Friday night's Nationwide Series race at Darlington, lived up to the track's reputation, but the race itself, was pretty predictable. Denny Hamlin dominated, leading 111 of 147 laps, and Kyle Busch, finished second again. The record for Nationwide Race Cautions at Darlington is ten. Tonight, we came close with nine, but the race still moved on at a pretty good clip. Overall, I'd give the show a B grade.
It got a little boring watching someone dominate the race as Hamlin did, but it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch Darlington do her stuff. The Lady In Black, does not discriminate when she rears her ugly side. Veterans, rookies, it doesn't matter. Ask Justin Allgier, Greg Biffle, Steve Arpin, Mike Bliss,Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., or Matt Kenseth. Allgier and Kenseth twice each. There was really only one accident caused by contact. The rest? Blame the Track Too Tough To Tame.
To quote Harry Houge from Days Of Thunder, 'Tires, is what wins a race.' That is normally the case at Darlington, but not so tonight. Denny Hamlin ran ninety-something laps on his left side tires. Two tires worked. I never thought I'd see that at Darlington. Maybe there is something to this resurfacing thing.
Kyle Busch was his usual self on the radio. All week I've been reading about how he's more patient and mature. The race wasn't two laps old and he was already complaining. During one caution, he raved on the radio, and I quote, 'I hate this freaking race track.' Doesn't sound much more mature to me. He also stated on the radio that 'we just lost this race. Great. Thanks alot.' If I'd been on his crew, I'd have told him to change his own damn tires and see how far he gets. He still has a lot of growing up to do.
Congrats to Jammie McMurray for a solid third place run for JR Motorsports. I'm telling you all now: He is the real deal. Hamlin's Mom was at the track for Mother's Day weekend and got to be with her Son in Victory Lane. That's a feel good story in itself. Cousin Carl Edwards got a top five. That team sure needed that. Jason Leffler, a Nationwide regular, actually finished in the top 5. That was nice to see.
The Cup guys get their shot tomorrow night. And I'm pretty sure that The Lady In Black will be in a foul mood again. She usually is on race day, but that's part of her charm. Kevin Harvick, had better pray for his points lead. He doesn't run too well here. Jeff Gordon is my pick to win. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., had better do some praying too, if he's going to save his season. This is the worst place he could be in a must-run-well situation.
Enjoy the race, and we'll see you here tomorrow night afterward, and we'll have this week's edition of the RJ's.
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