A Saturday Night Date With The Lady In Black....And She Didn't Want To Dance

What can I say? Great race!!!! Denny Hamlin gets his first Nationwide/Cup sweep of his career, Jimmie Johnson, not only didn't win but didn't finish, and Kyle Busch didn't win or finish second. Life is good.

There's not a lot you can say about the Cup race at Darlington. It was Darlington. The Lady In Black was in no mood to dance, and she showed it. Bobby LaBonte, a former champion, wrecked twice, that I know of. Sam Hornish, Jr., hit the wall so many times I lost count. Jeff Gordon, lost again. Jeff Burton, got plain screwed. I understand NASCAR's policy of leaving pit road with equipment. A wrench stuck in a car, or a gas catch can will do a lot of damage to another car at 185 MPH. But a freaking air hose? GIMME A BREAK!!!!! It's a piece of RUBBER!!! It's on the ground. Who gives an expletive if it gets run over or not? It can't hurt expletive on the track, so why kill a guy's chance to win the race over it?

Denny Hamlin won, Jammie MacMurray was second and Jeff Gordon was fourth. Dale Jr., was not a factor, again, big surprise. Now, on to this week's RJ'S:

THE WHAT THE &%*$ DO YOU MEAN I GOT PENALIZED AWARD?: Jeff Burton. See above. NASCAR screwed him out of a win. Period.

THE WHAT THE &^#( DO YOU MEAN I GOT BEAT AGAIN? AWARD: Jeff Gordon. It wasn't his fault that another driver pitted at the same time he did.

THE OH S%&T, I'D BETTER INVEST IN A PAINT COMPANY AWARD: Sam Hornish, Jr. He took so much paint off the Darlington walls and his own car, I bet he wishes he had stock in DuPont. There could be a case argued for Hornish sharing this award with David Regan, who abused just slightly less paint than Hornish.

THE WHAT THE &*$( DO YOU MEAN FOUR TIRES AWARD: Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s crew chief Lance McGrew. He put on four tires at the waaaaaayyyy wrong time of the race and put Jr. a lap down, from which he never recovered, as far as being a factor to win. He did however, drive his ass off and salvage a decent finish and is now in the top 12 in championship points. But McGrew, still made a stupid, stupid call at that point in the race.

THE THANK GOD THERE WASN'T A RAIN DELAY AWARD: That's two weeks in a row that rain hasn't been a factor in a race. Mother Nature gets this one.

THE I WISH HE WOULD SHUT THE &$#@ UP AWARD: Larry MacReynolds. He knows his cars. He can provide great insight on the technical stuff of a race. But he has NO business in the broadcast booth. The only things he can say, are what someone else has already said. Or repeat sixteen times, CAUTION IS OUT!!! We see it already. With over three hundred laps to go, he actually made the statement, "if we go caution free the rest of the way." At DARLINGTON. Shut the %$#@ up, please.

THE THANK GOD HE DIDN'T WIN AWARD: Tie. Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson. I'm sick of that.

My Pick for Dover: Mark Martin. Experience and patience will pay off at this place.

That's about it, folks. Same old same old. On to Dover next week. The Monster Mile. Hope you enjoyed the race, and Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms!