Kurt Busch - 2004 Inaugural Nextel Cup Champ

[Gordonfan24]

I guess I have to congratulate him on a very good year and all, but I am very, very disappointed with the 24 team. Before I get into that, here are the top-ten results of today's Ford 400:
1. Greg Biffle
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Tony Stewart
5. Kurt Busch
6. Brendan Gaughan
7. Jamie McMurray
8. Rusty Wallace
9. Ricky Rudd
10. Kevin Harvick

Here are the unofficial 2004 "Chase" standings (after today's race):
1. Kurt Busch
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Mark Martin
5. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6. Tony Stewart
7. Ryan Newman
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Elliott Sadler
10. Jeremy Mayfield

Now for why I'm disappointed - Last week, Jeff Gordon (my favorite driver) was running in the lead as the caution came out with under 50 to go... and I was excited, cause, well, he had the lead. When he came down to his pit stall, he stopped and the crew went to work on the right side tires. When they finished, the front tire changer ran around the front of the car, as did the rear changer, but as the rear tire changer ran around, he got the air-hose caught on the right-rear tire of Gordon's car. It cost Gordon not only seconds on the stop, but he dropped from 1st to 7th on track. He fought back though, to finish 3rd. Had he not had trouble on that last pit stop, he would've come out with the lead, and he would've won the race. By winning the race, he would've gotten 5 points for each finishing position he got (5 for 2nd, 5 for first), five bonus points for winning and I think he would've beaten the 97 car out of a few points. Altogether, that adds up to 20 points or so (considering he knocked Busch out of the top 5 on track). He lost the championship today by only 16 points. If he had that previously stated scenario played out, he would've won the Cup championship by 4 points. Just something to think about (I'm thinking right now --> )

If you want, you guys can post some off-topic NASCAR stuff on this thread. (By "off topic", I mean random, because I know there's an active thread about road courses. And no bad-mouthing NASCAR, cause I don't bad-mouth your favorite series!)

 

[B.I.R.M._USA]

Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam...... <sound of me hitting my head on the desk after seeing Kurt Busch win the Championship>

 

[toyomatt84]

I agree, that guy shouldn't have won the chase. The guy's a total arse.

 

[JohnBM01]

Jeff Gordon had the best chance, just couldn't pull it off. Also, Kurt Busch held on respectively. Good just to Busch. But Gordon for 2005!

By the way, Toyomatt... people didn't like Tony Stewart either, but did he win a championship since 1999? Some drivers are good even if no one likes them. I mean no disrespect to you or anyone else, though, alright?

 

[Gordonfan24]

Jeff Gordon had the best chance, just couldn't pull it off. Also, Kurt Busch held on respectively. Good just to Busch. But Gordon for 2005!

By the way, Toyomatt... people didn't like Tony Stewart either, but did he win a championship since 1999? Some drivers are good even if no one likes them. I mean no disrespect to you or anyone else, though, alright?

It was actually 2002, but yeah, I agree. You look at Dale Earnhardt Sr...a lot of people hated him before he died, because his driving style was . . . "aggressive" to say the least. However, after his tragic death, people saw who he really was in all of the specials on TV about him, and they saw he was a regular person, not just a jerk that wrecked people for the win. So people hated him on the track, but he was a winner.
By the way, I've grown to like Tony Stewart. He's a good driver (obviously, he has a championship) but he can prove himself in all types of cars. Like at the Rolex 24 @ Daytona. He led a lot of the race, in a car he doesn't race full-time, and IN THE RAIN! That, to me, proves how good a driver he really is. [and he would've won the race, I think, if his car didn't break...]

 

[Firestarter75]

Actually Andy Wallace drove the hardest segments of the 24 hours. The car would have been in no position to win had their not been 3 hours under FCY because of lack of rain tires. Would have turned into another GT romp.

 

[Gordonfan24]

Actually Andy Wallace drove the hardest segments of the 24 hours. The car would have been in no position to win had their not been 3 hours under FCY because of lack of rain tires. Would have turned into another GT romp.

I probably over-exaggerated a bit, but I was just saying how well Tony Stewart was running for a Cup driver in the Sports cars...and he did have some very fast lap times.

