Even NASCAR's knight has chinks in his armor

Jimmie Johnson
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I'm very disappointed in NASCAR's golden boy, Jimmie Johnson!

All we have ever seen or heard from Johnson has been positive. Certainly all that is ever said about him, is glowing. But that isn't the guy we saw Sunday in Michigan when he battled with Ryan Newman on the track and his later remarks.

According to the live action view on the track Johnson appeared to go out of his way to slam into Newman, right about the rear tire. Newman said on the radio that he was concerned about a tire rub. He forged on while his team whipped out the binoculars to check it out. Thankfully, there was no smoke, but it was already too late to resume his pre-confrontational battle with Johnson.

All this occurred while the two were dueling, in the closing laps of the race, for tenth place. Johnson repeated his on-track exclamation more than once. He clearly intended to resort to whatever it took to get Newman out of his way.

Obviously Newman lost the momentum he needed to continue his charge to the front of the pack, resulting in an 11th place finish.

Jimmie's on-track behavior may be chalked up to frustration, but his off-track interview was over-the-top. It showed a total lack of character and how much he too has fallen for all the media hype about how great he is.

"Oh, it was just normal Ryan Newman stuff. Anybody who has watched this sport long enough or has been in a race car out there understands the frustration that comes along with racing Ryan," Johnson said after Ryan confronted him post-race.

Isn't the on-track action supposed to be a race, a competition? Apparently Johnson thinks he is the only one on the race track that has had obstacles to overcome. This was a particularly difficult race for Johnson, whose shifter lever broke, making it impossible to shift gears. He tried to attach vice grips after a green flag pit stop and while entering the racing surface. Had any other driver tried that, they would have been black-flagged by NASCAR, but not Johnson. His heroics didn't work, so his crew had to fix it during the next pit stop anyway. He did have to overcome a lap down condition, but so did Newman. The two drivers were comparable, running similar speeds and positions during the entire race. One difference however, is that Johnson, who is already locked into the Chase for the Championship with three wins this year and six championship rings from years past, is said to be in a slump. Newman, on the other hand, is in his first season with a new team, experiences the kind of challenges Johnson had, nearly every week. He is fighting for a chase berth and is winless this season. He is fighting hard, as he always does, yet Johnson supporters are calling Newman the bully? 

Johnson's remarks were uncalled for. No matter how frustrated he is and how much he's had to overcome, Johnson is not the only one fighting on the track. Drivers are not supposed to slow down to let Johnson pass. While it is true that many drivers have whined about how hard it is to get past Newman, but, isn't that his job?

I've watched racing long enough to know that Newman knows when his car can't compete with the speed of another. And in those times, he does let others get past him. But that wasn't the case Sunday. He was just as fast as Johnson. So for Johnson to resort to smashing into Newman's rear tire was a low blow. Had it happened just once, Johnson could have claimed that he simply got loose and drifted up the track. But, he did it numerous times.

Being a winner doesn't require character. The real mark of character comes when things aren't going so well. Newman exhibits character each and every week. He is always fair-minded. Too bad the same can't be said for Jimmie Johnson. He was certainly no golden boy on Sunday.

Junior won at Michigan; he won it for himself, not for his father

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. on pit road

Congratulations to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. for his win at Michigan International Speedway Sunday. He drove a good race, led plenty of laps, and held off Champion Tony Stewart for the win.

A Dale Earnhardt Jr. autograph (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Maybe now everyone will get off Junior's back and leave the poor guy alone. I have for some time, felt sorry for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. In all the years I've watched NASCAR, and I admit I'm a newbie by most standards, at only eight years, but I have yet to see Junior live up to the enormous expectations and hype laid upon his head by fans, the pundits, and NASCAR brass. I'm not sure anyone could live up to that, (except maybe for Tony Stewart's herculean performance last year, when he won five out of ten races.)

So much pressure has been put on Junior that it has obviously had a negative effect. His name is evoked by announcers dozens of times during every race, pre-race, or post-race show, no matter what he does. Clearly, evoking Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s name is a mandate by NASCAR itself, since as a fan favorite, to NASCAR, that translates into dollars.

