FenderBumper
The "good old days" ??
I know most of you never saw it coming, but Jimmie sure knew Brad Keselowski was the greatest threat to JJ's desire to win 8 championships. The real beauty of all this was that BRAD knew what JJ was thinking, and used it against him to get JJ off his game.
Many misunderstood Brad's 'trick rear' rant, but it was an important part of his plans to take down JJ and HMS. Brad knew that HMS took risks with breaking the rules, and he knew their plan was to push the envelope on the rear end rules as soon as the chase started. Brad knew Penske wouldn't risk a penalty, so he spoke up and forced NASCAR to set hard limits that took HMS's chase ace in the hole away.
The fact that Brad came out in Chicago and burned JJ down while he was driving Chads very best 1.5 car, one that hadn't lost a race and was saved for the chase, sure knocked Chad and JJ off balance right from the start. Brad even threw in a smack at JJ's whole 'show me extra respect' nonsense by not using his blinker when merging off pit road. Brad knew JJ was so overly sensitive on the respect subject, that's all it would take to get JJ to get off his game and play brad's game...hard racing.
For the next few races, JJ seemed focused on getting Brad back by going out of his way to crowd him or run him up or down the track. When Texas rolled around, Brad knew he could race JJ hard, and JJ wouldn't be able to yammer about how respectfully he had been racing Brad, and how he didn't deserve that, etc. Mission accomplished.
Brad then wins Dover on fuel strategy, and that really pissed Chad off. That loss and the #2's 1.5 speed obviously led to Chad adjusting the 48's power for fuel saving, and that led to a hugely risky call at Charlotte when Kez was again kicking his ass. Limping around on fuel strategy for 110 laps shows how badly he was being beaten on speed. When the 48 team decides not to race for a championship, it's big news. JJ got lucky with 110 laps of green flag racing, but it was clear that Paul had gotten the 48 team off their game.
Meanwhile, JJ got tired of chasing Brad in the points, so he ends up overdriving a winning car right into the wall. Kansas was JJ's immitation of Denny at Homestead, and the overdriving wouldn't end there. Poor 5 time thought he would get a huge point lead after Denny's car crapped out at Martinsville and handed him the win. He seemed deflated when he saw how close Kez still was. So much so, JJ felt the need to try and get into Brads head to gain an advantage. All his heavy handed efforts only served to let Brad know that he had old 5 time REAL worried. Brads response that "Surely he is trying to apply pressure. Surely none is felt" stunned JJ into realizing Brad wasn't going to fold and hand him a championship the way Denny did in 2010.
The pressure was on 5 time, and Brad threw a bucket of cold reality on JJ's head at Texas. Beating him on 2 restarts while on old tires while rubbing and banging confirmed to JJ that he had let Brad change the rules, and now JJ wasn't sure how to handle it. Needing 2 lucky yellows and new tires to beat Brad's old tires showed their weakness.
Phoenix was the final example of Brad applying pressure, and JJ folding. All was good until Brad drove hard and took the lead. The panicked call went out to JJ. "Pick up the pace". Bad move at a track know for melting beads, and JJ didn't manage that because he was focused on catching Brad and he melted the bead (confirmed by Goodyear after the race) and hit the wall.
With the dropped lug at Homestead, the dismantling of HMS was complete. By finishing 15th, Brad and Paul showed they didn't need any help to beat 5 time, and now JJ's hope of winning 8 have evaporated into a misty dream. Jimmie knows Brad and Paul aren't the type to sit back and live on that one championship, and he knows they will get better and better. It won't take long for JJ to start talking about how the switch to Ford will hold the #2 team back for a year or 2, but he himself won't believe what he is saying. Brad has the 2 team on top, and he plans to keep them there. He certainly has the will, focus and dedication to do it.
This shocking turn of fortune even has Rick rethinking his decision to pass on Keselowski. Ricks comment that he had told Roger Brad was on loan was a sign of his desperation. Jr and Gordon are longshots, and Kahne keeps wrecking cars. JJ and Chad are on the down slope of their careers, with Chad set to retire in 2015. Meanwhile, the richest man in motorsports is focused on NASCAR for the first time in his racing career, and has a 28 year old champion guided by a crew chief fresh off his 2nd year in cup.
