Oct 6, 2008 - 2:31 PM
0 shoutsBy Scott Serrano PA SportsTicker Auto Racing Editor
(C) 2008 PA SPORTSTICKER, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Even a pretty solid showing by Dale Earnhardt Inc. at Talladega can't hide all that ails the flagging race organization.
With it's future cloudy at best due to last week's announcement that Paul Menard will be leaving to drive for Yates Racing next season - and more importantly taking his sponsor (his daddy's Midwest-based hardware chain) - the team rallied during Sunday's Amp Energy 500.
With the race set for a green-white-checkered finish, DEI drivers Regan Smith, Menard and Aric Almirola were lined up behind race leader Tony Stewart.
Unfortunately the three inexperienced drivers (rookies Smith and Almirola, along with second-year guy Menard) couldn't work together well enough to sweep past Stewart.
Smith ultimately made a controversial move by getting underneath the yellow line on the final lap to pass Stewart to cross the start-finish line first.
But NASCAR deemed the move illegal and gave Stewart the win, penalizing Smith by dropping him to 18th place - the last car on the lead lap.
Personally, I think Stewart blocked Smith down there, but NASCAR made the call and that's that.
Getting back to DEI, Menard wound up second for his best career showing, and Almirola took 13th after getting shuffled back at the end.
Great job guys, but it's window dressing.
When your race organization is scrambling after losing a driver like Menard - winless through 69 starts with just two top-10s - you have bigger problems than NASCAR robbing you of a win.
As we speak, DEI has just one legitimate driver and sponsor under contract for next season with Martin Truex Jr. and Bass Pro Shops.
But that deal runs only through 2009, and I'm guessing Truex isn't sticking around after that since he is winless this season and failed to make the "Chase for the Championship."
Also, Menard's exit comes a year after Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he would leave the team his father built in order to drive for Hendrick Motorsports. Three months ago, Mark Martin decided to leave DEI and come out of semi-retirement to race full-time for Hendrick next season.
Obviously, the future isn't looking bright. Even a day like Sunday doesn't change that.
EDWARDS PLAYS THE IDIOT: The "big one" at Talladega on Sunday came courtesy of Carl Edwards.
Edwards got into the back of Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle on lap 174, spinning the No. 16 Ford around and back into oncoming traffic.
Biffle's car kicked off a wild collision that collected Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Joe Nemechek, Reed Sorenson, Matt Kenseth, pole winner Travis Kvapil, Michael Waltrip, Dave Blaney and Juan Pablo Montoya.
By causing the wreck, Edwards finished 29th and dropped 72 points behind series leader Jimmie Johnson.
Biffle, who won the first two Chase races at New Hampshire and Dover, wound up 24th and stands 77 points behind Johnson. Kenseth placed 26th.
"I was just pushing Greg as hard as I could," Edwards said. "It's my fault and I apologize to everybody caught up in that wreck. ... I feel bad that I took my teammates out. I know Matt's mad and I'm sure Greg's mad, but you just do the best you can and hope for the best.
"I was worried about the idiots when you come here, and I was the guy that caused that one."
JOHNSON PLAYS IT SAFE: Jimmie Johnson extended his lead in the Chase to 72 points with a safe ninth-place finish at Talladega.
Johnson was moved to the last starting position in the field after the team examined the engine prior to final technical inspection, considered an infraction of the impound rules.
His day was further complicated when he went a lap down to the leaders early in the race after losing the draft.
But Johnson and his team employed numerous pit strategies to move the two-time defending Sprint Cup Series champion up in the field throughout the race.
"To come out of here with a top 10, with guys that were real close to me having some problems, today was a good day, a really, really good day in the big picture," Johnson said.
HAMLIN HURTING: Denny Hamlin was released Monday after being held overnight at a Birmingham hospital for further evaluation after a blown tire led to a hard crash at Talladega.
Hamlin, who was silent on the radio for several moments after the crash, was alert and awake when he was transported to the UAB Medical Center, but was complaining of a headache and ankle pain as he was taken from the racetrack on a stretcher.
"The tire went down and it was quite a shot," Joe Gibbs Racing president J.D. Gibbs said. "He's got a little headache, so they're just going to watch him. It was a scary deal, but it's at least nice that he's alert and with it."
Hamlin is expected to be ready to race this weekend at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
EARNHARDT JR. VS. KYLE BUSCH: Dale Earnhardt Jr. basically replaced Kyle Busch at Hendrick Motorsports. Busch thoroughly dominated the head-to-head matchup through the first 26 races, winning eight times to Earnhardt's one.
Here is how the two are faring during the Chase:
Earnhardt ran 28th at Talladega and dropped to 10th in the Chase standings, 249 points out of the lead.
Busch finished 15th at Talladega for his best Chase showing this season. Entered the Chase with an 80-point lead atop the standings, but left Talladega in 11th place and 331 points out of the lead.
Edge through fourth Chase race: Earnhardt by a car length.
SAY WHAT? "Yeah, like I told everybody else, maybe (Carl Edwards) should have raced the rest of the day. I know that his fans won't be very proud of him sitting back there riding around like a pansy. But when he got up there and decided to start racing, it caused a big wreck. So, it was one of those deals." - Kevin Harvick on Edwards touching off the "big one."
GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED FINISH: Ron Hornaday Jr. finished second at Talladega to Todd Bodine and took over the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series lead by 39 points over Johnny Benson, who came home 11th. ... Tony Stewart's win Sunday was his first in 43 races and first at Talladega in 20 starts after finishing second a frustrating six times on the 2.66-mile superspeedway. ... Round five of the Chase takes place at Lowe's this weekend. Jeff Gordon, he of the 35-race winless skid, won the race last year.
Feedback? E-mail scott.serrano@pa-sportsticker.com.
