LGP NASCAR Thread

[relantel]

Denny being held overnight for observation - was complaining of back pain.

Which can mean only one thing. Denny will win the next race.

[TheHammer24]

Logano is a complete bum. He blocked all race. I'm glad Tony went after him.

I also disagree with you Rel. Joey got loose on his own. Denny even lifted with two to go when Denny got to his bumper. As Michael Waltrip Showed, Denny left Joey plenty of room on the last lap, and Joey just destroyed him.

True, maybe Denny had it coming. But to say that was both getting into each other is a reach. Logano wiped Denny out for the win and said "that's what you get."

Though, KyBu may have won without the wreck.

[TheHammer24]

Stewart on-air post race comments and his interview with Speed are pure gold. Dude is irate. That was probably the best non-short track race I've ever seen.

[shafnutz05]

Though, KyBu may have won without the wreck.

Methinks this is definitely the case, he flew by them coming off of Turn 4 before they wrecked.

[thepittman]

Logano is a complete bum. He blocked all race. I'm glad Tony went after him.

I also disagree with you Rel. Joey got loose on his own. Denny even lifted with two to go when Denny got to his bumper. As Michael Waltrip Showed, Denny left Joey plenty of room on the last lap, and Joey just destroyed him.

True, maybe Denny had it coming. But to say that was both getting into each other is a reach. Logano wiped Denny out for the win and said "that's what you get."

Though, KyBu may have won without the wreck.

Old number 3 wouldn't have whined about it after the race, he would have taken care of it on the track

[relantel]

hammer, Denny got into Joey coming to the white, so I am not surprised that Joey didn't give any quarter on the last lap. Denny didn't do himself any favors here, as he probably should have been in the line that Kyle was running. The 22-11 contact happens while the 18 is already alongside the two of them - meaning Kyle probably wins even if they both save it. As it were, Joey got into Denny, likely just loose, perhaps on purpose, Denny got into Joey, perhaps while trying to regain control from the Joey contact, perhaps not. The short of it is, w/o Bristol, both treat the end differently. I truly believe they both had it in their head that there was no way the other one was going to win.

I find it laughable that Tony complains about blocking, since Tony wrecked half the field at Talladega last fall by trying to block Michael Waltrip. Yesterday, Tony didn't even have to lift, and Joey never gave up the bottom lane to have anything to block.

[Rylan]

Denny Hamlin broke his back

[shafnutz05]

Wow....that's terrible. I would imagine he won't be racing again until 2014. Best wishes for a good recovery.

[Rylan]

http://espn.go.com/racing/nascar/cup/st ... n-fracture

for those that haven't seen it. It is an L1 compression fracture.

[relantel]

Earnhardt had back surgery between the 98 and 99 seasons, made a heck of a difference for him. He had had issues dating back to a Talladega wreck in the summer of 96. Best of luck to Denny on a speedy & full recovery

[TheHammer24]

Will Power raced 4 weeks after an L1 compression, but it matters how severe the compression is. Other driver have had compression fractures in multiple vertabrae and missed extended time. It's all speculation right now, but JGR left open he'd be in Martinsville.

I hope, at worst, Sadler can take his spot and practice in race trim, and Denny can drive a lap around the track and come down the pits and Sadler can take over. That way, Denny can get top 25s and keep him in the wildcard chase, if he has to miss time.

[TheHammer24]

Here's a pretty good update on Denny. Jeff Gluck literally camped out at the LA Hospital to get this piece. He's by far the best reporter in NASCAR.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/na ... y/2020081/

The prognosis looks bleak, in my opinion, but he'll definitely benefit from getting Easter off.

[JS©]

Hamlin said he heard from almost all of his peers – which he found to be "very encouraging" and spirit-boosting -- but not Logano. The wreck was a combination of a racing incident and a product of the drivers' rivalry, he said.

The two former teammates have been feuding since the Daytona 500.

Logano told USA TODAY Sports on Monday that he didn't wreck Hamlin intentionally and didn't realize he was injured when he told Fox: "He probably shouldn't have done what he did last week (at Bristol), so that's what he gets."

What a ****

[shafnutz05]

#trustfundracer

[relantel]

Logano is on record as not knowing that Hamlin had wrecked when he made his on air statement. Seeing how fast Fox interviewed him, it makes sense. Fox was off the air before interviewing the runnerup - not sure who else they had other than Tony, Joey, and Kyle in VL.

I can't speak to the contact issue; sure some may have found it proper to wait until he is out. That USA Today story doesn't define what Denny considers his peers, so the implication that 41 other drivers contacted him and Logano was the only one that didn't is not a fair one to make.

[relantel]

NASCAR says no penalties out of Cali, either from 11/22 incident or Logano-Stewart fight.

[shafnutz05]

NASCAR says no penalties out of Cali, either from 11/22 incident or Logano-Stewart fight.

Which is the right call. I don't share your neutral opinion on Logano though, and I am not really a Hamlin fan at all. I know Hamlin got into Logano coming to the white, but I thought he bumped him on a straightaway? Logano was WAY too aggressive driving the car down in the corner, and shuffled right up into Hamlin to start that accident.