The future for Penske and Ford is very bright indeed. Not so much for Chevy and HMS. I'm sorry if the new reality hurts, but all good things must come to an end.
Many misunderstood Brad's 'trick rear' rant, but it was an important part of his plans to take down JJ and HMS. Brad knew that HMS took risks with breaking the rules, and he knew their plan was to push the envelope on the rear end rules as soon as the chase started. Brad knew Penske wouldn't risk a penalty, so he spoke up and forced NASCAR to set hard limits that took HMS's chase ace in the hole away.
The fact that Brad came out in Chicago and burned JJ down while he was driving Chads very best 1.5 car, one that hadn't lost a race and was saved for the chase, sure knocked Chad and JJ off balance right from the start. Brad even threw in a smack at JJ's whole 'show me extra respect' nonsense by not using his blinker when merging off pit road. Brad knew JJ was so overly sensitive on the respect subject, that's all it would take to get JJ to get off his game and play brad's game...hard racing.
For the next few races, JJ seemed focused on getting Brad back by going out of his way to crowd him or run him up or down the track. When Texas rolled around, Brad knew he could race JJ hard, and JJ wouldn't be able to yammer about how respectfully he had been racing Brad, and how he didn't deserve that, etc. Mission accomplished.
Brad then wins Dover on fuel strategy, and that really pissed Chad off. That loss and the #2's 1.5 speed obviously led to Chad adjusting the 48's power for fuel saving, and that led to a hugely risky call at Charlotte when Kez was again kicking his ass. Limping around on fuel strategy for 110 laps shows how badly he was being beaten on speed. When the 48 team decides not to race for a championship, it's big news. JJ got lucky with 110 laps of green flag racing, but it was clear that Paul had gotten the 48 team off their game.
Meanwhile, JJ got tired of chasing Brad in the points, so he ends up overdriving a winning car right into the wall. Kansas was JJ's immitation of Denny at Homestead, and the overdriving wouldn't end there. Poor 5 time thought he would get a huge point lead after Denny's car crapped out at Martinsville and handed him the win. He seemed deflated when he saw how close Kez still was. So much so, JJ felt the need to try and get into Brads head to gain an advantage. All his heavy handed efforts only served to let Brad know that he had old 5 time REAL worried. Brads response that "Surely he is trying to apply pressure. Surely none is felt" stunned JJ into realizing Brad wasn't going to fold and hand him a championship the way Denny did in 2010.
The pressure was on 5 time, and Brad threw a bucket of cold reality on JJ's head at Texas. Beating him on 2 restarts while on old tires while rubbing and banging confirmed to JJ that he had let Brad change the rules, and now JJ wasn't sure how to handle it. Needing 2 lucky yellows and new tires to beat Brad's old tires showed their weakness.
Phoenix was the final example of Brad applying pressure, and JJ folding. All was good until Brad drove hard and took the lead. The panicked call went out to JJ. "Pick up the pace". Bad move at a track know for melting beads, and JJ didn't manage that because he was focused on catching Brad and he melted the bead (confirmed by Goodyear after the race) and hit the wall.
With the dropped lug at Homestead, the dismantling of HMS was complete. By finishing 15th, Brad and Paul showed they didn't need any help to beat 5 time, and now JJ's hope of winning 8 have evaporated into a misty dream. Jimmie knows Brad and Paul aren't the type to sit back and live on that one championship, and he knows they will get better and better. It won't take long for JJ to start talking about how the switch to Ford will hold the #2 team back for a year or 2, but he himself won't believe what he is saying. Brad has the 2 team on top, and he plans to keep them there. He certainly has the will, focus and dedication to do it.
This shocking turn of fortune even has Rick rethinking his decision to pass on Keselowski. Ricks comment that he had told Roger Brad was on loan was a sign of his desperation. Jr and Gordon are longshots, and Kahne keeps wrecking cars. JJ and Chad are on the down slope of their careers, with Chad set to retire in 2015. Meanwhile, the richest man in motorsports is focused on NASCAR for the first time in his racing career, and has a 28 year old champion guided by a crew chief fresh off his 2nd year in cup.
The future for Penske and Ford is very bright indeed. Not so much for Chevy and HMS. I'm sorry if the new reality hurts, but all good things must come to an end.
