Full Throttle

First, what we do know after Fridays NNS event:

We know that Busch character is stout, very stout. Baby Busch picked up his second consecutive NNS win of the season, and second-straight at PIR. Flipper, or Phlipper as Charlie would probably call him, ain’t too bad either but came up a bit short.

Ragan, Bliss and Leicht all had excellent days finishing in the five through seven holes respectively. As a west coast driver (Oregon) Bliss has run at PIR many times so it’s not surprising he was in contention near the end. And what can you say about Liecht other than he’s been consistently near the top, when he’s entered in a NNS event, and he’s making the 150 g’s price tag he pays to run each week worth every penny.

Dario “Don’t Call Me Mr Judd” Franchitti drove his Dodge from the 13th hole at the green and improved that by 2 spots across the checkered flag. Again, another performance not at all surprising to me. He’s been caught in the in and out top 35 morass that’s hurt his chance. The guy can drive and has a big advantage over some the “transfers,” many miles driven on ovals, it can’t be understated how important that is.

Maybe it’s me but I see a certain symmetry in Scott Gaylord’s 43rd place finish. He only completed 2 laps and parked the Bennett Classics Museum Ford. Completing 2 miles in a 200 mile race is damn close to being a museum.

Things you may have missed:

Can we call Robby Gordon’s dedication to NASCAR suspect now?

P.J. Jones will sub in Robby Gordon’s #7 Dodge during practice and qualifying at Talladega in two weeks. Gordon will be competing in the “postponed” Central Dakar Rally. Jones could race if Gordon’s return from Hungary is delayed.

Here’s the problem as I see it. The Central Dakar Rally wasn’t “postponed,” it didn’t exist when Gordon signed contacts to compete in the originally scheduled Dakar rally in January. He’s not under, or shouldn’t be under any contractual obligations now. It’s his choice to be running the event a third of the way around the world.

Part of his rhetoric during the entire nose-gate bruhaha was the cash lost by Dakar being suspended and how if any penalties were upheld he may try to run the Indy500/Charlotte double due to his season being jeopardized by the loss of points.

So, what’s different now? Granted even if Robby doesn’t come back the owner’s points would count, but… he’s the driver of the #7. As such he’s the one that sponsors pay to see drive, not P.J. Jones. Robby’s the owner/driver crying croc tears for everyone to see and now he’s more concerned about a rally than Talladega.

The guy is stuck on stupid.