LOUDON, NEW HAMPSHIRE - It is turning out to be a good season for Mr. Tony Stewart. He is 2-for-2 in Chase races and has wrestled into first place ahead of Kevin Harvick. The final laps of the race were almost “déjà vu all over again” as Clint Boyer, then leader, began sputtering near the start-finish line. Last year, Boyer grabbed the lead as Stewart was the one who ran out of gas on the final laps. “I saw him slow down the back,” Stewart said. “I thought, ‘Oh, no, you’re kidding me.’ That’s not the way you want to win it, for sure. I feel bad for him. It’s fun racing him. It’s hard to lose them that way.” The rumor mills have been working overtime as to what Stewart meant by getting rid of some dead-weight” in the post race interviews. According to Stewart’s crew chief Darian Grubb, there have been no personnel changes so either Stewart dumped a girlfriend or he has been on a diet. Who knows?
Brad Keselowski put in a great performance finishing in second place putting him third in points behind Stewart and Harvick. Keselowski ran a strategic race and was able to garner a winning pit strategy. "It's funny because 10 races ago, we left Loudon 23rd in points," Keselowski said. "Whoever thought we would be third in 10 weeks? I'd like to see some kind of stat for that, that's for sure -- but it's been a good road to travel down the last few weeks." The young Keselowski has taken a mature attitude and has endeavored to remain focused and stay calm. The team has been working hard making the needed adjustments to the race car. Let’s see if the young man can continue his performance. A title would be a great thing for this young man.
Greg Biffle finished in third place followed by Jeff Gordon. Brian Vickers rounded out the top five positions. Starting from the pole, Ryan Newman ran an impressive 62 laps at the front of the pack, but began lagging behind as the pit stops began. Kurt Busch started the day poorly as he was stuck in tech up until a few minutes before the race as the inspectors questioned the rear end housing dimensions. The Penske team apparently satisfied the tech inspectors, but put Busch in a bad mood as evidenced by his complaining loudly about his car over the team radio and used an expletive on national TV. The Captain himself had to calm the Busch down so he could concentrate on the race.
There was also an unfortunate incident between two of the Roush drivers as Carl Edwards tapped teammate Matt Kenseth causing him to slide and caused a caution on lap 173. Luckily, both drivers were able to regain position as the two Chase contenders managed sixth and eighth place.
In related news, Katie Kenseth, Matt Kenseth’s wife broke her shoulder during a charity race practice session Monday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Katie was to race in the “Better Half Dash” on October 15, but crashed her car and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Matt Kenseth “tweeted” that she had “a broken scapula and some bumps and bruises.” Katie commented that she experienced the “shortest race career in history.” The 25-lap charity race will feature many Cup wives and girlfriends before next month’s race at Charlotte. The joke is that with all the spouses in the event, there has been no sign of Danica Patrick’s husband. Hmmm.
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