By Lou Modestino
Jimmie Johnson won the non-point All Star race at Charlotte picking up the $1 million prize! The next four who completed the top five were Joey Logano, Kyle Busch, Kasey Kahne and Kurt Busch. It was also JJ’s fourth All-Star win in this rain-delayed, anything goes annual event.
After his fourth winning effort, an elated JJ said, “This means a lot to me. We accomplished it again tonight!” Logano quipped, “It was a lot of fun. The race was awesome! We also had a great car but didn’t get the breaks that were needed to win.” Kahne admitted, “Jimmie was able to beat us in the pits.”
After winning the Daytona 500 and then the All-Star race, Johnson could possibly win another Sprint Cup championship. But Speed Analyst Sam Hornish, Jr., thought, “His pit crew gave him an 11 second restart.”
Kyle Busch said, “We were a shade off even though we had the best car in the field and got beat-up on.” Hornish voiced an opinion on that when he said, “Kyle didn’t have good enough pit stops.”
Kurt Busch revealed, “Our adjustments at the end were way off as well not getting any clean air in the draft.” Yet Hornish again stated, “Both Buschs didn’t have good enough pit stops, but they still had respectable finishes.” Kurt, proud of his team, said, “We’ve turned a corner, and we’re having a lot of fun!” He’s racing for the Furniture Row team based in Denver.
Not so lucky was Brad Keselowski who lost his tranny in the early going and finished way back.
In the support race, Kyle Busch finally broke his seven-race drought winning the Camping World Truck race. Matt Crafton leads the CWT points. Carl Edwards was the pole winner in the All Star race. Danica ended up getting in the race after the majority of fans voted for her.
Sam Hornish, among his usual commentaries, thought, “On qualifying well, it allows the drivers to bide their time, not to mention that they’re left with a good feeling.”
Kurt Busch was pleased with his successful Indy Car test when he said, “I was happy with the way it turned out. But, it won’t be this year that I’ll do it. Around the NASCAR garage, it caused a lot of conversation.”
The Speed Report’s Bob Dillner mentioned, “Carl Edwards learned a lot for next weekend’s Coke 600 and knows that he’ll need clean air to do well. Both Denny Hamlin and Matt Kenseth echoed those comments. Also on the 600, Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus know how to prepare and draft for the 600. Brad Kaselowski will be depending on Joey Logano for input. ”
Speaking of Indy, Ed Carpenter turned the fastest lap to earn the pole. He’s the first Hoosier to pull off that feat since 1957. Carlos Monoz and Marco Andretti also comprise the first row. Carpenter’s feat was a big upset at Indy which was confirmed by Speed’s Robin Miller who covers the IZOD Indy Car Series for that cable network. . Ed remarked, “This is a very good start and I’m not going to be over confident. But I’d trade not winning the pole for an Indy 500 win any day.” On the minus side, Michael Bourdais was a DNQ in 500 qualifying.
From a personal observation, the Indy Cars looked good and sleek compared to the F1 cars which profile badly, looking like Praying Mantises.
Elsewhere, Ken Schrader won the ARCA race at Toledo, OH. Dani Pedrosa, aboard his Honda, won the Motorcycle GP of France. At the MotoX race in Hangtown near Sacramento, CA, Ryan Villopoto won after taking both motos. James Winup won the Australian Super Car race at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. Those Australian built sedans were real quick on that roadcourse and seem to be very popular in the South Pacific. Attendance was announced – how’s 68,000 fans do it for you?