Phoenix weekend thread

Mystery · 11 Apr 2008, 12:46 (Ref:2175227)

Newman on the pole for the 4th time at Phoenix as Dodge seems to be well up this time.

Johnny Sauter is in for Mayfield and scraped into 42nd spot on the grid. Petty and Andretti head for home. Dario in comfortably in 21st (and practising well in the NWS car too).

429CJ · 11 Apr 2008, 15:34 (Ref:2175345)

So, the race day is Saturday, on our local sports channel Urheilu+Kanava it's starting 3:00 AM Sunday morning Eastern European time.

Knowlesy · 11 Apr 2008, 16:09 (Ref:2175364)

Lineup: http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/8/data/lineup.html

Good effort from Dario, pleased for him and the 40 team.

fieldodreams79 · 12 Apr 2008, 20:54 (Ref:2176067)

saw the last half of the sportsman (NW) series race last night. i'm convinced that phoenix is a much better (or much more exciting) under the lights. normally not a big "flat" track fan, unless it's dirt, but i'm almost to looking forward to a race at PIR.

fieldodreams79 · 13 Apr 2008, 00:56 (Ref:2176156)

yeaaa....just what i wanted to see right before the race starts was the end of the rain delayed yankees/redsox game. <yawn>
FOX sports is just silly...how many channels do they have?!

**gomick** · 13 Apr 2008, 05:28 (Ref:2176208)

Kyle Busch got the Nationwide race win (again)... Marcos Ambrose came 17th...

Points after 8 rounds...

1. Clint Bowyer 1189
2. Carl Edwards 1165
3. Kyle Busch 1083
4. David Ragan 1068
5. David Reutimann 1065
6. Brad Keselowski 1011
7. Mike Bliss 998
8. Kevin Harvick 977
9. Jason Leffler 962
10. Kelly Bires 926
11. Mike Wallace 912
12. Bobby Hamilton Jr. 890
13. David Stremme 857
14. Jason Keller 827
15. Steve Wallace 788
16. Dario Franchitti* 785
17. Marcos Ambrose 773

Knowlesy · 13 Apr 2008, 11:14 (Ref:2176337)

Johnson wins the cup race, apparently on fuel mileage.

Not that I can watch the races having no Sky anymore.

Another top 15 for JPM. Consistent stuff, seems that is the limit of the Ganassi car. But if he keeps racking these up he has a good outside shot at the Chase. Not that he'd be able to do anything in it mind you!

Talladega next!

**Craig** · 13 Apr 2008, 13:06 (Ref:2176401)

Looks like Montoya needs to get himself into a decent car for next year... is anything likely to be available to him though? Did I hear that Felix Sabates will be leaving at the end of the season? Is that likely to improve the team?

Yeah, it's a bit odd not having coverage anymore, isn't it Knowlesy. I've really lost touch on what's going on in the world of Nascar now

Knowlesy · 13 Apr 2008, 13:15 (Ref:2176408)

If Sabates leaves I can't see that being really helpful.

Well, the feeling is that JPM can do the job given the equipment so if he keeps it up I can see offers from a top team. It just depends what is available at the time I suppose and how he is performing. Personally, I'd turf Mears out of Hendrick but I'm biased. RCR are adding a fourth car to their lineup, but Bobby Labonte is rumoured for that one. Is Biffle on the way out of Roush?

But yeah - Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Juan Pablo Montoya. That'd be a cool team as well as marketable beyond belief! I'm not saying JPM could beat those guys (not straight away at least) but he'd do a good job I reckon. Then again, it's a different kind of pressure in a top team like that. And it likely would never happen anyways because teams are more likely to go for the guaranteed, established winners.

**Craig** · 13 Apr 2008, 14:21 (Ref:2176453)

Well, if no good drive presents itself, maybe there'll be an opportunity to return to Indycar in a couple of years if it takes off as it should?

fish88 · 13 Apr 2008, 14:39 (Ref:2176459)

That wouldn't be good news if sabates leaves. There was also a rumour that Target would leave Ganassi at the end of the year. Don't see those 2 rumours making Ganassi's NASCAr operation a better team.

But going to Indycar would be a step back IMO and make him look like he couldn't handle NASCAR (although I would love to see him once in maybe the INDY 500). Hope a good team like Penske, Roush, Hendrick or RCR would have a place for him in the future.

Knowlesy · 13 Apr 2008, 15:23 (Ref:2176482)

Indy, well, been there and done it.

Juan should be in NASCAR for years and years. But if he does change, then an assault on Le Mans and associated championships would be cool.

Matt · 13 Apr 2008, 16:08 (Ref:2176489)

Mark Martin should have won that race.

J-C · 13 Apr 2008, 16:57 (Ref:2176525)

Juan's clearly performing at the limit of his equipment; he has been consistently in the top-20 all season long no matter what the track and is starting to creep into Chase contention through that consistency. As Knowlesy said though, it's a question of whether and when a vacancy at one of the top teams arises...

Don't see the point in Juan going back to Indycars, he was clearly the class of the field when Champcar was at its very peak in 99/00 and has an Indy 500 win to boot. Nothing to prove, nothing to gain. Le Mans or even WRC would be a more interesting move IMO.

Neil22 · 14 Apr 2008, 16:25 (Ref:2177329)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt

Mark Martin should have won that race.

I still can't figure why Mark didn't just go in for a splash of gas instead of adding two tires. Anyway, Jimmy and his crew played the odds and won. I wish I could have seen the start of the race instead of Roidball.

StuiE · 14 Apr 2008, 16:52 (Ref:2177353)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig

Yeah, it's a bit odd not having coverage anymore, isn't it Knowlesy. I've really lost touch on what's going on in the world of Nascar now

Take a look at Race Rewind on Nascar.com, it's actually pretty decent, almost 15 mins. My brother decided while I was taping the race (replay) at 7am thismorning, he'd check some sports scores on some other channels, and then turn the cable off! good one idiot!

I got up to the red flag...

Knowlesy- Except Mears

I really don't know why Hendrick took him on , Montoya would be better....Not sure he'd leave Ganassi though? since that was where he got his big break in Champcar, and anyone else may not have taken him on in Nascar.

Knowlesy · 14 Apr 2008, 17:05 (Ref:2177366)

Yeah, there is the loyalty thing there. But who'd have thought JPM would have left Williams in F1? At the end of the day he won't hang around if the team is not competitive enough and Chip wouldn't hold him back either.

Is race rewind free?

StuiE · 15 Apr 2008, 15:23 (Ref:2178119)

Yes it's one of the few features of nascar.com that doesn't charge a fee!

If you go the the 'video control room' on the main page it'll be in the list of vids.

Also agreed on the loyalty thing, Chip gave him great cars in CART/Indy 500, and has been giving him reasonably competitive stockcars, but there is better out there..

Dutton · 15 Apr 2008, 23:38 (Ref:2178462)

A thoroughly interesting race on one of the more interesting tracks. It was nice to see the guys who took the chance get the goods.

I also had emotions regarding Truex's progress that I would associate with being a fan, as opposed to keeping an eye on thanks to a general liking. I had a feeling this was coming, and at Pheonix it happened. As things stand, I have no team connections.

So, for the first time regards NASCAR, I am now a "fan" of an entity: Martin Truex Jr.

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