Texas in the Fall

We join our program already in progress.


2:07 PM 11/2/2008
Bestwick and the Rusty and Brad Show.

Asking about JJ.

Rusty's talking about people who don't like the way JJ does things. Who are these people? If you subscribe to athletes doing things the "right" way, Johnson absolutely does everything the "right" way. I mean, I know that no matter what you do, somebody's going to be unhappy, but anybody who's not happy about how Johnson goes about his business wouldn't be happy about anything.

As we approach the end of the season, one of the good things is that there are certain commercials that only play on Nascar broadcasts that we won't ever have to see again. Such as the Kasey Kahne Dancing commercial.


2:43 PM 11/2/2008
Turn 2 is the toughest turn on just about every 1.5 mile track, just by the nature of the track design.


2:47 PM 11/2/2008
Texas is another of these fun races to watch because they go so fast. If you're wondering, it's a fun track in simracing too.


2:49 PM 11/2/2008
My son got a little excited about Junior going into 3rd place, but I'm not excited about it at all. Jr usually runs up front before fading late in the race. I don't even know what to think about Earnhardt this year. It's been very frustrating to see him running up front late in races only to get wrecked, but it's been equally as frustrating to see him fade in nearly every race this season after running well early. I have to say that this season has been a disappointment. Hope springs eternal though, because I do believe that Hendrick is going to make a championship driver out of that boy yet.


3:00 PM 11/2/2008
I hate that Allstate Kasey Kahne Dancing Commercial. Just hate it.


3:05 PM 11/2/2008
Why would you borrow a setup from the #88? Why wouldn't you borrow a setup from the #48?


3:09 PM 11/2/2008
Check out Rusty, providing some useful information to the broadcast. I haven't heard Daugherty say anything since the race started. Maybe ESPN got some sense and turned his mike off.


3:31 PM 11/2/2008
Talking about Montoya reminds me of the F1 race today at Sao Paulo in Brazil. For all the lumps F1 takes, deservedly so btw, the end of the race today was thrilling. Lewis Hamilton went into the race knowing that if he just finished 5th, he would win no matter what Massa did. At the end of the race, with rain coming down, Hamilton was in the process of losing the championship. He got passed for 5th on the last lap, and he wasn't catching the driver who passed him, who's very good in the rain. On the last straight, with the championship slipping away, Timo Glock, in 4th, who was still on dry tires, got passed by both Vettel and Hamilton and Hamilton won the championship. It really was very exciting.


3:39 PM 11/2/2008
Well, Brad's not going to write off Jimmie Johnson just yet. Good job, Brad. So glad you're here to remind us not to write Jimmie Johnson off yet. I totally would have done that if not for you. For somebody who was never a Nascar driver or crew chief, Brad's the best analyst on the broadcast. That might be one of my categories for my end of the year awards: Best Analyst Who Wasn't a Nascar Driver or Crew Chief.


3:50 PM 11/2/2008
Robby finally did it. He's been trying to hit the wall all day and he finally succeeded. Good job, Robby!

4:04 PM 11/2/2008
Rusty does analysis by looking at lap times to see that Jimmie Johnson has gotten better.

Brad Daugherty does analysis by saying things like Jimmie Johnson has a great crew. He does have a great crew, but when you're that far back, the crew isn't going to be able to help unless the car is right.

BTW, this reminds me of something that's become a racing cliche that isn't true and deserves to die a grisly death. More on that in a later post.


4:09 PM 11/2/2008
Dr. Punch coming through with an awkward reference, comparing Jimmie Johnson to the Longhorns losing their college football game. The one had nothing to do with the other except both things did/are happen/happening in the state of Texas.


4:31 PM 11/2/2008
Brad Daugherty: I'm just sitting back watching this thing because I have nothing to do and nothing to add.


Ok, you're on to me. He may not have actually said that part after the "because".


4:44 PM 11/2/2008
Anybody ever played Need for Speed SE? Great game. Partitioned my old computer and have been running it using the keyboard, which isn't ideal, but fun nevertheless. This race is so interesting that I'm playing computer games.


4:49 PM 11/2/2008
Did she just say he had a Darlington Stripe? Please, somebody clue in whoever that is that it's impossible to get a Darlington Stripe at Texas. It's Ok to say he hit the wall.


5:00 PM 11/2/2008
I'm really surprised Nascar hasn't found some debris on the track yet.


5:04 PM 11/2/2008
Changed to the Giants v Cowboys game just in time to see the Giants intercept a pass. Good times.


5:07 PM 11/2/2008
ESPN, instead of telling me how Carl Edwards is catching Jimmie Johnson, why don't you show me? This is television after all.


5:19 PM 11/2/2008
Jerry Punch said there was a chime during the caution period that woke up Kyle Busch? Did anybody hear a chime? I was busy getting my sons into a bath and making them clean their room, so I wasn't in the room to hear it and my wife said there was no chime. I've suddenly become concerned about the sanity of one Dr. Punch. I wonder if anybody pointed out off-air that they didn't hear the chime.


5:21 PM 11/2/2008
I don't think I've commented on this the entire season, but that Craftman commercial where the one robot does the tire changing jobs of 5 guys is just bizarre. Craftsman has some of the strangest commercials I've seen. Last year they had the commercials about how their tools wouldn't fix anything but race trucks and this year it's the 1 robot changing tires. Just weird stuff.


5:24 PM 11/2/2008
I wonder how many Nascar fans around the country will say something like, "What a boring race. That's it, I've had it with Nascar and these boring races!" Of course, that comment will likely be followed up by somebody who says, "There was a race today? I stopped watching Nascar long ago."

At least we have Andy Petree and Dale Jarrett make the broadcast watchable.


5:35 PM 11/2/2008
Answer: Galactically stupid.

Question: How stupid is David Gililand?

If you must get back at Montoya for a bump, turning him directly into the wall at 180 mph is a galactically stupid idea.


5:39 PM 11/2/2008
DJ's right, props to JP Montoya for how he handled that. After the race, I wonder if he'll go clean Gililand's clock for him.


5:42 PM 11/2/2008
Instead of holding him for 5 laps, Nascar ought to just sit him down for the rest of the race.


5:43 PM 11/2/2008
Good news that Nascar is parking Gililand. Totally deserved.


5:56 PM 11/2/2008
David Gililand said, "It was unfortunate that it happened."

I heard, "It was unfortunate that I wrecked him, but I'm completely unapologetic and clueless about how much damage I've done to my career."


5:58 PM 11/2/2008
Let's go talk to the experts... and Brad.

Interesting. All I can say is that somebody must have told Brad what to say. No way did he come up with that on his own. I suppose it's possible, but considering that everything he says adds little to no value to a broadcast, I don't believe for a second that he came up with this on his own.


6:06 PM 11/2/2008
Since Edwards is running the Top 5 already, I'm not sure the risk of running out of gas and the resulting terrible finish is worth the reward of winning. Especially since the best Jimmie Johnson can do is 16th.


6:16 PM 11/2/2008
Well, I guess that shows how much I know. Even though we knew the championship race wasn't over, it did look that way. Now, it really isn't over. That call by Bob Osborne to not pit could be the call of the year.


Programming note: It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to do a review of Phoenix next week, but I'll try as hard as I can to do one for Homestead.