Spence on Logano/Newman

[NickFalzone]

Wish he went back to ragging on Danica, but this one was still pretty good:

http://www.nascar.com/video/cup/2010/speed/jimmys_take/08/18/cup_bri2_speed_jimmys_take.nascar/index.html

[beachgirl]

Go to Jimmy's column on Speed TV at http://www.speedtv.com. He does another hit on Danica, but IMO very truthful and blunt.

[NickFalzone]

Good article, thanks:

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Two high-profile NASCAR drivers’ recent performances have made a statement – one has underwhelmed me and the other has overwhelmed me.

Danica Patrick’s little NASCAR experiment isn’t going well at all. Granted, she is only six races into her NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule, but she hasn’t shown much sign of improvement. The IndyCar darling came out of the box strong in the ARCA Racing Series race at Daytona but has failed to come close to matching that feat in the Nationwide car (http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/spencer-underwhelmed-and-overwhelmed-danica-patrick-kevin-harvick/#).

Unfortunately she won’t improve much or gain any credibility until she makes a decision to either compete in NASCAR fulltime or hang it up. You cannot bounce back and forth between IndyCar and NASCAR and succeed much in either because the two series are so different.

I’m not saying she cannot do well in NASCAR with the appropriate effort because it’s too early to make that call. She needs a full season under her belt before we can determine that, but I don’t think she is planning on exiting IndyCar anytime soon to jump headfirst into NASCAR. However, Juan Pablo Montoya, one of the best open wheel drivers ever, is running well because he made the commitment to NASCAR and gave it his all. Dario Franchitti wasn’t successful in NASCAR and yet he went back to open wheel and kicked their butts. That proves just how difficult these stock cars (http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/spencer-underwhelmed-and-overwhelmed-danica-patrick-kevin-harvick/#) are to drive.

Bouncing back and forth between the two series isn’t good for Patrick’s focus (http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/spencer-underwhelmed-and-overwhelmed-danica-patrick-kevin-harvick/#) either. Her IndyCar performance has dropped this year and you have to wonder if it’s due to the back and forth. That task is very difficult and unless you’re one of the best drivers in the world, such as Montoya, you can only hurt yourself doing it. Patrick isn’t one of the greatest drivers in the world. She’s a top-10 driver in the IndyCar Series who has only won one race – on fuel mileage – and hasn’t really been a threat for the win since then.

With her withering performance in NASCAR, I think a lot of the fans and media who bought into the Danica-mania at the beginning of the year have given up on her. So many people were excited about her ARCA performance and got behind her. However, it’s becoming harder and harder for them to cheer on someone who only makes a guest appearance now and then and isn’t posting better results each time.

For her sake, I hope that by the end of the season Patrick has a good idea of whether or not she wants to do this NASCAR thing. If she does, she needs to make the commitment to run the whole season. If not, it’s time to close that door.

Speaking of commitment, I think Kevin Harvick’s win at Michigan last Sunday established the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing team as the favorite for the Cup championship. Last year they committed themselves to pulling their teams out of the cellar and they’ve certainly done that. The RCR cars were horrible at Michigan for quite some time a couple of years ago, so to see Harvick in Victory Lane there spoke volumes about the strength of that program.

Harvick is the type of driver that the more confidence he gains, the harder he is to beat. The turnaround in his confidence level this year has been amazing – a reflection of his on-track improvement. The timing of the Chase couldn’t be more perfect for the No. 29 team because the Hendrick teams all have been struggling and aren’t running as well as they should. With three races remaining before the Chase kicks off, you better have your act together, and it’s obvious that Harvick’s team does. It’s been way too long since Childress won his last Cup title with Earnhardt, but I think this one is his to lose.

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[Mark in Oshawa]

Spencer is being careful....Danica can go full time..she still wont make a go of it. The woman is more concerned with the marketing of herself than learning the nuts and bolts of understanding the cars...

[wedge]

Spencer thinks Shrub is the new Intimidator which I wholeheartedly disagree with

http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/spencer-modern-day-villain/

[Sparky1329]

Spencer thinks Shrub is the new Intimidator which I wholeheartedly disagree with

http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/spencer-modern-day-villain/

After Shrub wins his 7th championship Jimmy might be able to make that claim. Right now Shrub isn't even a pimple on the old man's butt.

[Mark in Oshawa]

After Shrub wins his 7th championship Jimmy might be able to make that claim. Right now Shrub isn't even a pimple on the old man's butt.

Yet another reason most people don't take Jimmy Spencer seriously. I wasn't a Dale Earnhardt fan, but If I am racing against Kyle, I don't feel any compunction about putting him in the wall or confronting him. The old man on the other hand, well people knew Dale was not afraid to go into a dark alley and settle things..and he picked his spots to show his nasty streak. Kyle is a brilliant but error prone boy.....