Rewind | Key moments, commentary and more on Sunday's race

JIM UTTER

The Charlotte Observer

Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008

Rewinding Sunday's 3M Performance 400 at Michigan and replaying some of the good parts:

REAR-VIEW MIRROR

NASCAR's dyno numbers ought to be out there

Whoever thought it was a good idea at Joe Gibbs Racing to try and cheat a NASCAR dyno test this weekend failed to understand all the potential ramifications.

Not only does it put the JGR teams and their performance this season in question, but it also puts a dark cloud over all the testing work NASCAR has done in this area. How are we to know for certain if Gibbs' personnel haven't tried this in the past?

It's also time for NASCAR to release official dyno numbers. Right now it doesn't and getting the results from teams or manufacturers provides no assurance of legitimacy.

NASCAR needs to let the media worry about how to figure out the numbers and spend its own time providing accurate and verifiable data.

Not how Knute Rockne would have put it

We got the first "We don't deserve to be in the Chase" lament of the season, this one from Denny Hamlin, whose No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing team struggled on pit road in Sunday's race and ended up in the garage after the engine blew on Lap 194.

I understand about comments made in the heat of the moment, but saying your team doesn't deserve to compete for the championship - when it is still in the hunt to do so - can do nothing but hurt team chemistry.

They'd love to help, but maybe they can't

Is it just me or are more and more drivers complaining far more frequently about the handling of their cars during races? It appears to me one of the problems is that with NASCAR's new Cup, crew chiefs have fewer options to help their drivers feel comfortable in the cars.

KEY MOMENTS

Lap 91

Jimmie Johnson gets hit by Tony Stewart on the outside, then hits Jeff Gordon on his inside and ends up cutting a tire and having to put under green, which leaves him a lap down most of the rest of the race.

Lap 97

Jeff Gordon ends up having a right-front tire go down - likely from his contact with Johnson - and hits the wall, taking him out of contention for the day.

Lap 180

All but two of the lead-lap cars pit under caution for new tires, leaving David Ragan and Dale Earnhardt Jr. ahead of the field.

Lap 183

Dale Earnhardt Jr. slams into the wall, doing serious damage to the right side of his No. 88 Chevrolet and taking him out of contention for the win.

Lap 199

Carl Edwards pulls away on a final two-lap sprint to the finish, easily gains a sizable lead over second-place Kyle Busch and cruises to his fifth win of the season.

NOTES

Vickers disappointed with seventh

Perhaps it shows how much progress Red Bull Racing has made this season that one of its drivers came away disappointed with a seventh-place finish.

Yet Brian Vickers, who started from the pole, tried to put the run into perspective.

"You want to win one of these races so bad and you think you have an opportunity to, and you don't capitalize on it," he said. "Obviously, last year we would have been ecstatic to have this finish. Now we're disappointed - or at least I am."

Vickers did gain some ground in the standings, moving up two spots to 15th, and is 166 behind 12th-place Denny Hamlin.

Elliot Sadler on a roll

It may be too late for him to make the Chase this season, but Elliott Sadler is still relishing his team's better performance in recent weeks.

Sadler finished ninth Sunday, his fourth top-10 finish in the past nine races. He has only six top 10s in the whole season.

"We were in the top 10 all day," Sadler said. "It was a great all-around weekend for us. We just got loose in the middle part of the race and lost some track position, but fought back there at the end of the race."

Sadler was 28th in points after his 34th-place finish at Pocono in June. He is now 20th.

Briefly

• NASCAR tested 10 cars on the chassis dyno following Sunday's race. The cars of the top-five finishers, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch, David Ragan, Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth, were tested along with five random selections. Those were the cars of Jimmie Johnson, Travis Kvapil, David Reutimann, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kurt Busch.

• Scott Riggs' 15th-place finish helped push the No. 66 Chevrolet back into the top 35 of car owner points and Riggs will be ensured a spot in the field next weekend at Bristol.

NEXT RACE

Sharpie 500

Where: Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

When: 8 p.m. Eastern Saturday.

TV: ESPN.

Radio: Performance Racing Network.

Last year's winner: Carl Edwards.

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