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Talkin Trucks: Phoenix Posted-:0035hrs By Charles Krall, Cup Scene Daily Here are some thoughts and observations following the Casino Arizona 150 at Phoenix International Raceway:
You could hear the tension in Ron Hornaday’s voice throughout the night. During the race, SPEED eavesdropped on a conversation between Hornaday and his crew chief Rick Ren and you could tell how focused and intense the two-time champion was. During his post-race interview you could hear it and see it in his eyes. Kudos for Hornaday for saying he regretted the contact with Mike Bliss too. As for Bliss, he came as close to winning as you can and not go to victory lane. The BHR team is hungry for a win and this was their best opportunity yet. The number of cautions worked against him as he was better after a couple of laps had been run. Eventually, Busch was able to get past on a restart and that was all she wrote. His teammate Dennis Setzer also put in a strong performance, coming home in ninth, giving the BHR group two top-10s. The night was not what Mike Skinner was looking for at all. He continued his amazing streak of leading races – 23 of the 24 run so far – after starting from his 11th pole of the year. But a bad pit stop put him back in the pack and had to work his way from mid-pack. It looked like Kevin Harvick driving through the pit stall did indeed throw the crew’s rhythm off, but it was Skinner stopping too close to the pit wall that was the biggest reason for the slow stop. It’s not like Skinner to let pressure get to him, but one has to wonder if he’s starting to feel the heat. --(Cont'd From Front Page)-- Speaking of Skinner, he was visibly upset that his teammate Johnny Benson passed him on the final restart, the theory being it cost him four points in the championship. A replay showed the field bogging down and slowing just in front of Skinner on the start, with Dennis Setzer nearly stopping directly in Skinner’s path. Benson had a run of steam and made a clean passed them both, and Skinner passed Setzer as well. While Benson gained two spots, Skinner finished in the same position he was originally running so it ended up a push. As for his comments about not being a team following the race, he surely didn’t cut Benson any slack in this very race last year. Benson was locked in a race for the championship last year when Skinner raced him hard into turn three with Benson going for a spin. You know it’s a wild race when there are two red flags for crashes and one of them is for a broken retaining wall. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Todd Bodine was lucky when he spun the length of the frontstretch and didn’t hit anything. Better yet, with the majority of the field behind him, no one hit him either. Bodine went a lap down but rallied to finish sixth. As good as he was in the middle of the season, it’s a surprise to see how Travis Kvapil’s season has turned. He’s still solidly third in the championship standings, but Lady Luck has abandoned him at this point. He was involved in an early crash with Regan Smith, the second consecutive week he was taken out by a crash not of his making. Kvapil continued to finish on the lead lap, but was 23rd at the end. David Starr had a short night. He was in two crashes within the first 34 laps, putting him out of the race and dead last in the 36-truck field. It was the first time in 72 races – that’s nearly three full seasons – that Starr has failed to finish. Add Erik Darnell to that list of drivers that expected to run up front that ended up behind the wall early on. Darnell was on the receiving end of a tap early on and pounded the turn three wall with the driver’s side. That truck was so wrecked it couldn’t even be hauled off on a flatbed, rather it took two wreckers to get it off the track. There were 13 cautions, which averaged out to one every 12 laps. Factor in the 46 caution laps, and that’s one caution for every 8 laps of racing. Stacy Compton must be wondering what he did to make Jacques Villeneuve upset. Compton was spun into the turn one wall early on by Villeneuve, and then with a dozen laps to go they made contact again. Compton spun off turn four and was drilled by Andy Lally. Lally hit both Compton and the inside wall at the same time, resulting in a huge hole in the concrete wall. Lally was taken to a local hospital for evaluation but was awake and alert. Besides Villeneuve and Compton, several others were involved in two accidents throughout the evening. David Starr, Brett Thompson, and Scott Lynch were also involved in a pair of accidents With the championship lead now 29 points, Mike Skinner will be on pins and needles heading to Homestead. He’s been good on the mile and a half tracks, but Hornaday has been great on the 1.5-milers. Neither driver can afford to coast in the finale. While Skinner has a couple of positions worth of breathing room, he still needs to do everything he can to beat Hornaday to erase all doubt. With a history of unpredictable races at Homestead since the banking was reconfigured, expect the unexpected in the NCTS finale next Friday.
NOTE: I'm a one man show, not supported by anyone. If you wish to donate to help offset expense, it would be appreciated:
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