Aarons 499

Hello Angels, Bosley, Mr. X and the UnNamed One,

Let me just say once again for the record...I really don't like restrictor plate racing.

Now that it has been said, I can move on to the main event of the day...CARNAGE. Now Carnage is a word I usually reserve for short tracks like Martinsville and Bristol, but I think it applies today because of the lap 4 Malay that transpired when Ryan Newman went sailing into the wall and collected 26 other cars with him. Now, I have to be honest, I didn't get to see the crash live when it happened, but I did see it on replay later in the race. I think that Newman needs to stay away from super speedways this year. He's 0 for 2 so far this year. If you remember back to Daytona almost three months ago, he flipped his car and "ate mud" as he said back then. Let's all wish him better luck for the next restrictor plate race held later this spring.

I would say congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his 4th straight Talladega win, but something tells me he won't hold on to the win this time. If you didn't see it, with only a couple of laps to go, he passed for the lead under the yellow out of bounds line that is only used during restrictor plate racing. NASCAR should not allow him to violate that rule. If they do, then they should undue every out of bounds penalty they gave out today. But at the same time, I've seen weirder things come out of NASCAR lately, like last week's admission they got a call wrong, but didn't do anything about it. I know, I know, I'm on a soap box again...

So, how did we do when the checkered flag was standing, and Earnhardt Junior was spinning his car in the infield??? That is a very good question.

For you Bosley (Jude), I think you would've been better off not getting out of bed...Not only do you get this week's GOLDEN CABOOSE award, but I do believe that you will have the distinction of having the worst average finish of all of us so far this year. This is definitely the result of the carnage that happened on lap 4. I'm just going to list your drivers and where they finished. Newman, 39; Rusty Wallace, 37; Jamie McMurray, 27; Tony Stewart, 25; and Mikey Waltrip, who wasn't caught up in the carnage on lap 4, but created his own carnage racing for the lead three quarters through out the race when he and two other cars got together, finished 24. Your GOLDEN CABOOSE award winning average finish is an amazing 30.4. I think that it is obvious that we Angels wish you Bosley much better luck next week.

Mr. X (Ray), four of your drivers were heavily involved in the lap 4 Malay. The worst being Johnny Benson, who finished 41st. Newman, 39th; McMurray, 27th and Kurt Busch, who was able to stay on the lead lap for a while, but eventually faded, finished 19th. Your only good news is that Matt Kenseth finished 9th. Your average finish is an even 27. Much better luck next week.

UnNamed One (Ray) You did a little better, but still did not come out of lap-4 unscathed. Ricky Rudd was your downfall today with his 42nd place finish. McMurray and his 27th place finish, didn't help you too much and neither did Greg Biffle and his 23rd place finish. Helping you today was Dale Jarrett finish 12th and Kenseths' 9th. Your average finish is 22.6. Better luck next week.

Kelly (Sarah), your string of bad luck hasn't changed any...That was obvious on lap 4 when your man from Texas was collected in the Malay. Bobby Labonte finished 27. Rusty Wallace definitely didn't help your cause with his 37th finish after the crash. Waltrips' crash definitely didn't help you any considering he was a leader contender. He finished 24th. Your helpers today are Sterlin Marlin and Terry Labonte, finishing 6th and 4th respectively. Your average finish is 20.8. Better luck next week.

Sabrina (Susan), you faired a little better than Kelly, but McMurray's 27th and Stewarts 25th place finishes hurt you today. This is because your other drivers while only finishing behind the leader by less than a second, could only finish 10th through 16th. In that 16th spot is Jimmie Johnson who was in 4th place when he was spun out by Kenny Wallace with two laps to go. John Andretti had a solid race and finished 14th. Your top driver today is Robby Gordon and his 10th place finish. Your average finish when all the carnage was over is 18.4. Not too bad considering what could've been.

Julie (Jen T), I didn't get your driver picks this week, so I'm going to use the last list of drivers that I have for you from the third race of the season. All I have to say to you is Lap-4 carnage. That includes Earnhardt, McMurray and Jimmy Spenser who retired his car immediately after that crash. He finished 38. You also have Jimmie Johnson and his 2nd to last lap spin...He finished 16th. Your two bright spots this week is Harvick, finishing second behind Earnhardt, who came-from-behind today to put himself in the position to contend for the win. Even with his lap 4 damage. Your average finish when this carnage was over is 16.8. Better luck next week.

Jill (Jennie), your only mishap today was Jerry Nadeau and his collection in the carnage. He was able to get back out on the race track afterwards, but didn't have enough speed to make the minimum speed limit. He finished 36. Steve Park surprised everyone by leading today, but faded towards the end of the race and finished 20th. You also had Johnson and his 16th place finish, along with his brother, err, owner Jeff Gordon finish 9th. Your bright spot, if it holds, is Earnhardt's win. Your average finish is 16.4. Better luck next week.

I'm next and only had one driver that I know of collected in the Malay. That would be McMurray and his 27th place finish. Joe Nemachek's engine failure hurt me considerably today because with only 15 laps to go, I had four drivers in the top-10. That said, his 21st place finish, along with Johnson's spin with two laps to go failed to give me the top-10 average finish we always want each week. Two of my drivers, Kenseth and Gordon finished 9th and 8th respectively. My average finish this week is an even 16.

Tiffany (Jen Y), you and I both share four of the same drivers...but the difference between you and I is that you have Dale Earnhardt who's win gave you a much better average finish of 12.2. (I have Nemachek). Nice job Tiffany.

Alas, we've finally come to our Charlie's Angels' Fantasy League TOP ANGEL Award. I'm sure that everyone will congratulate Kris (Peggy) on her award today. Your only real blemish was Todd Bodine's 28th place finish. I'm not sure if he was collected in the lap-4 Malay, but I've got a good suspicion. Kurt Busch had damage to his car but still managed to stay on the lead lap for most of the race. He finished 19th. Ward Burton had an outstanding day, even though he was involved in an accident in the middle of the race. He finished 7. Helping you the most though was having Harvick and race winner, Earnhardt, on your team. Congratulations on your TOP ANGEL Award winning average finish of 11.4.

Next week's race is the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Motor speedway. Driver picks must be made no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time.

Good luck Angels,

Charlie

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