We will get to motorsports in a moment but first the United States match and a little pep talk...
Heads up. Heads up. Heads up. It's ok. It's ok. Not the end of the world. It's in the past now. One to go. Everything is good. You are not down and not out. Stand strong. The results was not a bad thing. It's a difficult thing. Four hours ago, one point was sufficient. It still is. You held serve and you remains captain of your own ship in clear waters.
Heads up. That late with a one goal lead, everyone wants to win, regardless of what a draw would mean. It's human nature. Don't dwell on it. You played a great match. I can not stress that enough. Keep it up. You have one game to go and have played two great games already. Remember that. Remember what you have done for 179.8 minutes. You can not allow that minute amount of time bother you when you have played so positively. Get some rest. Tomorrow is a fresh piece of paper. Start with a deep breath of confidence.
I believe.
Breathe
It's 8:33 p.m. ET on Sunday June 22nd and I have no clue who won the NASCAR race. I have no idea where to start. I had so much on my mind this weekend and it was all washed away.
Let me think.
I had some IndyCar thoughts. What were they about? Let me scroll through my Twitter feed.
Oh! I understand why IndyCar doesn't run the esses and hairpin at Sonoma (not a lot of run off room at turn ten, a high speed section of the track/no run-off room at the hairpin) but I still want the series to run both sections. IndyCar needs a hair-raising, gut-check set of corners and the hairpin wouldn't be a bad passing zone.
Oh! If the FIA was officiating that NASCAR race, they would have penalized a driver every lap for putting four wheels off course at turn four. I mean honestly. Keep it on track. I understand why people like NASCAR road course races (physical races with a lot of banzai moves) but to me, it sloppy. That's not what road courses racing is about. It's about artfully timing a move. Not throwing into a braking zone hoping you come out on the other side and same to everyone else. It takes no talent to move someone out of the way or off track.
By the way, there needs to be a two-hour limit for NASCAR races that end up being wet weather. Daylight is precious and there is no need to turn it into a baby deer on ice. This only applies to the Nationwide Series but it come on. Your races are long enough in dry weather.
And Brendan Gaughan winning at Road America? Who saw that coming? I remember when he was a contender in the Truck Series and thought, this could be the next really good Cup driver. It didn't work out that way. He was rushed to Cup in my opinion and right when he started to show improvement at the end of his rookie season he was shown the door and has been bouncing between the Nationwide Series and Truck Series keeping his career going. There is nothing wrong with being a career-Nationwide or Truck driver (Ask Johnny Sauter, Matt Crafton, Jason Keller, Jack Spargue, Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner, David Green, Mike Bliss, Robert Pressley, Todd Bodine, Rick Crawford or Ted Musgrave). A lot of great drivers have done that and I wish the Road to Indy ladder system could evolve into that as well as develop young talent. Nice drive by Alex Tagliani by the way which leads me to wonder...
Sabotage
... why doesn't Roger Penske give Will Power or Hélio Castroneves a shot in a Cup or Nationwide car on a road course? Same for Ganassi with Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Ryan Briscoe, Charlie Kimball and for either one of them with any IndyCar driver? If Penske can run Montoya at Michigan and Indianapolis in Cup, why not run Montoya or any other IndyCar driver on a road course race? If Kurt Busch can run the Indianapolis 500 and get Kevin Harvick thinking, "he would win on a regular basis if he ran IndyCar full-time," why couldn't IndyCar's finest try to do the same thing at a NASCAR road course?
(Sidebar for a second: I have thought for the longest time IndyCar should support stuffing NASCAR road course race entry lists, whether it's Cup, Nationwide or Truck with IndyCar drivers and seeing if they can steal some limelight. Play havoc with the status quo! Have The Beastie Boys' "Sabotage" blaring through the garage area! Go absolutely mental!)
J.J. Yeley Gets Some Dap
Finished fifth at Road America in a Dodge. Dodge has been out of NASCAR for nearly two years. There were more Dodges in the top five at Road America than there were Toyotas. The former USAC Triple Crown winner doesn't get enough respect for his talent and here is a fist bump to you Christopher.
Winners From The Weekend
You know about Nico Rosberg and Brendan Gaughan (it's two minutes until 9:00 p.m. ET and I still have no clue who won at Sonoma) but did you know...
The #4 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS ultra of René Rast, Christopher Haase, Christian Mamerow and Markus Winkelhock won the 24 Hours Nürburgring. They ran a race record 159 laps around the Nordschleife.
Mike Skeen swept the weekend in Pirelli World Challenge at Road America in an Audi R8 ultra (Great 8 days for Audi). Nic Jönsson swept in GTS.
Jaime Whincup won two and Mark Winterbottom won the third V8 Supercar race in Darwin.
Tom Sykes swept the World Superbike weekend at Misano. Jules Cluzel won in Supersport with Michael van der Mark in second and American P.J. Jacobsen in third having set fastest lap.
Yvan Muller and José María López split the WTCC weekend at Spa.
Update: 9:21 p.m. Still don't know who won at Sonoma.
Coming Up This Weekend
IndyCar doubleheader at Houston.
MotoGP runs the Dutch TT at Assen.
World Rally Championship are in Poland.
NASCAR is at Kentucky.
IMSA is at Watkins Glen for their historic 6-hour endurance race.
DTM is at the Norisring.
Blancpain Endurance Series is at Paul Ricard.
I believe.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
