Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen

Hello Angels,

Monday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen race at Watkins Glen Speedway in New York was definitely an interesting race to say the
least. Coming into the race, all everyone was talking about was the rivalry between Kurt Busch and Jimmie Johnson. Then with the rain delay and subsequent
postponement, all anyone talked about was the rain delay and if NASCAR would be able to get the race in on Monday. And after the race on Monday, the storylines are first, Marcos Ambrose won his first Sprint Cup race; second, the horrendous crashes between David Ragan and David Reutimann; and third, Jimmie and Kurt who? What about Greg Biffle and Boris Said?

Speaking of the caution, I have to say that was one of the more spectacular crashes I’ve seen in a while. It all started on the last lap of
the race when Ragan and Said, running mid-pack in 25th or 26th place, were racing for the same piece of real estate and the two touched. The chain reaction sent Ragan out of control hard into the outside retaining wall and then back into the racing grove where he crashed into Reutimann sending both of them hard into the inside retaining wall. Reutimann’s car hit the inside retaining wall so hard, it bounced off of it, flipped over and careened out of control across the racing grove into the outside retaining wall before crashing hard back into the ground on all four tires. Ragan and his car continued out of control where he careened out of control back over the racing grove and came to a rest after another hard hit into the outside retaining wall. Luckily, both drivers were able to get out of their vehicles, Reutimann with a little help – obviously in pain. Ragan looked a bit shaken up as well and both were taken to the infield medical facility where they were both checked out and released.

After the race was over, Biffle and Said had some words and apparently some punches thrown as well after Said accused Biffle of dirty driving even though Biffle was two laps down.

Said was extremely upset and commented to the Sporting News Wire Service after the confrontation that Biffle is “the most unprofessional little scaredy cat I’ve ever seen in my life. He wouldn’t even fight me like a man after. So, if someone texts me his address, I’ll go see him Wednesday at his house and show him what he really needs. He needs a whipping, and I’m going to give it to him. He was flipping me off, giving me the finger. Totally unprofessional, two laps down — I mean he is a chump.

“I went over there to go talk to him. He wouldn’t even let me get out of the car. He comes over and throws a few little baby punches, and then when I get out, he runs away and hides behind some big guys. But he won’t hide from me long. I’ll find him. I won’t settle it out on the track. It’s not right to wreck cars, but he’ll show up at a race with a black eye one of these days. I’ll see him somewhere.”

Biffle declined to be interviewed after the altercation, but using social media responded by tweeting, “1st of all I want to make sure  everyone sees the wreck between David (Ragan) and David (Reutimann). Now that’s coming from a guy that says I am unprofessional. Let me tell u something, Boris, ’the road course ringer,’ caused that wreck. He did the same thing to me earlier in the race off the carousel.

“Then Mr. Class,” Biffle tweeted, “pulls in behind my truck after the race today?! Shouldn’t you go check on David and David? How unprofessional and disrespectful!”

Obviously this is not the last we’ll hear of this, but with Said not scheduled to race any more this season, there might not be much more said, no pun intended.

The other cautions included a blown tire for Paul Menard, an extremely hard hit straight into the tire barriers and wall for Denny Hamlin and a blown tire and subsequent crash by Kurt Busch – who never got close to Johnson to extend their on-track rivalry and war of words from the past week.

The latter crashes with Hamlin, and Reutimann and Ragan shows there is still a need for SAFER Barriers to be installed at key locations on the 2.45 mile road course. Everyone is just lucky the cars did their jobs and protected the drivers as much as they did.

For the record, the top 10 drivers finishing this week are Ambrose, Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Martin Truex Jr., Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya, A.J. Allmendinger, Jeff Burton and Johnson.

As for us Angels, we have four awards to give out this week as I get to award the second CHARLIE’S ANGELS BONEHEAD AWARD for the second time this segment.

Evelyn, no one likes the BHA, but you earned it this week because you only had four drivers entered into the race – Ambrose, Truex, Johnson and Tony Stewart. The driver on your team not in the race is Trevor Bayne, who wasn’t scheduled to run the road course at Watkins Glen. The good news is Ambrose, Truex and Johnson finished in the top 10 with their first, fourth and 10th place finishes. Stewart crashed on the last lap after losing control of his car cutting through the grass and the spun out hitting the inside retaining wall. He finished 27th. Your average finish is incalculable this week.