 

[ND4SPD]

Damn...I was really hoping Gordon would win the championship, atleast he and Jimmy did very well this year.

 

[Gordonfan24]

Damn...I was really hoping Gordon would win the championship, atleast he and Jimmy did very well this year.

I was hoping Jeff would win his fifth, and if that didn't happen, I wanted to be able to say "I got the autograph of the 2004 Nextel Cup champ, Jimmie Johnson!" But I can't. I got Jimmie's autograph in August. He's a cool guy and deserves a championship. As did Rick Hendrick...but it was good to see Rick back at the track...
So, I was allright with a 2nd and 3rd in both the race and the points for both Hendrick drivers.

 

[toyomatt84]

Jeff Gordon had the best chance, just couldn't pull it off. Also, Kurt Busch held on respectively. Good just to Busch. But Gordon for 2005!

By the way, Toyomatt... people didn't like Tony Stewart either, but did he win a championship since 1999? Some drivers are good even if no one likes them. I mean no disrespect to you or anyone else, though, alright?

I hope you know that I'm a Tony Stewart fan. He's a rebel, not an arse. There's quite a difference in my mind. The guy still does charity stuff, but gets his anger out on the track.

 

[Firestarter75]

I probably over-exaggerated a bit, but I was just saying how well Tony Stewart was running for a Cup driver in the Sports cars...and he did have some very fast lap times.

He did ok, but let's not kid ourselves. Sure the DP is a sportscar but you have less power then a Nascab with a bit more aero. Chassis is nearly the same, coilover shocks, swaybars, steel brakes. The big differance is weight with the DP some 1400-1500 pounds lighter. Frankly they struggle so much to beat GT's they restricted GT's several times to ensure GT couldn't win overall in the sprints. Now if you want to impress me, have him come over and run an ALMS event in an LMP. It would be a more significant test of his driving and adapting skills although after Dale Jr trashed the Vette Im not sure we'll see these guys in ALMS again.

 

[Gordonfan24]

He did ok, but let's not kid ourselves. Sure the DP is a sportscar but you have less power then a Nascab with a bit more aero. Chassis is nearly the same, coilover shocks, swaybars, steel brakes. The big differance is weight with the DP some 1400-1500 pounds lighter. Frankly they struggle so much to beat GT's they restricted GT's several times to ensure GT couldn't win overall in the sprints. Now if you want to impress me, have him come over and run an ALMS event in an LMP. It would be a more significant test of his driving and adapting skills although after Dale Jr trashed the Vette Im not sure we'll see these guys in ALMS again.

I'd love to see any NASCAR (it's N-A-S-C-A-R! ) driver run a LMP car! Especially Stewart because of his "temper", which I have to say, he's taken care of in the past few months. He's a good guy, and I wish him the best of luck with Eldora speedway!

And I see you mentioned the Jr/Vette crash... I don't get it - they (his agents and DEI) won't let him run an open-wheel dirt modified that probably has a top speed of 75mph at my local track, but if he gets the offer to drive a high-horspower, high-speed sports car. . . . sure why not?! That wasn't fair, and it gets me very, very angry! He probably didn't run the modified because he didn't want to embarass himself; he's not a great driver.

 

[JohnBM01]

I had respect for Dale Earnhardt Jr. when he raced the Daytona endurance with his late dad. Most of you know that I like ripping on Daytona's endurance race, but when you can race outside of your element (usually road racing apart from being a circle tracker) and do a good job at it, you're pretty good. Dale Jr. had that horrific Corvette crash and the damned sports reporters ripped on him like "why go into road racing?" Of course, I provided my commentary, telling such people to shut up. I mean, this was a guy who wanted to test the ALMS waters with the dominating Corvette team and what does he get for his troubles after a violent crash? He gets piled on with horse crap. People shoveling crap to him for going that way.

Anyhow, back to this issue. Regardless, a champion had to be crowned, but the one sitting pretty on the throne this year was Kurt Busch. So regardless, I want him to come out fighting next season in his defense. Just good luck stopping Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon.

 

[wheellift]

Even though I'm a Penske fan I'm happy that Kurt won, I'm happy that Gordon (24) and earnhardt(8) didn't ........