One bad race takes time to make back up, and with the summer swing up to full speed, both Kahne and Martin have their
work cut out for them. Johnson's win keeps him at the top of the points by 21 over Matt Kenseth. Stewart is third at 78 behind, then Kahne is a whopping 181 points behind and Martin 184 to the rear.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a black, yes black #8 Budweiser Chevy for Talladega, painted in honour of his late father who would have celebrated a birthday on the weekend. Junior's day ended early, but the cheer from the crowd when the black #8 came around rivaled the cheer for Johnson's win.
Alonso Sees 'Red' Again
For most of the year, Renault's Fernando Alonso has qualified fifth or so, and
still motored forward to take the win. At this weekend's European Grand Prix at Germany's famed Nurburgring, he took the pole and most thought that was that - another win for Renault and Alonso. Mr. Schumacher, Michael that is, had other ideas.
Starting from second, Schumacher stationed his Ferrari on the rain light of Alonso's Renault. The first stops came and went, with no change in the order. "We obviously chose to stay out an extra lap, which honestly doesn't give you two tenths," Schumacher said after the race. "The reason Fernando gained the two tenths was because I didn't
get a perfect lap and he obviously did and that's where it went."
What did change was Ferrari's strategy. They - as it turns out - added enough fuel to give Michael three extra laps before having to make a second stop. During those laps he set a series of fastest race laps, pitted, took the lead when rejoining the race, and it was over.
Schumacher won his second race in a row, and has emerged - like I said a month ago - to be the only threat to Alonso and his second World title.
In the post race press conference, Schumacher talked about why he can now challenge for the championship.
"We are good now, because, with the exception of Malaysia where we probably
weren't that competitive, in the rest of the races we had the package available," Schumacher said. "We didn't make use of it all the time like in Australia and now it's just normal development, where you go through the bits and pieces that are coming, aerodynamic, engine and so on where you make little steps. As I said at the beginning, the important thing from now on is who has the quicker rate of development. We have been good, traditionally, in the past, not very good last year but sometimes everybody needs a break."
Alonso is also concerned about how quick the Ferrari boys have their mount up to speed since returning from the first three 'fly-away' races.
"I think we came here with some questions as to how Ferrari will perform here, McLaren, us," said Alonso. "I think today we saw the normal picture again that we now need something more to win. At Imola we were ready to fight - I think we were quicker than Ferrari during the race but I think here it was a question of time: when do they overtake us? At the first stop, second stop, but it was nearly impossible to keep them behind for sixty laps," Alonso added.
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| That blue and yellow spec behind Michael's Ferrari is Alonso taking second once again. (Photo: Ferrari F1) |
Dale Earnhardt Jr. had a black, yes black #8 Budweiser Chevy for Talladega, painted in honour of his late father who would have celebrated a birthday on the weekend. Junior's day ended early, but the cheer from the crowd when the black #8 came around rivaled the cheer for Johnson's win.
Alonso Sees 'Red' Again
For most of the year, Renault's Fernando Alonso has qualified fifth or so, and
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| Should prepare ourselves for more red on the podium? (Photo: Ferrari F1) |
Starting from second, Schumacher stationed his Ferrari on the rain light of Alonso's Renault. The first stops came and went, with no change in the order. "We obviously chose to stay out an extra lap, which honestly doesn't give you two tenths," Schumacher said after the race. "The reason Fernando gained the two tenths was because I didn't
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| Ferrari and Bridgestone had the better package in Germany. (Photo: Ferrari F1) |
What did change was Ferrari's strategy. They - as it turns out - added enough fuel to give Michael three extra laps before having to make a second stop. During those laps he set a series of fastest race laps, pitted, took the lead when rejoining the race, and it was over.
Schumacher won his second race in a row, and has emerged - like I said a month ago - to be the only threat to Alonso and his second World title.
In the post race press conference, Schumacher talked about why he can now challenge for the championship.
"We are good now, because, with the exception of Malaysia where we probably
 |
| If Alonso keeps coming in second, he'll be a hard mark for MS to catch. (Photo: Renault F1) |
Alonso is also concerned about how quick the Ferrari boys have their mount up to speed since returning from the first three 'fly-away' races.
"I think we came here with some questions as to how Ferrari will perform here, McLaren, us," said Alonso. "I think today we saw the normal picture again that we now need something more to win. At Imola we were ready to fight - I think we were quicker than Ferrari during the race but I think here it was a question of time: when do they overtake us? At the first stop, second stop, but it was nearly impossible to keep them behind for sixty laps," Alonso added.