ATLANTA — Sometimes people should just learn to keep their pie-hole shut and not let their words prove exactly how stupid their thoughts really are. And that is exactly the case this week with Jack Roush and the moronic comments that he made following Carl Edwards' victory at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Roush, who should have been elated that his driver won the Pep Boys Auto 500, was instead whining about the Chase for the Championship format and lobbying NASCAR to allow teams to drop their lowest finishing position in the 10-race shootout format. He figured the move would give his driver a shot at beating Jimmie Johnson in the Chase for the Championship.
What?
No, that was not a typo. Jack "everyone's out to get me" Roush actually made the comments to the print media folks inside the media center at the track. I know because I was sitting there and almost fell out of my chair. I think the term is ROTFLMAO or some variation thereof.
Obviously, I was not alone in my disbelief of Roush's comments because as I looked around the room, I saw looks of disbelief on the faces of several reporters.
Just so you are not confused, here is what Roush suggested. He basically wants a mulligan — you know, like in golf. He wants to be able to take all 10 races in the Chase and allow drivers to toss their lowest finish and only use the top nine finishing positions to determine the Sprint Cup Champion.
Hmm. To be fair to Jack, lets look at it from his perspective. Well, honestly, I don't have to because my friend and NASCAR-reporter-extraordinaire David Poole of the Charlotte Observer and co-host of the Morning Drive on Sirius Satellite Radio, already did it for me.
According to Poole, the plan would work to bring Edwards closer to Johnson in the short run but a decent run at Texas this weekend would cost Edwards points.
And just what is it about all the crybabies at Roush? When Edwards was asked about the mulligan idea, he lobbied for two. I thought I liked Carl Edwards, a little. But lately, between his antics with Matt Kenseth and his altercation with Kevin Harvick, I am beginning to think he and Jack Roush are drinking from the same glass of Kool-Aid. Maybe everyone is out to get them, or maybe Kyle Busch was on to something when he said that Edwards was "probably on more juice than Barry Bonds."
I don't know, maybe Roush is, too. I hear that stuff will make you paranoid. Now before I get sued, by no means am I suggesting that anyone is taking steroids or doing anything illegal, unethical or immoral — they're just big supporters of their sponsor, Kraft Foods, which owns Kool-Aid, Capri Sun and Tang.
I would like to cease the commentary on Roush-Fenway Racing but you can't do that and still talk about how Hendrick Motorsports is making everyone look like a bunch of amateurs. Besides, I have already written enough to send Roush's blood pressure through the roof. This next part will guarantee that I won't be getting an invite to the Roush-Fenway Christmas Party, lose access to all of the team's drivers and be deleted from the media contact list.
Heading into this week's race at Texas Motor Speedway, Johnson is set to make history. All he needs to secure his third-straight championship is to average a ninth-place finish in the final three races, and it doesn't matter how well anyone else does. But in reality, the Magic Man (a direct rip-off from Talladega Nights — the worst movie ever) Jimmie Johnson could essentially clinch the title at Texas.
We all know that Johnson has a 183-point lead heading into the weekend. If the most a driver can make up is 162 points per race, then a win by Johnson and a pileup on the first lap with Edwards, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick would mean that all Johnson has to do is start the final two races (Phoenix and Homestead) to get the three-peat.
Normally, I would not even consider it in the realm of possibility, but with Biffle also being a Roush-Fenway driver, if it is at all possible for interstellar intervention to play a role in the outcome of the Case for the Championship, the stars could align just right. Oh, yeah. Burton used to drive for Roush, so he's 75 percent in the hole already.
A more likely scenario is that Johnson will come out of Texas with enough of a points lead to clinch the 2008 Sprint Cup Championship in Phoenix. That would really suck for Homestead-Miami Speedway, who are planning a big shindig after the Ford 400. Of course, they can always stage a celebration. Isn't that what we do every week anyway, so that network television can "capture" the moment the driver gets out of the car in Victory Lane?
That is about it for this week but before I sign off, I would like to congratulate The Examiner's grand-prize winner and the runner-up for this weekend, Triple-header VIP Getaway at Texas Motor Speedway.
The grand-prize winner was Deborah Walker of Lumberton. She entered via the Internet and was chosen from hundreds of entries that were submitted both online and at The Examiner's kiosk in Parkdale Mall. Never thinking she would win, Deborah entered the contest after reading about it on www.theexaminer.com and the linked story at www.kickinthetires.net. She said she has never won anything but is an avid NASCAR fan and will bring her son to races with her to share in the VIP experience that includes luxury hotel accommodations, pit passes and tickets to all three races this weekend. But I don't think she is giving him a cut of the $250 cash that she received at part of the prize package.
And the runner-up, Lawrence Farris of Groves, a huge Jeff Gordon fan, posed for his winning photo wearing the uber-nice (and expensive) black leather Jeff Gordon jacket.
Be sure to check out Kickin the Tires online at www.kickinthetires.net for updates and photos from this week's races at TMS. I will be posting coverage throughout the weekend and will also be adding some photos from last week's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
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