boy in my eyes but Saturday night the guy came out and had more difficulty on the track than most, but still some how pulled off a top ten finish.  After the race I watched the team load the car into the Hauler, and it was the “little engine that could.”  and surprisingly even though he didn’t win the race, he did a hell of a job in my opinion.

So Jeff Gordon… I won’t make fun of you in this post… I’ll let you drink you’re Pinot Grigio in peace… because you’re a warrior… and if warriors drink wine… then go for it.

Another driver who had a tough night was Carl Edwards.  Early in the race the kid decided to pit which is perfectly fine, but when you pit and a caution comes out… you’re in deep doo doo.  Well Carl Edwards was knee deep in the doo doo and couldn’t change the outcome.  Sh!t happens… literally… so what are you going to do?  He left the track in fourth place in the overall points standings.

So for those of you who attempted to win the Gas Card in this past week’s contest obvioulsy lost.  Nobody expected Burton to win, so we’re going to leave the contest up for next weekend.  So make sure you pick a winner for the next race.  I’ll post the contest again so we can start fresh.

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Have you ever heard of the Top 35 rule?  It’s a rule that was set in place back in 2005, that basically secured a starting position for the top 35 teams in the points chase at each race no matter how they qualified.  The purpose of this was to make sure that there was competitive racing in the top 35 and even if a team had a bad qualifying round, it still gave them a chance to race and earn points.  In my opinion this takes the “TRUE RACING” out of the sport.  If 35 out of the 40 starting positions are already taken and there are over 45 teams that come to each race and try to qualify for a starting position.  This means that the remaining 10+ teams have to fight for the remaining 5 positions.   This could cause a lot of frustrated sponsors, and a lot of drama and doubt for the teams that are showing up not in the top 35.

 Here’s what I was thinking… if I sponsored a car for a whole season and my car wasn’t in the top 35… I would be worried sick that they weren’t going to qualify and start each and every race.  If my car didn’t make it into each race, then what’s the point of me spending over a $1 mil to sponsor a car for the season?  If my car didn’t make it into each race and I was spending that much money I would definitely be throwing some bows.  I have a feeling the reason why I don’t sponsor a team is for two basic reasons.  1. I don’t have the money to sponsor a team, and 2. I don’t have the money to sponsor a team.

 I have a feeling this is exactly what Jeff Burton was thinking when he brought this up to Brian France the CEO and Chairman of NASCAR.  More teams need that comfortable feeling of knowing they are going to have a guaranteed start in each and every race.  Jeff Burton proposed that the number be expanded to 43 teams which would still leave a few fighting for the final qualifying positions. 

I think it’s a great suggestion and will look forward to seeing what NASCAR does with it.  Make sure you keep checking back for my opinion on NASCAR news, events, and drama.

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