It's been quiet in this thread for a long while, time to wake it up. Who do you thik will win in Indy this week? Your thoughts on Smoke and who will be driving with/for him? Does anybody else dislike Kyle Busch? These topics and any others you may have, go a head and let us know what you think.

My thoughts on Smoke would be disappointment.

I don't see this as a good move for him, I think he is going to struggle for a while.

This move seems to be all about money, but I guess that's what it's all about now days.

That is probably the reason I lose more interest in nascar every year.


People may dislike Kyle but you have to give him some credit, after all he is winning more races than anybody else.

Kyle Busch seems like he's going to run away with the title this year. He has done far better than I could have imagined and has a good attitude about winning. However, I am not a fan of his at all for many reasons.

I only see Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, and Jeff Gordon as the ones who could catch Busch this year. I think Dale Jr. will fade in the second half.

I think Tony Stewart will be good in the long-term, but I don't see him winning anymore championships. He'll definitely win some races here and there though. I'm sure he'll add Ryan Newman to his team and they'll be okay.

I think Brian Vickers and Red Bull Racing are on the rise. He's looked very strong and been very close on multiple occasions. I think he has a legitimate chance at the top 12 this year. If only they would dump AJ Allmendinger for Scott Speed, they'd have two great contenders. Red Bull should have more money to dump into NASCAR once they sell their second F1 team.

I'm glad Franchitti is gone; he was never good in IRL, just REALLY lucky. Mark Martin needs to hang it up for good.

That is all for me... I just need Boris to win a race and I'll be happy.

smoke is being a moron. It might be nice to say you own a team but how many more championships could he have won at Gibbs 2 maybe 3? How many people can claim that many championships and history remembers that. how many owners do you here about?

As for Kyle never liked him till this year because I like Gibbs. The man can drive though and I give him credit. I also like the attitude he has when doing it.

If in all my NASCAR viewing I have learned anything, it is Smoke will do what he wants, and eventually he will be successful at it. For not having to pay to be majority owner, he has hit a windfall. I think the rumors of Newman going with him will more than likely play out, I’m just wondering what will happen with Scott Riggs. Regardless of who his team mates are, with Hendrick engines and Chevy money, I give him 2-3 seasons and he is Champion for a 3rd time.

I have to agree Kyle can not only race, but he can drive, to me they are two different qualities, and he does both well. It’s his attitude that bothers me. I grew up a Sr. fan, and I never like Gordon only because he won so much. I think I dislike Kyle even more because of that attitude. But then I think it comes with the name; his brother was the same way. I can only hope he’ll hit a level of maturity that Kurt seems to have found. After Sr. died I stayed with the team, and Kevin was the same way though, he has mellowed out too; IMO being an owner helped with that. If only he could put together the wins like Kyle.

I agree with the comments about Brian Vickers too, he has really turned things up a notch at Red Bull. It’s funny though, between him and Busch, I never thought you were supposed to improve your career when you left Team Hendrick? Are things not really that great over there, or is there extra horsepower under the hoods of those Toyotas? Did I mention I love my Tacoma? LOL

One other question, the four driver limit starts next year I believe. What happens at Hendrick and Roush? IMO, either McMurray or Mears go RCR and fill their fourth car. Personally I don’t care, I think either of those guys are young enough and talented enough to fit in well and be a benefit to that organization.

My Indy picks:

Smoke steals a win from Kyle, and Mark Martin, Greg Biffle, and Brian Vickers have good runs and get Top 5’s or 10’s. My dark horse for a decent day is Montoya.

Kyle Busch ... I'm not a fan, but have to admit that he is a talented driver who will probably win the title this year.
Tony Stewart ... Ownership is a cool thing for him, but I have concerns that without an owner to keep him in check, his attitude may get him into trouble - penalties, fines, etc.
My Indy Pick for this week ... Carl Edwards

So I see where NASCAR is going to steal some of the extra horses away from Toyota after all......

http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;_ylt=A...p&type=lgns

I wonder when this will happen in the Cup Series too?

Indy pick- JJ48 is due

My pick is #20 he is over due

McGee, I thought you were a little "E" fan?

My Indy (hopefuls):

The GM Goodwrench...Harvick
Jimmie
Little "E"

Tony Stewart is a great driver and I hope he does well on his own next year but when he referenced Robby Gordon, that actually made me laugh and think bad things. I think Robby is my most hated driver even before Kurt and Kyle. I don't care for Jeff Gordon either....smug little.....

I am a little E fan but he is not a flat track racer. Top 6 for him this week.

While I agree R.gordon is an A$$ ( You notice its never his fault ) why all the Jeff Gordon hating? Does he win too much well not this year

Hendrick all the way!!!!

EXACTLY.......NOT THIS YEAR....... and no, he is smug. He would much rather win the race himself than to see his teammate win. SELFISH. Seems to be a lot of that going on in Nascar lately.

TOLD YOU

I`ve been a race fan for a long time. That race was no dought the worst race I have ever watch.
Good Year should be made to return at least 1/2 the cost of the tires back to the car owners. 25 laps of a 160 lap race is all they really raced.