No matter what Junior does on the track, his name is mentioned--a lot! Excuses are made for his doing things like driving by his pit stall or making some other boneheaded move that only a rookie would make. After a few of those, the hype seemed to tone down a little. That all changed with Junior's latest run of obvious good luck. Junior has been running well, leading laps and being consistent enough to earn points. Finally NASCAR is getting what it wants. Maybe they will back off a little now that Junior has won a race.

Who am I kidding? They will never leave him alone. Now we will be hearing, and it has already begun, Junior can be the champion. There will likely be more pressure on him to not just win again, but to lead the points battle now and during the Sprint Cup Series Chase for the Championship. Yes, Junior has a big fan base, so he is NASCAR's favorite son. Let's face it--as the son of the late Big E, Junior will never be left alone to be his own person.

Not only does that affect him, but it also affects the other 42 drivers who are unable to compete on a level racetrack, so to speak. And it is so unfair to those of us who are not card-carrying members of Junior Nation.

We are called haters. We are not haters. We are just not blinded by the BS.

Funny, Junior's big win came on Father's Day, yet I didn't hear anything in post race interviews with Junior about winning this one for his father's memory, except by the media. It seems clear to me that Junior is very uncomfortable with the position he has been put into--living in his father's shadow. It has obviously been very difficult for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. to live up to they hype. It would be difficult for anyone. I'd love it if they would leave him alone, for his sake as well as ours.

Newman feels at home at Michigan

Image by Getty Images via @daylifeThe Michigan International Speedway is special to Ryan Newman, so it is especially good to see him run well there. He certainly did that—grabbing a fifth place starting spot and finishing fifth, with lots of good runs in between.


There is no doubt about it—when your favorite driver has a good day, and especially a good finish, it makes racing really fun to watch. Needless to say I enjoyed this week’s Michigan race. Newman climbed to seventh in points with only three races to go before the Chase for the Championship begins.


It is clear that Newman and his team are giving it everything they’ve got. I can’t quite put my finger on it, or can I recall just when it happened, but early in this season it seems as if something just began to click. The cars seemed to go faster, balance improved, pit stops became competitive again, and the entire team seemed to come together.


Newman has won and lost at Michigan, where he holds the track record. He made it around the two-mile oval in 194.232 seconds during a qualifying lap in 2005.


A respectable fifth place finish can certainly earn Newman bragging rights as well. That is just the way it should be too, since this track is one he considers his home track. His father Greg brought him to the races when he was growing up. It isn’t far from where they lived in South Bend, IN. No doubt Newman dreamed of wheeling his own race car around it.


An avid fisherman, Newman has donated to youth camps and provided scholarships for kids. He never forgot learning to fish there with his grandfather. He’d like other kids to grow up with the same experience.


Perhaps the biggest proof of Newman’s devotion to the Michigan International Speedway, in Brooklyn, MI, is that he and his wife Krissie named their daughter Brooklyn.

It is called racing, Joey

While it was obviously hot inside the race car, at Sunday's Michigan race, it may have been a little hotter once Ryan Newman got out of the car. Newman went looking for Joey Logano, who finished 10th, at Newman's expense. Newman finished 23rd, despite having a good race car that ran laps as quick as the leaders for most of the race.

When it was all over though, there was an altercation between the two. Instead of telling Newman he was sorry about causing him to spin, Logano got an attitude. ESPN reporters caught up with Logano as he proceeded to bash Newman for not giving him some slack. What wasn't shown on camera was visible this video from Fox Sports.

Clearly, Logano crossed the line as he told Newman, "Give someone an inch, man."

To that, Newman responded, "No." It escalated from there.

Hello Joey, don't you get what you are doing at the race track? It is called racing. It is not a Sunday afternoon drive.

Newman had every right to be ticked off. Logano clearly got into him and spun him, nearly ruining his day.

Newman had so much more to lose than Logano, which Joey failed to take into account, apparently. Newman, is 14th in points and was contending for a Chase (for the championship) berth; the top 12 in points. It looked early on like he had a good shot to achieve it too, had it not been for Logano ruining his day. Logano had nothing to lose, as he is in 21st place, with no chance to race his way into the chase. Newman had so much more to lose.

