In our first week of T-N-T coverage, no less than race car driver-turned-analyst Kyle Petty came up with the perfect analogy of the race at Pocono, referring to today’s event as a “pitcher’s duel”- to borrow a baseball term. I gotta tell ya, I caught  myself wondering how other NASCAR fans felt about this race, given the condition of the track, the course design and the continuing saga of the CoT.

I remember thinking, “This isn’t necessarily a bad race, just a different race.”If you think about it- again, borrowing Petty’s analogy- in baseball, you have your scoreboard popping slugfests that end up with scores like 13-11- complete with scads of home runs and loads of offensive fireworks. Then- you have your “pitcher’s duels”- where a pair of aces match each other pitch for pitch, playing “Mexian Stand-off” until a run scampers over the plate for a 1-0 nailbiter.

Now, stay with me here. To bring it back to NASCAR- we have all kinds of races- races on tracks where you need a muscular engine (Daytona, Talladega, Texas), races where brakes and passing skills (read that fearlessness) are needed (Bristol, Martinsville, Phoenix)- and then you have the road courses, which are a different animal altogether. If you know me well, you know that Pocono is probably my least favorite track. That said, I went into today’s race looking for something different in the spirit of keeping an open mind.

I got it all right. I’ve come to understand that Pocono is like the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s, a race where strategy and teamwork come into play. Pit stops and pit strategy come into play. That sure was the case today.

If you read my post yesterday, then you know I rightfully picked Kasey Kahne to win today. He’s on a roll, Kahne’s confidence is at an all-time high, Gillett-Evernham has their act together in the shop, and this track smiles on pole-takers. But wait, there’s more. Kenny Francis’ stock has gone up in my eyes with his pit calls. He went for 4 tires when others were going for two. They had their fuel mileage figured out just right. The crew is working like a well-oiled machine and not crippling Kahne’s exploits with silly errors in the pits.

This win was about teamwork, the Budweiser #9 team has it’s lost mojo back.

Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson kept Kahne on his toes. While I don’t think anyone would question that the winner of his 9th Sprint Cup race had the best car today, there were still plenty of occasions where the race was in a little bit in doubt. For just a fleeting moment, it looked like Brian Vickers might be in the mix. Give Team Red Bull props for their recent performances. They’re starting to show that JGR isn’t the only muscular Toyota team out there. Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger were both impressive. For A.J., that’s the former Champ car stud’s best Cup finish.

Nonetheless Kasey “Kahne-whipped” the opposition today.  Who would’ve thought after the disaster of a 2007 season he had that the favorite of crazed soccer moms everywhere would be the third driver with multiple wins for 2008? Who would’ve thought that Dodge would have as many manufacturer wins as Ford and Chevy at this point in the season?

It’s all a part of that tangled web of story lines we call the 2008 season. I will be the first to admit that the racing has been a little uneven at times, but the plot lines more than make up for the slightly sloppy product.

I’m enjoying it myself, and judging by ratings and the overall track turn out, I think you are too.

RANDOM NOTES:

Kurt Busch gets the “Rocky Balboa” Award for hanging tough after an early incident where it looked like he was trying to plow the infield. That’s the closest I’ve seen anybody come to flipping the CoT after Michael Mc Dowell’s barrel roll in practice at Texas. The elder Busch (”Big Shrub”) ended the day nicely…. I may be a “D.W.” fan, but I must say I was happy with TNT’s race coverage, mainly the substantive analysis by Kyle Petty. There’s room for all kinds of color commentators in sports, and though Petty isn’t the ham in the vein of Waltrip or Kenny Wallace, I thought he brought good stuff to the party…In a display of taking ownership, Kyle Busch took the fall for the wreck with Jamie McMurray. Shrub gets a handful of “cool points” from me there…Say what you want, but in my opinion, Junior’s pressing. He really looks miserable in his post-race interviews. “Junebug”, you’re running well. The wins will come…

Next up is Michigan. Who will thicken the plot next week?

Stop by tomorrow for another edition of “Road To Glory.” We’ll explore where it all began for one of the West Coast’s most promising young drivers, Preston Jones. 

Tags: A.J. Allmendinger, Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr, Denny Hamlin, Jamie McMurray, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Pocono 500

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