I was so uninspired by the Cup race from California on Sunday that it's taken me until Tuesday evening to bother to put something together about it. The faults of this track are obvious and have been written of many times over. For big, heavy stock cars to put on a good show at a big track they need banking. Apparently the new fangled thing is progressive banking. Fine. Throw that in there too. Something. Anything. And I think it's time we cut the California fans some slack. I couldn't see myself returning to this track for one of the big shows after more than one visit to satisfy my curiosity.
How much of Matt Kenseth and team's effort was in response to the boo-birds (me included) who minimized their Daytona 500 win* last weekend? Only they know I suppose but that had to egg them on somewhat. Anyway, it shut a lot of us up.
It looked like early on that the Hendrick boys were going to walk away with it. Just to beat a dead horse the leader at this track is just set. He can walk away and leave the rest. Even the guys in the booth thought that Gordon was going to pass Kenseth. Passing? Not here.
This was probably one of the better finishes to a California race but still it was rather meh.
What happened to Jeff Burton? He's usually there at the end. It's tough to pass on that track but I don't think they're blaming that. Others moved up but they didn't. Even Michael Waltrip moved on up all day and his man Reutimann was right in front of him at the finish.
The crab car made its return to the sport on Sunday. I know the crews are doing it to to create a little extra downforce but I find it distracting.
I see a silly article on NASCAR.com about how some top teams are in trouble. One example they cite is Jimmie Johnson being way back in the points after a crummy Daytona finish and a ninth at Cali. Yes, he faded late but you can't really hold any to their Daytona finish. Plate tracks are such a crap shoot and when you add weather into the mix I think it's foolish to be drawing conclusions about the competitive health of a Cup team.
I just can't get excited about this entry. California, you bore me to tears.
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