All Jacked Up

Time for midseason awards

Posted by: Jason Randall

Thursday, July 17, 2008 11:15 AM

Well, no race this weekend, but it's never a bad thing to step back and catch your breath. That was quite a finish at Chicagoland with Kyle Busch taking Jimmie Johnson on the final restart. The question I have is this: How much bumping is too much bumping before a restart? KB was giving JJ the business with the front bumper before they went green, and to be perfectly honest, I didn't know that was legal.

I'm not saying Busch's win isn't legit, but it seems odd to me that NASCAR would allow a car to basically hit the leader before taking off. Restart acceleration is at the discretion of the leader, and passing only is allowed on the top side (which is what Busch did), but I'm not sure about the rules on the bumping. I guess it was legal because no one really said anything about it.

Anyway, I thought I'd take this week off to come up with a few categories for midseason awards.

MVD (Most Valuable Driver): Clearly it's Kyle Busch. He's won seven times in Cup alone this season and has dominated just about everywhere he's raced. This is the only guy who isn't a fan of the Chase format right now. Runner-up: Dale Earnhardt Jr.

MDD (Most Disappointing Driver): Juan Pablo Montoya. Maybe it's not totally his fault with all that's taken place at Chip Ganassi Racing, but I fully expected Montoya to be way better than he has been this season. I'm telling you, this is an elite driver and I think we'll see it sooner than later, but maybe "sooner" means next season. Runner-up: Kurt Busch.

Rookie of the Year: Regan Smith. It hasn't been a great crop of rookies this season (2009 is shaping up nicely though), but Smith has done a decent job overall. It will be a race between him and Sam Hornish Jr. for ROY honors at the end of the year. Runner-up: Obviously Sam Hornish Jr.

Wildest moment: There have been a lot already, but I have to give it to Kyle Busch's spin of Dale Earnhardt. Jr. at Richmond. Fans were talking about that for weeks. It's good Junior picked up a win soon after at Michigan, otherwise many of the Earnhardt fans would have gone off the deep end.

Biggest announcement: Tony Stewart leaving JGR to co-own Stewart-Haas Racing. I think it's a good move for Stewart, but it will be challenging. I think it's going to be fun to see how he handles his own team and how quickly he can bring success to the newly-formed SHR.

Best in the booth: Kyle Petty. Please, please, please Kyle stay in the TV booth. I said it in an earlier post, Petty is restoring my faith in NASCAR broadcasts. He's doing a heckuva job and I hope he gets signed on to do more races in the future.

OK, that's all the categories I can think of right now, and I have some more work to do so I'll call it a day.

If you're looking for something to watch this weekend, I suggest the German Grand Prix. I have to say, I'm really enjoying watching Formula One. Check it out. I think it will be on Fox at noon (on tape delay) Sunday. Also, check out the Nationwide race Saturday night (8, ESPN2) from our home state of Illinois in Madison. I really like Gateway International Raceway, and I think it would be cool to see the Cup cars run there.

Anyway, that's all for now. Until next time, keep hittin' your marks!

 

Comments