Toyota Gets Its First Nextel Cup Pole

Dave Blaney turned the fasted lap at Loudon, NH in qualifying today to give Toyota its first pole of their Nextel Cup era.  Blaney was fastest in practice and turned that into his second career pole.  Blaney beat out Kurt Busch, Reed Sorenson, Johnny Sauter and Juan Montoya; a most unlikely top five.  This is also a CoT race.

No Surprises For Gordon And Johnson

NASCAR has handed down its penalties for Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Both drivers were penalized 100 driver points. The teams were docked 100 owner points. Crew chiefs Chad Knaus and Steve Latarte were fined $100,000, suspended six races and put on probation until the end of the year.

Juan Wins

On a day when pit strategy and fuel mileage turned out to be more important that speed, Juan Pablo Montoya won his first Nextel Cup race. He became only the second foreign-born driver to win a Cup race, and the first since 1974. He also served notice that he is to be taken seriously in NASCAR.

Gordon and Johnson Fail Pre-Race Inspection

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson’s cars failed pre-race inspection today at Sonoma. Both cars had altered front ends. Neither car was allowed to practice or qualify. If they pass re-inspection before Saturday, they will be allowed to start from the rear of the field. If they fail, they will be sent home.

Hired Guns

The boys of NASCAR make their way to the twists and turns of road course racing this weekend. As usual, the talk is about the “hired guns” which will be present. These are the road racing “pros”, hired by teams to bring home strong finishes for teams that might generally run mid-pack. The questions range from the fairness of using them to the possibility of one of them winning.

Junior Fans Rabid Over Switch To Dark Side

In watching the net over the last few days as Jr. announced his switch to Hendrick Motorsports, the most hilarious thing has been to watch his fans lose all reason. With the announcement, many fans have expressed their outrage and the end to their loyalty. They just can’t stomach the idea of Jr. being Jeff Gordon’s teammate and him driving for HMS. I wonder if they were real fans to begin with.

Surprise, Surprise, Jr. Lands At Hendrick

With much fanfare, but to the surprise of no one, Dale, Jr. and Rick Hendrick announced that beginning at Daytona next year, Dale will drive for Hendrick Motorsports. I think most everyone with any idea what a car is thought this was a foregone conclusion. Dale wants to win championships and no one in the Chevy camp can do that as well as Hendrick at this time.