Even if it were Tony Stewart who had won the race for Joe Gibbs and Toyota, he would have targeted Goodyear as Public Enemy Number One instead of talking about his win. However, it was Kyle Busch, the young kid they call ‘Shrub’ and ‘Rowdy’, who gave Toyota their first NASCAR Sprint Cup triumph. Busch absolutely dominated most of the event.
Early in the race, it appeared as if Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was going to lap the field. Kyle Busch took over just before Clint Bowyer decided it was his turn to pace the field around mid-race. Bowyer’s car fell off as others picked up, especially Busch and Carl Edwards. Edwards had the lead when his engine, with an oil reservoir lid and all, blew up on lap 274.
Kyle Busch was able to hold off his teammate Tony Stewart and Roush Fenway Racing driver Greg Biffle to win his first race of the 2008 Sprint Cup season, and the fifth of his NASCAR Sprint Cup career. He has opened up a 73 points lead over Biffle in the NASCAR Sprint Cup championship standings.
“The 18! The 18! The 18 is back at Atlanta!” Busch bellowed as he took the checkered flag.
It took Toyota 40 races to get it done, but a Camry has finally won a NASCAR Sprint Cup event. Toyota Motorsports CEO Jim Aust could not be happier. “This is a date that will forever go down in the history of Toyota Motorsports.”
One person that has no plans to congratulate Toyota executives is Ford loyalist Jack Roush. By now, everyone knows that the line in the sand has been drawn for Roush and Toyota.
Back to the Stewart and Goodyear squabble. He vehemently attacked the tire company following the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta. Goodyear altered the tire compound, which confused many drivers and teams. Stewart is not alone in his disgruntlement towards the tire company. Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. have voiced their displeasure.
"That was the most pathetic racing tire that I've ever been on in my professional career," Stewart said. "Goodyear can't build a tire that is worth a crap. If I were Goodyear, I would be really embarrassed about this weekend and what they brought here.”
Not that Stewart was wrong, but surely, there could have been a more tactful way to voice your grievance. We all know that Stewart rarely uses tact. Very few people react well to denigration that ruthless. Perhaps Dale Earnhardt, Jr. will get through to Goodyear.
"There's a lot of technology that goes into making the tires and I give them a lot of credit. It's a reputation-risk, just to be in this sport for a company like that, especially ... as far as criticism goes. They do a good job. This is just a bad combination. This tire at this track, it was just a poor combination.”
Goodyear representative Justin Fantozzi responded to the condemnation.
"I've heard what they said, "Fantozzi said. "To get into attacks in the media is not the right place. We're tremendously proud of the wear rates that we saw here. We had a defined development process for this particular tire. We started in August, with a development test here at Atlanta. From those wear rates and those data sets, we then made a recommendation for the open house test that was a different tire than we actually raced on here in October.”
It will be interesting to see how this war of words between the drivers and Goodyear plays out.
Quotes of the week
Tony Stewart on Goodyear
“I can't say it's (the quality of Goodyear’s tire) surprising because they've been run out of Formula, CART, the IRL, World of Outlaws and USAC divisions because they couldn't keep up and make a quality enough product.”
Ryan Newman on Juan Pablo Montoya following their contact late in the race
“Montoya couldn’t hold the steering wheel straight going down the back straightaway and drove up into me and knocked my fender in.”
