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Kansas is boring. I'll be holding a Robby Gordon DVD marathon instead.

Kansas gets better each year, last year both Busch and Cup races ended with duels to the line.

I dare not say Kansas is boring...for I actually like watching it...and Chicago too.

Call me insane...call me silly...but drivers actually getting an opportunity to "race" (term used loosely) makes it enjoyable.

'Cept for NBC, who I don't believe wants anyone to tune in...considering all the commercials I've seen for raceday are being show after midnight.

I was kinda-sorta dreading today's Busch race, too.

But it turned out to be a pretty exciting race. (That's Kahne in the 6 and Biffle in the 66 in case the link doesn't pick up the caption.)

@#$$%^&*!! Movable Type. It won't let me imbed the photo link in the comment above.

Just go look at the pic on the front page (at least for the moment) at nascar.com. Kahne barely held off a hard-charging Greg Biffle for the final three laps. The picture shows the margin of victory, which was about two feet.

Good race, great finish.

I think Biffle is one of about 3 guys that could have held on to the car the way he did in turn 1 on the last lap. Car was sideways.

If Biffle were any sort of driver, he never woulda got that sideways in the first place. ;-)

Har har har...

If Robby were a good enough driver, he would have put the 7 in the field ;)

Actually if Robby was any sort of driver since he was faster than Burton, Riggs, and Kahne but because of NASCAR's stupid rule he got screwed again.

Kansas, racing like the old days with bumper length finishes especialy in the Busch Race. Biffle gets a little wag and Kayne goes in for the win. Best racing I have seen in a long time.
Not a bad day for the Nextel race either. Mark's move with the two tire change put him in the lead and from there on, it was Katie bar the door. It was great racing back in the pack for position without the hostilities.

On Robbie, "the other" Gordon,: Not too impressive set of stats:
2005 Totals

Starts: 25
Avg Start Position: 27
Laps completed % 85%
Provisionals Used: 0
Avg finish: 3l

Busch series: 3 starts 0 wins, 1 DNF

Boy needs to stick to Road racing where the compitition is less.

Let's see... how many Cup wins and Busch wins does Michael Schumacher have? How about Travis Pastrana and John Force? Or Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan? Or Paul Tracy? I guess they all suck because they have haven't ever won in, much less competed in NASCAR? I guess it is all lesser competition since it's not NASCAR?

Yet Robby has won in every series he's ever raced in except Trucks. That's NASCAR, off-road, CART, SCCA, SCORE, Mickey Thompson, etc. Unless your driver is Tony Stewart, I bet you can't say the same.

Sorry but my world doesn't begin and end with NASCAR. Very sorry for you that yours does.

BURN!

Carrie, I like Robby Gordon for his verstility as well. A.J. Foyt was just as volatile in his day. The versatility is why I liked Foyt, Andretti, and Donahue.

Granted all 3 of the drivers I mentioned won the Indy 500 and 2 of them won the Daytona 500, and R Gordon has not, but he sure beats watching another young person coming through the driver development program.

I wish his finishes were better and I do think that NASCAR's system is wrong when it is possible to finish 5th (I think that's where he finished) in a qualifying race at Daytona and not make the 500.

Hopefully he will take this off season more seriously and not participate in the Paris to Dakar rally again. It was obvious that his team was not prepared and missing the first race of the season did't help matters any.

Some of you seemed to lack a sense of humor. I was JOKING when I made the Biffle comment. The guy ranks right up there with Smoke & Robby when it comes to car control.

Mark - Sorry to burst the bubble but Dakar '06 is on the schedule. Hearing GM has stepped up with full-support and two Hummers for RGM to field. Not sure how reliable the specifics are but he is planning on running the race.

I don't think his extracurricular activities at Dakar had anything to do with his troubles at Daytona. All he had to do was show up and driver for VW. He got screwed by the new system in not making the race and got screwed by Menard's in the initial intake manifold problems, period.

Some people want to throw stats up as the only reason someone should be a fan of a driver but, if that was the criteria, the only driver anyone would be allowed to like is J Go.

John - I caught a little of the Cup race Sunday. The ending was NOT boring because I thought Biffle was gonna get Mark there at the end. Did I miss anything else exciting?

Sorry Carrie, I just post em(the numbers) like I read em.
Don't have a thing personal against the boy, he just doesn't seem like much of a driver to me. He,according to the figures competes on an average level in the NASCAR road courses, nothing spectacular. He is a bit below average in regular races, but then that could be from poor equipment, lack of a good team, or a few other variables. He does much better it seems on other road course.
Don't care much for off road racing. Not too much on road racing except when I drove a few and in those we competed against the clock most of the time. Got into a few class races like at Grandfather (in the old days). Never ran track road races since we didn't have a lot of those in the south when I grew up.
Sorry you're so touchy Carrie. I write to carry on a conversation, not to yell at people or to belittle them because our taste are not the same. Offering different opinions and reading them is what I thought blogs were about and then occassionaly picking up a tibit of knowlege.

Who's touchy? I'm just presenting the facts as I know them to be. I never said Robby was anything to write home about based on his Cup stats but a guy can't win that many races in that many different styles of racing and NOT be a good driver.

John - Sorry for leading this thread off-topic. I promise to be good from now on.

Off-topic is fine, Carrie. I'm actually enjoying the discussion.

Robby G. is a very interesting case. Lots of talent, surpassed only by ego and maybe temper, but not much Cup success.

Robby's great on road courses, even when he drove for his own crap team in 2000. Swept in '03 and this year ran well on both. His team has quietly been running better, I can think of several occaisions where he runs in the top 15 but the equipment fails him.

"Lots of talent, surpassed only by ego and may temper, but not much Cup success."

John, I wasn't aware that you were writing a book on Kevin Harvick, who only has two more wins than Robby Gordon over the same period of time.

Granted Gordon had several starts pre-2000, but that was it road course "1-off's" and a half year at SABCO.

I wasn't aware I was doing a book either, Mark, but now that you point it out, that was pretty literary, wasn't it? ;)

Harvick is a frustrating case, especially after a terrific 2001 season. He's probably the one guy you can look at in the garage and say he definitely should be doing a lot better.

You can say the same thing about Earnhardt and Gordon, of course. Chances are, though, we'll be at this same point in 2006 and referring to their 2005 seasons as "uncharistically disappointing" or some other charitable phrase.

In Harvick's case, his 2001 and 2003 (he was 5th that year) seasons are looking like the flukes. Sigh.

I think Robby probably would be a much better Cup driver if that had been his sole focus throughout his career. He's said as much himself.

However, I'm apt to believe that the fan base he has got wouldn't like him half as much if the diversity wasn't there. I enjoy the fact that my guy is talented enough on so many different levels that he wouldn't disappear off the face of the earth if the Cup deal ever went away. I know that all I would have to do is change the channel to CCWS or the IRL or the off-road stuff to see him. Hell, he started out racing motorcycles so I could maybe see him there too.

There aren't too many guys besides Stewart & the other Gordon that I'd be able to say the same about, at least in Cup.