Well a day late, thanks to 2 races getting postponed to Monday due to rain.
NASCAR SPRINT CUP
The cup race aka the Goody's Fast Pain Relief 500 was postponed to Monday due to rain in Martinsville, VA. What we did see for the race though was alot of racing and the return of the ever-popular "spoiler". The spoiler replaces the rear wing on the Car of Tomorrow and that paved way for an exciting afternoon of racing. Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch dominated the first 200 laps but then Denny Hamlin & Jeff Burton dominated the last 300 laps. Hamlin's crew-chief made a crucial call by having Hamlin pit (Kyle Busch was 2nd and also pitted) with 10 laps to go when a caution came out due to Burton's crash. Jeff Gordon took over the lead at that point and another caution was caused with 2 laps to go after a wreck involving Paul Menard. On the restart, a wild move allowed Matt Kenseth to pass Gordon but made room for Hamlin to make the pass and the win. Joey Logano finishes 2nd, Gordon 3rd, Ryan Newman 4th and Martin Truex, Jr. 5th. Jimmie Johnson (now point leader by 14 over Biffle) and Tony Stewart had tough cars and finished 9th and 26th respectively.
The series is off next weekend due to Easter and return in 2 weeks under the lights in Phoenix. However the Nationwide & Truck Series will compete in Nashville next weekend.
INDYCAR
The IZOD IndyCar series race on the Streets of St. Petersburg was also postponed to Monday due to rain. What an eventful race that was. The competition was very tough and some of the leaders were able to avoid wrecks during the 100-lap event. Scott Dixon led early but crashed out with 26 laps to go. Dan Wheldon was tangled in an incident halfway through the race. But it was Penske Racing driver Will Power who stole the show by grabbing the pole and leading 50 laps on to win the 2nd race of the season (also won in Brazil). Justin Wilson finished 2nd, Ryan Briscoe (started 19th) finished 3rd, and Helio Castroneves 4th. Power now leads Dario Franchitti in the points race by 43.
The series next competes as they make their debut at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, AL on April 13th.
FORMULA 1
Definitely an exciting race filled with a lap 1 wreck involving Sebastien Buemi, Kamui Kobayashi & Nico Hulkenberg. Pole-sitter and leader Sebastian Vettel ran into a gravel trap on lap 20 and was passed by Jenson Button, who made a early key pit stop to change tires and was able to run away with the win. Short week for F1 as drivers next complete Saturday night in Malaysia.
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I still say Mike Ford (Hamlin's Crew Chief) made the wrong call. He should have known that there would only be about 5 laps to go when the race went green again. If their had been no cautions, Hamlin wouldn't have won the race. Yes, if he HAD stayed out, the drivers behind Hamlin and Kyle Busch probably would have pitted, but thats what happens in NASCAR. Hamlin still had a strong car, and he had his teammate to protect his lead for him. I can't call Hamlin's win lucky, because he arguably had the best car all day, and he did the work to put himself in position to win for the first 490 laps. He should just be thankful his teammate crashed and gave him a chance to win. But on a different note, what a great race...one of the best Martinsville races I've seen.
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