Man or machine?

First off, props to Jeff Gordon for winning at Texas on Sunday. He's got the hat and guns of the winner.

There are some pretty neat gifts for winning at various tracks - grandfather clocks, guns, a bear statue. And, they get a trophy and money to boot!

On to today's question.

Winning. Is it the in the hands of the man, or under the hood of the machine. Good question.

Like I've always said, I don't know Jack about what makes a car go other than Sunoco fuel and a pedal inside the vehicle. But let's look at a few instances.

Mikey Waltrip. Had good cars at DEI, won a few. Strikes out on his own and can't buy his way into most races. I'm 50-50 on this one. Could be him, could be the car. Could be some questionable acquisition of parts. (ooops! Sorry Cat in the Hat)


Joey Logano, or J-Lo. (Better nickname than sliced bread.) OK, he's young, real-ly young and inexperienced in the Cup car. He fares better in the Nationwide Series. The Gibbs cars have to be good, look at stablemate Kyle "Rowdy" Busch. Here, I have to go driver.


Then, startup owner/driver Tony Stewart. Startup is the key. Granted, he's using Hendrick power plants, and they are now Chevy (ah, that's a happy Smoke in a Chevy.) I'm looking for Smoke in Victory Lane shortly after NASCAR broadcasts leave FOX network and Digger-cam for 2009. Ditto on this, driver. Yes, we know it's 2-time Cup Champion Tony Stewart, not to mention all the other titles in various divisions. But He drove last year at JGR. Ergo, driver makes the difference, I think.

In short, probably the driver makes the difference.

But that doesn't explain Gordon's loooooong time between wins. That's a toss-up.

Thanks to Getty Images and the Associated Press for the photos.