Indeed that was NO RACE. I've seen better heat races on dirt tracks then that. NASCAR did what they had to do to keep the drivers safe but Goodyear should repay at least half of the rubber cost for that mess,a dn IMO repay half of the ticket cost to the fans that had to sit throught that. IMO, NASCAR needs to look at Hoosier again.

I thought it was a good deal instead of watching one race we got to see what, five races.

they actually had races? I guess Tony's assesment of Goodyear earlier in the year was on the mark. How can NASCAR be this stupid. They are worried that viewership is down. Well hello maybe if you want more viewers you should put out an exciting product and at teh very least before one of your biggest events make sure everything will work like it should. I still think they screwed Toyota also. They were in the rules but we are taking horsepower from you anyway. Gee a Japanese company having a better product than American company or companies. Surprise surprise surprise.

IMO NASCAR needs to look at Firestone and Hoosier for tires; Goodyear is just an embarrassment to the sport. Heck if I was Gibbs, Childress, etc. for that kind of money, I would want to pick who puts tires on my car. Regardless of who the tire supplier is, IMO the rubber manufacturer needs to hire the Rusty Wallace's, Terry Labonte's and Dale Jarrett's of the retired racing world, buy a couple of makes of each car, and do their own tire testing at EVERY TRACK. The veteran drivers know their stuff; I don't think a team test here and there is providing enough info for Goodyear.

I'm curious as to why the tires were so bad this year. Did they repave the track or did goodyear just bring a new tire this year? I didn't watch the race, I haven't watched a race for a few years, just wondering.

Pocono Picks:

Hamlin gets the win

Kahne, JJ, and Shrub get Top 10's

Dark horse for a good run, my boy Harvick (and he needs it).

Dark horse for a good run, my boy Harvick (and he needs it).
[/quote]

Your not kidding. It's been a long while for even a top ten finish. I thought he was capable last week of coming in 10th but everyone got past him. He does better in the bush series.

My pick..I would like to see Harvick win but it would be more realistic to say Jeff Gordon-first and Kurt Bush-second -yuck! Harvick I think will have a top ten finish.

I see JJ is going to make his truck racing debut by driving the #81 owned by Randy Moss.

And he'll win that race too!

My picks for Pocono this week....

Denny Hamlin!

rounding out the top 5 JJ, Stewart,Shrub, and my darkhorse for the week bobby labonte

It didn't help that he got caught up in Kurt's mess.

I'm talking Harvick and then writing about Jr. Kurt wrecked Harvick early on in the race and I knew that but my fingers kept going. So Sorry, right info on wrong driver....I was cheering little "E" on but everyone kept getting past him. Since Harvick could'nt win, I was definitely happy with JJ winning. I'm surprised I didnt hear anything about a donny brook of some sorts between Kevin & Kurt. Kevin definitely has the Tony Stewart approach to things. AGRESSION......

Nah, Kev has really mellowed, besides Kurt spun, nothing intentional there.

Indy is a tough place for which to build a tire as evidenced by the 2005 Formula One debacle for which I'm soooo glad I sold my ticket. Michelin's tires were deemed not safe to race, so all F1 teams equipped with Michelin tires boycotted the race and led to F1's departure from the USA. Only cars with Bridgestone tires actually raced that year (Ferrari, Minardi, Jordan).

Bridgestone/Firestone are the same company. Bridgestone supplies all F1 teams and each team has to run two different compounds for each race. Firestone supplies all IndyCar teams. I cannot think of any particular incident related solely to tire failure ALL season for any team in F1 and in IndyCar this year (I'm sure there were a couple though). Granted, it's "easier" to make tires for cars with as much technology and much lighter weight as the open-wheelers.

I've run Hoosiers on my car for a couple years for multiple events and would LOVE to see them back in NASCAR. They seem to work fine in ARCA and EVERY road racing series in the USA. I could see Kumho, Dunlop, and Pirelli also stepping into the ring if NASCAR would let them, but NASCAR is now a spec series, so I couldn't imagine them allowing more than one tire manufacturer into the series.

Also, I'm really angry about the Busch Series NOT running in Mexico next year... I really hope they replace it with another road course (Road Atlanta or the new New Jersey Motorsports Park).

Picks for Pocono:
Winner will be Jeff Gordon, with another strong run for Red Bull
Darkhorse: Casey Mears

I did not see much of the race yesterday ...bits and pieces and the ending, what happened to Waltrip? Congrats to Carl Edwards he had a strong car but werent they having some sort of problems with the car right before the rain delay? I remember a crew chief being interviewed during the rain delay and I thought it was Carl Edwards team but I could be wrong. I was hoping Kasey Kahne was going to pull it out though. I like how JJ ran out of gas as he was crossing the finish line. They did a great job estimating that.

For getting loose and spinning on the first lap, my boy did good salvaging a 4th place finish, and getting back in the Top 12. On to The Glen.