Good weekend . . . one win short of 'great'!!!!!

I, for one, am a happy camper. Two wins in the four races I watched this weekend. Not shabby.
I fell in love with Ricky Stenhouse Jr last summer in Richmond. He was running USAC for Tony Stewart Racing. He won his second ARCA race yesterday. I thought he had a great look and talent too. Nice to see him win.
And my other 'love' for the weekend . . . Brad's breakthough win. First win for a JRM team. I don't really count the win with the 5 by Mark Martin. That was Rick's car and team. The 88 has been all Dale, including the driver changes. Ironically, Nashville was Brad's last race with his previous team last season. It's a nice bookend for him.
Great? Well, that would have been a win for Dale. He was hot and unhappy after the race but he had a great finish. Never scoff at a fourth place finish. The win would have been nice but after last year . . . . he's proven something to me . . . that it was worth hanging out for him. I'm a fan and always will be. Now, I have some stats and success to throw at his critics.

2007
Races: 36
Starting position: 14.6
Finishing position: 18.6
Points: 3929
Laps completed: 94.6%
Winnings: 5,221,970

9 races not finished - 3 accidents and 6 engines


2008
Races: 13 (today was 14)
Starting position: 11.0
Finishing position: 11.7
Points: 1779
Laps completed: 98.6%
Winnings: 2,180,540

Has finished all races to date. And only missed 47 laps of competition. 46 of them at California.
And that's not including today!!!!

Congratulations to Ricky and Brad!!!!
AND
Congratulations to Dale!!!!!!

Two of my favorite Jr quotes

Dale Jr: "There's a difference between running hard and smart and being an idiot. I think I crossed the line that time!" - Dover 9-23-07

Question: "How did the fans react to your switch from the No 8 Chevy to the No. 88 Chevy?" Dale Jr: "Good. They all switched." - Dover 5-30-08

Miscellaneous ramblings

Despite all the doubts and second-guessing, the move to Hendricks has been good for Dale Jr. People criticize the lack of wins but he hasn't had a DNF since leaving DEI last season. And he hasn't been plagued with equipment failure.
So, I guess that leaves Tony Eury, Jr off the hook as well. If he were such a poor crew chief, the Hendricks organization wouldn't be covering for him. He must be doing something right.