TV TIMES
Biff! Bam! Pow!
By Lou Modestino
Referees may be required from now on at all NASCAR short track racing! Yet even negative attention is better than none at all for the circus that took place at Richmond when fists flew. Hey, it probably will prove to be a positive stimulus to sell tickets and increase TV ratings!
Kevin Harvick’s team made the decision to go for a complete set of tires on their final pitstop at the Richmond International Speedway and it paid off for them. Harvick only led three laps of that race as it all came down to a green, white, checker at the end. Kevin took the lead almost at the very end.It was also his first win of the season and his 20th career win.
“We didn’t know how many green, white, checkers it was going to take before the race ended. We just did what we had to do and it turned out just right for us,” said Harvick in his victory interview.
Clint Bowyer ended up second in that 11th hour scramble. “Things got wild at the end. We knew that all of the cars up front had new tires. Then all hell broke loose on the restart, ” said Boyer after the race.
Third place went to Joey Logano who was happy that he finished up front. He revealed, “We had some problems earlier but managed to make up a lot of time.”
Savoring in one of his best finishes recently in fourth was Juan Montoya who said, “Those late cautions hurt me.” “We came here to race.” said fifth place finisher Jeff Burton. who had some mixed emotions about where he finished. Considering everything that went on, Burton, at least, was able to crack the top five in one of the more suspenseful races of the season.
Carl Edwards came home sixth and obviously had some mixed emotions, as well. “I’m not happy tonight. But, maybe tomorrow I’ll be happy with sixth,” he quipped.
NASCAR analyst Jeff Hammond keyed in on Montoya. “He’s made a solid improvement over the 2012 season.” Another analyst Sam Hornish, Jr. described the Richmond race thusly.”You had to be patient and aggressive at the same time. Also, Clint Boyer is a very good short track racer.” Speed’s Wind Tunnel observers all agreed that the bottom line at RIR worked the best. In the Sprint Cup point chase twelfth place at RIR was good enough for Jimmie Johnson to still lead the standings with Carl Edwards -43, Kasey Kahne -46, JR-46, Clint Bowyer -53 and Brad Keselowski -59.
Brad Keselowski did much better the previous night at RIR in the Nationwide race when he won that one. Not so good was that fact that Brian Scott and Nelson Piquet went at it in a slugfest with Scott getting kicked below the belt by Piquet. We think that they both took the NASCAR permission of “Have at it boys” as an opportunity for payback. Both didn’t appear to be very happy after that fight. Sam Hornish, Jr. still leads the Nationwide points.
The brawls continued on into Saturday night when Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch had words in the hauler area. Prior to that they were bumping each other on the track after the checkered flag due to problems during the GWC. Later, two of Richard Childress crew members got into a fight with members of another team in the motor home parking lot and were subsequently arrested by the Henrico County police. They were both released early Saturday. Next weekend the NASCAR Show of All Shows moves to the restrictor plate Talladega Speedway.
Elsewhere, Ryan Villopoto won the Salt Lake City AMA SuperX and has clinched the title. At the NHRA National in Houston Bob Vandergriff won the AA Fuel final while Cruz Pedregon did the same in the Funny Car finale.
Former Indianapolis 500 winner Eddie Cheever will expand his role as an analyst in ESPN’s coverage of the IZOD IndyCar Series to work in the broadcast booth for all six races that will air on ABC this season.
Also, ESPN SportsCenter anchor Lindsay Czarniak has been named host for the telecast of the Indianapolis 500 on ABC on Sunday, May 26. ABC will be televising the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the 49th consecutive year, extending one of the longest-running relationships between a sporting event and a TV network, and Czarniak will be the first woman ever to host the telecast.