Pocono was so confusing that you needed all those ESPN commercial breaks just to keep your head from spinning off of your neck. But, besides the horrid job of producing and covering the race that the, ‘Worldwide Leader in Sports’ did, this race was full of twists and turns. And five laps penalties. In the end it was a familiar face in victory lane in the mountains, but it didn’t come without some hard work, and possibly some help from above.
1. Denny Hamlin had a dominant car, deserved to win
When ESPN played all those, “Racing, only twisted” promos for Watkins Glen, they might as well have been talking about the race yesterday. Numerous cautions allowed many different cars to run up front and even allowed Jimmie Johnson to make up three laps (more on that below). At one point Tony Stewart was the leader, and this Pocono race turned out nothing like his last dominant run at the 2.5 mile tricky triangle.
1. Denny Hamlin had a dominant car, deserved to win
When ESPN played all those, “Racing, only twisted” promos for Watkins Glen, they might as well have been talking about the race yesterday. Numerous cautions allowed many different cars to run up front and even allowed Jimmie Johnson to make up three laps (more on that below). At one point Tony Stewart was the leader, and this Pocono race turned out nothing like his last dominant run at the 2.5 mile tricky triangle.
Denny Hamlin, overcome with emotion after winning yesterday. His grandmother passed away on Friday (Credit: AP)
The dominant car yesterday was the same dominant car that won both races in 2006: Denny Hamlin. He battled from sixth on the final restart with 13 to go to slip by Clint Bowyer heading through the tunnel turn and sat sail from there. The last time he won, a well documented 50 races ago, was March of 2008 at Martinsville. This was just the boost Denny Hamlin needed as the race to the Chase starts to heat up. He’s fifth in the points heading to Watkins Glen and it would take a sever meltdown for Hamlin to miss out on the Chase.
2. How did Jimmie Johnson do that?
Seriously? He was three laps down with less than 40 to go and he finished 13th—on the lead lap! When he began having engine issues around the midway point of the race NASCAR threatened their golden boy with a black flag for not meeting the minimum speed.
Jimmie Johnson had engine issues, got them fixed and literall was a "Lucky Dog" on Monday (Credit: Getty Images)
After the race Johnson said, “I assume it was a spark plug issue. That’s the last thing we started changing.” And it worked. Johnson played NASCAR’s “Lucky Dog/Free Pass” rule to gain three laps back in the final 40 laps of the race and salvage a 13th place run.It was definitely a great performance, but should it have happened? I’m all for the “Lucky Dog/Free Pass,” but if you’re three laps down, no matter what the circumstances, you shouldn’t be allowed to make those three laps up. Period, no arguments. But, I watched Jeff Gordon do it in 2006 at Indy, in an eerily similar way. NASCAR might want to re-check their rule book and re-think this part of the “Lucky Dog/Free Pass” rule.
3. Points racing and strategy played into the finish
Clint Bowyer needed a great run to stay in the hunt for the Chase. He was leading with ten to go, attempting to conserve fuel and get a good finish. The #33 car came home third. “We can taste it,” he told ESPN after the race. He’s back 115 points with five races to go before the Chase cutoff.
Juan Pablo Montoya finished second yesterday, following the momentum of his dominating run at Indy one week ago. His crew chief Brian Patty became the next coming of the deity during the race as ESPN anointed him as the best crew chief on pit road. He said to a reporter during the race, “We’re big picture racing here.” Montoya has been good all year, but I have to wonder when “points racing” and being conservative will bite him. Maybe it will be next week at Watkins Glen where he will no doubt be one of the favorites. Maybe it won’t happen until he’s in the Chase. We’ll find out.
4. Double file restarts cause major mayhem
First, another tangential argument for the powers to be at NASCAR to answer: Why did the yellow flag fly when David Ragan got out of the groove in turn three and nearly touched the wall, but not come out when Kyle Busch slammed his M&M’s Toyota against the wall in the same turn? I was confused by NASCAR’s caution logic once again. Go figure.
But if it weren’t for the double file restarts, I’m not sure we would have seen so much crazy driving. And that wouldn’t have bothered me one bit. Mark Martin, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon and many others were in a proverbial hornets nest all day on restarts. Cautions almost bred cautions which almost bred more cautions. Sure it might have been exciting for some fans, but I didn’t find it entertaining in the least.
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Today is Big East media day and personally, I’m sick and tired of hearing how bad the Big East is. Compared to the Big Ten, we’re golden. I’ll look at that and a few other things over the next two days as I begin to ramp up for football season here in Cincinnati.
On Friday I’ll take a look at the race from Watkins Glen, a race that may be my final race of the 2009 NASCAR season with a definite preview and recap. From there we’ll play it by ear. Tune back in tomorrow to read about college football. Enjoy your day.
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