Smoke Screen: Martin Makes A Statement; The Pat Tryson Saga; And The Montoya Interview.
by PB on Sep.22, 2009, under Smoke Screen
Mark Martin drew a line in the sand Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire. Not only did he pick up his 5th win of the year, he let the other 11 Chase drivers know that the regular season was no fluke. This team is for real and has the ability to get hot in a hurry. The question is, can they keep this pace up? Can this team put together another 8 or 9 solid races and give Mark Martin that elusive first Sprint Cup Championship? Emotional, feel-good opinions aside….can Mark Martin finally get over the hump?
Speaking of getting over the hump, Juan Pablo Montoya and company also made a statement of their own Sunday at NHIS. The 42 was strong all weekend and was at one point the class of the field. This team has come on as of late and is a serious threat to win this thing. But the one thing that could keep them from doing so could be the driver. Not so much on the track, but off of it. His comments, along with his overly aggressive driving at various points during the race, could be something this team has to deal with down the road.
Not only did he take some shots at Mark Martin after the race for how Mark raced him on the final restart, he also gave the sport a bit of a black eye early last week by blowing off a TV interview. According to the story, Montoya was set to do TV interviews about the upcoming Chase. The interviews were done by local affiliates across the country and had been clumped into a certain block of time. However, once Montoya realized his time was up he called it a day. Even though other affiliates were waiting in line for a chance to interview. Bad Move Juan (Watch here). With ratings and attendance declining, it’s safe to say this is not what the sport needed; especially with the kick off of the Chase.
To all the Kasey Kahne fans out there, can your driver and his #9 Budweiser team rebound after the blown motor at NHIS? If he wants to win this Championship he better hope so. I think it’s too early to hit the panic button, but I’d be a bit concerned. If they don’t come out of Dover with a solid Top 5 or Top 10 it could very easily take them out of contention. I get the whole “mulligan” theory when it comes to approaching the Chase but with tracks like Martinsville and Talladega left on the schedule blowing a motor in race 1 could very easily blow this team’s chances of being a factor come Homestead.
Dale Jr. knows all about being taken out of contention. David Reutimann “ran out of talent” and spun driver 88 late in the race ruining what was arguably Junior’s best run of the year. Bad luck aside, one would be foolish to think that this team isn’t turning the corner. Take away the blown motor at Indy, the bad set of tires from the final pit stop at Atlanta and Sunday’s wreck at NHIS and this team has been solid. The results might not support it, but this team has finally started to show signs of life and signs of being competitive. It may not have ended the way they wanted to, but Sunday’s solid run could be the beginning of bigger and better things for team 88.
And finally, have you heard about the Pat Tryson situation over at Penske? It is by far the weirdest thing I’ve heard of in all my years of following the sport. Since Tryson will not be working for Penske in 2010, he is not allowed in the race shop during the week. He can only show up and work with this team and with his driver during the race weekend. Apparently, Penske Racing is working on some things for next year and does not want Tryson at the shop where he could potentially take some of those ideas with him over to MWR. Folks, this team is in the Chase for crying out loud! They are in contention for a championship and is good enough to win the championship. On the surface it makes sense, but to forbid your current crew chief from coming to the shop during the week and during a championship run is crazy. What’s your take ? Is this the right move? Or is this a bad case of paranoia?
Enough of what I think……what’s on your mind? What did you think of the first race in the Chase? Besides Mark Martin and Juan Pablo Montoya, who else among the Chase drivers stood out to you? Who was a contender? And who pretended Sunday at Loudon? Or has racing taken a back seat now that football season is in full swing? Now that the smoke from Dale Jr’s wreck at Loudon has cleared up it’s time to hear from you in this week’s edition of Smoke Screen.
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September 22nd, 2009 on 7:25 AM
Penske had no choice but to handle the situation with Tryson as they chose. It’s unfortunate but Tryson started this mess and did so immediately prior to the chase.
He claims he can’t discuss the reasons but that it’s a “personal” decision. It certainly has the potential to seriously affect a run for the championship by a talented past Champion.
I don’t know what Tryson was thinking and Penske’s reaction is not good. That said, it was the right decision.
September 22nd, 2009 on 7:45 AM
Dale jr is a punk for the interview he gave. The contact was pure racing and he lost control of his car. He will remain a mid pack runner due to his lack of talent. How many races has he overshot his pits? What about him taking out Sorrenson and others. Solid? The only thiing solid is my belief that he will not win a race this year….something that Reutiman has already done.
September 22nd, 2009 on 11:21 AM
I have for years been and am still a Rusty Wallace fan but am very disappointed in the comment calling Dale Jr “punk”. Russell, that was not very professional. The 00 car does run out of talent a lot and this was not an isolated incident. This young man (Dale Jr)has had a lot to deal with in the last 8 years or so and has handled it with great dignity. Yes, he had a good run going Sunday and it was in fact very frustrating when he got wrecked. Haven’t you said anything in your after race interviews that were not pollitically correct. Think twice before you speak!
September 22nd, 2009 on 11:24 AM
Ruetimann was quoted “at first I didn’t understand JR’s statement about running in the top 5. The last time I looked, I have ran upfront more that the 88. Hell I thought he was a lap car, isn’t that were he normally runs?” Ruetimann continued “as far as talent, Jr’s driving is comparable to his speaking ability. It’s funny how Montoya has master both the COT and the english language in a couple years and Jr is still clueless on both. Makes most rednecks blush when he talks.”
September 22nd, 2009 on 1:14 PM
This isnt exactly the first time someone has called out Beak for his driving. Newman also did it Sunday not to mention Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart have had issues with him in the past. Its funny how Beak was begging like a little bit*h on the radio for Jr’s forgiveness after he wrecked him then he turns around and takes a shot at jr when the cameras and the radio are around. you’re a clever one mr Beak. wonder if Beak would say that to Jr’s face. If I remember correctly Beak had to have his crewman “BIlly Bad Ass” fight his battle for him at Charlotte against Tony Stewart. Wonder who was blushing then Beak. As for Beak’s win this year-you mean the one where he stayed out to steal a win due to rain? yeah that was one hell of a performance there! greatest performance i ever saw
I find it funny that people are so jealous of Jr. lets see-NASCAR helps him when he wins. And when he doesnt win everyone is quick to say that he cant drive and has no talent when he loses. Guess the joke is on all of us since NASCAR helped him win 2 Busch series championships back to back, 18 Cup wins, 22 Nwide wins. but thats right ! he has no talent. Its just funny to me. Everyone always seems to have a a gripe or a complaint about the guy. He gets wrecked after having one his best races in a long time and finishes 35th. Yet people still want to talk about him. Who are you guys pulling for every week? sure as hell bet it aint Beak.
And by the way if you ever doubt how the guy talks when he is in the race car just listen to him on your scanner or on direct tv. the guy is pretty detailed. i tell you what makes me (a redneck) blush is listening to that clown Larry McReynolds talk during a broadcast. As a southerner myself I find that hard to listen to. And I live in southern Georgia.