Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet Impala SS, Talladega, April 2009.
I missed the first 3rd of the first round of the NASCAR chase at New Hampshire.
When I came in Happy was in '13th going forward' which sounded good. Soon after we had a round of pit stops and Happy was not so happy to find himself down in 16th or 17th place.
I usually love it when Happy gets mad with his pit crew but yesterday was different this was the chase where statistically you need a better than 6th place finish to be a contender.
As the expletives flowed like the rivers of Babylon, my mind was cast back to the down powered Jimmie Johnson sat patiently in his car at Texas while his crew rebuilt the car almost from scratch all around him, in the chase last year after the Sam Hornish Jr had all but wrecked Johnsons #48.
The chase is no place to loose ones cool for even the remotest of spectators like myself, I hope the #29 team can hang together this morning and have a laugh and a joke about it because as it happened it was probably just as well Kevin dropped back some after a fumbled pit stop when, I think, 10 or so Chasers were sitting in the top 12 spots at the time.
Thanks to a latter accident which took half a dozen chase competitors right out of the top 10 all together.
As it turned out Kevin in his less than top ten car pulled on through, thanks to a calming word from Mr Childress and wound up finishing behind just two other chase contenders in 5th safely inside the magic top 6 required of a chase contender in the first round !
Not bad for a car that was obviously not in the same league as his team mates and not bad for a guy who lost the plot for a couple of laps back there.
The right result for all the wrong reasons, ain't that what JJ and the #48 have been good at capitalising on over the last 4 years ?
I hope for the sake of his crew Kevin learned something from yesterdays experience and stays calm when it all goes, Pete Tong, as it surely will at some point over the last nine races and simply hangs in there and brings home the cup Richard & Delana so richly deserve :-)
On the subject of JJ I'd still say he is the man with a target on his back if anyone can come back from his poor chase start it has to be JJ.
If JJ does win is Dangerous Denny going to feel like he is owed 5 cups ?
ps Great to be back in Rowdy Chat again last night :-)
Go Happy ! Go Harvick ! Go #29 !
Originally posted on Rowdy.com which seems to be experiencing a few technical difficulties, hence reposting here.
Thanks for joining me on this Tao edition of 'Gettin' a li'l psycho on tyres, I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don't forget to come back now !
