dale jarrett Discussions
| Biffle finished season on high note -- again. | |
Greg Biffle is getting used to winning and being overlooked at Homestead-Miami Speedway. On Sunday, for the third straight year, Biffle won the season finale and watched the series champion get most of the attention.
This time it was Jimmie Johnson, who finished ninth and wrapped up his first series title, standing in the spotlight while Biffle was mostly ignored. The media horde was mostly interested in drivers involved in the championship battle. Biffle shrugged off the cold shoulder. ``I still get the check and I still get the trophy and, when we go to Daytona in February, I'm the most recent winner,'' Biffle said, smiling. His second victory of the year and the 11th of his career was a big one for Biffle, who has struggled most of this season after being the series runner-up in 2005. ``It does a lot for us,'' Biffle said. ``Everybody knows this has been a tough year for us. It seems like we haven't been in the right place at the right time and then haven't had fast enough race cars and have had mechanical failures.'' Biffle has won the Homestead race each of the last three years. ``I'll tell you this Ford Fusion was awesome. This is the... | |
| | 2006 a time of change for NASCAR | | Jimmie Johnson opened and closed the 2006 season on top, for very different reasons. The year began with the controversial suspension of his crew chief, who was caught cheating before the Daytona 500 and kicked out of the garage for four weeks. It ended with Johnson and Chad Knaus hoisting the Nextel Cup trophy as the championship winning team.
It was a headlining year for Johnson, but he hardly stole the show. NASCAR's 2006 season was thick with story lines, subplots and drama that didn't involve Johnson at all. There was NASCAR's intense focus on the future, two elite teams moving in opposite directions and the defending Nextel Cup champion embarking on his own rollercoaster season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon both returned to the top of the sport -- with Gordon making a pit stop to get married along the way -- while a handful of former contenders dropped to the back of the field. But the main theme of the season was change as everyone spent most of the year preparing for what's to come in 2007: A foreign automaker, a Colombian driver, a futuristic car and a new television network. NASCAR chairman Brian France is confident the new... | |
| | Top stories of 2006 | |
It's never easy recapping the top 10 stories of a typical NASCAR season. Try as you may, something notable invariably misses the cut. This year it was particularly difficult to come up with a top-10 list because newly crowned Jimmie Johnson played such a major part in several of the top stories. In fact, it would be easy to make this an all-Johnson list. Of course, that wouldn't be fair to those drivers and teams who fought so hard this year. So the solution is simple: combine all of Johnson's top storylines into just one item, even though that will dwarf the other items considerably. So here are my picks for the top 10 stories of 2006, with a few additional honorable mentions that can't be overlooked: 1. Jimmie Johnson. Without question, Johnson was the biggest story of the season, which culminated in him winning his first Nextel Cup championship this past Sunday. Along the way, Johnson figured in numerous other major stories. There was the controversy-filled win in the season-opening Daytona 500 without suspended crew chief Chad Knaus, and more major victories in the Nextel All-Star Challenge and the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard – plus additional... | |
| | | Daytona 500 Predictions | | The 500 is a little over a week away. They qualify tomorrow and run the Shootout tonight. That means it's prediction time. Let's hear your predictions on the following:1. Who will win the race? The pole means next to nothing and doesn't mean much. There are many drivers quality enough to win. I'm going to have to go with Jeff Gordon.2. Who will cause the "big one?" You know it's going to happen, it's just a matter of who will cause it. I say it's a toss up between the Busch brothers.3. Who will be the top finishing Toyota? We know there will be at least two in, at this point, but surely one or two more will make it. From practices, dale Jarrett, Reutemann and Waltrip are most likely the best bets, but I go with Jarrett.Make any other predictions you can think of. | |
| | How many provisionals should a driver get in a season? | | Dale jarrett has taken provisionals in every race but this last one. How many provisionals should a champion get in one season? My vote is 1. They should choose when it is most important to use it. I feel that it is not fair to the drivers that qualified with a better time. Let me know what you think! | |
| | Bill Elliott to drive Ford again. | | bill Elliott will once again drive a Ford. He will drive the 21 Woods Brother's car for six races. The reason; with Dale Jarrett having used his six past champion's provisionals, Bill now has 6 guaranteed starts. Ken Schrader has struggled in qualifying as of late, so Bill has been brought in to help out. Ken is being a real team player about it and wants what's best for the team.What are your thoughts? Can Bill make a big difference with the 21 car? Do you like the idea of a past champion's provisional?This is now the third time in two years teams have used this rule to their advantage; Terry Labonte/Tony Raines last year, Dale Jarrett this year, and now this. | |
| | Have you ever meet a NEXTEL driver? | | Have you ever had the chance to meet any of the NEXTEL drivers? If you could meet them who would you like to meet? I took my kids to meet several drivers at a large autograph signing. Most all of them were very nice but Dale Jarret was one of the friendliest drivers. My parents have had pit passes to a couple of the races and they seem to like Ricky Rudd. | |
| | Does anyone else here root for the underdogs? | | I've been a huge racing fan for years but I have to admit my interest in nascar has been dropping off a bit the past few years. It seems it's always the same handful of drivers winning every race and there are only a handful of "super teams" that win everything! Two of my favorites, Dale Jarrett and Bobby Labonte are not "also-rans" and hardly ever mentioned and some of the other guys I like are never even acknowledged unless they wreck or blow an engine. If I tell people I like Robbie Gordon, John Andretti or Dave Blaney they look at me like I'm from outer-space. But I don't care, it takes 43 cars to make a field and everyone who makes the field should get at least a mention or two. Is there anyone here who is for anyone other than the Hendrick team or Junior? I'd like to hear from all you fans who root for someone who doesn't have all the big bucks and always run up front!
Annie | |
| | Top 35 Onwner Points | | With the advent of the Top 35 rule a few years ago, a premium has been put on getting and staying in the Top 35 in points. To that end, teams have gone to extremes to get drivers in. When Michael Waltrip started his team, getting Dale Jarrett was a priority because of his past champion's provisionals. Teams have hired past champions, like Bill Elliott and Terry Labonte, to get their cars in. Some have even "switched" teams, like Penske did for Hornish this year, to get new teams or teams outside the Top 35 in the field.This year there are some high profile teams on the outside looking in after Bristol. The teams of Kyle Petty, Jamie McMurray and Dario Franchitti, to name a few, are looking at what they can do to get their cars in the race at Martinsville, and hopefully back in the Top 35. One think that Petty and Roush are looking at is a points sway, much like Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish, Jr. did before the season started. Both teams have past champions in their stables, Matt Kenseth and Bobby Labonte, and would be able to keep both cars in.My question is: Do you think this is right to do in the middle of the season?Personally,... | |
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