I'm sure that if Logano had simply admitted that his car got loose and he didn't mean to hit Newman's race car, all would have been forgotten. But that isn't what Logano did.

Not only was Logano at fault for the incident on the track, according to the NASCAR video, but he had the audacity to call Newman out for his driving style. Logano got into Newman's face complaining that he isn't the only one to mention how Newman makes it hard to pass.

Well, Duh Joey! Newman gets paid to race. He gets points for passing people. He would have gotten three more points for passing you, which he did until you hit him. What don't you get?

Sprint Cup Race at Michigan

Whew! What an interesting race. I don't know how much of the actual race I saw. I was so busy monitoring points, positions, and times on NASCAR.com's live leaderboard that I probably missed some of the action on the track.

The early part of the race was disheartening as I watched a very frustrated Ryan Newman struggle with an ill-handling racecar. I have to hand it to his crew, however, because they pulled together to get the car drivable again. And the two-tire strategy to get track position was just what the doctor ordered. It was enjoyable to watch Ryan start picking off positions once again. This race could have been a total disaster for him in the points standings, but they pulled it out, leaving him with a no-gain, no-loss scenario. The way this race started today, that is good enough for me. Ryan remains 9th in the points standings. The pressure is really on, however.

A few of my other observations in this race include:

• Congratulations to Brian Vickers. He deserved to win one. He fought hard, especially when considering his run yesterday when he was so close.
  

• If I were Jimmy Johnson, I wouldn't listen to Chad Knaus next time he wants to try the fuel strategy game. Johnson finished 33rd. That marks twice at Michigan that he led most of the laps of the race and came up short at the end.
  

• Good run for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. However, even though it has been some time since he ran well enough to gush over, it was disgusting to hear the ESPN guys, especially Andy Petrie rave over how Dale Earnhardt, Jr. could win this race, even though he was running sixth. Yes he was the fastest on the track at the time, but that has happened before only to see him lose it and smack into the wall. Can we not have a little reality check boys? They actually put up a graphic showing Jimmy Johnson, Brian Vickers, and Dale Jr. as the commentators talked about the amount of fuel each had left. Trouble is they were running first, second, and sixth at the time. C'mon! They were practically salivating over the possibility that Jr. could win this race, totally discounting the other drivers ahead of him, not to mention those behind him who could have come from behind to win it. This Dale Jr. thing is just a wee bit sickening!
  

• Kyle Busch was not a factor in today's race. And I'll bet he wasn't happy about Vickers' win after the way the two behaved in yesterday's Nationwide race.

• Poor Kurt Busch and Juan Pablo Montoya. They were doing great until lady luck bit them where the sun doesn't shine.
  

All things considered, that's racin'. So now -- it's on to Bristol.

Nationwide Race at Michigan

I am really becoming a fan of the Nationwide races. They have been fun to watch, and at times, more enjoyable than the Cup races. Ouch! Did I say that?

Today's race at Michigan was no exception, especially the ending. Congratulations to Brad Keselowski, not so much because he won the race, but the way he won it. He just sneaked in there, pretty as you please, pissing off Kyle Busch in the process. It always seems to be a good day when NASCAR's bad boy comes up short.

Funny, I'm really enjoying Kyle -- he has spunk. He's every inch a competitor. He is Popeye's Bluto. I'm waiting for him to tie a competitor to a railroad track or grow a mustache he can twirl. Kyle is necessary to the sport. He brings real life to it. I like how he handles the fans' boos. And, you can't take away from him, the fact that the boy can drive.

I had to laugh when Brian Vickers said he didn't know this was the Kyle Busch show. I really don't like Vickers' style. I saw that little sideswipe he gave to Keselowski as the #88 went around him. I don't think he is a clean racer. He was fast though. And the fact that he kept it out of the wall is certainly testament to his skill. His car was obviously loose, but he ignored it and hung on.

Ryan Newman being in the race is always a draw for me. Ryan had a decent finish. I was hoping for more though. I feel cheated, since I couldn't hear his radio transmissions. Why doesn't NASCAR allow Nationwide races to be on Race Day Scanner too? That would be awesome. Truck races too for that matter.

Tomorrow is going to be a good day - race day!