Day: October 8, 2006

I just read that Brian Vickers had been locked out of Hendricks team meetings since announcing his move to Toyota at the end of the season. Way to go Hendricks, stirring up all of that bad karma! I don’t know all of the internal details obviously, but I’d hardly call that a classy way to behave. So essentially, Vickers hasn’t really been on the team for some time. I don’t think the contact that took out Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. today was intentional, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Vickers did not have the warmest feelings for so-called teammate Johnson. It wouldn’t be any surprise at this point to see someone else driving the 25 car next week. I just hope that Vickers kicks some serious ass when he moves to Toyota next season. I wasn’t a Vickers fan before today, but it just boils my blood when I hear about people being shunned like that!

After 107 starts, Brian Vickers finally got his first Nextel Cup victory at Talledega today. This victory came at the cost of wrecking teammate Jimmy Johnson and race leader, and fan favorite, Dale Earnhardt Jr.. Needless to say, Brian isn’t going to be very popular with a lot of people, loud boos were plainly heard in the winner’s circle once the winner was announced.

It doesn’t look like Brian intentionally wrecked anyone, but probably could have been a little more careful. Still, I’d like to say thank you Brian for turning what was shaping up to be a rather boring Talledega finish into one that people will be talking about for a long time. I’ve never seen so many drivers being so cautious so close to the end of a Talledega race. Generally there will be two line of cars going for the win at this restrictor plate race, but the last laps of this race consisted of a single line of cars tucked in behind Jr.! NO ONE was brave enough to duck down to the bottom and challenge. Unbelievable! This is just points racing at its worst when the race is over before it’s over because no one wants to risk points, or worse, wreck a championship contender.

So thanks again Brian for giving us all an exciting finish. I don’t watch NASCAR races to see people get hurt, but I do want to see a good race from beginning to end. If I wanted to watch a parade, I’d turn on F1.