Maybe he was practicing his back flips during that rain delay last night… Carl Edwards led the final 15 laps today at Pocono Raceway and won the Pocono 502.5 under caution. In what was easily one of the worst events we’ve ever seen at a place that is usually pretty racey, Edwards grabbed his second win of the season (he won at Atlanta in March) and the 81st for Roush Racing (but unbelievably their first at Pocono). Roush has seven wins this season, and this one was worth $196,150 from the over $4.7M in posted awards. It’s obvious they’ve gotta fix two thing before we come back here in six weeks…..
First, junk the new gear rule for this joint. We’re running slower than ever and the most spread out in history. There was virtually zero side-by-side racing today…..and we’ve grown used to seeing those five and six wide camera shots back up the frontstretch from turn 1.
Second, Goodyear’s gotta get their tires right. We had no less than seven cars have left front troubles today, and blaming it on the rumble strips seems to be a bit of a stretch. This certainly wasn’t our first race with that “corduroy” (never heard it called that before…must be a New England thang).
As evidence of how these changes have effected this race, today we had only 14 lead changes among 7 drivers. Last year’s June race had 30 lead changes among 16 drivers, and July had 16 changes amongst 10 drivers. A disturbing trend indeed…..
Brian Vickers (2nd) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 5th at Phoenix in April.
Joe Nemechek (3rd) had his best finish since he won at Kansas last October.
Terry Labonte (12th) had his best finish since he was 6th when we were here last July. BTW, all five Hendrick Motorsports cars finished in the Top-12.B Sterling Marlin (16th) had his best finish since he was 5th at Texas in April.
Mike Garvey (25th) had his career-best finish today. His previous best was 41st at Atlanta in March.
STREAKIN….Jimmie Johnson has 4 Top-10’s in the last 5 races. Kyle Busch has 3 Top-5’s in the last 4 races.
This Week’s Elevator….UP: Operator of the Week is Kyle Busch (+34), followed by Carl Edwards (+28 ), Jeff Gordon (+22), and Jeff Green (+20). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Scott Riggs (-32), followed by Mike Bliss (-26), Scott Wimmer (-25), Matt Kenseth (-22), and Kurt Busch (-20).
Mike Garvey led a lap today for the first time in his Nextel Cup career. He’s the 41st different driver to lead this season….last year we had 50 different leaders during the season.
Jimmie Johnson has stretched his margin over Greg Biffle to 123 points after today. The “Stayin’ Alive” line has moved up to 12th.
Carl Edwards (9th to 4th) and Jeff Green (31st to 26th) made the best moves forward today, while three drivers (Tony Stewart, Mike Bliss, and Kyle Petty) all fell five spots.(Stock Car Fans)(6-12-2005)