I am not a fan of Logano at all though, ever since the "sliced bread" crap started.

[relantel]

NASCAR says no penalties out of Cali, either from 11/22 incident or Logano-Stewart fight.

Which is the right call. I don't share your neutral opinion on Logano though, and I am not really a Hamlin fan at all. I know Hamlin got into Logano coming to the white, but I thought he bumped him on a straightaway? Logano was WAY too aggressive driving the car down in the corner, and shuffled right up into Hamlin to start that accident.

I am not a fan of Logano at all though, ever since the "sliced bread" crap started.

I don't care for Logano either. I'm ok with Penske but only due being a fan of BK before his move there (was extension of his connection to Earnhardt/JRM). I really haven't pulled for Gibbs since they left for Toyota, benefitting from Toyota in year 2 when everyone else (such as MWR) struggled through year 1 just to make races. Well, that combined with their dump of Bobby Labonte.

I think a phrase an old-timer might have used about the last lap for Joey was he "ran out of talent". I've seen similar things happen to Kyle Busch earlier in his career... Joey drove it in too hard and couldn't make it stick. Hamlin fans will see it as intentional. Given their Bristol spat, I can't discount it as a possibility, but if it was, that makes Logano a better driver than I have heretofore given him credit for. I still think had Hamlin worried about the hard-charging 18 car, and been up near the wall, he likely would have avoided the loose 22 car. Of course, with the speed of the 18, the 18 may have simply punted the 11 out of the way to win. Long story short, both drivers had room on the track to give, and neither gave. It cost them both the win. The spring 08 Richmond race was quite similar in that regard - the 18 turned the 88 but the 18 was higher off the bottom than he needed to be, and the 88 wasn't as high as he could have been. Bowyer slipped by to win that one - this was the Hamlin stop on the track rather than pit with a tire problem late, causing a yellow that without it would have seen the 88 in VL, after DH had led the first 380 laps. The 18/88 wreck wasn't 11's fault, but without the 11 stopping, it never happens. So Hamlin's been not high on my list for a number of years, except when running head to head with the 48. Never really cared for the 48. Even 5 years in to Hendrick for Earnhardt and I find it hard to be for the 24/48. But I've found myself in a position to be just that, when up against certain drivers. Kind of like how I hated DW, until DW drove the 1 for DEI in 98 when Steve Park got hurt. That mellowed me on DW.

[TheHammer24]

I'll admit you're in the majority, Rel, but Denny gave Joey plenty of room. He could have pinned him on the apron the way Joey did to Denny when Denny was going to clear him. He took him right to the wall. I just can't see that as it "not sticking." I love Hamlin thought what do you expect?

Jimmy Spencer railed Loganofor the Hamlin incident and the Stewart block.

Elsewhere Hamlin said 30 "peers" reached out.

[relantel]

I'll admit you're in the majority, Rel, but Denny gave Joey plenty of room. He could have pinned him on the apron the way Joey did to Denny when Denny was going to clear him. He took him right to the wall. I just can't see that as it "not sticking." I love Hamlin thought what do you expect?

Jimmy Spencer railed Loganofor the Hamlin incident and the Stewart block.

Elsewhere Hamlin said 30 "peers" reached out.

Hey, nothing wrong with that. Hamlin's really been the only competitive Virginian for a number of seasons, so it's hard to to like him.

I can see the other side on this one too, I just can't find myself willing to give Joey that much credit to be able to pull that off and still make it look unintentional.

[relantel]

wow, Denny to miss at least 6 weeks. Surgery not required though.

[TheHammer24]

Wow. That's brutal. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. That's 5 races. If he can't get points by running the car for a lap and having Sadler hop in it, he's toast. He definitely can win 2 or 3 races when he comes back.

He'll miss: Martinsville, Texas, Kansas, Richmond, Talladega. .

That's his two absolute best tracks in Martinsville and Richmond.

Still, he has Pocono x2, Indy, Darlington, Atlanta x2, Bristol, Loudon, and Richmond. He is at least capable of winning 2-3 races there, and he is definitely capable of stealing one at a place like Charlotte. But will he be in the top 20?

[relantel]

Hammer, if he can win 3-4 races between Darlington and Richmond, not unreasonable, and finish strong in others, he stands to be able to climb back into the top 20, since most of the bottom of that range aren't getting top finishes regularly. The 11 team will still be eligible for the owners title, which such a run by Denny would only further.

[TheHammer24]

I think Denny will need a pretty consistent top 15 avg finish if he comes back at Darlington. He'll also need 2-3 wins. That will put him in the top 20 with enough wins, I think.

Here's the math:

Mears has 118 points in 21st place. If you assume he averages about 21st (23 pts) in each of the remaining races that's: 118 pts + (21 races x 23 pts)=601.

Denny then needs 28.5 pts a race ~16th place if you ignore wins and bonus points. 145 + (16 races x 28.5 points) = 601.

[relantel]

no doubt it's going to be a tall order. But 3-4 wins will smooth over the 15ths in there.