2009 All State 400 Review
by Virginia Vroom of Predictem.com
Well if you’re a Juan Pablo fan, you had a pretty bad weekend watching Indy as Montoya was penalized for NASCAR for speeding on pit road and then whined all day about it. Quite frankly, if you are a Montoya fan, I hope you realize how stupid he looked after Sunday. Sorry, but it’s the truth.
Now, the REAL winner of the race is the guy I picked. Although I’m sure you guys are still tired of hearing his name, Johnson defended his title here at Indy and got to kiss the bricks once again. That’s not to say that Montoya didn’t run a better race, but Johnson didn’t make that critical mistake of speeding on pit road. Montoya, in fact, got up to over a 5 second lead over any other contender and obviously was going to cruise to a win until making that mistake. To quote Johnson, “I’m the one with the trophy”.
Not that he was rude, but Johnson certainly rubbed it in Montoya’s face. The fact that Montoya is a renowned road course racer and also a renowned Indy racer made that win for Johnson just that much better.
The thing that made me so disappointed in Montoya is that he had the audacity to say the NASCAR is intentionally “screwing” him. Now, in all seriousness guys, NASCAR isn’t going to penalize someone for speeding on pit road unless they are speeding on pit road. The scoring is completely electronic to minimize that aspect of human error. In fact, NASCAR even gives the drivers a 5 mph leeway when it comes to the speeds because it can be so tricky to slow down for the drivers coming off some of the tracks onto pit road. The fact the Montoya was .11 mph over the pit road speed limit sucks for him, but it’s the reality of the situation. How many other drivers have lost races because of penalties from speeding down pit road? I can tell you Johnson has. Gordon has. The best of the best have. It’s a bit silly for Montoya to spew off his mouth about NASCAR when he has no idea what he’s talking about. This isn’t IRL buddy. This is NASCAR. The rules are the rules are the rules.
Anyway, other notable stories from the day include pole-sitter Mark Martin hunting down Johnson on the last turn heading towards the bricks. Unfortunately for Martin, Johnson beat him to the line by 0.4 seconds. Martin was gracious as always, although understandably disappointed. Kyle Busch had another disappointing weekend. He is creeping closer and closer to edging out of the top 12 in points after blowing a right front on lap 57 throwing him hard into an outside wall. Jr. had yet another disappointing weekend after running well for a good part of it. He blew a motor on lap 125 at the entrance of pit road./p>
Here were your top 10 finishers from the Brickyard:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Mark Martin
3. Tony Stewart
4. Greg Biffle
5. Brian Vickers
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Kasey Kahne
8. David Reutimann
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Matt Kenseth
After this weekend’s win, Johnson overcame teammate Jeff Gordon for the second spot in the points, but everyone is still chasing leader Tony Stewart as he holds a 192 point lead. Biffle managed to get back into the top 12 with Martin gaining 2 spots as well, creeping further into the pack solidifying his spot for the Chase.
Here are your current top 12 in points:
1. Tony Stewart
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Kurt Busch
5. Carl Edwards
6. Denny Hamlin
7. Ryan Newman
8. Kasey Kahne
9. Mark Martin
10. Juan Montoya
11. Greg Biffle
12. Matt Kenseth
This weekend, we are headed to Pocono for the second time. This is a great track for Denny Hamlin, so watch for him to gain some valuable points. Watch for guys like Gordon, who have notoriously bad luck here to be careful. Hang tight as we head to the tri-oval this Sunday!