Finally a finish that matched his perfromance. Robby's 16th place finish moved him up to 34th in owner points and gave him a 97 point advantage over 36th.
Robby drove his ass off tonight. Great day for this team, and you are right, finally a finish to represent how good the car has been running. And the sky still isn't falling.......
Another year working with the COT and having Kirk for a second season contributed to RGM's improved performance this year (although the points don't show it yet). But, I think having Toyota power and support is the main factor here. Remember, Kirk was only around at the end of last season (last 8-10?? races of 08') so this is his first go around with RGM at some tracks still. Can't wait to see how they perform during the later part of this year!! Kirk really needs to start thinking about tracks he hasn't seen with RGM that are unique. Dover is a track Rob can perform good at, as well as Michigan and Indy. But I think Kirk needs to focus on Pocono. RG has sucked there lately. If he can improve 10-15 places at Pocono.. that would make a huge difference!!
I watched the race on Fox so I'm at a disadvantage here. Was Robby employing some kind of a restrictor plate strategy on a short track? Restart after restart he was just hanging in the back. Was that just a result of his track position or was he intentionally doing his best to avoid all the mess until close to the end?
I believe he is 34th in owner points- 25 ahead of Andretti in 35th and- 69 points up on Speed in 36th. Some pretty good breathing room and a great run. He drove the wheels off the car!!!
I wasnt able to get on here for the race but what happend when Robby was in front of the field almost a lap down on a restart but got lucky when the caution came out right after the restart and stayed on the lead lap.