We promise to throw a caution with ample time to slow down in the event of a spinning car on this Chase edition of Notes & Quotes.Pressure? What pressure? Juan Pablo Montoya's run into the Chase for the Sprint Cup is quite the enviable position for most other drivers simply because of the expectations that the former Formula 1 driver has on his back.
Or, make that the lack of expectations.
"I mean, what's the pressure? We made the Chase," said Montoya after his third-place finish. "From now on, anything about that, it's a balance. Come here, first Chase race, put on the pole, finish second. Can I ask for anything else? Not really. A win would be nice, but that will come."
Sure, a win would be nice for Montoya, but you can bet that's a little less important for the Columbian driver than, say, a championship. A title isn't completely a completely off-the-wall possibility for the No. 42 car, based on his slim 55 point deficit to leader Mark Martin and the consistency the team put together in regular season's closing races.
There was plenty of three-wide and otherwise risky maneuvers during Sunday's race -- and not just between drivers with nothing on the line except winning. The Chase drivers were fully involved with the good show we had for several laps.
Denny Hamlin surmised that it had a lot to do with track position and little to do recklessness.
"I think everyone is just -- I think everyone panics," Hamlin said after coming out unscathed in second-place. "When you see at the beginning of the race the top 10 and they're all Chase guys, you're like, man, I've got to fight for every position I can, and track position means so much that I think every hole that you see on the racetrack you immediately go for because it doesn't matter if your car is two tenths faster than the car in front of you. If he runs your line, you're not going to get around him.
"So I think everyone is just jumping to every opportunity that they can, and that's why you see the three wide is everyone is just trying to make up all the spots they can, and a lot of it has to do with the excitement of the start of the Chase."
Restarts played a big role in how two Chase drivers didn't perform as expected on Sunday, and left them both disappointed with their first of ten rounds of NASCAR's championship system.
Jeff Gordon, who looked strong early, ran 15th while Carl Edwards trailed him as the second-worst finishing Chase driver in 17th.
"If you're on the front row, you can get away with it a little bit but being fifth or sixth we just really struggled with the grip on the restarts," said Gordon. "We'd lose three or four spots every restart and then we'd start not being able to gain it back. It just wasn't a good day for us. It's one we've just got to put behind us and go on."
Edwards echoed Gordon's sentiments that the restarts -- especially on the low air pressures of new tires after a pit stops -- really hurt his march to the front.
"Our car just struggled all day and I couldn't go fast," said Edwards. "Once I got strung out I could hold my own and I could run well, but on those restarts I just got killed on the short run."
Thanks to their finishes, each driver has a pretty big hole to dig out of if a run at the championship is a possibility. Edwards sits 11th in points 113 back of leader Martin while Gordon is 10th, 102 back.
Brian Vickers managed an 11th-place finish, but felt like he could have gotten even more had the team not struggled through multiple problems throughout the weekend.
"We're not making it any easier on ourselves as a team," Vickers said. We started the weekend off and had a lot of engine problems in the first practice that put us about an hour and a half behind the competition. Then in the race, we had a lot of problems in the pits and some other problems that I think cost us an opportunity at a top-five."
Otherwise, Vickers called his 11th-place run a "solid finish" to his first ever race as a Chase competitor that leaves him 90 points from the top spot in the point standings.
Give some props to Elliott Sadler for his strong run Sunday at New Hampshire.
The Virginia-native is driving for the same team as Kasey Kahne and has certainly felt the setbacks and growing pains of the various mergers of Richard Petty Motorsports. His 8th-place finish was the best for No. 19 since his 5th-place run at Daytona in February and marked just his fourth Top-10 of 2009.
Remember, just a few years ago Sadler was a contender in the Chase with Yates Racing. His infectious down-home personality would only do good things for the sport if he could get back to being competitive again.
Restarts played a big role in how two Chase drivers didn't perform as expected on Sunday, and left them both disappointed with their first of ten rounds of NASCAR's championship system.
Jeff Gordon, who looked strong early, ran 15th while Carl Edwards trailed him as the second-worst finishing Chase driver in 17th.
"If you're on the front row, you can get away with it a little bit but being fifth or sixth we just really struggled with the grip on the restarts," said Gordon. "We'd lose three or four spots every restart and then we'd start not being able to gain it back. It just wasn't a good day for us. It's one we've just got to put behind us and go on."
Edwards echoed Gordon's sentiments that the restarts -- especially on the low air pressures of new tires after a pit stops -- really hurt his march to the front.
"Our car just struggled all day and I couldn't go fast," said Edwards. "Once I got strung out I could hold my own and I could run well, but on those restarts I just got killed on the short run."
Thanks to their finishes, each driver has a pretty big hole to dig out of if a run at the championship is a possibility. Edwards sits 11th in points 113 back of leader Martin while Gordon is 10th, 102 back.
Brian Vickers managed an 11th-place finish, but felt like he could have gotten even more had the team not struggled through multiple problems throughout the weekend.
"We're not making it any easier on ourselves as a team," Vickers said. We started the weekend off and had a lot of engine problems in the first practice that put us about an hour and a half behind the competition. Then in the race, we had a lot of problems in the pits and some other problems that I think cost us an opportunity at a top-five."
Otherwise, Vickers called his 11th-place run a "solid finish" to his first ever race as a Chase competitor that leaves him 90 points from the top spot in the point standings.
Give some props to Elliott Sadler for his strong run Sunday at New Hampshire.
The Virginia-native is driving for the same team as Kasey Kahne and has certainly felt the setbacks and growing pains of the various mergers of Richard Petty Motorsports. His 8th-place finish was the best for No. 19 since his 5th-place run at Daytona in February and marked just his fourth Top-10 of 2009.
Remember, just a few years ago Sadler was a contender in the Chase with Yates Racing. His infectious down-home personality would only do good things for the sport if he could get back to being competitive again.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-27-2009 @ 1:04PM
Ice Lady said...
I have been a Jeff Gordon fan since he started driving in the Nascar Series, what a Great young man. I have never gave up hope for his come back on winning another Championship. All I can say is Go Jeff Gordon and keep up your good work. Thank you for your talent. Ice :):):)
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