Musings From a Chicagoland Weekend

After spending three days in the Chicagoland Speedway, here's some of the best moments (and isn't that picture gorgeous?):

- Elliott Sadler Must Be a Journey Fan: After a visit to the media center Saturday afternoon at Chicagoland Speedway, Elliott Sadler was walking back to his vehicle when I walked past him. And as we passed each other, Elliott was singing out loud, along with the track public address system to Journey's "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)". Needless to say, it's a memory I won't soon forget.
- Biffle and Stewart Make Nice: The two drivers weren't exactly mad at each other when they got out of their respective race cars on pit road following the event, but to make sure there wasn't hostile feelings, Greg Biffle walked over to Tony Stewart to apologize for "crowding him" during a late restart. Stewart wasn't mad at all and smiled it off, reassuring Greg he completely understood what had happened.

- Denny Hamlin Could Have Beat Kyle Busch: When Denny Hamlin stalled on the backstretch thanks to an electrical problem on lap 49, you could hear the disappointment in his voice. And after watching him on-track, I know why. Denny wound up with a 40th-place finish thanks to a very, very low attrition rate during the race. His team got the car repaired in less than 5 laps and when he got back going the No. 11 was a rocket.

- Kurt Busch's Engine Ruins His Night: Kurt Busch was another one of those "woulda, shoulda, coulda" drivers on Saturday night. Busch got a lap down early, but on an early restart, he was running lap times as fast as the leaders as he battled to stay on the lead lap when the caution flag flew. Eventually, it did, and Busch made his was through the field until he dropped a cylinder. Busch blamed the engine woe on him running the car too hard early in the event. He finished 28th.
- Rough Night for Yates: It wasn't a good night for Yates Racing. Travis Kvapil blew a tire and David Gilliland dropped an engine to bring out the final caution. They finished 41st and 42nd, respectively. Ouch.
- A.J. Allmendinger Pleased: After finishing 13th, A.J. Allmendinger was downright giddy on pit road after the race. It was his second Top-15 finish of the year, and apparently racing with his new crew chief Jimmy Elledge made his event that much better.
- Gordon a Proud Papa: Jeff Gordon was welcomed by his wife and daughter Ella on pit road prior to the start of Saturday night's race, and the thing that caught me the most about the whole situation was how all three of them seemingly were in their own world for a few minutes. You could have easily changed the background and it would have fit perfectly for Gordon to be helping his little girl learn to walk in the living room of his him. It was a cool sight.
- Best Flyover Ever? Saturday night's flyover made Gavin DeGraw's horrible national anthem a little better. I'm not sure what model of jets they were, but I would likely have ducked if I was standing on the room of the press box because they were so low.
- Quick Exit of the Hauler Parade: No less than 30 minutes following the checkered flag, many Sprint Cup team haulers were already pulling out of Chicagoland Speedway's infield. To me, that's a remarkable turn around consider the amount of gear and equipment the teams have out during the race weekend. Efficiency at its best, for sure.