Let’s be honest here, each and every one of us NASCAR junkies complains about the racing at Pocono. It gets too spread out, it often comes down to a fuel mileage strategy, and we have all used these arguments either with ourselves or with our friends.
While the racing at Pocono isn’t always the best, and it does tend to get strung out a lot We must collectively admit to ourselves that this last race, run Monday afternoon was one of the most exciting Pocono races ever.
This race had it all, an emotional win for a kid who really didn’t want to be there, a few guys running for the win who could really use one; Juan Montoya and Sam Hornish, and an historic run by Jimmie Johnson coming back from three laps down to finish 13th. Days like these much more than the days were they win, is why the #48 team is the reining three time cup champion.
Maybe we are getting caught up in the emotion of the day, Denny Hamlin grieving the loss of his grandmother taking his car to victory lane. Cleary consumed by the emotions involved Hamlin’s victory lane interview is a tough thing to watch. Yet it is also a great thing to watch, a lot of the most memorable NASCAR victories come from tragedies faced by the driver. Some of the more memorable NASCAR wins of this nature:
• Mark Martin’s win at the Bristol night race in 1998 following the death of his father
• Ernie Irvan’s win in 1997 at MIS where he nearly died three years before
• Each and every Jimmie Johnson win at Martinsville after Hendrick Motor Sports lost some of their team in a plane crash
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s win at the Summer Daytona race following the death of his dad that February. Even this self confessed Junior hater was pulling for him that day
• Finally another Martinsville win when Ernie Irvan brought the #28 car back to victory lane after the death of Davey Allison
It seems sometimes tragedy in NASCAR brings out the best in it drivers. It makes for a great story, and a boat load of greater memories.
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