In The Groove: Phoenix - April 20, 2009

In The Groove is dedicated to bring you a peek at the Highs and Lows of racing randomness. Welcome.

The High Groove

Running first in the High Groove is Mark Martin. How could I not put him here? Martin started from the pole, lead 157 laps, and beat Tony Stewart by .734 of a second to garner his 36th Cup win, his second at Phoenix. Congrats "old man!" In my book, Martin is a shining example of the heart of a champion and the epitome of class.

Running second in the High Groove is Denny Hamlin. Despite Jimmie Johnson using Hamlin’s car as a ping pong ball early in the race, Hamlin finished 6th and he moved up one spot in the points to 5th place. Denny’s radio communication Saturday night was quite entertaining. Who would have thought Denny would be higher in the points standings than his teammate Kyle Busch, who is sitting 7th in the points?

Running third in the High Groove is Joey Logano. Joey earned the Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors and moved from 35th in the points to 33rd. "Tonight was a good point’s night at Phoenix for The Home Depot team," said Logano. I don’t know that Joey will get any help this weekend at Talladega, but it would be great to see him continue to gel with his crew and keep moving in the right direction.

The Low Groove

P1 in the Low Groove is Jeff Gordon. First, for retaliating against Denny Hamlin when it was his teammate Jimmie Johnson’s fault for Hamlin getting into him early in the race. Secondly, Gordon’s pit crew for the lug nut error which eventually left Gordon one lap down to finish in the 25th spot. Gordon never even lead a lap at Phoenix. He’s still holding on to the points lead, however, 85 points ahead of Jimmie Johnson.

P2 in the Low Groove is, unfortunately, Dave Blaney. I know you all are surprised to see him here. Blaney played the start and park role in BOTH series this weekend at Phoenix. Boo!

P3 for the Low Groove the Dale Junior v. Casey Mears fiasco. Remember Kurt Busch and Tony Stewart at Daytona last year? I guess NASCAR doesn’t want to punish their cash cow.
And for the checkered flag we have In The Groove’s thought for the day ... who will hear about first as being let go from their teams at the end of this year - Reed Sorenson or Casey Mears?

Quote of the week: "Looking forward to having a new driver in the 55 next year" - Robby Gordon

We have ‘Dega this weekend and would love for Tony Stewart, sitting fourth in the points ahead of both his former teammates, to back up his win from the Fall in the #14 as a driver/owner.

Here’s to a great and safe race!