Feb
11
Tony Stewart Wins 2007 Bud Shootout
February 11, 2007 | Posted by VroomDude
1 Comment
Tony Stewart took home the checkered flag in the 70 lap Bud Shootout last night, kicking off the 2007 NEXTEL Cup season in style. Stewart was towards the front of the field all night and appeared to bide his time before powering into the lead at the end and never giving it up.
David Gilliland deserves much credit for his second place finish, not so much for the result itself but the fact that the “rookie” (2007 will be his first full season in NEXTEL Cup racing but he did get some starts last year) was driving smoothly and in control the entire night, despite the field being bunched up for much of the night, racing three and four wide. Gilliland has been a popular dark horse pick as far as a rookie to replicate Denny Hamlin’s success last year, and last night’s performance will likely only fuel such speculation.
The Busch brothers ran well most of the night, as did Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, and Mark Martin. Elliott Sadler showed some vroom as well, until Junior got impatient and got ito the back of him, spinning him out on the last lap. Jeff Gordon and Ryan Newman made early exits after struggling with their cars for most of the night.
Speaking of Junior, umm, I hope you’ve got your mind on racing by the time the Daytona 500 rolls around. Not Junior’s best night, with way too many boneheaded mistakes, including overshooting his pit stall in the only real pit stop of the night. And don’t even start actiing like you’re annoyed with all the questions about the mess at DEI, as those questions are just going to get more frequent and louder, especially if you keep struggling like you did last night.
The Toyotas mostly went out with a whimper, with DJ dropping from the pole like a rock, although Brian Vickers did manage to lead a lap and finish in a quiet 8th.
I’m not a huge fan of Fox’s Cup racing coverage (or anyone’s, really, for that matter), but it went off well enough, for the first event of the season. I thought it was odd that they never bothered to mention what the late caution was for (I didn’t hear it, if they ever did), and I hope they realize that the weird 3-D animated car analysis feature is lame and retire it soon, but there weren’t too many things done or said that made me want to throw something at the tv.
Comments
1 Comment so far
I of course, have problems with Fox already. I didn’t care for the animation as to how to get into the 500 or the 3D explanation either. They only bothered to interview Junior after the race, but didn’t bother to interview Elliott Sadler (or Biffle & Kahne)to get his take on it. I can assure you, however, that if this was the Duals or the 500, Elliott wouldn’t have been so buddy buddy with Jr. afterwards. I also think the cameras need to start at the 43rd car (or in this case 21st car) and work their way up to the 1st car. The sponsers & the fans deserve to see all their drivers on TV!!!