Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you give it away. Denny Hamlin won the All-Star event Saturday night, but Brad Keselowski and his team handed it over.
With the 10 lap final shootout to go, Keselowski got out of his pit box just behind Hamlin. He gunned it to clear pit road ahead of his rival, but in doing so he was caught speeding. Keselowski, the best in two of the four 25-lap segments and the leader going into the pits, went to the back of the line and his hopes of winning went out of the window.
With the lead and the clean air that came with it, Hamlin kept ahead of Kevin Harvick to the end to claim the million dollar prize. Sadly, the days of being able to slingshot past the leader to victory, it seems, ended when David put the moves on Goliath. There were just three lead changes on the track; when Kasey Kahne went by Keselowski 15 laps in, when Hamlin loaned it to Kurt Busch for a lap in the second segment, and when Busch went by Hamlin two laps into the fourth segment.
Clint Bowyer and Greg Biffle made the race through their efforts in Friday night’s showdown. Danica Patrick got in through the fan vote. Martin Truex Jr., who is second in points but lacking in wins, was left in the cold when he failed to make the grade through the preliminary event. Maybe an all-star should also be defined as someone in the top three in points, as that person appears very likely to make the Chase one way or another. You know, like one would expect from an all-star.
Kasey Kahne was seventh Saturday but won Friday’s truck race in a photo finish over Erik Jones. There was just one problem. It seems the winning truck was too low on both sides and high in the right rear. For any penalties for this cameo violation to be meaningful, they would either have to come by way of taking cash from team boss Dale Earnhardt Jr. or take the win away. It just depends on how serious a violation it was and if, in itself, it made the difference between winning or losing.
Ryan Newman lost and I am not just talking about the weekend. He got some points back in his first appeal regarding his California tire violation in March but got nothing out of his second appeal to further reduce the penalties to him and his crew. Brian France claims all teams know what the problem was that day. The problem now seems to be that at least some of the teams claim they still do not know what Newman’s group did to get penalized, thus remain in the dark as to how to avoid such an issue themselves. It would seem to me that we have here, as was stated in that other Newman’s movie years ago, is a failure to communicate.
As Jeff Gordon ran his final All-Star contest, we see a bright horizon for the sport. We have the 18-year old Jones lighting it up in both XFINITY and the trucks, and on Sunday Ben Rhodes skipped his high school graduation to make his XFINITY debut for JR Motorsports. Jones finished third, Rhodes seventh. Not a single Cup guy was to be seen in Iowa, which is the way it should be for the most part.
Meanwhile, while American Pharoah won the Preakness last weekend to set up a run for horse racing’s Triple Crown in June, next Sunday is truly an all-star extravaganza in motorsports. We begin with the Monaco Grand Prix, followed by the Indianapolis 500, with the World 600 bringing the day to a close. Get the PVR ready and the couch all comfy, as it is going to be a busy day.
I posted an article on May 12 I found on the internet which said the All-Star race at Charlotte has been a dud for the past 10 years. After what I watched last Saturday night, make that 11 years. That was a poor excuse for a race. I totally wasted 3 1/2 hours of my life on that. I would hate to have been one of the race fans who spent their hard earned money to go see that in person. In addition, all of the pre-race hype just makes the outcome that much worse. And I am sick to death of Michael Waltrip and Darrell Waltrip with their silly, goofy, idiotic comments, too. They both think they are so humorous and witty. I have news for them. You guys suck!!
I have heard this idea thrown around for years and I believe it is now time for it to take place. Many people have said they would like to see the All-Star race moved to a different race track each year. I am all for that! The race has become way too predictable and BORING! The other option I would suggest would be to eliminate the race completely. It is a joke. There is no racing except for the first lap or two of a re-start and then they get strung out. Again, as I said, BORING!
I bet Sprint is glad to be done with NASCAR. And their last All-Star race will always be remembered as a non-race and a waste of a huge amount of cash to sponsor it.
I say move the All-Star race or drop it. Good riddance.