For the second week in a row, my team earned the CHARLIE’S ANGELS TOP ANGEL AWARD with an average finish of 9.8. Keselowski did a remarkable job finishing second even though he is driving hurt once again. Keselowski is still recovering from his Road Atlanta crash and subsequent back sprain and broken ankle. Last week while driving hurt, Keselowski won the race and  almost did it again this week. Kyle Busch nearly drove the wheels off the car trying to win the race on the green-white-checkered restart. Unfortunately for him, he was passed on the first corner by Keselowski and never recovered and finished third. Johnson was in fifth place on the final restart, but overdrove his car in the first corner and lost five spots recovering from leaving the track. He finished 10th. Jeff Gordon had a good car, but bad pit strategy pinned them down in the field where they finished 13th. Andy Lally is a road-course veteran and while he didn’t come close to winning, he proved that he is very competent by driving his car from a 36th or 37th place start to a 21st place finish.

Earning this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ GOLDEN CABOOSE AWARD is Madison and her drivers 23.4 average finish. Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth were the best two drivers to finish on the team with their respective 12th and 14th place finishes. Kasey Kahne finished 26th, while Reutimann and Hamlin crashed out of the race in 29th and 36th places respectively. Better luck next week.

Pete, your drivers earned you this week’s CHARLIE’S ANGELS’ RUNNER-UP ANGEL AWARD with their 11 even average finish this week. The good – Ambrose won, Kyle Busch finished third and Logano had a fifth place finish. The bad – Bobby Labonte finished 19th and Stewart crashed on the last lap and finished 27th. Obviously the good outweighed the bad for you. Congratulations on your RUA this week.

Kris, with your drivers earning you this week’s No. 3 Angels’ spot with their 11.8 average finish, your team is securely (for now) in first place of not only the Segment II points, but now the 2011 Charlie’s Angels Top Angel competition as well. With the exception of Kahne, your drivers – Keselowski, Harvick, Carl Edwards and Gordon – had decent races with their second, sixth, 12th and 13th place finishes respectively. Kahne finished 26th.

Mr. X and Julie, you both tie average finishes of 12.6 to tie for our No. 4 Angels spot this week.

Julie, for you, Ambrose and Keselowski finished one and two respectively. Unfortunately your remaining three drivers didn’t finish as well. Edwards finished 12th, while Lally finished 21st to Stewart’s 27th place finish. Mr. X, for you, the good is Keselowski and Burton and their top-10 finishes of second and ninth respectively. The okay is Edwards and Kenseth and their respective 12th and 14th place finishes. The bad is Kahne and his 26th place finish.

Gibbons, your drivers had an up-and-down day with their respective finishes. In first is Ambrose who is enjoying his first career Cup win. On the opposite side is Stewart who struggled to control his car and spun out on the last lap to finish 27th. Montoya finished seventh, while Labonte finished 19th. In the middle is Johnson and his 10th place finish. Your drivers average finish this week is 12.8.

CorWin, you had three drivers finish in the top-10 – Ambrose in first, and Kyle Busch in third. A.J. Allmendinger had a decent race by leading a few laps in the beginning and then finishing it up with an eighth place finish. Regan Smith finished 23rd, while Menard cut a tire and brought out the caution with four laps remaining in the race to set up the green-white-checkered finish. He finished 32nd. Your drivers’ average finish is 13.4.

Vivian, you had two drivers – Harvick and Burton – finish in the top 10 with their sixth and ninth place finishes respectively. Edwards finished 12th, while Jamie McMurray finished five spots behind in 17th place. Stewart rounds out your team with his 27th place finish helping your drivers earn a 14.2 average finish.

Kelly, you also had two drivers – Truex and Montoya – finish in the top 10 this week with their fourth and seventh place finishes respectively. Gordon and McMurray finished 13th and 17th respectively, while Hamlin had his crash mid-way through the race and finished 36th. Your average finish is 15.4.

Knox’Ville, had it not been for Hamlin’s crash, your drivers had a decent race on Monday. Hamlin’s crash and 36th place finish secured you in this week’s No. 10 Angels’ spot with their 16.6 average finish. Kyle Busch finished third, while Johnson finished 10th. Gordon and Lally round out your team with their 13th and 21st place finishes respectively.

Candy Man, your only driver to finish in the top 10 this week is the unlikeliest of your drivers – Jeff Burton. Burton has had an abysmal season thus far and while his ninth place finish at Watkins Glen shows some promise, he’s still mired back sub-20s in points. Edwards finished 12th, while Mark Martin and Kahne finished 25th and 26th respectively. Biffle rounds out your team with his 31st place finish, two laps down.

This weekend’s race is the Pure Michigan 400 at Michigan International Raceway in Michigan.

Don’t forget to check the ESPN Stock Car Challenge website to see where you stack up against the other Angels after Monday’s Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen race.

Good luck Angels,

Charlie