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Another DNF for Cat driver

Posted July 15, 2007 11:00 pm

Jane Miller

Dave Blaney's rotten luck continued Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.For the first time since the speedway opened, in 2001, the race was not sold out.

ALL IN FUN:

Edwards said the exchange stemmed from Harvick's victory at New Hampshire, when he made a couple of verbal jabs at Edwards.

"I was asked about that the other day," Edwards said, "and I just said that I would really enjoy beating him this week. And, just like it always happens, it backfired and he ended up winning, so he was just taking another little jab at me.

"We were just joking around. We've got a really good relationship, actually. Some of the best races I've ever had have been with Kevin."

After winning the Busch Series race Saturday, Kevin Harvick made several veiled comments about points leader Carl Edwards, including his parting shot of "He knows who's in charge."

ONE YEAR AGO:

The former Formula One star has won a race each in the Busch and Nextel Cup series, but he found Chicagoland Speedway a challenge. He finished 15th.

"We struggled tight all day," John Pablo Montoya said. "We tried to free it up all day long", just didn't catch it up enough, but we still had a good result. The car is in one piece, so I'm pretty happy."

Montoya said he has learned a lot but has a long way to go.

"I feel I've learned about 40 percent of what I've got to learn," he said. "I think we're still miles off. I just need more experience in working with (crew chief) Donnie Wingo and stuff like that."

It was last year at this race that Juan Pablo Montoya announced he was moving to NASCAR.

HAPPY DAY:

"It seems like they always bounce back," Hamlin said. "Whenever there's adversity, they always seem to pull together and come back. It's good for them."

After a week of verbal sparring with Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin was happy to see his teammate bring home a victory.

NO POWER:

"I can't drive and keep up like that," said Earnhardt, who finished 19th. "We did the best we could."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won here in 2005, was in the top 10 when the car's power-steering pump locked.

KICK ME:

He started the weekend being docked 25 owner points (owner and driver) and $25,000 for an unapproved camera shell from Daytona.

Sunday, he earned a pass-through penalty for missing the commitment line. Then, on lap 164, he crashed.

It's hard being Robby Gordon. If there's a penalty to be doled out, Gordon always seems to be in line.

BLOWING SMOKE:

Menard suffered a fire under his car in the first five laps and Reutimann's engine expired in a cloud of smoke on lap 44.

"We had a good day going," Reutimann said. "We were running so well. If you can take anything good away from it, I think we learned a lot."

Reutimann was done for the day and finished 43rd. Menard was able to get back in the race, although he finished 132 laps down in a 267-lap race.

David Reutimann and Paul Menard were the first drivers to have trouble.

Jane Miller can be reached at 686-3207 or jmiller@pjstar.com.

With 65 laps to go in the USG Sheetrock 400, Blaney's Caterpillar Inc.-sponsored Toyota blew a right rear tire and crashed in Turn 2.

"I was out of the gas but not enough," a dejected Blaney said after his car came to rest. It was unrepairable, and he finished 40th.

It was Blaney's sixth DNF (did not finish) - the most of any driver in Nextel Cup this year. Blaney was checked at the infield care center and released.

"That was a big hit," he said. "I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow."

A FIRST:

While no official attendance figure was released, it was estimated about 5 percent of the facility's 80,000 seats were vacant. The last few years, the track has announced the sellout on race day.

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