Full Throttle

Excuse the snarky title but when a NASCAR race sets a new yellow flag record (22) and averages just over 17 laps between them it’s hard to be too serious. Added to the record 13 yellows unfurled during the Busch race Saturday night I bet the “levigation” issue that produced record speeds, and one racing groove, will be looked upon in a different light.

About the only saving grace was the interest generated at the restart after the race was red flagged with 9 laps remaining. Would Bobby Labonte hold on for his second 600 win or would Jimmy Johnson take his record third straight 600 win. As a result of fresher tires Johnson edged Bobby Labonte by .027 second (one half car length) for the win at an average speed of 114.698 mph.

Honestly, I’ve averaged much faster than 115mph on I-5 South during a “Bonzai Run” between Los Angeles and San Diego. Those of you that live in that corridor are probably familiar that late night and clandestine run and it’s pretty sad I could average a faster speed than a multi-million dollar field of purpose built machines.

I’ll post much more later in the day in my weekly “NASCAR Cesspool.” An effort that may take a while to produce given all the antics that occured yesterday. For now here are the final unofficial results of the “Crash’em and Smash’em 600.”
1 Jimmie Johnson 5 #48 Chevrolet 11 400 running 185/5 $470,091
2 Bobby Labonte 34 #18 Chevrolet 10 400 running 175/5 $273,275
3 Carl Edwards 12 #99 Ford 10 400 running 170/5 $193,300
4 Jeremy Mayfield 36 #19 Dodge 0 400 running 160/0 $175,195
5 Ryan Newman 1 #12 Dodge 43 400 running 160/5 $238,191
6 Greg Biffle 29 #16 Ford 1 400 running 155/5 $134,725
7 Martin Truex Jr. 30 #1 Chevrolet 4 400 running 151/5 $111,500
8 Dale Jarrett 7 #88 Ford 0 400 running 142/0 $144,208
9 Ken Schrader 21 #49 Dodge 6 400 running 143/5 $106,150
10 Rusty Wallace 20 #2 Dodge 15 400 running 139/5 $144,958
11 Jeff Green 39 #43 Dodge 0 400 running 130/0 $133,566
12 Kevin Lepage 43 #37 Dodge 0 400 running 127/0 $97,525
13 Elliott Sadler 10 #38 Ford 4 400 running 129/5 $136,066
14 Kevin Harvick 33 #29 Chevrolet 0 400 running 121/0 $140,436
15 Mike Bliss 8 #0 Chevrolet 0 400 running 118/0 $98,500
16 Mike Wallace 42 #4 Chevrolet 0 400 running 115/0 $95,300
17 Kyle Petty 37 #45 Dodge 1 400 running 117/5 $112,143
18 Joe Nemechek 38 #01 Chevrolet 26 400 running 114/5 $116,933
19 Scott Riggs 28 #10 Chevrolet 0 400 running 106/0 $113,758
20 Bill Elliott 27 #91 Dodge 13 400 running 108/5 $96,325
21 Jamie McMurray 11 #42 Dodge 0 399 running 100/0 $98,150
22 Jeff Burton 40 #31 Chevrolet 0 399 running 97/0 $115,070
23 Scott Wimmer 32 #22 Dodge 0 399 running 94/0 $108,408
24 Tony Stewart 9 #20 Chevrolet 0 398 running 91/0 $132,461
25 Kyle Busch 6 #5 Chevrolet 55 398 running 93/5 $101,825
26 Kasey Kahne 4 #9 Dodge 11 396 running 90/5 $127,900
27 Robby Gordon 25 #7 Chevrolet 0 393 accident 82/0 $81,800
28 Mark Martin 13 #6 Ford 0 390 accident 79/0 $99,275
29 Dave Blaney 31 #07 Chevrolet 0 385 running 76/0 $92,150
30 Jeff Gordon 2 #24 Chevrolet 49 382 accident 78/5 $140,261
31 Brian Vickers 14 #25 Chevrolet 98 379 accident 80/10 $104,475
32 Travis Kvapil 18 #77 Dodge 23 376 running 72/5 $93,750
33 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 15 #8 Chevrolet 0 373 running 64/0 $128,983
34 Casey Mears 24 #41 Dodge 1 338 running 66/5 $98,017
35 Ricky Rudd 16 #21 Ford 1 305 engine 63/5 $107,489
36 Michael Waltrip 23 #15 Chevrolet 1 245 accident 60/5 $107,364
37 Matt Kenseth 3 #17 Ford 0 245 accident 52/0 $131,456
38 Terry Labonte 26 #44 Chevrolet 17 245 accident 54/5 $79,910
39 Sterling Marlin 41 #40 Dodge 0 215 accident 46/0 $107,708
40 Johnny Sauter 19 #09 Dodge 0 137 accident 43/0 $79,690
41 Mike Skinner 22 #23 Dodge 0 99 accident 40/0 $79,580
42 Jimmy Spencer 17 #50 Dodge 0 98 accident 37/0 $79,485
43 Kurt Busch 35 #97 Ford 0 26 accident 34/0 $132,145